Toys I remember giving - my daughter was three when she finally got a Fisher Price stove set of her own. That was I think her best gift ever and the kids got many years of play out of it. With my son I have photos of him ignoring the toy and sitting in the box. :)

To keep the kids busy on xmas morning they were told they could unpack their stockings when they got up as long as everything else was left alone. To keep them busy there were puzzles or a small Legos kit. My son was the real Legos fan and that gift evolved into a family tradition of finding another and progressively older age rated new Lego kit for him to assemble on xmas morning. I learned recently from his girlfriend and their roommate that he still insists on Legos on xmas morning and buys them for himself. (He's 28.)