10 Best Stocking Stuffers for Kids

1. Go to Google and type in "small toys." You will be pleasantly surprised what you will turn up. Many of your results will relate directly to birthday party favors, but they have some very cool birthday party favors these days, and many of them are sold individually.

2. If the child for whom you are shopping is a girl, check out some of those stores that cater to tweens with babysitting money, such as Claire's. If you shop carefully, you can find inexpensive items for girls as young as six.

3. Drugstores are always fun places to shop for stocking stuffers. The area towards the front of the store in particular is crammed with small items that are fascinating. For girls, you can find cool hair items such as scrunchies and headbands. For boys, it's a little harder to shop here, but they always seem to have some small bizarre gadget that would appeal.

4. Batteries, batteries, batteries! All those electronic toys are going to run out of juice eventually! You can get these fairly inexpensively at your local warehouse store (Costco's; Price Club).

5. Does your child enjoy Nintendo playing cards? These are not the cheapest stocking stuffer you will find, but by no means the most expensive, either. And they fit in a stocking! Yay!

6. Check out your local office supply store (seriously). Depending on how sexy their merchandise is, you can sometimes find some very cool stuff here. I always have a rough time getting my son out of Office Depot or any of the local stationery stores. Between the multi-colored post-its and all of the bizarre colored highlighters and markers - need I say more? And not all of this stuff is pricey. It depends on what they're trying to unload. Incidentally, if you are one of those smart people who like to stash gifts months ahead of Christmas, start stashing right after school season starts and you will find some fabulous bargains.

7. Candy is always good for filling up stockings inexpensively. I can appreciate it if you are one of those parents or relatives who disapprove of giving kids candy, and you have a solid point there. How about veggies, then? (Just kidding.)

8. Do you have a dollar store in your area? Those often have some very fun items for - well, a dollar, I guess!

9. Stuffed animals take up a lot of space in a stocking and are relatively inexpensive (depending where you shop). If your child is into stuffed animals, this is the way to go.

10. Books are great stocking stuffers, and paperbacks don't cost too much. My son is into manga comics, and these fit nicely into a stocking. Books are another item you can get on sale at warehouse stores. Bookstores have them too, if you browse the sale racks. Besides, we all want our kids to read more, right?

Have a very Merry (and inexpensive) Christmas!