It’s that time of year when companies and bosses, (and more realistically their admin) start to brainstorm Employee Christmas Gift Basket ideas. This can be a difficult task especially if you are dealing with a smaller budget or trying to think of a gift that hasn’t been given in Christmas Past. Well, worry no longer! I’ve come up with __ gift ideas that will work great as employee gift baskets or can be broken up to choose just one or two gift items if you are working with a smaller budget. These make wonderful year-end employee gifts, Christmas employee gifts, or employee appreciation gift basket ideas. I hope this helps take one stressful thing off of your work to-do list.
What is a good gift for an employee?
I think employee gifts are always a great morale booster…and if you have small budget being thoughtful and deliberate in your gift choices is a definite must. You want your employees to feel appreciated and noticed and you don’t want them to walk out the door with the same old boring gift they’ve gotten before (coffee mugs, I’m looking at you!).
Click here to PIN This Post to show your boss later!
DIY Christmas Gift Baskets for Employees
Now while I talk about these gift items as Christmas Gift Baskets, they don’t need to actually be a basket of items. Gift baskets are a great way to go, strategy-wise because you can choose one or two items (for a smaller budget) or add several things to create a DIY Gift Basket. They are scalable to your budget. Here are __ ideas for Employee Christmas Gift Baskets or Employee Appreciation Gift Baskets.
This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you anything)! Get more information in my full disclosure.
Road Trip Christmas Gift Basket
How about a gift for your employees that encourages an adventure?
I included a Travel Cooler Bag for drinks and food. You can also throw in a beautiful book Road Trip USA that has hundreds of possible road trip itineraries, detailed driving maps, and tips including “roadside curiosities, parks and local histories.” The large scale Rand McNally Atlas will fill in when GPS isn’t working and it’s always good to add some tasty snacks.
You could also include this amazing book 5000 ideas for things to do in 50 states
You can also print off this free printable tag from my Gift Printables Library (and sign up for my free Gift Ideas Printable! Just sign up below!)
Star Gazing Christmas Employee Gift Basket
Binoculars are the least expensive tool for star gazing and this set is a great option. Even if you add a telescope to this gift, binoculars would be good for fast star-spotting and to add another set of eyes to the sky.
This will let your star-gazing family have somewhere comfy to sit while waiting for their out of this world event!
The COMFY! This is kind of the coolest. It’s like a combo between a blanket and a sweatshirt. Cozy and oversized and would be perfect for chilly stargazing nights! (I think I need one of these!)
This highly rated journal has spots for you to fill out all of the info on what you are seeing as a family!
50 things to see with a telescope-Kids Edition
I love this book, it helps you know what things are possible for you to see with your telescope (and gives great info and explanations for kids!)
This guide is a little higher level but is amazing!
Another amazing book with detailed information and great pictures to help you know what to look for (and what you are looking at!
This star finder (also called Planisphere) is specific to the area you live in (so make sure you are choosing correctly!). You can turn it to the right date and have a map of the sky for that day! So cool!
A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars
This book is a beautiful picture book that would be a perfect addition if you are doing this gift for a family with younger children. Gorgeous pictures and a lovely way of learning what our universe is!
This game has great reviews and a lot of variations that make it a fun and educational game for kids and teens!
A space puzzle would be a great addition for this stargazing family gift!
Family Dinner Employee Christmas Gift Basket
Family Dinner Employee Gift Basket
Family dinners are so important! Give some fun gifts to encourage your employees to have quality time with their families.
These conversation starter cards are amazing! You can also choose from a couples edition of conversation cards , a kids’ edition and a teen edition .
This Weeknight family dinner cookbook is full of great recipes that are fast to make.
If you have employees that are single or have small families this Complete Cookbook for Two would be a great choice
If you have the budget to splurge, you could place these Family Dinner Employee Gift Basket items into this beautiful Stoneware Casserole Dish
.Or the ever-popular Instant Pot in mini form (so even if they already own one this will be useful for side dishes or another appliance that is super popular, an air-fryer (crispy, healthy and fast cooked food, yum!)
Some cute accessories to add to your family dinner night gift basket could be Funny dish towels You could also divide this 6-pack up between employees.
Kitchen soap dispenser This automatic hands-free soap dispenser would be a useful gift to add to the Family Dinner Employee Gift Basket.
You could also include a gift card to a local grocery store.
If you are looking for other food-centric gift ideas, check out these super-fun food gift ideas! Even though the post is titled “Wedding Gift Registry Add-ons” I promise your employees would LOVE any of them!
Netflix and Chill Employee Gift Basket
Encourage your employee to relax when they are away from work with this Netflix and Chill Employee Gift Basket
Start with a wire gift basket like this one.
Add a super soft oversized blanket to cuddle beneath.
Snakeez Cups are really fun…put your snack in the small compartment on top and your drink is right underneath.
You could add some microwave popcorn or specialty chips
Last, add a Netflix Gift Card. You could also purchase a gift card to a different streaming service like Hulu or the (brand new) Disney+ streaming service.
Smart Home Employee Gift Basket
There are so many different smart home items, it would be fun to gift one or a bunch of them to your employees.
A smart doorbell like the Ring Doorbell is such a wonderful thing to have. It allows you to see who is at your house, check for deliveries and even talk to someone at your front door when you are away from home.
A smart thermostat is another smart device that might be on your employees’ wish lists. These help with heating/cooling costs and can be controlled when you are away from home.
The Echo Show 5 is a smaller, less expensive pared-down version of the Echo Show. It still has a ton of capabilities though! The Echo Show will let your employees control the items in their new smart home.
These Echo Dots are super fun to have around the house…listen to music or podcasts while you get ready for work, or put it in a child’s bedroom for storytime at night. You could gift a few in lieu of the Echo Show.
This four-pack of smart plugs could be divided amongst employees or given together.
You can also add a smart light bulb to your employee gift basket.
Reading Christmas Gift Basket for Employees
One of our family’s favorite things to do is cuddle up and read together. You could do a fun Christmas gift basket that encourages reading for single employees or families.
You could go more high tech with this gift and get a Kindle Paperwhite . These are life-changing for readers, I’m telling you! By sure one of the best gifts I have ever received.
Or you could choose single books for employees…even choosing some business books you’d like to encourage reading along with some reading for fun.
If the book is for a family you could include some of my favorite family read-aloud books. Like
- Little House on the Prairie Box Set Reading about pioneers living in the west is so interesting for kids of all ages.
- Ramona Box Set Ramona is still hilarious and applicable today! My boys and girls both love this series.
- My Side of the Mountain – This book is a favorite of boys and girls! So much fun to read about a boy who lives on his own.
- Harry Potter Box Set Of course this needs to be included because it is one of the best read-aloud books ever written and so so intriguing for little kids!
I would also include a warm fuzzy blanket like this one
Winter Outdoor Fun Christmas Gift Basket
If you live somewhere with snow this could make a great employee Christmas gift basket!
A Two Pack of Snow Tubes The best sleds ever in my opinion (especially because they can be stored easily).
Snow Brick Maker To make awesome igloos
Snowball makers These actually work really well! And a three-pack is helpful. 🙂
Snow Art Markers I haven’t used these but they look really fun.
Indoor Snowballs These are so much fun when you don’t feel like being out in the cold!
And just for fun what about a snowcone machine?
You could also go a different route and purchase snowshoes and poles like this set.
What should I buy my employee for Christmas? What should I buy my employees for a year-end gift? What can I buy for employee appreciation? I hope these creative Christmas Gift Baskets help make finding your Corporate Gift Ideas for employees easier (and more fun!)
Happy Employee Gifting!
Steph