101 of the Best Stocking Stuffers for the Whole Family in 2024

The best stockings are full of both fun treats and useful gifts. This list includes fun and useful stocking stuffer ideas for all of the kids, teens, and adults in your life. 

Stockings are a very big deal in our house.

When I was growing up, our stockings were filled with a handful of candy and some fruit and were basically an afterthought.

Not so at my husband’s house. Stockings were always his very favorite part of Christmas morning. They were filled with all kinds of fun things and he always opened his stocking last so he could savor it.

He quickly converted me to his view of stockings which is frankly much more fun.

Now our stockings are full of little treats and fun surprises. And over the past 15 years, I’ve learned a lot about what makes a good stocking.

I love stockings that are full of true gifts – things you can use or really love. Sometimes it can be tempting to buy a bunch of cheap toys and Christmas ‘junk’, especially for kids’ stockings.

But who wants to buy a bunch of stuff that is clearly going to end up in the garbage within a week? 

On the other hand, stockings can get pricey fast when you are filling them with real gifts that can actually be enjoyed. This is something I really struggled with at first. 

I am a major cheapskate and I frankly didn’t want to spend much money on stocking stuffers. But over time I realized that stocking stuffers are just as much a gift as a box wrapped under the tree; they’re just packaged a bit differently.

This list includes all of my favorite stocking stuffers for kids, teens, men, and women.

I thought about dividing the list into stocking stuffers for men and stocking stuffers for women, but honestly most things just aren’t gender specific. Also, I love a good multi-tool so it just didn’t seem right to label it for men!

So instead, I’ve divided things into categories. There are special treats to eat and things for pampering ourselves. There are super useful things we never think to buy for ourselves and fun luxuries we never splurge on. 

And there are some great ideas for kids too. I gave kids’ stockings their own section, but lots of ideas from the other categories are also perfect for kids’ stockings.

I’ve tried to keep the commentary below to a minimum since it is a long list already and seriously, I know you are just here for some quick ideas.

For convenience sake, I’ve linked most things up to Amazon but almost all of these ideas can also be found at Target, Walmart, or even the Dollar Store.

This post contains affiliate links which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more.  Click here to see my full disclosure policy

Fun Stocking Stuffers

First up are a few tiny luxuries that make life more fun. I love this kind of thing but almost never think to buy them for myself and I bet I’m not the only one!

• Flower bulbs – This is the perfect time for planting some amaryllis or paperwhites inside to help beat the winter gloom.
• Luggage tags
• Fire color packets – just drop one on your fire to create amazing rainbow hued flames
• Scratch off Lottery tickets
• Good smelling candles
• Magazines – You can grab a few from the checkout line at the store, or include a subscription card.
• A nice keychain – love this beautiful Lily Pulitzer one!
• A special ornament

Tech Stocking Stuffers

Ok, admittedly this entire section is basically stuff for your smart phone. But considering how many tasks we accomplish with our phones, it’s no wonder they can use a few accessories to make it all go a bit smoother.

And since nearly everyone has a smart phone, these gift ideas are crowd-pleasers for pretty much anyone including hard-to-shop-for teens.

• Headphones – my husband has this inexpensive set and loves them.
• A screen cleaner kit – because we all know those screens get nasty
• Airpod earbuds cleaning kit – while we’re on the subject of cleaning, these little airpod cleaners are ingenious!
• A mini bluetooth speaker
• A power bank or portable phone charger
• Pop sockets – These little things are super useful. They work as both a stand and a grip to help you hold your phone more securely and they come in tons of cool designs.
• An iphone camera lens – I think these Phone camera lenses are genius. They snap right onto your phone and allow you to take high quality wide angle or close up photos with your phone. Fun for anyone who loves taking photos.
• A magnetic car mount – These simple mounts attach securely to your car vent so you can use your phone hands free.

Useful Stocking Stuffers

Sometimes the little things can truly make our daily lives so much easier. Each of these things will be used over and over but they make great gifts because we often forget to buy them for ourselves.

• Car escape tool – this is something everyone should have but nobody thinks to buy for themself
• Pocket Multi-tool
• Mini flashlights
• Apple air tags – These tiny trackers make it super easy to keep track of your keys, wallet, luggage, or anything else you don’t want to lose.
• Extra batteries – for all those Christmas toys
• A pocket screwdriver set – This one can really come in handy on Christmas morning too. We are always scrambling to find a little screwdriver to remove toys from their packaging and open the battery compartments.
• Fire starters
• Wool dryer balls
• Car air freshener
• Reusable straws
• Reusable snack bags
• Reusable shopping bags
• Bottle openers

Pampering Stocking Stuffers

Because we can all use a little pampering.

