The Ultimate Guide to Experience Gifts for Kids: 130+ Brilliant Ideas

Parents often get stuck in a rut. Life is busy, sometimes difficult, and time and energy are precious resources. This can mean sticking to the tried and true when it comes to things to do, and for good reason. Parental exhaustion is real. Unfortunately, this also limits the range of experiences for our kids. But parents, grandparents, family and friends can help un-stick ourselves and each other with experience gifts for kids. For so many reasons, experience gifts are the very best gifts we can give to children (and ourselves). Instead of opening another toy this Christmas or on their birthday, why not have our kiddos open up a whole new world instead? 

In this article, you’re going to get a comprehensive deep dive into experience gifts for kids. We’ll cover what makes experiences the clear winner over toy gifts and some of the best and creative ways to give an experience gift that doubles the fun. And of course, you’ll get a complete list of experience gift ideas from top-end to budget-friendly, many of which you may not have thought of. Let’s make the next holiday or birthday more meaningful and with less clutter!

This article may contain affiliate links. If you decide to buy something through one of my links, it won’t cost you a penny more, and I may get a small commission. Thank you for reading and for supporting Belle Green!

The best childhood experiences often include friends. Help your little ones cultivate strong friendships with the book I Am a Good Friend. Learn More.

Why Experiences are the Best Gifts for Kids

Especially coming from grandparents, experience gifts can be an easy and well received gift to give. But if you’re on the fence about whether to give traditional gifts or experiences as a gift, here are some things to consider. If you’re already sold on experience gifts, please skip ahead to the next section!

Reducing Clutter

The top reason most families ask for experience gifts is to avoid clutter. Ask the average parent if their kids need more toys, and the answer is a resounding NO. It doesn’t take long after birth before kids are swimming in toys, from new goodies from grandparents to hand me downs and yard sale finds. Yet every holiday season and birthday the toys come pouring in, most often played with for a few days (or even just a few hours), then stuffed into a closet or under the bed, never to be seen again. For this reason alone, experience gifts beat traditional toys. But the other benefits go much deeper than simple de-cluttering.

Expanding Young Minds

The brain of a child is like a sponge. Parents, grandparents, and other caregivers need to fill it with new experiences, challenges, achievements, and opportunities to help it grow. Two of the best ways to do this is through new experiences and (of course) books! By experiencing new things, kids are creating new neural connections in their brains. When we purposely provide them with positive experiences, those connections support further growth and development. They can then meet challenges head-on in healthy ways, explore new ideas and subject matter, and see the world as a place for growth instead of a source of apprehension.

Growing as a Family

Generally, kids don’t do experience gifts on their own – they require an adult. Don’t just be present when kids are having fun with their experience gifts, whatever those may be. Be a participant! Use these experiences to grow as a family. See the sights, explore, taste, learn, laugh, and make those memories not just together but as a real team. 

Encouraging Exercise

Most (but not all) of the experience gifts for kids we’ll discuss require leaving the house and going out into the world. Whether that’s a local park or an entirely new city, experiences are top-notch gifts to get the whole family moving. Even better, with many parents concerned about excessive screen time, very few of them include a lot of technology. These types of gifts are great for getting everyone to put the phones down, gear up, go exploring, and re-connect with the world around us.

Personal Growth & Confidence

Every time a child has a new experience, they gain a little bit more confidence. Whether that’s tying their shoes on their own for the first time or finally “getting” left and right (When do kids learn to tie shoes? When do kids learn left and right?) each step is an achievement. This helps them feel less apprehensive about new experiences, setting the stage for a brave future. When kids have fewer new experiences, they often feel uncertain and fearful. Experience gifts give them chances to build upon their self-confidence so they don’t let opportunities pass them by going forward because of baseless fear.

Sparking New Passions

In a single moment a kid’s life can change. You never know where a child will pick up an idea that transforms their perspective. Will it be that trip to the zoo, the art museum, or the planetarium? Or perhaps a visit to a new city where they meet people who speak a different language or have different customs? By choosing experience gifts for kids, we give them the opportunity to discover who they are and what will bring meaning to their lives in the future.

