#The best gifts for parents: Great ideas for mums, dads, and guardians in the UK

If your parents still don’t have a smart TV, you can get them one as a gift and score some serious brownie points. This 55-inch UHD TV from LG has a gorgeous display and comes with Google Assistant and Alexa built in for voice commands and smart home control.

The Instant Pot Duo is a 7-in-1 miracle machine for most of your parents’ kitchen and cooking needs. Need a pressure cooker? No problem. Need a slow cooker? No problem. Need a rice cooker? No problem. Instant Pot is all of those things, plus a yogurt maker, steamer, warmer, and sauté station. The all-in-one can cook food up to six times faster than other pressure cookers, while also using up to 70% less energy.

Your parents probably love their family (or at least we hope they do). Help them show off their pride with a personalised kitchen towel. Each one has a cute design and your family name. This gift adds a nice personal touch to your parents’ kitchen.

Growing a plant from the seed stage is not for everyone. If your parents like plants but can’t or don’t want to care for one from scratch, Botanicly is a great place to check out. The retailer has a wide variety of greenery that arrives fully grown and pre-potted. So, all your parents have to do is find the perfect spot for their new plant.

If your parents can’t even open their eyes until they’ve had some caffeine, a De’Longhi coffee machine will hit the spot. This coffee machine prepares and delivers their perfect espresso with fresh ground coffee. Your parents can create all their coffee shop favourites with a real barista experience at home.

Who doesn’t enjoy a nice, cold beverage after a long day? Help your parents keep their drink of choice chilled with this stone coaster set. They just have to pop them in the freezer and pull them out whenever they want to sip on an ice cold drink.

These candles make a great gift for parents who like to get cosy and cuddle. The three choices are all really festive, with pomegranate gin fizz, evergreen mist, and candlelit cabin to enjoy.

If your parents (or you by extension) ever wanted to know about family history and ancestry, then AncestryDNA is the solution to learn where you came from and who you are. With more than 10 million people in the company’s growing network, AncestryDNA has made more than a billion family connections with this simple kit. 

If your parents are the stay at home type, then they’ll need something cozy and comfortable when socks just won’t do. Enter UGG. The company is known for their out-of-this-world comfort with high quality materials in various styles for men and women. UGG slippers are so comfortable that it’s almost guaranteed your parents will try to wear them out of their home to go on short excursions to the grocery store.

Planning meals, hitting up the supermarket, then preparing the food can be tough for anyone, but especially for new parents who don’t have the time or aging parents who could use some help. HelloFresh is a meal delivery service that will send your parents (or you) fresh ingredients and step-by-step instructions so they can whip up a great tasting meal within 30 minutes. 

This cheese board features a hidden slide-out tray that conceals various cheese knives and cutlery, so they’re out of the way until you need them. The cheeseboard also has clever grooves for crackers, nuts, and olives for an added level of nosh. It’s made from 100% bamboo, so it won’t stain or absorb any funky odours from the cheese. The included cutlery set is made from stainless steel with matching bamboo handles.

Are your parents music lovers? If so, a coffee table book called 1000 Record Covers just might be a great gift for them. This massive book features album art from the 1960s to 1990s — think Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel. Each record cover also features a nifty backstory of the album, how the artists decided on the cover, and its meaning in relation to the music.

If your parents are constantly losing their keys, then maybe Tile can be the solution. The tech company can’t promise that they’ll stop misplacing their keys, but they can help mum and dad find them faster. Just attach Tile to a set of keys, a wallet, a purse — whatever — and when said item goes missing, the Tile app will quickly locate them around the house with a loud ringtone from their mobile device.

OK, so it looks a little silly — but your parents are gonna love this. Made from high quality eiderdown cotton, the Ostrich Pillow works wonders as a neck pillow or eye mask for folks who are always on the go. The pillow is filled with coated microbeads and is perfectly adjustable. In addition, the travel pillow’s materials are breathable, so it’s never too hot when you’re wearing it around your neck or on your eyes.

