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Saturday, September 13, 2014

Gifts for Kids (minus the stuff)

I belong to a great group on Facebook all focused on organizing and reducing the clutter in our lives (literally and figuratively).  After a member asked for gift ideas for her children that wouldn't create more stuff, the community responded with great suggestions.  I didn't want them to disappear into the group's archived pages, so I'm organizing the ideas below:

  • Lessons, classes, or memberships
    • Memberships to play spaces and for play dates
    • Dance or Martial Arts classes (base it on their interests)
    • Sewing classes (getting them into older hobbies and skills, too)
    • Horseback riding
    • Craft day or craft classes (or paint-own-pottery, paint-a-painting) 
  • Experiences
    • Horse drawn carriage
    • Bouncy house or trampoline place
    • Spa day (homemade or at the spa)
    • Camping equipment
    • Hike
    • Swimming
    • Boat ride
    • Visit a farm and/or/ pick fruits/vegetables
    • Quality time at a birthday lunch or outing
    • Picnic at the park
    • Summer camps
    • Individual dates with one parent with a lunch out.
    • Fun trip and/or day trip
    • Trip to a theme park
    • I remember very few gifts, but I remember playing card games and learning string tricks from my grandmother.
    • Backstage experience at a favorite place (like zoo)
  • Tickets
    • Play centers
    • Sporting Event
    • Zoo
    • Museums
    • Amusement park
    • Movie
    • Play
    • Movies and dinner
    • Dinner theatre
    • Kids theatre
    • Concert
    • Musicals
    • Ballets
    • Fan convention for a favorite show
  • Handmade items
    • Make what they need to replace whatever they have grown out of 
    • Journals
    • Build a sandbox
    • Handmade doll house (nice, small, contained; can keep adding features throughout the years)
    • A lego table (homemade or storebought)--great for containing a mess/space that may already exist!
  • Creativity-encouraging items
    • Whiteboards with dry erase markers on a string on the walls
    • Special Spaces: 
      • "When my sons were younger..Both had a wall done in chalkboard paint...  They and their friends could enjoy...  They remember things like this now that they're older.. But have forgotten most toys!  Make special areas for dressing up, playing kitchen, cars, etc. and they'll feel like you really care about what is important to them!"
      • We insulated a garage to give them their own hang out space.
    • Felt board with baggies hole punched into a binder for the pieces
    • Cheap camera for them to take photos + scrapbook materials 
    • A homemade cape and wand!!
    • Go and check out library book to learn about making origami!
  • Gift Certificates and Such
    • Coupon book with coupons for
      • Getting out of chores duty once
      • A extra-awesome sleepover with friends
      • Choosing what's for dinner
      • Sleeping in 10 minutes or staying up half an hour past bedtime
      • Backrub
      • Choosing the goodnight book to read
      • And for other ideas from the experience list!
    • Gift Cards:
      • iTunes or music downloads
      • Books a Million
      • Kindle books
  • Other Ideas
    • Something edible and delicious--whether homemade or just a favorite food item
    • Let the party at home and cake be the gift
    • Christmas Jammies!!  (Or something else with a fun+practical touch)
    • Picking what's for dinner
    • Young kids: Go to the dollar store and choose cool kid mylar balloons.  I bought some shaped like dinosaurs.  Put into a box, so when they open it, the balloons float out!  Great, temporary excitement for a kid who has lots and who wants about a week of fun.
    • Movie gift basket (snacks, new movie, etc. in a popcorn bucket)
    • Have gifts be themed for a good cause, like donating books or getting items for a dog shelter
    • Stay home and go out with parent day
    • eReaders
    • A new app or e-book for a tablet
    • Puzzles: "My 4 year old is really into puzzles.  I ditch the boxes, and keep the box cover and pieces in ziploc bags/"
    • Random Acts of Kindness To-do list! 
    • "We do the 3 rules thing: something wanted, something needed, and an experience together.  Applies to all of our family.  Then, with grandparents and cousins, it is one thing, usually an experience.  When we first started giving experiences, we got a lot of flack, but after the first year of actually DOING the experience gifts, everyone loves, loves, loves it and they rave about their experiences later."
Any other ideas??