Promoting Gratitude 

An unhealthy excess of “stuff” can quickly lead to indifference in a child. By limiting toys (easier said than done, but possible!) kids learn appreciation for what they have. Experience gifts, in turn, provide children with a sense of importance, belonging, and freedom that leads to genuine gratitude. (Check out the Thank You Poem for more ideas and resources for growing in gratitude with kids.) 

Creating Foundational Memories

When you think back to your own childhood, you probably remember a few special toys. But deeper than that, you remember what you did and how those things made you feel. These foundational memories are what create our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors as we grow into adults. By providing kids with experience gifts instead of toys, we give them a rich foundation upon which to build their adulthoods. Very few toys are life-altering. But experiences often are!

With all of these amazing reasons to choose experience gifts for kids, the only question that remains is which one is right for the kiddos you are shopping for? That’s what we’re going to find out! No matter what your budget is, you’ll find inspiration on this list for an experience gift that fits like a glove.

Strong childhood friendships are some of the best experiences our kids will ever have. Build friendship foundations with I Am a Good Friend.

Experience Gift Ideas: From the Once-in-a-Lifetime to the Everyday

What kind of experience gift you choose will largely depend on your budget, so I’m breaking down the idea list into three categories. If the sky’s the limit, check out the “Big Daddies” gift list. If you’re thinking a little more scaled down, the mid-range of special events is for you. On a budget? No problem. I’ve got some super creative and unforgettable experience gift ideas that will blow their minds. 

The Big Daddies: From Vacation Travel to Celebrity Shoutouts

Looking for the most unforgettable experience gift ever? If you’ve got the budget for a high-ticket gift, there’s no shortage of places to get them. (And grandparents, take it to the next level and don’t just give these gifts, go with them!) To give experiences of a lifetime, consider these options:

The Classic Caribbean Cruise (Or Alaska. Or Bermuda.)

Cruises are probably the top choice for many families looking for gifts that are a BFD – Big Family Deal. And depending on what experiences your crew is looking for there’s a perfect cruise for you. The Bahamas and the Caribbean are always popular choices, and if your family loves fun in the sun and water, they are prime options. If you’re looking for something a little more unique, Bermuda offers incredible beaches, interesting sea life and history excursions, and the cleanest, most comfortable, and most polite public transportation I’ve ever personally seen.

But with cruising, you can practically see anything. For a change of pace, take the family to Alaska. There are loads of adventures waiting for you there, both on and off the ship. See glaciers, catch salmon, ride trains, and witness some of the most breathtaking natural sites on the planet. If you choose Alaska, I recommend going in June through August and not risking the last few weeks of the season. We went in mid-September and hit a lot of rough weather that had even the crew feeling seasick!

International Travel

There are few transformative experiences that can match international travel, and that’s for both children and their parents. You can choose a specific city or country abroad, or create a whole itinerary covering multiple countries. Especially in Europe, children can see city after city of rich history, culture, and architecture they can see nowhere else. Kids will hear a wide variety of different languages, try new foods, and get a taste of what life is like for people who live in other countries.

Before you jump in and buy plane tickets, ensure that your hotels are child friendly. Try to get tickets in advance for museums, monuments, and other sites you want to visit; whenever possible, get the tickets for flexible dates. You know how it goes when traveling with kiddos! Americans can also check with the U.S. State Department for any travel advisories, especially if you plan to try out some more exotic locations. And finally, always research what the weather will be like in the city or cities you’ll be in for the time year you’ll be there. It may be different than you expect!

Domestic Travel

If you live in the United States or other larger countries, you might have all you need for new experiences right in your own back yard. America offers beaches, mountains, natural wonders like Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon, and both ancient American history and more recent U.S. history. City destinations like New York City, Miami, and even Las Vegas have become more and more child friendly.

Domestic travel means the kiddos don’t have to worry about getting passports. There’s no customs to deal with, and you might not even have to fly (babies and toddlers and airplanes don’t always get along). So for families who aren’t ready to travel overseas or take long plane flights, don’t discount domestic travel. From Washington state to Washington D.C. and Texas to Minnesota, vacation possibilities abound all year long right here in the U.S.A.

