7 Creative Ways to Gift Experiences for Kids

As a parent with 3 little kids, you quickly realized that the accumulation of “things” happens very quickly. One minute you are a newly married couple with a clean and organized home. Then you blink and you have three little kids running around with toy baskets overflowing, craft supplies laying around, and half-dressed barbie dolls tossed about. Every birthday and holiday the kids get more and more toys. At some point you look around and realize, I’m done. That is why I’m sharing how to gift experiences for kids!

If your family is like ours, you are at your wits end with the toys and the stuff. The last few years we’ve tried really hard (and really politely) to express to family that we would much rather the kids receive “experiences” over “things” for Birthday and Christmas. Music Lessons, Art Classes, Sport Seasons are all great experience gifts. Something that inspires their individual talents and interests. We are so grateful to have so many people who want to spoil our kids and I know it can be hard to gift an experience, especially when the person gifting wants to watch the recipient open something. They want to see that instant gratification of receiving, and I totally get that! Here are 7+ creative ways to gift experiences for kids so everyone can be happy.

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Experience Gift for the Little Cook

In our house, we have a little girl that loves to cook! This experience gift is inspired by her and what we decided to gift her for her 9th birthday coming up in a few days. It all starts with a cooking class. You can find cooking classes for kids with a simple internet or Facebook search. There are inexpensive classes hosted at people’s homes and lessons at more fancy, restaurant type places. How to gift this for a kid? I took a large mixing bowl and added a children’s cookbook and a personalized apron. I also included her own personal charcuterie board because she watches me make snack boards daily and loves helping me. Now she has her own so she can become the perfect entertainer.

The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs comes HIGHLY recommended by our family. It’s perfect for young kids who want to learn to cook. We loved it so much that I got her the Complete Cookbook for Young Scientists to incorporate in our Homeschool and the Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs. You can also gift cooking classes with a fun treat or a box of specialty food.

Experience Gift for the Athlete

Have a child wanting to get into sports? Giving the gift of a sports camp, team league, or athletic class is easy. Whether they are into dance, soccer, rock climbing, football or Ju jitsu you can get them excited! Gift them with a personalized gym bag and water bottle. CLICK HERE to see my easy DIY for making personalized sports water bottles. Add in a pair of cleats or tennis shoes and maybe a fun t-shirt or key chain. I really love the vibe of these retro sports socks for boys or girls! This Christmas we are gifting the kids another season with their preferred sport and adding in soccer nets for our backyard family games. This is one of our favorite things to do as a family so Rex and I are PUMPED to get these nets for the girls.

Have a child that is a more experienced athlete, this medal holder would be a wonderful gift so they can display all their awards.

Experience Gift for the Adventurer

Love to go on family hikes like us? Have a kid who is all about animals and adventures? I have two really fun ideas that fit under the category for the Little Adventurer.

If your child loves the outdoors, compile a list of local hikes. Our county has a really fun scavenger hunt you can do. You pick up a pamphlet and you find codes on local hikes. It’s a really fun way to find new and beautiful places to explore. Are you a National Park loving family? I really love these National Park Scratch off Posters that you can check off each one you visit. You can gift these with a new pair of hiking boots, a hydration backpack, fishing pole, or a variety pack of our favorite kids bars. I am OBSESSED with these giant color sheets and word puzzles. The National Park Theme one would be fun to roll up and stick into a hydration backpack.
Animals more their thing? A zoo membership is the perfect gift. You can wrap up a membership to your local zoo with a stuffed wild animal or a cool animal puzzle. CLICK HERE for our families favorite two-sided animal puzzle! It is so fun!

Experience Gift for the Scientist

Have a child that loves to create and learn? My favorite idea is a STEM, STEAM and Science kits from kiwi box subscription. My kids were gifted Kiwi Co Boxes a few years ago and WE LOVED THEM! They were so much fun and beautifully put together. We asked for these again this year! They can learn everything from the human body, engineering, geography, science in cooking and so much more. They have options from toddlers to older kids.

A membership to the Nature and Science Museum is a great idea too! With their membership you can gift it along with a microscope or these really fun clear, chemistry tumblers!

Experience Gift for the Creative Little One

Have a creative little one that likes to make things with their hands? Sign your little Picasso up for an art class or pottery class. Give this gift with a canvas and paints. Add some molding clay and their own personalized pottery stamp. Are they more interested in sketching and drawing? A really nice sketch book and pencil set or this book on How to Draw All the Things. How about a sewing class? You can find sewing classes at your local craft stores or with a quick search on Facebook. What a great skill to learn for kids! This kids sewing set would be the perfect way to get started.

You can also inspire younger kids with handicraft items. Wooden peg people so they can paint their own characters to play with and cross stitching kits are wonderful for kids’ imagination.

Experience Gift for the Musician

Music lessons anyone? If your child has been wanting to get into learning an instrument, this is a great way to gift! You can easily gift lessons along with the instrument of their choice. A keyboard, flute, guitar or drum set. Afterall, they will have to practice! Find some sheet music of their favorite song or a t-shirt with their favorite artist or rock band. Grab a Bluetooth speaker for older kids so they can listen to tunes and get inspired. How cute is this Mini Boombox Bluetooth Speaker!

A Year of Experiences

A gift that keeps on giving all year long. This idea is super fun for the parent/grandparent that likes to plan. Take a box and fill it with envelopes, 1 for each month. Inside the envelope is a card that tells them what experience they get to do for that month. I LOVE this because you can personalize the ideas for what the child is into. You can make some of them extravagant like a trip to see the Nutcracker Ballet or the Harlem Globe Trotters or make them as simple as a “You pick dinner” or “Family Game Night”. It can be hard to come up with ideas, so I’ve compiled a list of ALL the options. Want to hit the easy button on this one? CLICK HERE and you can download and print off these adorable premade cards with 24 different ideas and blank cards so you can write in your own fun experiences. Just pick the ones you want to use and slip them into envelopes.

Wood Craft Box | Personalized Wood Box with Initials | Colorful Envelopes | Printable Cards

I hope this post of 7 Creative Ways to Gift Experiences for Kids inspires you! Gifting an experience that will inspire creativity, talent or connection will make far more memories and lasting impression on our children than just another toy that ends up thrown in bin collecting dust.

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