Non-toy gifts are a great way to avoid clutter in your home, keep things simple, AND still give gifts that kids will love!
I wrote a post two years ago with some of our favorite non-toy gifts for kids. I also did a video on non-toy gifts for kids last week and so many of you left many more amazing ideas in the comments. So, I wanted to followup with 10 more non-toy gifts for kids:
10 Non-Toy Gifts For Kids
1. Makeup Subscription Boxes
If you have pre-teen or teen girls who love makeup, there are some fun subscription boxes that send a box of different makeup to try out every month that make great non-toy gifts. Each of these subscription boxes is just $10 per month.
We got a subscription to ipsy for Kaitlynn last Christmas and she has loved it! She gets a cute bag with 5-6 different makeup items in it for her to play around with and try new makeup techniques and looks. You can rate what you get and earn points toward free products. Plus, they tailor your bags based upon your likes and preferences.
In addition to ipsy, two other companies that offer makeup subscription boxes every month for just $10 are Birchbox and Sephora Play.
Looking for more subscription box ideas? Check out my post on My 6 Favorite Subscription Boxes for Kids and Adults and also An Honest Comparison of the Best Food Subscription Boxes.
2. Christmas PJs
Last year for Christmas, we all got matching camo footie PJs! Not only was it the cause of all sorts of family laughs to see each other in them (the kids thought we looked hilarious in our PJs; I thought they were so comfy!), but it was such a fun family memory for us to all wear our matching PJs for Christmas together when we unwrapped the presents.
Heidi said that this is one of their yearly traditions (I love this idea!): “I have always gotten my kids new pjs and a movie to open on Christmas Eve. Then we curl up and watch it before bed. -Heidi”
Amazon offers all sorts of fun matching Christmas PJs for families which would make FUN non-toy gifts!
3. Audiobooks/Audio Dramas
My kids LOVE listening to great audio drama! Last year, we got Silas and Kathrynne a subscription to the Adventures in Odyssey club and this is something that is used pretty much daily at our house! They listen to the audio adventures while going to bed or while they are working on crafts/building with LEGOs, etc.
We even listened through one of the series while we were on our two-week road trip and Jesse and I got into it. 🙂 (AIO fans: It was the Novacom series. We loved that one!)
Other audio adventures to check out: Patch the Pirate, Your Story Hour, Heirloom Audio’s dramatized G.A. Henty books, YWAM Publishing’s audio biographies.
4. Cookbooks/Cooking Supplies
Kaitlynn loves to bake and experiment in the kitchen. So her grandparents gifted her cookbooks this past year and they have been well, well used. The added benefit is that our family gets to eat the yummy things she makes in the kitchen! 😉 We’ve also gifted her kitchen supplies that she really wanted (which might sound like a weird gift, but she was thrilled!)
Another fun idea for kids who love to bake and cook with Mom or Dad, would be to give them all the supplies needed to make a special recipe + a coupon for a night in the kitchen with Mom or Dad.
5. Lessons
Are your kids into a particular sport or have they talked about wanting to try horseback riding or cake decorating? What about buying them lessons for a few months?
We have gifted our kids swimming lessons (Silas really wanted to take them one year!), special private coaching for swimming and ice skating with an instructor who was in town for a weekend, a special one-day intensive in a sport they were really into, and cake decorating classes.
In each of these cases, these gifts of lessons have been huge hits for our kids!
6. Family Movie Nights
Last year, someone gave us a Family Movie Night Gift Basket complete with popcorn, Root Beer, movie candy, and an iTunes gift card for us be able to rent a movie to watch together as a family. It was a fun gift that we really enjoyed as a family. (There are lots of creative Family Movie Night Gift Basket Ideas here.)
Our kids have also been gifted Redbox Gift Codes for rentals — which they thought was so cool because they got to choose their own movie at the kiosk to rent for our family to watch.
If your family is like ours and rarely goes to the theater, you could also buy tickets to see a movie together. We did this one year and our kids thought it was fantastic!
7. Money
You basically will never go wrong with giving money. At least that’s what my kids will tell you. 😉 Just like gift cards, my kids think that having their own money to spend however they’d like to spend it is the best. thing. ever.
You could also gift money specifically toward something big they are saving for or just give them cash to choose to spend however they would like to spend it. (Want to step up your game a little? Check out these Creative Ideas for Gifting Cash.)
8. Tickets to An Event
In recent years, one of our favorite gifts has been to give tickets to an upcoming event. Something that our kids would really, really like to get to go to (such as a sporting event or ice skating event), but that they’d never expect we’d actually pay for.
Let me just say, that the look on their faces when they open the gift and see the tickets and realize what it means has been pretty priceless! And then the experience of getting to go to the event with Mom or Dad is a memory that we treasure for years to come.
9. Outdoor Toys
Okay, so this is technically a “toy”, but it’s one that won’t clutter up your home and will likely be very useful. Our kids have been gifted a trampoline, outdoor games, scooters, ripsticks, bikes, and more over the years. And many of these are things they have used for years to come and have brought so much joy to them AND it’s meant a lot of extra fresh air, exercise, and sunshine!
10. A Family Trip
What about planning a memorable family getaway as a Christmas gift? I know one family who gave their kids a choice between two different trips that they had planned. They got to unwrap the itineraries on Christmas Day and then had a window of time in which they got to decide which trip they were going to choose. How fun is that?
What are some of YOUR favorite non-toy gift ideas? Leave a comment and let us know!
Psst! Looking for more ideas? Check out this post with 145 Non-Toy Gift Ideas.
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