Here is the ultimate list of non-toy gift ideas for kids! Christmas, birthdays and even Easter can lead to excessive amounts of things for kids! While many people buy toys, they tend to lose their charm quickly, break, are loud and noisy or just chew through batteries.
So, why not instead purchase a more meaningful and fun present that isn’t a toy? You are bound to find some awesome ideas for any age or gender child in this list.
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Subscription Boxes
One of my personal things to gift and one of my kids favourites to receive are subscription boxes! They are so fun, and there are so many different varieties.
They can be art subscription boxes, stem boxes with hands on activities, food boxes that share treats from different countries. If you can imagine it there is probably a subscription box out there for it.
This is a box that keeps on giving every month and all kids will look forward too! Here are some of my favourites!
KiwiCo subscription crates: My kids ask for these regularly and they are pretty amazing! We have truly loved their geography and stem crates. They have crates for all ages literally babies to adults!
All crates are designed to be hands on, fun and interactive. They have stem crates, art crates, geography crates and even food crates! You seriously can’t go wrong with these crates!
They are also very affordable, and do free shipping across the U.S, you won’t regret this purchase. Here is my link so you get 50 percent of your first month crate! CLICK HERE
Little Passports: They do ages from 3 to around 12. They have subscriptions for stem, food, geography, animals, space and crafts. We have purchased their world adventure subscription boxes, and it has been absolutely wonderful.
It comes with crafts, stickers, a souvenir, a great interactive book to go with that month’s place and more. We have kept all of the goodies and my kids keep asking for more!
It’s another really wonderful subscription box to look into, and also has free shipping across the U.S! CLICK HERE for $25 off your first subscription!
Universal Yums: This is another really cool subscription box. They ask you a few questions to better personalize the boxes and then you choose how many treats you want.
Every month you get a box with snacks from a different country. Depending on the size box you choose will vary how many snacks come, how large the booklet with activities, games and trivia is and the largest box even comes with a drink.
Seriously fun for foodies and you get to experience flavours from around the world. If you want to check them out here is my link you will get $5 dollars off your first order, and they do free shipping across the U.S too! CLICK HERE!
Magazine Subscriptions
There are heaps of different magazine subscriptions to choose from! Magazines are a fun thoughtful gift. Kids like to get mail, and magazines are a great way to expand kids’ horizons.
They are generally high quality, with lots of activities and interesting reading which makes them so enjoyable for all ages.
National Geographic Kids: These are great to gift boys or girls. They are affordable and really fun to read. You can get a puzzle book included which has games, puzzles and more.
I have given my kids several of these and they really enjoyed looking through the beautiful pictures, learning the interesting facts and doing the different activities in the magazine.
For a very reasonable price you can gift a child whole year subscription! So much better than giving them toys!
Adventure Box: This magazine tends to appeal more to boys than girls and has a story about a boy who tries to handle different situations in a funny way.
It’s aimed at new independent readers and each subscription will get a little more challenging. Includes trivia games, puzzles, jokes, quizzes and more! This can be a really fun magazine subscription to gift this Christmas.
Bluey Magazine: This is a favourite! My younger kids absolutely love this magazine with activities and a comic! It has colouring pages, sticker pages, generally some sort of creation to be made with the paper, ideas for more creations and just loaded with lots of fun.
Honestly keeps them happy for hours and they just adore these magazines. I love it too because there is a lot of learning included as well like numbers, colour and alphabets! So, it’s a win win!
Teen Breathe: Is an Australian magazine subscription aimed at ages 9 to 18. It’s a bimonthly subscription so you get 6 copies a year. It gives mindfulness tips, has different activities and lovely inspiring ideas.
This is a lovely gift option to give to an older child who wants to or needs to learn more about mindfulness and connection.
Theme Park Pass
Why not get a theme park pass! This is something that can be used over and over again for the whole year! Gets kids outdoors making great memories, walking around exercising, and getting new experiences.
When boredom hits, or maybe there’s not a lot of money at the moment having an already paid for pass to a theme park can be a real treat! Just about all theme parks will have an annual pass.
If annual passes are too expensive even a day pass is super enjoyable and is a thoughtful and loving gift.
Experiences
Do you know of a child who wants to swim with dolphins, maybe they want to see the snow, go snorkelling, whale watching, or rock climbing. There are endless experience options that are meaningful and cater to that specific child.
It’s a very thoughtful gift idea that the child can truly love and remember for the rest of their lives. An experience does not have to be expensive either with a little creativity and imagination you can come up a very fun experience for any child within your budget.
Other experience ideas could include
Mini Golf
High ropes obstacle course
Fossicking
Laser tag
Paintball
Memberships
There are many different places that do memberships like zoos, museums, aquariums and more. Getting a membership to a place is a great way to bond and spend more time together.
There’s always lots to learn, engaging things happening and new things to explore. Memberships are fun and thoughtful gifts many kids will greatly enjoy!
Musical Instrument
The gift of music to me is priceless. This is an instrument your child could have for the rest of their lives. There is so much beauty in learning to play an instrument and benefits.
Giving a child or teenager an instrument will open their minds to beauty, encourage creativity and is a skill they can have for the rest of their lives! I still have my piano I was given at the age of 5 and while I did not like always practising, I am so grateful to have it a part of my life!
