Do your kids need more stuff? Yep, mine don’t either. In a culture bent on buying the latest, greatest toy or gadget, we have the powerful opportunity to rethink gift giving and set a tone in our home that is counter-cultural.
That’s why we’ve sought to shield our children from the onslaught of commercials, from things in this life that produce the gimmie’s. That is why we have sought to give gifts that serve a purpose – to develop their minds, their imaginations, to promote open-ended exploration or delve into historical or scientific explorations.
As I wrap up my series today, I wanted to share one last tip. Gifts don’t have to be physical. We have opportunities everywhere to give them the gift of experiences. You have the opportunity to help your kids understand that experiences, just like “stuff” shouldn’t be an expectation, but rather a gift.
Some of my favorite gifts as a girl centered around experiences – even one’s that weren’t directed at me. I still remember the year, my parents gave my sister horseback riding lessons. It was so much fun to sit on the fence and watch her at her first lesson. It was a magical experience, not only for her, but for her sisters as well. Why? Because experiences were valued as precious; because my parents cultivated the mindset that we were each individuals with particular interests – enabling us to appreciate what other’s received even if we didn’t get the same thing.
The opportunities are endless. Today, I just want to share a few ideas to get you all thinking creatively so you can find ideas that fit within your family and your particular children… You can give a creative card explaining the experience and/or pair it with a small gift to help build anticipation.
Think LOCAL!
Let’s start by thinking local. What kinds of interests or potential hobbies interest your child? Giving the gift of special lessons or a trip to a local place could be a whole lot of fun.
Horse Back Riding Lessons
- Classic Horse book, like Black Beauty
- Boots (or any other essential that the riding instructor doesn’t provide)
Zoo Membership
- Animal Crackers – In our home crackers are a big treat. I consider them at best mostly empty calories. But announcing a zoo membership gift along with each child having their very own box with string handle has always been a big {frugal} gift hit in our home when announcing a zoo membership gift! You can pick them up at just about any grocery store!
- Animal Lunchbox – so they can pack a lunch for the excusion(these were a big hit from a great-aunt a few years back).
Baseball Little League (or any other sports)
With multiple kiddos and a tight budget, we don’t sign our kids up for team sports often. In fact, they’ve only done it once. But that year was a huge hit. My parents gave them a card announcing the opportunity to play little league baseball/teeball and then presented them with a glove and ball so they could start practicing! The boys were so excited and savored each and every game. My littlest insisted on wearing his history costume knickers to each and every game…
Dance or Gymnastic Lessons
Think DESTINATION!
Vacations CAN count as gifts. Vacations are a privilege, not a right. Giving the gift of a special vacation makes for a beautiful gift full of memories and learning opportunities!
Grand Canyon or other National Park
- Who Pooped in the Park – I do not tolerate potty humor in my home, but this book on animal tracks and scat (aka poop) is wonderful and would be a great way to build excitement and learning prior to visiting a national park. There are versions for various national parks!
- Other books – Brighty of the Grand Canyon or Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon (to get a creationist perspective prior to visiting)
Disney Land/Disney World
My in-laws took the whole family to Disney World as our Christmas gift one year. It was AMAZING! I didn’t miss the opportunity to incorporate a little learning into the adventure. (In addition to learning about Walt Disney himself, my poor children needed to learn about Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and other classic Disney characters…)
The opportunities are endless. With a little creativity, you can give the gift of memory making experiences!
To check out the whole series:
I forgot to share what I want to do as an experience based, right at home idea. My new little 7 year old daughter likes to cook and enjoys working in the kitchen with me and learning the process. I’m going to make a “cookie in a jar” type thing to give her to have something to open, and then we get to spend time together in the kitchen making the cookies. I think my mom is making her an apron.
I can’t decide what to do for the boys-both like to help in the kitchen also, so I might just do the same thing, but if anyone has suggestions for a 6 and ( year old boy along those lines, I’d love to see them!
Oh Kelly, I love the cookie in a jar thing. Memories are so powerful. Our children need more of us than they need anything else (aside from Jesus). What a beautiful gift to give her.
My boys love to help out in the kitchen too. What about something with an adventurous name for your boys, like Monster Cookies?!?
I also love what you shared above. Memories are about feelings, friendships and very rarely centered on the actual gifts. That’s always good to remember!
Someone on Facebook asked what a favorite Christmas gift from childhood was and I can’t really think of any particular gift! What I do remember is that every year on Christmas Eve we went to my aunt and uncle’s house (it was on Usery MountainPass north of McDowell-BOONIE land way back then) and they didn’t have kids. My aunt saved labels, etc to send in for free gifts (that was a long time ago!) and gave my sister and me the loot she saved up. We loved opening a bunch of presents, but they were mostly cheap things that broke quickly.
When we’d get home, there’d be gifts under the tree-my parents must have paid a friend to come over and put everything out for us. That’s what I remember, not the actual gifts, yet here I am trying my hardest to get gifts for my kids that they’ll like!
This has been a terrific series on gift giving ideas…what a blessing your insights are. Have a wonderful Christmas, Heather…focusing on the Lord and the Greatest Gift of all! XOXO