The YETI Hopper Flip is one of the most durable and long-lasting portable coolers on the market with its waterproof body and leakproof lining and closure. Its ColdCell insulation keeps anything cool for days. The cooler is large enough to tackle festivals or weekend trips, with the capacity to hold loads of refreshments

With its selection of hundreds of premium wines, Savage Vines is considered the “Netflix for wine.” The subscription service sends its members at least bottles of wine from various regions around the world. Help your mum and dad have a romantic evening, even if it’s just at the kitchen table.

Everyone loves the Apple iPad because it’s durable, lightweight, and easy to use — even for parents who aren’t great with tech. Apple has always prided itself on simplicity and the iPad is one of the best examples of its pick-up-and-go philosophy. The iPad makes for a great gift because it’s compact and smooth to use. Plus, just think about how much they’ll enjoy FaceTiming with you on this thing.

If mum and dad are home brew and craft beer enthusiasts, this uKeg Pressurised Growler from GrowlerWerks is the best way to transport frosty ales and beers from the bar to the home with ease. The vacuum-insulated chamber is made from stainless steel with a copper finish and is designed to keep at least 64 ounces of craft beer cold for up to two weeks. Cheers!

Are your parents looking to convert their home into a smart home? If so, the Amazon Echo is the best way to start off. This is the all-in-one device that can do just about anything, including play music, make phone calls, set alarms, and timers, and order products from Amazon. The best part of the Echo is that your parents don’t have to be tech savvy to use it.

Not living in the same city as your parents can be a bummer. Phone calls just aren’t the same as face-to-face conversations. You likely can’t afford to take a trip every time you want to talk to your parents, so getting them an Echo Show is the next best thing. You’re able to video chat with them through Skype, the Alexa app, or your own video Echo device if you have one. Plus, they get smart home capabilities, too.

If your parents have dogs and are usually away at work, then the Furbo Dog Camera is a thoughtful way to help them check in. The device features an HD camera and a two-way transmitter that allows users to check on their pets via smartphone live-streaming video, plus it can toss treats at their little puppers with the press of a button. Think of it as a high tech baby monitor, but for dogs. 

Now that your parents converted their home into a smart home, let’s start building out their everyday appliances with useful and clever smart devices, like the Ring WiFi-enabled video doorbell. This doorbell allows mum and dad to see and talk to anyone who comes to their front door via HD video on their smartphones, tablets, and laptops — even if they’re not at home.

Essential oils are said to reduce stress and promote mindfulness. This diffuser has seven ambient light modes and four timer settings, allowing your parents to set their preferred tone.

Make your parents feel fancy with a pair of etched stemless wine glasses. You’re able to choose custom information to put on the glasses and you can even send the Etsy shop a logo or design to use.

Give your parents the gift of a new skill with a course from Udemy. There are courses on a huge variety of topics such as marketing, photography, development, and more. Prices vary depending on the lesson you choose, but once you purchase, your parents get access to the course for life.

Spice up your parents’ drinking life with this fun copper bar set. It has everything they need to mix up some cocktails, including Moscow mules, the preferred beverage for copper drinkware. All they need is some booze, which would make a great addition to this gift.

If your parents are old school and still use those clunky timers to set a light schedule while they’re out of town, get them this smart bulb kit. The bulbs screw right into most standard sockets and are controlled by the included hub which connects to a mobile app and voice controls. Bonus, these bulbs can be set to white or colours.

Regardless of age, it’s pretty much universal that nobody likes going to the dentist, especially if it involves a lecture about flossing. Help your parents maintain their healthy smiles with a Waterpik water flosser, which is up to 50% more effective for improving gum health than string floss.

No matter what kind of flooring your parents have in their home, this robot vacuum will be able to clean them — without your parents having to lift a finger. The cleaner can be controlled and scheduled via the mobile app or by using voice commands.

If your parents are still drinking out of single-use plastic water bottles, bring them up to speed with reusable bottles. Contigo has a variety of bottles, ranging in materials, style, and colour. You’ll be able to find something that matches your parents’ style and needs. 

Cooking meat correctly often means monitoring a thermometer, but this nifty gadget is one your parents won’t have to check. It connects to a mobile app via Bluetooth and sends alerts when the food is ready, or if it’s under- or over-cooking. The app also allows your parents to monitor the temperature on their phone or tablet screens.