10 of the best Christmas gifts from Not On The High Street

Their huge array of unique and thoughtful gifts, made by the UK’s best small brands, are perfect for all members of the family — from babies and toddlers to grandparents — and will really help you to celebrate moments together as a family, whether it's building a robot, solving a murder mystery, or writing a letter to Santa.

Best Not On The High Street Christmas gifts at a glance

• Best creative gift for kids: Colour Your Own Mythical Canvas Shoes, £27
• Best gift for animal lovers: Happy Zoo Animal Wildlife Nursery Print, £3.35
• Best for a sweet treat: Rainbow Iced Gems, £13.50
• Best gift for starting a new Christmas tradition: Dear Santa Claus Christmas Card, £3.50
• Best gift for budding bakers: Fairtrade Cotton Baking Set, £40
• Best STEM gift: DIY Eco Boy: Solar Powered Robot, £19.99
• Best gift for football fans: Footy Fantastic: Match Diary and Training Journal, £9.99
• Best gift for chocolate lovers: 'Gooey Choccy Cake in a Mug' Eco Activity Kit, £16.99
• Best advent calendar gift: Cold Case Investigation Mystery Crime Advent Calendar, £38
• Best pamper gift: Surrender and Sleep Aromatherapy Crystal Roller, £15

1. Colour Your Own Mythical Canvas Shoes, £27

— Best creative gift for kids

Encourage imagination and creativity with this sweet, crafty gift from Mythical Canvas that kids will absolutely love. Children can design and decorate their own canvas shoes with this brilliant set that includes vibrant fabric pens (choose from a purple unicorn set, green unicorn set, or both!), stencil set with various shapes and two pairs of straps.

The shoes are available in various sizes, they are made from 100% cotton and the straps are adjustable. They can also be easily changed so kids can show off different designs.

Talk about bringing creations to life! What child wouldn’t be thrilled to wear something they’ve spent time designing themselves? A fantastic way to boost their confidence and self-expression.

Available from Not On The High Street

2. Happy Zoo Animal Wildlife Nursery Print for Children, £3.35

— Best gift for animal lovers

Add a burst of colour and fun to a child's bedroom or nursery with this bright, charming print from The Motivated Type. The vibrant artwork features a collection of beautifully drawn zoo animals including a lion, elephant, giraffe, tiger, bear and more.

The print is produced on museum quality, archival fine art paper and is available in A3, A4 or A5. It doesn't include a frame, but you can add one when checking out. Playful and cheerful, this would be a delightful addition to any child's space, especially if they love animals.

The kind of artwork that will give that finishing touch to your baby’s nursery. The cutest zoo animals in child-friendly illustrations and colours – adorable!

Available from Not On The High Street

3. Rainbow Iced Gems, £13.50

— Best for a sweet treat

Handmade sweet treats are always a huge hit, especially at Christmas, and none come more charming than these delicious rainbow iced gems from Anna Cake Couture.

They're made from a crunchy vanilla biscuit and then topped with a bright, rainbow icing star. Beautifully presented in a cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon to finish, these delightful little gems will make a gorgeous gift for anyone with a sweet tooth. They (almost!) look too good to eat...

Little ones will be excited to get their hands on these tasty, bitesize biscuit treats. They look so appealing and fun to eat!

Available from Not On The High Street

4. Dear Santa Claus Christmas Card, £3.50

— Best gift for starting a new Christmas tradition

Writing a letter to Santa is a common Christmas tradition that many many children look forward to every year, so this card is a charming alternative. The beautiful letterpress greeting card from Soch & Co has spaces for a child to fill in their name, age and Christmas present wish list.

There are also some other cute additions such as a tick box to tell Santa whether they've been naughty or nice, a space to write in their favourite reindeer and 2 boxes so they can draw a self-portrait and a drawing of Santa.

It's beautifully presented and includes a red envelope so it's all set to go to the North Pole.

One of the most magical things about Christmas with young children is creating traditions and experiences that they will love for years to come. This Dear Santa card would be a lovely Christmas custom to incorporate into the festive season and I know both my children would really enjoy filling it in with me. With the gaps to fill in it would take the pressure off my six-year-old to pen an entire letter to Santa too, which can feel like more of a chore than an exciting experience.

Available from Not On The High Street

5. Fairtrade Cotton Baking Set, £40

— Best gift for budding bakers

This beautiful pretend-play set from Weaving Hope Ltd is perfect for any young, aspiring baker who loves kitchen role play. It includes everything your child needs to whisk up an imaginary feast, including a mixing bowl and jug, rolling pin, whisk, spoon and spatula, baking tray and muffin tray.

Not only will it spark a child's imagination, but it's an absolutely beautiful set that's made from cotton woven on traditional wooden handlooms by women artisans in Sri Lanka and is coloured using eco-friendly non-toxic dyes.