A Message from Their Hero

Got connections? Even if you don’t, try using those dollars to gain access to a child’s celebrity hero. Whether that’s a YouTuber, a musical artist, or sports star, there’s a chance you could get a personalized message for the special child in your life – and maybe even an in-person meeting if you’re slick enough! On Cameo.com, you can browse musical artists, sports figures, actors, reality TV stars, and more for personalized shoutouts. See if one of your kiddo’s heroes is on the site, then set up and pay for the video. You can even buy customized videos from cartoon characters like Baby Shark and the Care Bears! Imagine their excitement when they see one of their heroes wishing them a happy birthday or merry Christmas personally! Prices range from under $20 to $1,000 or more depending on your choice of star.

If you’re out of luck, try reaching out directly to the PR team of your child’s hero. Check with your friends to see if anyone has a direct connection to them. You might be surprised what experiences you can make happen when you just ask.

The Middle Range: Affordable Special Events

The middle range includes lots of the classic experience gifts you probably thought of when you first considered the idea. But don’t limit yourself to theater tickets and season passes. You’ll find some new and creative treasures in here, too!

Glamping Adventures

You may have been camping, but have you been glamping? If you’re a house divided when it comes to the great outdoors, glamping can be the perfect compromise. Glamping tents are semi-permanent structures that, depending on which location you choose, can include heating and air conditioning, running water, refrigerators, and fully functioning bathrooms. They are a blend of traditional camping and staying in a hotel and often include fun outdoor activities like boating, fishing, walking trails, and biking. 

Sometimes you’ll see mobile homes and campers advertised as glamping sites. These tend to be less expensive than the semi-perm tents, but don’t have the camping vibe of tents in my opinion. But the tents can be double or triple the price, depending on features and location. No matter what site you choose, when traveling with kids make sure your rental has its own bathroom. Sharing a bathroom with other glampers is not the travel experience I’m looking for, and it’s probably not yours either!

Trampoline Park Memberships

On a rainy day, a super hot day, a freezing cold day, or let’s be honest, an I-can-barely-function-as-a-parent tired day, trampoline parks are an ideal way to use up kid energy without draining moms and dads. Because these days happen often throughout the year, a membership to an indoor playground or trampoline park can be a parent’s best friend. Given to the kids, the parents, or as a family gift, these memberships make those tough days easier on families without having to pay up with every visit.

Find out if the family has a local favorite trampoline park and look for summer passes, winter passes, or year long membership options. The kids and the parents will be grateful they don’t have to buy entry every time, and it’s a great way for kiddos to get exercise, meet up with old friends and hopefully make some new ones!

Mystery Spots

Have you ever been to a mystery spot? In these strange and unusual locations around the U.S., visitors experience gravity-defying events like balls rolling uphill and swings that go up and down on their own. While some of these experiences, like a tall person and a short person appearing to be the same height, are the result of optical illusions and cleverly configured surroundings, others remain unexplained. These places are great fun to go with kids as they tend to be cheesy and silly rather than scary, and are sometimes paired with other fun activities nearby like gem mining. Please note that these locations can cause feelings of dizziness and nausea, so if you’ve got sensitive stomachs in your crew you may want to skip this one.

The original Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, California is a popular spot, but you can find similar places across the United States. A few years ago we visited Mystery Hill in Blowing Rock, NC and it was a fun and memorable (although yes, cheesy but cheesy in a good way) experience. Sadly, post Hurricane Helene Blowing Rock is a different place; please check in advance before visiting. Many people recommend that you buy tickets in advance for various mystery spots, making them a perfect experience gift. I’d recommend them for kids 5 and up.

Dinner Theaters

Dinner theaters are fun for the whole family, and with dinner and a show all wrapped up into one you won’t have to worry about being late shuttling the kids from one venue to another. Probably the most well-known kid-friendly dinner theater is Medieval Times, and they have numerous locations across the U.S. Knights, horses, jesters, and of course the King and Queen, this is fantasy fun for everyone. Ticket prices tend to be quite high, making them a perfect candidate for experience gifts for larger families that may not have the budget for it otherwise.

Outside of Medieval Times, you can also find dinner theaters like Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Attraction in Pigeon Forge, TN. Search on TripAdvisor.com for family friendly dinner theaters in your target location and see what you can find! Just make sure the kids are ready for being in their seats for a few hours. This is easier for some kids than others!

