THE ART OF GIFTING EXPERIENCES
Listed below are over 100 experience gifts you can give to your children this Christmas (or give as ideas to Grandma!). These are ideas across all different types of budgets, some even free!
You can "give" these multiple ways. They can be a surprise gift where you just take them to the event, or you can wrap ahead of time!
You can wrap a coupon or invitation - and you could also wrap an accompanying physical item.
A few examples:
1) We gave my daughter karate lessons - so we wrapped the karate outfit she needed for the class to open with a little certificate I made on canva.com! We have also done this with dance class and leotards, and swim lessons with goggles. The idea is to wrap something they will need anyway for the activity.
2) We gave my other daughter a "bake with me" day. I drew out a coupon and put some fun stickers on it, and then included the supplies needed and the printed recipes for the things we would bake together. She LOVED this gift and ultimately loved the time together, too.
Remember that if you've never done experience type gifts before, and they are used to toys and only toys - you don't want to switch completely. I'd start small with just a couple of experience gifts mixed in with toys - and then you can over-time give more experiences vs toys.
We are 7 years into this experience gift-giving, and we STILL give some toys. Going cold turkey to all experiences will likely get a reaction you don't want - and it will be harder to get them to enjoy.
Remember - toys aren't evil. It's ok for kids to have toys and it's ok for you to give them as gifts. The idea here is to sprinkle in some experiences as well, since toys usually end up being clutter when there is an over-abundance of them.
Check out the video at the bottom of this page if you are needing help talking to family/relatives about giving your kids more experience gifts this year/moving forward, AND are wanting guidance with helping kids adjust to more experience gifts!
here we go...
+ Ballet lessons
+ Backyard Movie Night
+ Room makeover (bedroom or play room)
+ Grilling lessons with _____ (insert adult who loves to grill here)
+ Train and run a 5k with _______ (insert adult who wants to do this here)
+ "All about you" Movie night (they pick the movie, snacks, who sits where, etc)
+ Picnic adventure date with mom or dad or ______
+ Swim lessons
+ Hike adventure date with mom or dad or ______
+ Day trip to semi-local outdoor area (lake, beach, mountain)
+ Indoor water park tickets
+ Nature Scavenger Hunt with a prize treat they get to keep
+ Bounce House Backyard Day (there are rental companies you can rent a bounce house for the day from)
+ Tickets to an escape room for kids
+ Subscription to Homer or ABC Mouse (educational apps we love!)
+ Day pass to a roller-skating rink
+ Admission to a kids writing workshop or class
+ Tickets to Puppy or Goat yoga
+ Pottery classes/lessons
+ Coupon for a day of fishing with you or a loved one who loves fishing
+ Backyard Ninja/Obstacle Course day
+ Day pass or classes at a Ninja gym
+ Tickets to visit an ice sculpture display
Another great option is a monthly subscription box where the child gets a monthly package with everything they need to create/experience an activity. A few of them are:
+ Cooking lessons online or at a local teaching kitchen
+ A full weekend where they get to choose the meals for the family
+ Christmas Drive-Through Lights Show
+ Zoo Lights event
+ Ninja Lessons
+ Family Room/Basement Family Sleepover Party
+ Backyard Camp-out Night
+ Farm visit with outdoor petting zoo
+ Tickets to a botanical garden
+ Create a smore kit for them to make at home
+ Create your own kid baking box - all ingredients and simple recipe included
+ Access to an online game or gaming site
+ Get the craft supplies for a specific kids craft youtube tutorial and set a date to do it together
+ Gymnastics Lessons
+ Package some seeds together and give a coupon to plant a garden together once spring hits
+ Audiobooks are awesome for kids just like adults. Gift an audible subscription or the Libby app with some books you've already selected for them that you think they will love
+ Tie-Dye lesson with you
+ Tickets to a butterfly house
+ Tickets to an aquarium
+ Subscription to a kid's magazine - so much fun getting something small in the mail!
+ Schedule a camping trip
+ Hip-hop dance lessons
+ A horseback riding experience (when i've researched this in the past, i've found this across all different budget levels)
+ A coupon for a fancy dinner night at a fancy restaurant
+ Tickets to a magic show
+ Tickets to Cirque De Soleil
+ Tickets to a circus
+ Game night where they pick the games, snacks, who is on whose team etc.
+ Basketball lessons/team
+ A special in-person or zoom art-date with a relative with all materials covered - do the art project together at the same time
+ A special in-person or zoom cooking-date with a relative with all materials covered - cook together at the same time
+ Same thing, but with baking!
+ Event entry into a running event like a 5k. Offer to train with them and do together, even more fun!
+ Coupon for a pajama party with snacks and a movie of their choice
+ Tickets to mini-golf
+ Jazz Dance lessons
+ Tickets to a basketball, football, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer game (could be college or professional or even a local team)
+ Passes to a trampoline park
+ Classes to learn a new language (there are also several apps you could gift access to for lanuage, learning)
+ Trip to a local farm to visit animals
+ Tickets to a local theater for a musical or broadway show
+ Lessons to learn how to play a musical instrument (Drums, Piano, Violin, so many options)
+ Tickets to visit a planetarium
+ Tickets to a botanical garden
+ Tickets for go-cart or bumper cars
+ A pass to spend an afternoon at an arcade
+ Indoor soccer passes or lessons
+ Bowling passes
+ Tickets to visit a national park (could wrap a map of that park)
+ Tickets to an indoor skydiving experience
+ Lessons to learn how to snowboard or ski (there are even some indoor parks for lessons)
+ Passes to a skate park for skate boarding
+ Tickets to a laser tag center
+ Pass to a local amusement park
+ Tickets to go paddle-boating
+ Tickets to go on a carousel
+ Photography class
+ An at-home day of museum exploration! (many museums have online virtual tours that you can explore from the comfort of your home)
+ A treasure hunt around your home
+ A scavenger hunt around your neighborhood
+ Have a family volunteer day. Give them a list of volunteer organization options and they get to pick which one you are going to help for the day.
+ Propose an at-home lego-building competition day
+ Tickets to local historical sites or museums (you'd be surprised at how many are likely nearby!)
+ Homemade cooking show - host your very own "Chopped" with the family or your child's friends
+ Star Gazing date: Download the app "Sky Tonight" and see how many planets and constellations you can spot in the sky together
+ Volleyball lessons
+ Indoor camping night in the family room with blanket forts
+ Propose a "Home Olympics" Day - you can google so many fun olympics games
+ Plan an overnight staycation at a local hotel and local sight-seeing that you may never have explored before
+ Create an indoor herb garden together
+ Homemade pizza night
+ Explore a bunch of renowned zoos from your couch with virtual zoo tours
+ Join a book club at a local library
+ Schedule an at home dance party. We did this one year and decorated the family room, had special treats, put up fun lights and cranked the music up and just danced - we all had so much fun
+ Acting class lessons
+ Board game night! Many libraries have board games you can borrow - let them pick out the ones to try
