Tag: Gift Guide

Fantastic Non-Toy Christmas Gifts for Children

Lisa

Fantastic Non-Toy Christmas Gifts for Children

Fantastic Non-toy Christmas Gifts for Children. Hands up if after Christmas you could do with an extension just to fit in all the new Stuff that the kids get.

It’s lovely that friends and family natural want to buy something as a gift at Christmas time but does it always have to be a physical thing?

Here is a list of alternative Non-toy Gifts that you can buy or recommend for friends and family to buy for your little ones.

1. Cinema Gift Cards

These are ideal for older children and will give them something to look forward to do with their friends.

2. Classes

The possibilities are endless. This could be for swimming lessons, gymnastics, trampolining, ballet, football, cricket, badminton, tennis. I could go on…..

buying a series of classes is a great alternative Christmas Gift such as ballet lessons

3. Concert or gig tickets

Surprise the teen with tickets to their favourite band.

4. Theme Park Tickets

These don’t have to just be for older children. These could be for the smalls for places like Peppa Pig World or Cbeebies Land and make a great family day out.

Tickets to sporting events make a great Christmas Gift

5. Sports Events Tickets

Do your children have a favourite football, rugby or cricket team. These are likely to go down a storm and could double us a joint father son present.

6. Books

You can never have too many books, especially for bedtime story reading. We love books and could probably open our own library, but we always welcome more.

7. Tickets for local activities

Petting zoos, Farms, Swimming, Indoor play areas, Crazy Golf and activity parks. Whatever activities your children are into these will be great when you don’t have any plans. Even better, you could buy an annual membership.

Buying tickets for local attractions are great to give as a gift for kids

 

8. Clothes

Both of ours at 4 and 15 have an interest in clothes and are quite particular about what they wear. The 4 year old likes sparkles, pretties and skirts or dresses that are swishy and the 15 year old is particular about the brands that he wears. Makes an ideal gift for any age.

9. Paint your own Pottery

We have a lovely place near us where you can sign up for a class such as jewellery making, canvas painting or pottery painting. All the materials are included and you come away with your creation.

10. A Camera or Video Camera

All kids young and older would like this as a gift. My daughter has one which also has themes such as moustaches and big ears or backgrounds to the pictures taken. It’s fun to do as well.

11. Magazine subscriptions

This is an ideal present for everybody from pre-schoolers to your in-laws.

12. A watch

Help them to learn the time which is a useful and essential life skill as well as a great accessory.

13. A Journal or Diary

Not something that I’ve ever done, but I do have a bit of a thing for gorgeous notebooks.

14. Recipes and ingredients

Write or print out a recipe and put together the ingredients. You could even include some utensils or an apron.

15. Craft Supplies

The possibilities are endless with anything from chalk, paint, glitter, card, paper, coloured pipe cleaners. Collect loads of bits and bobs and put them  together as a bit of a craft treasure trove. We have loads of Kids Craft Ideas which you could do together.

16. Musical instruments

Have the kids been begging to learn something. The cost of these dependent on the instrument can be pricey so would make an ideal gift.

17. itunes voucher

Are you forever paying for music or apps like us. A voucher of all amounts would be a great gift for a teenager.

18. Coupons

Put together your own little coupons with things written on them such as shopping trip, baking session, craft session for your little ones to cash in. Great for rainy days.

19. Movies

DVD’s are ideal for watching together. Wrap them with some cinema style snacks and snuggle down to watch together.

20. Money

Set up a bank account or give them the cash to do what they please with. Sometimes for older kids this could be to go towards something expensive such as the latest games console, phone or other bit of technology that takes their fancy.

If you have great non-toy Christmas gift ideas of your own, feel free to pop a comment.

Happy Shopping

 

 

#Blogmas – Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids

Lisa 3 Comments

#Blogmas Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids

To kick off our #Blogmas posts this month I thought I would do a round-up of Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids. I already feel quite overwhelmed with the buying expectation of parents. The pressure that we feel to make sure we buy the ‘must-have’ toys and games which is clearly what Christmas is all about. Or is it?