Medieval Fairs

For families that love funny live shows, dressing up in garb, and perhaps a turkey leg or two, a perfect gift is tickets (or maybe season passes) to a local Renaissance Festival or medieval style fair in a nearby city. There are fairs and festivals in practically all 50 states that happen during different times of the year. Especially for larger families, tickets can get expensive. So this is an experience gift that lets the whole crew go and still have money left to buy a wooden sword and shield, a ride ticket or two, and deep-fried just about anything. (Onion rings are my weakness.)

Because costs can add up, including some extra money for each kid will let them do a little shopping for themselves without draining mom and dad’s wallets. But it is well worth it, and experiences like these wake up little imaginations. Before you know it, they’ll be slaying dragons and dancing with flowers in their hair. Just watch out for jousting in the living room – that can get dangerous!

Theme Parks and Water Parks

If there’s a local amusement park or theme park in a city nearby, tickets or season passes are a great experience gift for kids and the whole family. Of course there’s the classics, Disney and Epcot, but don’t forget about Dollywood or Six Flags, and water parks like Great Wolf Lodge also offer day passes. LegoLand Centers are also tops on my list, from the Discovery Centers to the Theme Parks (did you know they have a LegoLand Water Park??) Everyone loves Lego and they do a great job at providing fun activities for practically any age group, and they have locations all over the world!

Don’t feel boxed in to big names when it comes to theme parks. There are smaller parks and family fun centers all over – just Google it or visit a travel review site for your target city and you’ll find lots of options. These day trips are experiences that kids will never forget!

Aquariums and Zoos

Children’s Museums

Museums? Wait, don’t go! Stop scrolling! Museums don’t have to mean boring, silent, decidedly not kid-friendly stuffy places for intellectuals only. Children’s museums are now extremely popular and can be found in city after city across the U.S. and around the world. At places like Fernbank Natural History Museum in Atlanta, GA kids can experience not just permanent or semi-permanent exhibits like dinosaur skeletons and prehistoric replicas, but also rotating exhibits that cover various aspects of history and geography across the ages. They even have IMAX films showing throughout the day!

Finding these gems and gifting tickets – or better yet memberships and season passes – open up the world to children in super fun and engaging ways. Parents also have a good time! Look for planetariums and science, art, and living history museums that cater to kids as well as the museums specifically made for children. You won’t be disappointed, and neither will they! 

Escape Rooms

For families with older kids, escape rooms are experience gifts that require team-work and critical thinking. These types of activities have gotten very popular and can be found not just in every major city, but smaller cities and towns across America and are a true family adventure. They cover a wide variety of themes, from nuclear meltdown to alien invasion, can be enjoyed no matter the weather, and take place (almost) every day of the year.

Tickets for escape rooms tend to be an affordable experience gift, making them a good option for those on a budget, and you can easily buy them online. They can also be paired with gift cards for restaurants for a complete family fun night out. Food, excitement, bonding, and it’s all paid for by someone else? That’s an experience gift that checks all the boxes.

Sports Events Tickets

So many of us grew up with sports that the sights and smells of fields and stadiums are permanent parts of our childhood memories. Why not keep that tradition going with an experience gift of game tickets or season passes for local sports teams? Football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer…chances are your local city has at least one pro or minor-league team that needs your support! Each game is a new experience, as it can be unpredictable and anything can happen.

Sports tickets are easy to buy online and can even be sent virtually, making them gifts that can be given at the last minute and don’t require you to pay any shipping charges. Pro team tickets can quickly get very expensive, so don’t forget about your smaller, local teams that offer just as much fun for a fraction of the cost. Get a hotdog and cheer for your team all season long with the experience gift of sports season passes!

Lesson Packages or Magazine Subs

Do you have a child yearning to learn how to ride horses? Or get better at baseball? Or feel like an Olympic figure skater? Look for lesson packages for the desires of their hearts. Martial arts, gymnastics, swimming, art, musical instruments, and more, there are many lesson experiences to give that help them grow, learn a new skill, and of course, don’t add to clutter! Lessons and training will stick with them for the rest of their lives, adding enrichment and potentially piquing enough interest to lay the foundation for a future career path.

Before giving lessons as gifts, consider what other expenses will be incurred. Riding gear, skates, and safety gear can quickly add up. If there’s expensive accessories that will be required, make sure that is included with the gift in the form of cash or a gift card. If it’s too much (for the parents, the child, or the total financial investment), consider a year long subscription to a children’s magazine like Highlights or the Mysteries in Time subscription box. They’re educational and fun!