• Lip balm
• Beard oil – The most hipster gift imaginable, but it truly is helpful in taming a beard.
• Fun toothbrushes
• Face masks – the skincare kind
• Bath bombs
• Bubble bath
• Foot soak
• Sugar scrub
• Nail polish
• Gel nail strips – these are awesome for at-home manicures
• Nail polish remover wipes – I love the convenience of these
• Razors – my husband loves these razors
• Mini hand sanitizer

Stocking Stuffers to Wear

These fun little items fit well in a stocking and will definitely get lots of use.

• Jewelry
• Nice socks
• Hats
• Gloves
• Fun T-shirts
• Underwear – not always the most fun, but so useful!
• Hand warmers
• Work gloves or gardening gloves

Stocking Stuffers to Eat

In my opinion, a stocking’s not a stocking without some sort of fun treats to eat. I love to put things in stockings that my family loves but we don’t usually buy on a regular basis like sugary cereals and pop tarts.

• Mini boxes of fun cereal
• Special candy – These are my favorites.
• Flavored coffees – Peppermint coffee is a must-have in my husband’s stocking every year.
• Nuts
• Beef jerky
• Mini bottles of liquor
• Spice blends
• Pez
• Pop tarts – or any other treats you don’t usually buy
• Single serve coffee brew buddy – This is a little reusable coffee brewer and it’s perfect for when you’re camping or anytime you really just want one cup. You set it on top of your mug and pour in hot water to make one perfect cup of fresh coffee.
• Mini bottles of real maple syrup
• Reusable water bottles – we can never have too many of these.
• Coffee cups

Stocking Stuffers to Help Stay Organized

I am always in the mood to get everything fresh and shiny and organized in the new year and these stocking stuffers are the perfect way to get a jumpstart.

• Cute notepads
• Post it notes
• Washi tape
• Sharpies
• Chalkboard labels
• Chalk markers – Chalk markers are like a combination of chalk and dry erase markers and they’re amazing.
• Nice pens
• Book darts – These are perfect for marking your spot in your book or marking passages you don’t want to forget.
• Bookmarks – You can get bookmarks pretty much anywhere, but this Loch Ness Monster bookmark swimming through your book is seriously the cutest.

Stocking Stuffers for Kids

Let’s face it, kids are definitely the easiest to find stocking stuffers for. They love little tiny things of all sorts. Sometimes the only problem is figuring out which things they will only love for the first ten seconds they see it and which things will continue to bring joy a little longer.

I try to stick with stocking stuffers that will either be enjoyed for awhile or that are consumable and don’t just turn into piles of useless clutter.

• Stickers
• Bubbles
• Temporary tattoos
• Dino fossil eggs
• Hairbows
• Bath paint or bath crayons
• Glow sticks
• Uno
• A deck of cards
• Dice
• Plastic animals
• LCD drawing tablet – this is the perfect thing for long car trips
• Silly scents markers
• Watercolors
• Playdoh
• A mini etch-a-sketch
• Blind bags – For a long time I had no idea what people were talking about when they said their kids loved blind bags. In case you are in the same boat, blind bags are little bags that have a toy inside. They are called blind bags because you don’t know exactly which toy you got until you buy it and open it. Admittedly, this is the one thing on this list most likely to become junky clutter but my kids love them so much I usually put one in their stockings anyway.
• Hot wheels
• Lego minifigures
• Lego dinosaurs
• Fun bandaids

Gift Card Stocking Stuffers

Gift cards make such perfect stocking stuffers, they get their own category. Pretty much anyone would love a gift card to Target, but there are also a ton of other really fun options you probably haven’t considered.

• Gift cards for experiences – climbing gym, driving range, skydiving
• Movie tickets, Play tickets, Concert tickets
• A gas gift card or an Uber gift card
• A gift card for a house cleaning session
• Gift cards to take a class – cooking class, photography class, woodworking class
• Homemade gift cards – to get a free pass on chores, for something romantic
• Gift Cards to favorite stores
• Gift Cards to restaurants

Whew! Happy Shopping!