If you are stumped for Christmas gift ideas, look no further than these pages to find something for all the family. From fun ways to teach children a language to a slow cooker for busy mums, our experts pick their favourite inspirations from Body&Soul this year

The Wottle, brita.co.uk/wottle , £7.99

This water bottle, made from recycled plastic, is a practical, environmentally friendly and cheap way of getting a bit of the Irish designer Orla Kiely's style into your life. HJ

Assorted music CDs, amazon.co.uk

When I read that babies as young as five months know what sort of music they like and how it can help to lower their heart rates, I knew it was important that my baby son listened to decent stuff, so I bought music that my husband and I like. He seems to enjoy the White Stripes and Rachmaninov, although, nothing beats my rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. CMcD

New Year New You hamper, selfridges.co.uk , £165

Instead of being full of Christmas puddings, mince pies and brandy butter, this gorgeous hamper, designed by Anya Hindmarch, has detox herbal teas, a skipping rope, measuring tape and metabolism-boosting green tea tablets - along with a half bottle of champagne and 35g bars of chocolate so that you can enjoy a treat (all things in moderation!), plus lots more. AU

Luxury heated throw, lakeland.co.uk , £59.99

With the credit crunch biting at our heels, most people will probably have their heating on a little lower than usual. Keep cosy when tucked up on the sofa with this heated throw, which takes a mere ten minutes to heat up, and will make those chilly wintry afternoons something to cherish. HA

Nintendo DS console from £119.99; Games from £14.99, amazon.co.uk

After a few hours of playing the Nintendo Brain Training game on the DS, I managed to decrease my brain age from 72 to 36 (I'm somewhere in between). What's not to like? And it passed the time on a very, very long-haul flight. I'd recommend Brain Training, More Brain Training and Sight Training. HJ

Art course artcourses.co.uk

Buy someone an art course. Inspired by all the brain-training stories we publish, I booked 20 weeks of local life-drawing classes at Brighton University. It cost £300, but you can do introductory courses elsewhere much cheaper. It keeps the brain life-enhancingly alive, is strangely exciting (oh, the adrenalin rush of gingerly putting your first mark on that pristine paper) and doesn't heap yet more evanescent gift rubbish into landfill. In fact, apart from the charcoal we sometimes draw with, it's damn near carbon neutral. JN

Cycle for Life, amazon.co.uk , £14.99

As someone who failed the cycling proficiency test at primary school, I used to climb on to a bike saddle reluctantly until I discovered this book by the Olympic gold medallist Nicole Cooke. In it she tells you everything you need to know about improving your pedal power, from what to wear and which bike to ride, through to training programmes that will ensure you get faster and stronger without getting bored. Don't be put off by the fact that she is the world's best female cyclist. Cooke's book is just as relevant to beginners such as me as it is to those with loftier ambitions. This glossy little manual could replace a gym membership as the best (and cheapest) way to get fit in the new year. PB

Food goodies foodfullstop.com

This website is perfect for buying my nearest and dearest some seriously delicious goodies. Maybe the Primo olive oil (£54.99), a bottle of which I have just brought back from the Slow Food fair in Turin, which is for special treats to drizzle over finished dishes or salads. Or half a mutton for the amazing price of £59, kilos of meat that is local, slowly reared and oozing with flavour, or even just a gift voucher for a friend so that he or she can wander round the site and work out what they really, really want. TM

The Sex Book, Cassell, £16.99

The sex advice page in Body&Soul doesn't produce wonderful presents from grateful readers. However, I can recommend The Sex Book, by my colleague Suzi Godson, that her publisher has sent me. It now rightly has pride of place along with such huge tomes as Clinical Urogynaecology and Erectile Dysfunction. TS

Wüsthof 10cm paring knife, Any kitchen supplies shop, £36.95

When the chef Raymond Blanc taught me knife skills for Body&Soul, he bestowed me with three things that I have treasured ever since: how to finely chop an onion; two miraculous ways of cooking veg; and the advice to buy a top-quality Wüsthof knife, if only a small one. The accuracy of my little knife, bought the day after, has given me constant pleasure ever since. But if you give one to someone you love, they must give you a penny for it: a knife given as a gift can cut off the friendship. SC

Bob le Bricoleur, amazon.co.uk , £9.99

A present that is educational and fun. Recruit your children's favourite story tape in French. Bob the Builder, for example, is available as Bob le Bricoleur, and Tintin comes in several languages, as well as the original French. The simple vocabulary will help your child to attune to the new language. HA

Wow! The visual encyclopedia of everything, whsmith.co.uk , £5

We get sent a huge variety of great products, many of which never make it into Body&Soul because there isn't space. This book has been passed around and around the office, and bribery has become commonplace as we battle over whose child will get possession of it each weekend. The beautiful images and easy-to-understand explanations make it the perfect way to keep your children entertained on Christmas Day. HA

Lunchbag, quirkybags.co.uk , £22

This insulated lunchbag is great for kids, and even better for grown-ups. It looks more like a designer handbag than your typical Tupperware box and the Paul Smith-esque stripes will brighten up the darkest winter days. There is a separate pocket for your cold drink and it will keep soup and pasta warm for up to four hours. Best of all, it opens up as a placemat when you're ready to sit down to lunch. HA

Omron HJ113 pedometer, heartratemonitor.co.uk , £29.50

To kickstart your family's new year fitness regimen, pedometers are a great way to keep you motivated and are particularly useful to keep tabs on the number of steps you cover daily (10,000 is the recommended amount). This digital pedometer doesn't rattle, it counts calories as well as total distance, and keeps you on your toes by monitoring your “quality exercise” steps against your “plodding” non-aerobic ones. PB

Teach Your Granny to Text, Short Books and Walker Books, £10

A book full of fun and funky ways to make the world a better place, which successfully kept my eight-year-old daughter amused for ages. HJ

After-Party Handbag Shoes, thinkofus.co.uk , £25

I would definitely recommend the flat party shoes that fold up small enough to fit into a clutch bag. These manage to combine two uneasy bedfellows, glamour and practicality, and will lessen the chances of ending up in A&E on New Year's Day with a disco-related injury. KW

Slow cooker, johnlewis.com, from £19.50

The most useful thing I have bought is a slow cooker. Just bung a few ingredients in the pot in the morning before going to work and you will have a delicious stew when you get home. Great for dinner parties, too; lamb shank is always a winner. A good present, particularly if you're worried that your grown-up offspring aren't eating properly: quick, easy and cheap. CMcD

The panel of experts

HJ: Hilly Janes, Editor

JN: John Naish, feature writer

SC: Simon Crompton, medical editor

AS: Anna Shepard, Eco-worrier

CMcD: Claire McDonald, family editor

KW: Kate Wighton, science editor

HA: Harriet Addison, shopping editor

TS: Dr Thomas Stuttaford, sex columnist

TM: Thomasina Miers, cookery writer

AU: Amanda Ursell, nutritionist

PB: Peta Bee, fitness writer

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