Budget Experiences: Everyday Fun & Exploration

Experience gifts for kids don’t have to be budget-busters. There are ways to do this on the cheap or spread the cost of the experiences out over several months or even a full year. Not only does this ease the financial burden of the gift, but it also spreads out the excitement. 

Experience Coupons

We’re just going to jump straight into my absolute favorite – experience coupons. They provide the ultimate in flexibility, especially for parents on a budget. We gave these to my son for his birthday a few years ago and it was a hit. Just use a coupon template (Canva has some great ones for free, and that’s what we used) [canva.com] and include a variety of activities that your kiddo loves or that you often say no to. Print, cut, and package coupons or tickets in a fun envelope. (If you can’t or don’t want to print, you can buy some pre-made coupons.) You can limit coupon use to once a week, twice per month, etc. in order to make this more affordable. Here are some ideas to get you started, but you’ll want to tailor it to what makes your kids’ hearts sing!

• Kid picks the restaurant
• Go out for ice cream
• Skip school (We homeschool so this one was easier for us!)
• Movie night (They pick the flick! Make popcorn and print tickets!)
• Stay up 15 minutes later
• 15 more minutes of screen time
• Kid picks the board game
• Ice cream for dinner
• Indoor campout (pitch a tent in the living room!)
• Picnic at the park
• One-on-one lunch/dinner/coffee
• Tubing/canoeing/trail hike
• Bake cupcakes
• Living room fort build
• Lego build battle
• Build an igloo (weather permitting!)

12 Months of Fun

Have a monthly outing using a spin on the experience coupon idea! You can seal these experiences in 12 envelopes so it’s a surprise every single month, or give the kids the whole list and let them choose. Either way, you can spread out the fun (and the cost of tickets) over a whole year while still creating an exciting experience and trying new things. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Go to the movies
• Painting or Clay art studio
• Trampoline park
• Mini golf
• Go to the zoo
• Ice skating or roller skating
• Go to a baseball game
• Bowling
• Arcade
• Camping trip
• Stay in a hotel with a pool (try one in a new nearby city and explore!)
• Go on a fishing trip
• Puppet show/children’s museum
• Go-Kart driving
• Trip to the pool/beach
• Music concert
• Ziplining

12 Months of Restaurants

Following the 12 Months of Fun idea, take a culinary twist on it and help your kids experience a wide variety of different types of food and new cultures. While toddlers might not love this one, older kids and kiddos with a more adventurous palette will be thrilled. Your list will obviously be dependent on what restaurants are available in your local area, but here’s what was on our list:

• Korean barbecue
• Middle Eastern restaurant
• Hibachi restaurant
• German restaurant
• Seafood restaurant
• Japanese restaurant
• Family owned pizza parlor
• Dinner theater
• Steakhouse
• BBQ Restaurant
• Italian restaurant
• Indian restaurant

12 Months of Cooking

Kids love cooking but hesitant to try some of the more worldly cuisines? Maybe that much eating out isn’t in your budget? I get it. Try 12 Months of Cooking instead. Make their favorites from scratch together! Not only is this skill-building for little ones, but its time together that they’ll never forget. In fact, some of my favorite memories are of helping mom in the kitchen. This is also a fun way to help kids experience food and cooking when they have dietary restrictions because you control the ingredients. Use these ideas or come up with your own based on their favorite meals.

• Chocolate chip cookies
• Macaroni and cheese (NOT the blue box kind!)
• Pizza (change it up with some fun flavored crusts)
• Chicken nuggets
• Ice cream
• Cupcakes (decorating is the best part)
• Eggrolls, dumplings, or taquitos
• Peanut butter
• Fruit pizza
• Jell-O in fun molds
• Stovetop popcorn
• Brownies or Blondies

Parks and Nature Tour

If you always go to the same park, this one’s for you. It’s time to get adventurous and explore new areas of nature, and it’s free (or practically free). From your own backyard to local, city, state, and national parks, make a list of all possible areas of nature you can comfortably visit. Plan out a trip a week, a month, or play it by ear throughout the year. Love surprises? Put the park names in a jar and let the kids pick one!

