Gifts for employees’ children: a planning guide for HR

The short answer

Children’s gifts usually land on HR’s desk in November, when the only options left are what is on the shelf. Planning them is mostly a matter of starting earlier and collecting a few numbers.

• Custom plush: about five weeks for design and sample, then 8–12 weeks for production and delivery.
• Minimum: 500 pieces per design.
• Safety: EN71-1, -2 and -3 tested, CE declaration with every batch, embroidered eyes for children under three.
• Less than about ten weeks left: ready-made toys with your logo on a tag, ribbon or box.

Count back from the date

Fix the date the gifts must be in the offices, not the date of the party. Leave a week or two for internal distribution, then work backwards.

The start date assumes the design still has to be made. If your company already has a mascot with front, side and back views, the design step shrinks and you gain a few weeks. Production includes laboratory testing of a batch sample, and that part cannot be rushed.

The first deadline is internal: the headcount. Ask managers or payroll for the number of children by age group and office before the summer holidays, while people are still at their desks.

Age groups and safety

A single gift for every child from birth to twelve rarely works. Three bands are usually enough:

• Under 3: soft, washable, no small parts. Eyes and nose must be embroidered, not fitted. Ribbons and tags must not come off in a small hand.
• 3 to 8: the core audience for plush. A toy with the company mascot works well here, and a seasonal scarf or T-shirt makes it feel made for the occasion.
• 9 and older: plush becomes a collectable rather than a toy. A smaller size, a keyring version or a different gift altogether may suit them better.

Whatever you choose, every toy should be tested to EN71-1, -2 and -3 with a CE declaration of conformity. A gift from the employer that fails a safety check is a problem no one in HR wants. Our article on EN71 and CE explains what the tests cover.

Own plush or ready-made toy?

Your own plush makes sense when the company has a mascot, or wants one, and when there are enough children to reach 500 pieces. Companies with fewer children often order once for two occasions, or use the remaining toys for client gifts and events. A mascot designed for this purpose can return each year in a different scarf, and children start to recognise it. See custom plush toys for the details.

When the date is close

If there are fewer than about ten weeks before the handover, a custom run is no longer realistic. In that case we offer ready-made soft toys from our own range, finished with your branding: your logo on a hang tag, a ribbon or a gift box, with a greeting card from the company inside. Nothing is designed or sewn from scratch, which is why this option reaches dates a custom run cannot.

Available designs and the last order day before the holiday are confirmed on request. Send the date and the number of children through the quote form, and we will tell you what can still arrive in time. More on branding options on the plush toys with your logo page.

Packing for several offices

The work nobody budgets for is sorting hundreds of gifts by office and age. We pack the order per office, department or age group and deliver to one warehouse or to every site separately. Settle the details at order time:

• a delivery list per site, with the number of gifts for each age group;
• cartons labelled by site and, if needed, by department;
• one delivery to a central warehouse, or a separate delivery to each office;
• a few spare toys per site for children who were missed from the list.

Personalised gifts with a child’s name look good but turn a production order into a mailing operation. If you want them, decide early and check the list twice.

Who pays

In many companies children’s gifts are not paid from the marketing budget. Depending on the country and the company, the money may come from a company social fund, from the works council or trade union, or directly from HR. Each source has its own rules about what can be bought, how it is documented and whether the gift is treated as a benefit for the employee.

Check those rules with finance before you ask for quotes. A fund may need a quote in a set format, or several quotes to compare. Prices on our site include VAT; VAT-registered companies in another EU member state are invoiced with reverse charge after the VAT number is checked in VIES.

Setting the budget per child

Start from the amount per child that the fund or the council has approved, then work out what it has to cover: the toy, the packaging, the card, delivery to each site. Delivery and packing per office are easy to forget and can take a noticeable share of a small budget.

For a custom plush, size and construction move the price most. A mid-sized toy with a simple pattern and a woven label goes further than a large one with a printed outfit. The quantity matters too: we quote the unit price at two quantity breaks, so you can see whether ordering for two occasions at once lowers the cost per child. The pricing page and how much custom plush costs explain what drives the figure.

Questions people ask

When should HR order Christmas gifts for employees’ children?

For a plush of your own mascot delivered in early December, start by mid-August: about five weeks go on design and the sample, then eight to twelve on production and delivery. With fewer than about ten weeks left, ready-made toys with your branding are the realistic option.

Are plush gifts safe for babies and toddlers?

They are when the toy is tested to EN71-1, -2 and -3, comes with a CE declaration and has no small parts. For children under three, the eyes and nose should be embroidered rather than fitted.

What is the minimum order for a custom plush gift?

500 pieces per design. Companies with fewer children often order once for two occasions or use the remaining toys for client gifts and events.

Can the gifts be packed separately for each office?

Ask for it at order time: give a delivery list per site with the count for each age group. More on how we handle employee-family orders on the page for gifts to employees’ children.