La Befana Gifts: What to Put in the Stocking on January 6
By the Gift DeskUpdated 14 hand-picked ideas
The ideas at a glance
The short answer
La Befana’s stocking is small toys and sweets, with a joke lump of coal for good measure. Thinking Putty, wind-up toys or glow-in-the-dark star stickers suit children, with torrone and candy coal around them; teens are happy with Instax film or a puzzle box.
In Italy, Christmas has a second act. On the night of January 5, la Befana, a kindly old woman on a broomstick, flies over the rooftops, comes down the chimney and fills the stockings children have hung up: sweets and little toys if they’ve been good, a lump of coal if they haven’t. Every child knows the coal is really sugar, and most get a piece anyway, because it’s funny. Families leave her a glass of wine and a tangerine, and by morning they’re gone. There’s even a saying for the day: l’Epifania tutte le feste porta via, Epiphany carries all the holidays away.
So the Befana’s stocking is a goodbye to the season, small and playful. This page starts with little toys for children, then the sweets and the coal, then the stocking itself, which can become the present for a child’s first Befana. After that comes a section on ready-made stockings versus filling your own, and finally ideas for teens and adults who still hang one up.
For more small gifts, see stocking stuffers for kids, stocking stuffers for teens and our main stocking stuffers guide.
Giftruly is reader-supported. When you buy through our links we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. How we pick
The Befana’s rules, more or less
Hang the stockings on the evening of January 5 and fill them after the children are asleep.
Put a piece of coal in every stocking. It’s a joke, not a verdict, and children who get none feel left out.
Leave something for the Befana: a glass of wine or milk and a tangerine, mostly gone by morning.
Keep it small and even between siblings: a few sweets, one or two little toys, about the same for everyone.
Stuck for a small idea for one particular child? Ask our gift finder for something that fits in a stocking.
About La Befana
What does La Befana bring?
Sweets and small toys for good children and a lump of coal for naughty ones. In practice the coal is black sugar candy, and most children get some along with their sweets.
When does La Befana come?
On the night of January 5, the eve of Epiphany. Children find their stockings filled on the morning of January 6, a public holiday in Italy.
What do you leave out for La Befana?
Traditionally a glass of wine and a tangerine or orange, sometimes a plate of food. Children in some regions also leave a note.
How much should you spend on a Befana stocking?
Keep it small: about $10 to $25 per child, sweets included. The Befana ends the holidays with a little treat rather than another round of big presents.