Here are some ways to level up this budget-friendly experience gift:

Review Notebook

Buy yourself a family notebook so you can record your experiences at each place. What wildlife did you see? Draw them. Are there trails? Map them! How many stars does the playground get? (I don’t know about your kids but my son is constantly giving things a star rating, from breakfast muffins to the drive to Grandma’s.) If kids know they’ll be reviewing something they tend to pay more attention.

Make it a Vlog

Record your experience on your phone. Have the kids describe what they see, hear, smell, etc. Did something exciting happen? Have them tell the story. You can keep this for your own viewing or make a public or private YouTube channel. Setting videos to private means you get to choose who will see them – they can’t accessed through a search. This is a great way to share your experiences with family and friends while still maintaining your privacy. Kids love to see themselves in action, and making a simple vlog is free! (You can buy fancy editing software if you want, but honestly the kids won’t care how slick it is!)

Junior Ranger Program

If you’re feeling ambitious, you can make it a family goal to visit as many national or state parks as possible. The U.S. National Park System has a Junior Ranger Program for kids where they can earn badges for visiting parks and completing the activity book. [Become A Junior Ranger (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)] (We did this at Effigy Mounds National Monument!) This is an exceptional way to have fun, learn, get some exercise, and stay within a family budget as the Junior Ranger Program is free and many parks also have free entry. For parks that charge an entry fee, you can plan to go on a free entry day. (Not close to many of these parks? Make your own badges!)

Agritourism

Be sure to include some farms and farm tours on your nature list! Many farms are opening up to the public for free or a nominal fee. Kids can experience farm life, see animals (maybe even feed them!), and escape city life for a while. Google “agritourism” or “agritourism near me” to find a list of options close to home. In addition to the usual chickens, pigs, cows, horses, and goats, many of these farms have unique animals like emus, alpacas, or even camels! 

Friendships are free experiences that build character and create lifelong bonds. Show kids how to be better friends with I Am a Good Friend.

“Regular Gifts” That are Also Experiences

Experience gifts for kids don’t have to be tickets or passes or even require the family to go out. You can also give new experiences in the form of games and activity kits. Here are some fun ideas that will bring the family closer. They are tons of fun and can be wrapped, given, and opened like a regular gift.

Games and Game Kits

While pretty much any games families actually play together can be counted as experiences, some come out on top when producing next-level experiences that also make great gifts. This duel and challenge game kit has 237 challenges that will keep families hopping all year long (maybe multiple years)! It’s good for a wide range of ages and favorite games can be re-played. The key for games and game kits is to ensure that everyone is able to play and the youngest ones don’t feel left out. STEM boxes like KiwiCrate are also great options in this category and can be scaled by age group.

Family Adventure Cards

Love surprises? These books and box sets are designed to get families thinking, working together (or competing!), and generally having fun for little or no money. Some of them are scratch-offs like this book these cards, and these ones. Scratch-offs are fun because the challenge is a surprise to everyone! If the element of surprise isn’t your thing or you’re looking for something more low-key or dinner-table ready, try these conversation cards for families. You never know what you’ll learn about each other!

Scavenger Hunts

If your kiddos love hide and seek, scavenger hunt cards and kits for families could be the perfect experience gift. These cards are just right for younger kids, and because they are one item at a time you can make it a super quick game or deal out cards for a longer game time. For families with older kids, this set will throw down a challenge they can step up to. You can always DIY it by making your own scavenger hunt that is specific to your family. (Think “something Daddy always forgets to put away” or “Will’s favorite stuffie.”)

Parent/Child Journals

The relationship you have with each child is different, and different between sons and daughters and their mom and dad. Parent/child journals are a way to honor those relationships, the experiences you have together, and create something you can look back on and re-live those critical formative years. Look for a mother/son journal, mother/daughter journal, father/daughter journal, or father/son journal. These journals are so simple and inexpensive, yet profoundly meaningful. They are gifts that are easy to give to families that celebrate the experiences they have together.

Activity Kits & Puzzles

Activity kits are very popular gifts for kids, but when thinking about the experiences that families have together, look for activities that will genuinely bring families closer. If they will paint rocks together, that’s a great gift. Puzzles can also be gifts that achieve this goal. This fun donut puzzle is good for all ages and the bright colors keep a child’s interest! (Maybe follow up completion with a visit to a donut shop!) If you’re doing the 12 Months of Cooking gift, this kitchen set is a perfect accompaniment to safely get the kiddos involved even more. 

