Is your home drowning in toys? I don’t know about you but I am so tired of buying things for my kids. I often feel that I am actually buying more things to clean and more things to store. This is exactly why this last holiday season I said “ENOUGH.” Our family decided to go a completely different route. I bought experience gifts for most members of my family – no mess to clean up and what could be better than an excuse to get out of the house?
My little 4-year-old got tickets to a Jumping Place, trips to a Chuck E Cheese, and an Indoor Climbing Gym. My older kids were head over heels for indoor flying classes and virtual reality stations. And my husband has already scheduled the welding class I bought for him.
100 Experiences that Make Fantastic Gifts
My family has loved these experience gifts and because of the gifts, we have all had wonderful experiences both together and individually. That is why I wanted to create a bank of ideas for any occasion. And if you are concerned about how to present your experience gift, scroll to the end, I have an idea!
EXPERIENCE GIFTS FOR FAMILY
- Snow Tubing
- Circus Tickets
- Waterpark
- Themed Park
- Flying Cessna or Helicopter
- Skydiving
- Helicopter Tour
- Hot Air Balloon Ride
- Tandem Hang Gliding
- Ziplining
- Kayaking or Paddling (consider an architectural or Sunset tour)
- Rafting
- Food Tours – Pizza Tours and Doughnut crawls are the best!
- Glamping
- Indoor flying lesson
EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE FANTASTIC GIFTS FOR KIDS
- Comicon type conferences
- Anime type conference
- Virtual Reality Studio
- Trapeze classes
- Instrument classes (guitar and drum lessons make amazing gifts)
- STEM camp
- Sailing Camp
- Comedy Show
- Indoor playground
- Horse riding lessons
- Pop Singer Ticket
- Theater Performance
- Opera
- Ballet
- Rock climbing
- Cooking classes
- Sewing classes
- Obstacle Course classes
- Scuba Diving Certification
- Underwater Robotics Activities
- Video editing classes
- Coding Classes and Workshops
- Drone Camp
- Children’s Museum tickets and memberships
- Spray and Water Park
- Mini-Golfing
- Laser Tag
EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE FANTASTIC GIFTS FOR TEACHERS
- A personal note or handmade card
- Movie tickets or movie gift cards
- App Store Gift Cards
- Audible Membership
- Spa Vouchers
- Offer to come out and Volunteer
- Coffee Subscription – if you know that the teacher loves coffee
- Escape Room
- Art Lessons
- Cultural Walking Tours
EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE FANTASTIC GIFTS FOR GRANDPARENTS
- Day or Dinner Cruise
- Brunch Cruise or Architectural Cruise
- Prohibition Cocktail Tour
- Cultural Walking Tours
- Golf Package
- Blue Apron Delivery Package
- Cleaning Service
- Laundry Service
- Food Delivery Service
- Dance Lesson
- Salt Cave
- Membership to a Museum or Botanical Garden
- Wine and Painting Class
EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE FANTASTIC GIFTS FOR PARENTS
- Golf Package
- Bike and Eat Tours
- Drive an Indy car, NASCAR, Ferrari & more
- Downtown Segway Tour
- Glamping or Tiny House Stay
- Wine Subscription
- Cleaning Service
- Laundry Service
- Food Delivery Service
- Comedy or Improve
- Yoga Passes
- Professional Massage
- Bath House or Steam Room
- Sensory Deprivation Tank
- Wine and Painting Class
- Salt Cave
EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE FANTASTIC GIFTS FOR PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW WELL
- Audiobook Subscription
- Movie Tickets
- Museum Tickets
- Art Gallery Pass
- Ticket to a Minor League Team Games
BUT WHAT DO I PUT IN A BOX?
You can get creative with the presentation. You can put a voucher in the tiniest box and wrap it in fifty other things to get a huge box.
You can print an image of the location, glue it to cardboard, glue the voucher to the backside, wrap it in tissue paper, and put it in a gift box. I did that and it looked super fancy.
You can also get something that will represent your experience – a Nutcracker ornament for a trip to the ballet, a Toy dinosaur for a History museum, 3D glasses for a VR trip, and so on.
As a bonus, it will make an amazing souvenir!