Children love pretending to cook and this is one of the cutest play baking sets I’ve seen. My three-year-old daughter would love pretending to bake with this kit and all its sweet accessories. I love that it’s made from Fair Cotton and eco-friendly non-toxic dyes and that it comes with a drawstring bag so it can be tided away neatly and doesn’t take up much space. And the fact that it can be machine washed is a real positive for a germphobe mum like me!

Available from Not On The High Street

6. DIY Eco Boy: Solar Powered Robot, £19.99

— Best STEM gift

This adorable robot (Eddie the Eco Bot is his name), from Gift Republic, is not only a brilliant gift that will unleash your child's creativity and construction skills, it's also fun and educational.

The kit comes with everything you need to construct the robot, then once he's built watch him race whilst being powered by his solar panels. It's not only fun and engaging, but teaches kids all about the science of solar energy.

Any toy that manages to successfully combine sustainability, learning and fun for as little as £19.99 is a winner in my book. I love the fact that this is a toy that needs to be made first and then can be played with afterwards – I can imagine building it with my son on Boxing Day and then leaving him to experiment with it and race it around for hours.

Available from Not On The High Street

7. Footy Fantastic: Match Diary and Training Journal, £9.99

— Best gift for football fans

This guided journal from Striking Image is a perfect gift for any football-mad boy or girl. It has over 140 unique pages that help you to track skills, match results and football training. There's also space to design drills and even a page to collect autographs if they're lucky enough to meet their favourite football stars.

Written by a qualified football coach and designer, the journal is not only a fun way to track performance, it also encourages self-reflection. Any promising young footballer will love filling in this colourful and helpful journal.

Honestly, this is a must have for the footie fan kids. It’s a brilliant journal which has so many different elements relating to football, from training sessions to skills, you can keep notes on them all. Plus, this journal has a lovely positive vibe running through it too.

Available from Not On The High Street

8. 'Gooey Choccy Cake in a Mug' Eco Activity Kit, £16.99

— Best gift for chocolate lovers

A gift that's delicious, sustainable and educational? Step forward this eco activity kit from Stroodles Eco Tableware, complete with educational activity booklet and 2 cake mixes. It not only makes scrumptious cakes, it also teaches about natural ingredients and the importance of sustainability (we also love that all the packaging and materials are recyclable and/or reusable).

It's made using high quality ingredients, is free from refined sugar and is super easy to make: just pour the mix into a mug, add milk, oil and honey, pop it in the microwave or oven and voila! Piece of cake! It even includes an edible cocoa spoon and a sachet of Cocoa company chocolate beads — you can either add them for extra gooey deliciousness, or use them to make a decadent hot chocolate.

I chose this mug cake kit for two reasons. The first is, I’m so tired of the terrible mug cakes my daughter makes, I thought this one looked tasty and delicious. The second is the fact that you can eat the spoon — *chefs kiss* perfection!

Available from Not On The High Street

9. Cold Case Investigation Mystery Crime Advent Calendar, £38

— Best advent calendar gift

Have a true crime fan in your life? Or someone who loves solving puzzles and mysteries? If so, swap out the chocolate this advent and try this incredibly inventive festive-themed mystery crime advent calendar from MixPixie.

Take on the role of a detective as every day you open up an envelope full of new clues and evidence, including witness testimonies, photos, phone records, police reports, evidence and more. It's been created by a qualified Police Detective and you can choose between 2 games: Nick Cringle or Carol Singer.

Whether you solve it alone or get the whole family to help, count down to Christmas with this crime mystery advent-ure...

My teen daughter loves ‘mystery file games’ where you have to solve clues to deduce who the criminal is, so this advent calendar version is such a brilliant alternative to choc advents, or super pricey make-up calendars. By the time we reach Christmas and she’s opened all her advent days, she’ll have a whole new case to crack at the end which is brilliant!

Available from Not On The High Street

10. Surrender and Sleep Aromatherapy Crystal Roller, £15

— Best pamper gift

This soothing blend of organic and vegan essential oils is perfect for relaxation and sleep and would make a great addition to anyone's bedtime routine — just roll the crystal roller across your pulse points and take a deep breath to relax.

It's deep floral scent is soothing and supportive which will invite you to really switch off, let go and fully relax. The oils are made in small batches by aromatherapy brand Eve & Keel, with over 10 years of experience creating anxiety-reducing blends of essential oils, so you know it will be an effective, relaxing gift for a loved one, or yourself.

We know that, especially for parents, it can be quite hard to switch off from the busy goings on of day-to-day life. That's why this aromatherapy crystal roller is a perfect choice for anyone who's struggling to relax. This gift will really help anyone make the most of any spare 5 minute of alone time they have, to really relax and let go

Available from Not On The High Street