Unwrapping Experience Gifts for Kids: How to Give Them with Flair

One of the joys of giving gifts is watching the recipient unwrap the present. This is the only potential drawback of giving an experience gift…unless you get creative. Here are the best ways to make giving experience gifts just as exciting as giving toys.

Pair it with a Hint

A classic way to give experience gifts is to give a small item that hints as to what the gift is. See if they can guess based on the clue. Going to the beach? Snappy sunglasses. A visit to a planetarium? Maybe a poster of the solar system. Dinner at Medieval Times? Try a sword or a crown. Get creative and practical at the same time with gift pairings, a way to give experiences that still satisfies that urge to watch a child unwrap a present!

Riddle Me This

If you have a way with words, think about writing a riddle or rhyming poem to give the kiddos a hint about what the experience gift is. Go ahead and get creative here, but don’t make it too obvious – guessing is half the fun! If you’re struggling, here’s a cheat: you can ask ChatGPT to write it for you! Here’s an example for a trip to Yellowstone: 

In a land of geysers that steam and roar,
With bison that roam, and bears galore.
Hot springs bubble, and rivers flow,
Nature’s wonder puts on a show.
We’re off to explore with skies so blue,
A wild adventure just for you!
Where are we headed?

Fill out a Passport

Give children a toy passport like these ones. “Stamp” the book for visiting restaurants for cuisines from different countries. Or use it to check off visiting different parks, museums, states, or sports events. The kiddos will have fun getting their passport “stamped” (however you choose to do that, either marking it off with a pen or using a simple checkmark stamp) and it makes a picture perfect keepsake. As they review their booklet in the future they will remember all the memories you made together and experiences you had through the gifts.

Treasure Hunt

Make kiddos work for their clues with a treasure hunt! Hide clues around the house or yard that lead to the final gift. Each clue can be related to the experience. For instance, if it’s a trip to a zoo, include small animal figurines or pictures of the animals they’ll see along the way. This builds anticipation and excitement as they uncover each hint. See how many hits they have to find before they guess correctly!

Countdown Calendar

Especially for big gifts like cruises or theme park visits, a countdown calendar can build excitement and momentum going into the experience. A simple printed calendar that kiddos can check off the days may be good enough, or you can go next level and make it like an advent calendar. Children can open an envelope each day for a month, letting them know how many days to go and giving them a travel tip like “Don’t forget to pack sunscreen!” or “Bring your most comfortable shoes!”

Include a Book

You know I had to include books somewhere here! Tuck the museum passes, sports tickets, or photo of the target of the gift into a book related to the experience. Now they can read up on the subject before they actually go there! (And to me, books are never clutter!) If you’re heading to a national park, there’s a book for that! Aquariums? Dozens to choose from. Cooking classes? There are so many great cookbooks for kids!

Make it a Puzzle

Print out a photo or create a graphic of the place the experience gift will take them. Cut it into puzzle pieces and let them put it together to reveal the mystery location or theme of the gift. Or if multiple children are involved, give each child one piece of the puzzle and they have to explain it to the others without looking at the other pieces. Once they think they know what it is, put the pieces together and find out for sure!

Reveal Games

You know how elaborate gender reveals have become for expectant parents? Why not take that idea and apply it to giving experience gifts? Perhaps put a scrap of paper in a balloon that describes the gift. Give a bunch of balloons, and the kiddos have to pop balloons until they find the hint. Or put the tickets on a cookie sheet, cover it with plastic wrap, and then put cookies or other goodies over the top of it. As each treat is eaten, more of the surprise is revealed!

Make sure healthy friendships are part of your kiddo’s childhood experience. Read I Am a Good Friend today.

The Greatest Gift of All: Your Time

The very best experience gifts a child can ever get is your time. It doesn’t matter if you stay home, keep it local, go to a new city, or visit the country. What you see, what you do, and where you do it are all secondary. You can spend thousands of dollars, or not buy a single thing. What kids will remember is how you spent your time together. Whether that’s parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles or family friends, our kids need US more than ever. No matter who gives or receives these gifts, don’t forget to be the grown up who experiences these gifts with the kiddos. Don’t be a bystander; jump in and be a superstar to the child or children in your life!