Don’t give your kids the latest gadget! Read here to find 15 non-toy meaningful gift ideas your kids will cherish that won’t break the bank.
With the holiday season quickly approaching, thoughts of what to get for the kiddos are dancing in our heads. While most kids would say they want electronics and the newest gadgets, those are not the gifts they will remember.
It’s not a secret that our kids have too many material items these days. Wouldn’t it be nice to give them non toy gifts your kids will cherish and create memories that will stay with them?
These are meaningful gifts for Christmas that don’t cost a lot of money and that will mean so much more than just a box to open! These can be handmade sentimental gifts and tailored to any age.
Best Gift Ideas for Kids That Are Not Toys
1. I think the most memorable gift is an Experience Gift. Choose something you know your child will love, plan it for them, and do it with them.
Experience gift ideas for kids:
- outing such as going to a concert
- a sporting event
- to see a play
- to a festival
- an adventure like zip-lining
- skydiving (if you’re that adventurous)
- horseback riding
- surfing lessons
- cooking class
- weekend away
- spa day
- escape room
If your child likes art, then maybe an art class together, making ceramics together, or taking them to an art opening.
This gift idea can be expensive depending on what you want to do but the memory of doing it with your child is worth it.
This would be a good one to do with just your child and not their siblings to make it extra special! Nothing is more precious to our kids than one on one time in this crazy hectic life!
For my daughter’s 16th birthday, she got to choose where she wanted to go for a Mother-Daughter Trip and we spent 5 amazing days in New York City, just the two of us!
Those are memories neither one of us will ever forget and seeing Hamilton on Broadway was AMAZING!
Then I made her a Spotify sign that plays Hamilton music when it’s scanned.
2. Make a pillow or quilt out of their favorite shirts, blankets, jersey, etc. Here’s a great tutorial from Monica on how to make a quilt.
3. Coupon Book – Parents always love getting coupon books from their kiddos so why not make one for your kids!
You can cut pieces of paper and either type out coupons or handwrite them.
Some ideas for coupon books for kids:
- Date Night with Mom
- Date Night with Dad
- Get out of Cleaning your room or any other chore
- Movie Night of their choice
- Weekend Vacation of their choice
- Shopping Day with Mom
- Eat out at a restaurant of their choice
- Snuggle in bed for in, etc …
They’ll love pulling these out at random times to spend some quality time with you!
4. A jar filled with “All the ways I love you”. You can decorate a mason jar and fill it with 100 notes of why you love your child and they can read them before they go to bed at night.
5. What I Like About You Book – You can use a journal or any notebook to write an “I like you because” statement every day of the year. Or grab a fill-in-the-blank What I love about you journal on Amazon.
6. A Bible or Journal with a handwritten note from you in the front. If you are crafty, personalize the front of the journal with a monogram or images of activities that your kids are into.
7. Photobook or scrapbook of your favorite memories of them, their artwork, or of their birthday parties.
8. Write a book about their childhood or a favorite story of them. You can do this on your own or use LoveBook Online.
9. Make a wall art of their favorite quote. Check out my tutorial here on how to do this.
10. Matching Aprons – You can make your own aprons and personalize them. Here’s a great round-up of tutorials from Tip Nut.
11. Personalized Mug – you can use vinyl or Sharpie to make them their own mug. Here’s a tutorial on an easy way to do it.
Or if you have a Cricut mug press you can make matching mugs.
12. An Ornament – I used to buy my kids an ornament every year that represents what they were into that year, but as they’ve grown older now I make them.
It’s so much fun to open them up every year and to reminisce about how much they loved Scooby-Doo or Barbie!
Check out my tutorials on how to make personalized glitter ornaments, wood slice ornaments, or more DIY ornaments for kids.
13.Prayer Box – this is an easy and meaningful gift that they can use forever. Here’s a tutorial from A Traveler’s Dream.
14. DIY Makeup Holder – this was super easy and my daughter loves it! You could personalize one, however, she would like it! You could also make one for boys for storing pens, markers, sticks, etc.
15. A personalized phone/tablet stand with all their favorite things on it is a perfect DIY teen gift.
My daughter even said, “Wow, you do listen to me” because I had all the things she talks about on it!
That’s it! 15 non toy gift ideas for kids that are meaningful and that don’t break the bank. These are the items that will create a special memory for your family and one they will remember always.
No need to keep up with the Jones’ and have every new gadget, just putting love into making or planning the gift is all they really need.
But if you really need to buy them something, a gift card is always a big hit!! Especially from Amazon, where they can get anything! Then make a cute gift card holder to add some cuteness!
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