It’s that time of year when when it’s all about buy buy buy and getting more stuff. Here’s are some great ideas for less stuff and being more present with your kids and loved ones.
My partner in crime Jen of YoPlay Yoga 4 Kids & I created this list together based on what we have done with our families in the past. We know that kids begin to expect lots of toys during the holidays and sometimes it really gets to be STUFF OVERLOAD. Opening presents is a lot of fun, but sometimes we can replace THINGS with EXPERIENCES or something that requires you do things together to experience the actual gift. In the end, these are going to end up being your kids favorites as they get older- they will forget the 100th transformer but will always remember that awesome date you guys went on together. Some of these ideas are the kinds of gifts that keep giving throughout the year. Connecting with our families is something that is missing during all the busy-ness of the school year. These ideas can allow for more “presence” and add a little something special in turn.
Here are our top 5:
1) Date Jar:
Fill a jar or container with ideas for once a month dates so this gift keeps on giving all year long! You can decorate a jar or box or any container you might have to place your dates in. Then you can use this Date Jar Ideas to put in your date jar or create your own dates. The dates inside the date jar are usually either free or low cost activities to do with your kids.. If there is a cost to the date you can include the money so it’s already taken care of.
With multiple kids, you can try to do different dates for each child that month so they feel special and unique. You can use the same 12 dates but mix them up for each child so they each have a different date in the same month.
At the beginning of each month, your child/children take out the date for that month out of their date jar to reveal their date and then together you can pick the date of your date! Since the money is already included there is no excuse of putting off the date due to lack of funds.
2) Peace Basket
Fill a basket with items that your child can use when they need to bring a little peace and calm in their day. Some fun items we LOVE to use (especially in classroom peace baskets) are:
Bubble timer
Mini Breathing Ball
Rubik’s cube
Fidget toys
Spinning tops
Mindful yoga breaks card deck or Superhero Card deck & dice game
Playing Cards
White boards & markers
Mini chalkboards & chalk
Coloring book & pencils/markers
3) Activity Based Toys
We love any gift that includes activities you can do together such as:
-crafts
-legos
-frisbees, balls, etc
-bulb planting
-games (we are SO into games these days)
4) Gift certificate for a place you can all go together
Some ideas include:
A bounce place
Family yoga class
Ropes course
Climbing place
5) Go on a Family Adventure
Give the gift of a family trip, overnight, day spent together doing something fun. Everyone in the family can receive this as one of their gifts and maybe you even have that activity, trip, etc already planned.
What are some of your ideas for holiday gifts that aren’t the usual crazy toys?
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