Best Places to Buy Stocking Stuffers for Kids in Calgary

There are three Mastermind stores in Calgary now, so you shouldn’t have trouble getting to one. I love this place for loot bag and stocking fillers. If you look near the checkout area, you’ll see shelves like these:

TONS of little things, and I didn’t see anything for more than ten bucks. And at Mastermind, they only carry high-quality toys, so you don’t have to worry about that.

I know it’s hard to tell exactly what’s there in that picture, so I took a few more photos. The selection changes regularly, but when I was there, Mastermind had: a Lego Vader LED Light!

Cute watches!

A 3D Drawing Pad. WHAT.

Back by the dollhouses, you will also find these tiny Hape baby dolls. They are only $3 each, and made of wood! I think I bought six of these.

Directly beside the cash registers, there’s even MORE stuff. These tiny tiny animals are 79 cents each.

There are also cool pencils, little wooden cars ($2 each), and tons of other small cute things.

Apparently, some of the Scholar’s Choice stores no longer have small loot-bag-sized things. I went to the Shawnessy store, and they had lots.

My favourite item was these small, double-sided puzzles ($3.50 each)! I bought some for our recent vacation, and my kids love them. Despite the low price, they are still high-quality – the pieces fit together well, and they are nice and sturdy. The finished puzzle is 5 x 7 inches, and the box is about 2 x 3 – perfect for a stocking. There are several different designs, including dinosaurs, rockets, unicorns, and fairies.

I also love to put art supplies in stockings, and Scholar’s Choice has a wide selection, including metallic and glitter markers ($6.99 each)!

They also have all the old standards, as well as a HUGE selection of individual pencils. That doesn’t sound exciting, but as a kid, I LOVED buying pencils. Just me?

I also thought these Mini Dig Kits were super cool. They are $5.99, and with each kit, your child excavates a genuine specimen – a gemstone, fossil, shark tooth, or a bug.

And what kid does not want to touch bubbles? I think that’s one of my toddler’s life goals right now. These Grab-a-Bubble bottles are $2.50.

Books are great gifts, but too big for stockings. Luckily, Indigo has tons of small cute loot bag / stocking stuffer things too. Check in the kids’ area AND the gift / stationary section to be sure you see it all.

For instance, small Lego kits! They also have the blind-bag Minifigs, which are great stocking stuffers too.

Crayon necklaces! (DO NOT EAT.)

Near the check-out, I found all kinds of awesome lip gloss. Let’s face it – EVERYONE in Calgary has chapped lips right now. These ones look like fries and a burger, which is obviously the best.

There are also music boxes that play Christmas songs! I love music boxes.

And if you are nice enough to get stocking things for your husband, he will get a kick out of these tiny survival kits and multi-tools. Always be prepared for an apocalypse. Or, you know, camping.

Michael’s has inexpensive loot-bag stuff all over the stores lately. There used to be one aisle for it, but now my local store has it in three different places. So look all around. And download the app to get the 40% off coupon!

My nearest Michael’s store had Magic Grow capsules for $2. You put them in water, and a sponge creature slowly breaks out. Then if your kids are like mine, they try to eat the sponges.

They also had a TON of Hello Kitty stuff. There were Hello Kitty stickers, crayons, playing cards, and more – all for $1.50 each.

Michael’s ALWAYS has a whole bunch of colouring books that are $1 each. That’s right – ONE DOLLAR. Roll it up and it will fill a lot of stocking space!

Michael’s also always has these “play packs” in stock. I LOVE THESE. They include a tiny colouring book, stickers, and a pack of 4 crayons, for a DOLLAR. I buy tons and leave them in the car for days when we want to eat at a restaurant like civilized people. But they would also make great stocking stuffers.

I have a whole article about how much I love Party City. They have a TON of loot bag items that you can easily use as stocking stuffers. The quality is lower than the stores above – more like what you would find at the dollar store. But the selection totally makes up for this. If you look around, you can find lots of things your kids will love, like bubbles, bracelets, and tiny notebooks.

They have lots of products based on TV shows and characters, like Cars, Disney Princesses, Spiderman, Yo Gabba Gabba, and more.

They also have fun things like Sheriff badges, tiny paint palettes, teeny notebooks, slinkies, train conductor hats ($2), etc etc ETC. SO MUCH STUFF. Nearly everything small is $1 or less.

That’s it! Did I miss anything? What are you putting in your kids’ stockings?

Glow in the Dark Stars – Warning, you will have to help put these on the ceiling but they are a great stocking stuffer. Part decoration, part night light. We love these at our house!

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by any stores or products. I’m just a little obsessive.