Make a Christmas Tree Twist & Squish: A Festive Craft Gift for Kids

The best children's Christmas gifts are not always the biggest ones. Often they are the gifts that keep little hands busy on a long festive afternoon, that spark a bit of imagination, and that parents do not mind having out on the table. A craft kit does all three: it gives a child something to make, something to play with, and something to show off afterwards. The Make a Christmas Tree Twist & Squish kit is a lovely example — a small, festive, hands-on gift that fits the season perfectly.

What is inside the kit

The Make a Christmas Tree Twist & Squish (£18) comes in one lidded pot with two sides: one filled with sensory items to spark a child's imagination, and the other filled with the makers' signature playdough. The playdough is baked apple scented, with added glitter and clay slices, and it is made to be soft, long-lasting and easy for little hands to squeeze, poke, pinch and shape. Children can twist and squish it into their own Christmas tree, decorate it with the sensory pieces, and then squash it all down and start again — which is, for most children, the best part.

Why craft gifts work at Christmas

Craft gifts give children something screens cannot: a tactile, creative experience that develops fine motor skills while they play. Rolling, pinching and shaping playdough is genuinely good practice for little fingers, and doing it with a festive theme makes it feel like part of the celebrations rather than a lesson. A craft kit also gives adults a breather: set it out on the table with a wipeable mat, and children will happily occupy themselves while the grown-ups get on with Christmas dinner. And because the dough can be used again and again, the gift lasts well beyond Christmas Day.

How to give it well

This kit works beautifully as a stocking filler with a bit more thought behind it, or as a main small gift for a younger child. At £18 it is an easy price for a niece, nephew, grandchild or a friend's child, and it pairs nicely with a Christmas book or a pair of festive pyjamas if you want to build a little gift bundle. If you are giving it before Christmas, suggest the child makes their tree to display through the festive season; if it is a Christmas Day gift, it is ready to open and play with straight away, no batteries or assembly required.

You can find the Make a Christmas Tree Twist & Squish (£18) in our Stocking Fillers collection, and our stocking fillers under £5 guide has smaller ideas to go with it. Twist it, squish it, decorate it — then do it all over again.