Sometimes the best things you can buy for your children is an experience that will create life-long memories or nurture an interest that they may have shown. Here are a list of ideas of alternatives to toys that they will still love.

Non-Toy Christmas Gifts for Kids

 

Cinema Gift Cards

All kids love to go and watch the latest films. If your kids are a little bit older it could be a day that they meet up with friends and make a bit of an outing out of it.

Classes and Clubs

I think this option is a favourite for Grandparents to do. We all love for our kids to go to swimming club, ballet classes, brownies, etc but the cost of these can really rack up so what better way to pay for something that your child has taken a real interest in.

Concert or Gig Tickets

I think this one might be for older kids, although there are lots of things popping up for younger kids. We went to a kid’s rave a few months ago which was awesome.

Subscription Boxes

You can buy a subscription box for pretty much everything now. Isabelle really loves the whole receiving the box through the post addressed to herself, and cannot wait to find out what surprises are laying in wait for her. Our favourites are the Toucan Boxes (read our Toucan Box post) and Mila & Pheebs boxes. You can view our unboxing video for the Mila & Pheebs box over on our Babynotincluded YouTube Channel.

Theme Park Tickets

Tickets for top attractions will be a huge hit and something exciting to look forward to.

Sports Events Tickets

Sports tickets especially football tickets to the larger clubs are harder to get your hands on these days so these will definitely be a hit with the sporty crew.

Books

Ohh you can never have too many books, especially for children. We have a huge selection which have been made up of brand new bought books, charity shops and gifts. We have books in pretty much every room of the house. Isabelle has a book basket in her bedroom which she picks from at bedtime and we rotate these around so that we’re not reading the same books over and over.

Tickets for Local Activities

This could be for the local zoo, farm, leisure centre, theatre. Anything that your kids are particularly interested in. Again, once the hustle and bustle of Christmas has died down this will be something to look forward to.

Clothes

Clothes as presents for kids can be a bit boring, but we always add in a few pieces. We like to wrap a dress up for Isabelle which she usually wears on Christmas day and Ryan will also have something smart to wear for Christmas day as well.

A Watch

It’s important that kids learn to tell the time. I know that in this digital age technically they don’t need to learn how to tell the time, but I definitely think it’s something that all kids are taught.

Craft Experiences

Similar to classes but these could be one-off craft activities such as pottery painting where they can go and create something themselves and bring it home.

A Camera or Video Camera

We bought Isabelle a Kidizoom camera a few years ago and she still enjoys using it. Let them loose with it on a day out and see what you end up with. Isabelle took a lot of pictures of close up’s of things like table legs, the TV and loads and loads of selfies which are hilarious.

Magazine Subscription

Whether it be proper glossy magazines or a digital subscription.

A journal or Diary

Did you write one as a kid? I never did for fear that my sister or mum would read it, but many people do so why not start the tradition with your kids.

Recipes and Ingredients

This could be saved for a rainy day. Make some recipe cards and ensure that you have all the ingredients available so that you can make them together.

Craft Supplies

Kids can never have too much craft stuff. I say this as I look around the room where there is craft stuff busting out or our craft drawers.

Musical Instrument

If your child has shown interest in a musical instrument, Christmas could be a good time to present them with their instrument of choice.

Music Voucher

Or dare I say a music CD (I heard the other day that CD’s are considered a bit retro now).

Promise Coupons

Make your own promise coupons such as Movie Day, Trip to the Park, Trip to the Museum etc. Pop them in a jar and let the kids pick one out when you haven’t got anything planned.

Movies

Choose some DVD’s, get some movie snacks and have a duvet day. Isabelle loves to do this preferably on a Friday after school when we’re both a bit knackered from work/school.

Money

I’m not a massive fan of giving money as a gift, but there are times when they want to save up for something a bit pricey, and as they get older they like to go and pick out things in the shops for themselves.

I hope this gives you a few ideas of non-toy gifts that you could do for your own children or family and friends.

As it’s now officially December I can now say Happy Christmas!

Lisa x