I don’t know about you, but thinking about the holidays used to have me fixate on purging what we currently have to make room for the mountain of toys that would be coming. Whenever I tripped over something one of my kids left out, I would curse. Especially legos—darn legos are the bain of my existence though great toys for my kids. I would even go so far as imagining burning every toy to the ground that didn’t get picked up as an easy out to making room for the impending doom of toymegeddon.
Thankfully in the social media age we live in, I stumbled across this idea of giving experiences or nontraditional gift ideas to kids instead of gifts. It stuck with me. We haven’t perfected getting the message across to all of our family, but we do have some members of our family who are on board. The result of it has been so great for us.
As a family with three kids, going out to enjoy some of our favorite places is now exponentially more expensive. A day at the trampoline park or a local kid-friendly museum can be $100+ for the day. That is something I try to be extremely mindful of as a one-income family that allows me to be home-raising our family. One of the greatest gifts we get each year is our Davis Farmland membership. We make great use of it for one-on-one mommy-kid days or bringing the whole family for a day of fun. This gift is fabulous, but not every family has someone who can be so generous.
Here are some nontraditional gift ideas that have been a hit in our house that might work for your family too:
- Gift card to buy themselves a treat at your favorite local coffee shop or bakery
- Dunkin or Starbucks gift cards (hello donuts and cake pops!)
- Pass to a local kid-friendly museum or indoor playground (rainy day or school vacation activities, yes please!)
- Gift card to your favorite stores (Target or Dicks are huge in my house)
- Movie theater gift cards (for older toddlers and kids)
- Bookstore gift card
- Zoo tickets
This is not to sound ungrateful or entitled for the friends and family willing to generously purchase a gift. But think of us parents who have to clean up after the 5000-piece toys that come our way. Also, we have to sometimes wrap or assemble and find homes for all of these things. Even art supplies come at a cost. So, if you are reading this as a family member, consider the parents if this is an ask you receive from a family member or close friend. It can even be an opportunity for you to go on whatever adventure or thing you choose for that child or family.
Also, I understand that giving something kids cannot open (especially with young kids) can feel wrong. To this, I would suggest wrapping it with something small like a homemade treat or special ornament in a fun box with gift wrap. Yes, it is nontraditional in our society. We are all used to seeing kids open gifts and react. But, the enjoyment is quickly lived as they move on to the next gift and distraction.
I don’t want you to think that we asked this and every single family member and friend adapted to this way of gifting for our kids. But we have had more and more jumping on board each year. As a thank you, I try to be mindful of who gives what for these adventures. So that I can send photos of the kids using it. This way they can see how much enjoyment the kids get out of it. It’s a simple touch, but I think it goes a very long way. Instead of a toy that is played with for a hot second but ends up getting broken, forgotten, or donated.
