I don’t know about you, but my kids don’t need much.
They play happily for hours with the simplest of things – what they really want is for someone to engage and interact with them.
5 Non-Toy Gifts: Ideas and Inspiration For Kids
Non-Toy Gift 1: New Outfit Experience
Take the special child in your life shopping for a new outfit. The important part here is that you make it an experience that you do TOGETHER. I do this with my daughter every year for her birthday and it’s so much fun! We go to a store and she gets to pick out a brand new outfit, but we turn the shopping day into an experience. I think this would work well with nieces and nephews, grandchildren, and even close family friends!
Non-Toy Gift 2: A New Sleeping Bag and a Flashlight
Does this seem like a strange gift idea to you? We use our sleeping bags for camping together as a family BUT our children also LOVE using their sleeping bags when they play pretend, when they build forts and when we watch movies together during family time. In my experience, this is a great gift idea that provides endless hours of play!
Non-Toy Gift 3: A Subscription!
I spend a lot of time sharing why I believe subscriptions are a fantastic non-toy gift, here are just a few great reasons:
- It’s the gift that keeps on giving (a gift keeps coming in the mail every month)
- Subscriptions encourage family connection and togetherness
- Subscriptions encourage learning
- Petit Mail story postcards don’t take up a lot of space in your home, can be saved and used again and again (or with future siblings) and can be recycled when you are finished with them.
Non-Toy Gift 4: A Photo Book
My children LOVE looking at photos of themselves. We talk about things that we’ve done together and that they have experiences.
This gift is a beautiful way to capture and share memories.
Non-Toy Gift 5: “Best Day Ever” Scavenger Hunt
Choose your child’s favourite activities, then buy gift cards for some of those things.
Turn this into a fun activity by wrapping the gift cards, then creating a way for your child to follow clues to search for the gift cards.
What do you think? Would you try any of my ideas?
Think about a way to find gifts that “keep on giving” while making it fun.
I hope these 5 ideas sparked your imagination!
Petit Mail is a bright, fun snail mail story postcard subscription experience for preschoolers and their family.
Discover The JOY of Snail Mail
Petit Mail is the fun way to introduce a new generation to the joy of snail mail. Created and written by mom and entrepreneur Alison Butler, each story postcard is packaged, stamped and addressed by hand.
Every month, your Petit Mail story postcard arrives in your mailbox in a bright, colourful envelope, addressed with your child’s first name.
You can try your first story for just $10 (postage included). Our stories inspire reading, imagination, creative play and make learning FUN.