Audiobooks
Audio books are a really fun gift idea. A good one can really make a story come to life! They are fun to listen too in the care, on long rides or just at home. Wether the child is listening by themselves, or you listen as a family, a good story will lead you captivated, and you can listen to it again!
One of our favourites is The Chronicles Of Narnia. This specific set is absolutely amazing and worth every penny, it makes the story come to life!
Craft Kits
I love craft kits as gifts! It teaches the kids different skills, keeps them engaged and entertained for a long time, and comes with everything you need inside the box!
There are so many amazing and fun kits for all ages based on their interest. These make for very thoughtful and fun gifts.
My kids have even taken these kits, loved it so much they made the items on a larger scale to then sell. So you never know how a simple craft kit can inspire their entrepreneurial spirit.
Here are some truly amazing and fun kit examples below!
Potholders Weaving Loom kit: These are useful, super cute, a good price and fun to make!
Any of the Klutz craft kits are pretty amazing! CLICK HERE TO CHECK THEM OUT!
Soap carving Kits: These are really cool and could lead to a new hobby!
Beeswax Candle Making Kit: We have this one and it’s so fun and beautiful! They give you some instructions so you can make a variety of cute and different candles! Fun for adults to I might add.
Woodworking Building Kit– We have a few of these and my son has loved building the pieces himself and then painting and playing with them.
As you can see there are so many different types of kits out there. You are sure to find one suitable for any child or young adult! These are great non toy gift options anyone could appreciate!
Books
Books are great for all ages and good quality books will stand the test of time. Personally, I go for living books. These are good quality books that bring a story to life, generally teach some sort of morals, and have good grammar.
I’ll try and share some lovely book ideas for different ages! Some examples of beautiful books to gift include Beatrix Potter books we have loved the classic set with all the stories.
Usborne lift the flap books: They have a variety of books suited for different ages that are all great!
Honestly there are so many good quality books out there I might do a post on that as we adore good books over here!
Board Or Card Games
Games are so much fun and can really bring the family together. Wether you are going for single player logic games, cooperative games for kids who don’t like to loose, or just your typical fun family board game.
There are heaps of awesome games out there for all ages and many can be fun and educational! Here are some of our favourites I’ll put them into categories of single player logic, cooperative and fun board games.
Single Player Logic Games
There are so many single player logic games out there and they are fun for kids and adults! A few companies create a range of good ones so I will also just name the companies to check out.
Rush Hour: This one is so fun! You are trying to get the ice cream truck out of the traffic pretty much. It comes with a cards smallest number is the easiest to hardest.
The picture at the front of each card shows you how to set up your board and then if you need help the back shows you what moves to make.
Smart Games: Have a range of amazing and fun logic games suited for different ages. You are sure to find something fun here! They have easier and harder levels in each game making it really fun and engaging.
Cooperative Games
Fun Board and Card Games
Splendour
Azul: All of the Azul games are so much fun to play!
Everdale
Ticket to Ride junior and adult versions we enjoy!
Puzzles
There are some beautiful puzzles out there from easy 24 pieces to your thousand-piece puzzles. There are even 3d puzzles!
This can be something for them to do by themselves or maybe it’s a team effort! We have really like Melissa and Doug puzzles which you can easily find on amazon or online.
You can grab puzzles from just about any shop or you might even find some cool ones at an op shop!
Kitchen Or Work Tools
For kids who want to be in the kitchen getting them their own kitchen set can be really meaningful. Depending on the age of the child will depend on what types of knives you would purchase but there are some pretty cool kids’ tools.
I’ve even just gone into a big shop and picked up a variety of 1- and 2-dollar smaller kitchen utensils that my kids absolutely love. If you are looking for a lovely set here are two options for you!
kitchen Tool Set: Suitable for younger kids
Kitchen Tool Set: 14-piece cooking set with real kitchen tools and kitchen apron. Lovely for older kids
Art Craft Supplies
Most kids love craft supplies. Just getting the basic supplies allows them to use that and create unique pieces in their own time and space. You can buy an art kit or you can easily buy individual pieces and create your own set for the child.
Below I’ll share a complete art kit if you want to just purchase one straight out or some ideas to make your own craft gift set.
Craft options
paints: acrylic, water paint, pastels ect
Canvases
Painting paper or water painting paper
Pencils, shading pencils, colouring pencils,
different types of paintbrushes
Easel
Outdoor Activities
This can be something small or something big depending on your budget and your space! But here are some ideas to get you started!
Soccer ball
Trampoline
Flying fox
Outdoor games
Playground set
Basketball hoop and basketball
Gift Cards
Gift cards can be a really fun gift to receive because then that person can buy exactly what they like from that shop. This can be an online gift card like for amazon, or audible, or it can be a gift card for a shop.
Here are a few ideas of different gift cards to give depending on the age of the child!
Clothing shop
Toy shop
Spa centre
Nail Salon
Game store
Other Non Toy Ideas
There are so many other fun gift options for kids that aren’t toys. Based on the child’s interest here are a few examples of fun gifts that kids could really enjoy! Just get creative!
Microscope
Camera
Suitcase
Telescope
Nice Lunchbox
Rock tumbler
Crystals
Conclusion
There are so many different options for gifts that do not need to be toys for kids. A thoughtful gift doesn’t have to cost or lot or be anything extravagant.
I hope you found this post helpful and where able to get a few good ideas on non-toy gift options! Have a lovely day and talk again in my next post!