It’s the time of year again when names are scribbled onto scraps of paper and mixed up in a bowl before being secretly picked out at random, inducing relief or complete dread…

Yes; it’s now the time of the obligatory student Secret Santa shtick!

Now, if your selected Secret Santa ends up being the person in your friendship group whom you know the least, selecting Christmas gifts that are ideal can be a complete nightmare. Even though Secret Santa is a bit of harmless fun, you still want to use your budget to the best you can to get this person something they will appreciate.

Gifts for him:
Don’t deny it guys, it’s obvious that most male students are still immature enough to enjoy dirty, crude and toilet humour. Be sensible though and remember to seek information about your gift receiver if they are prude, do not buy crude!

Bog rolls printed with jokes or Sudoku puzzles will not only amuse and/or flex mind muscles but will be incredibly useful as toilet roll is something that can often be lacking in student houses! (Around £5)

As drinking is usually what most students master in, your male mate would be appreciative of a new set of shot glasses or a pint glass (prices vary). These are available in many types; personalised, with certain designs or with novelty lights, so ensure to shop around to find the perfect match.

Another gift that I have seen amuse Secret Santa gift receivers of the past is the super slingshot monkey which has stretchy arms and a “oooo-ooh-ing” sound chip. The monkey complete with cape and eye mask – is light and safe enough to fire at your friends. Hours of entertainment! (Around £6)

Gifts for her:
When it comes to the ladies, it should be pretty clear that anything that smells nice is going to be a big hit straight away. Flavoured lip glosses in funky little pots or containers are always useful in a girl’s handbag or at their desk and the ice cream shaped lip gloss pen also compromises…er, well, a pen! helpful! (Around £3)

Woman don’t exactly adore cleaning like many men would like to believe, but they certainly prefer it! The pink desktop USB ‘Henry’ cylinder hoover is cute and it will help her to keep crisp crumbs out of her keyboard! (Around £9)

Personalised wine glasses are also available (Around £9)

Receiving a top of the range gadget for Christmas can be great; receiving something which resembles that should be propping up a door somewhere is rubbish. Most people are unfortunately receiving gadgets which are low-quality. Among Britain’s most unwanted gadget gifts, and a clear sign of a complete lack of imagination when gift buying are, digital organisers, electronic Sudoku, bread makers , foot spas and digital photo frames.

In a recent survey it was revealed that one in three British adults had received an unwanted gadget as a Christmas gifts which has remained unused. Maybe the recipient didn’t know how to use it or they already had a better model. The study found that of the 31% who were given the high tech gift that had remained unused, 39% had admitted that they didn’t have time to use the device, 23% felt the gadget was pointless and 7% didn’t know how to use them. Furthermore, there were 18% who said that they just particularly didn’t like the gadget that much. Buying a suitable gadget involves some research.

The days of a child being content with a yo-yo and a Beano annual for Christmas gifts are well and truly over. Even children are demanding high-quality technology products. The top 10 most wanted gifts this year for kids aged 4-16 is entirely dominated by Apple products, with the iPod Touch, iPhone 4 and the iPad making up the top three spots. At number four was the new Kinect motion-control system for Xbox 360, Microsoft’s equivalent to the Nintendo Wii. Of the children surveyed, 39% wanted Apple products this Christmas. Approximately 17% of 5-8 year-olds, 45% of 9-12 year-olds and 70% of 13 to 16 year-olds all placed Apple products at the top of their Christmas list. The one possible good news for parents is that there the line been between gifts for her and gifts for him seem to becoming blurred. Both genders revealed that they would both prefer ‘gender neutral’ gadgets.

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