Girls with Santa Claus

10 Non-Toy Gift Ideas Your Kids Will Love this Christmas

Recently, I did a major re-organization of my kids’ playroom. I sorted, put little sets back together, and down-sized for most of the morning. As I’m going through everything, I had two thoughts. 1) My family is SO loved. 2) We have SO many toys. What is a non-toy gift that I can give the girls for Christmas?

Ok, before you label me a “Scrooge” from the title of this post, let me explain myself a little. I love Christmas as much as any moderate Christmas-loving person (as in, our tree is up mid-December and is usually put back before New Years šŸ˜), especially now that my daughters understand all of the fun that goes along with the holiday season.

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Truth be told, the original title I thought of was “Please Don’t Give My Kids Toys for Christmas,” but when I told my husband, his eyes got pretty big, so I figured that would not be interpreted in the spirit intended šŸ˜‰. Remember thought #1 above…we did not buy most of the toys our girls have, and it’s because they are so loved by so many. I definitely didn’t want to sound ungrateful or bratty, because that’s the furthest thing from how I feel!

10 Super Fun Non-Toy Gift Ideas

Christmas Family Traditions

As a kid, I used to think it would be a lot of fun to experience a MASSIVE Christmas morning – a sea of wrapping paper and a mountain of gifts – think the Christmas scene from Lucille Ball’s Yours, Mine, and Ours. Don’t get me wrong, we had lovely Christmas mornings growing up, but nothing that chaotic. As a mom, the “fun” of an experience like that gives me a sense of dread and anxiety šŸ˜‚.

I look forward to the moment when our daughters wake to see what Santa brings them on Christmas morning. The oldest usually does a happy squeal and this year, the youngest will too because whatever big sister does is super cool…and must be copied, haha.

I’ve talked a little about our parenting strategy before, but what we don’t want is to make Christmas a “I get everything I’ve ever asked for or thought I wanted” event. We try to find a few gifts that we know they will love, but then a lot of things either they need or non-toy gifts we want them to have. My husband and I don’t want to set their expectation bars super high, especially at such a young age when all they really care about is tearing the wrapping paper and playing in the boxes anyways. We want them to have fun on Christmas morning, but that doesn’t mean we need to go into debt or be drowning in toys to do it.

Ok, back to the actual topic: non-toy gift ideas.

Non-Toy Gift Ideas

So while cleaning “the play place,” I think I’ve thought of some pretty good non-toy gift alternatives. See what you think…

1. Fun Experience

Because we live in central Florida, we chose to spend 4 days at Disneyworld as an early Christmas present. There have been a lot of unfortunate consequences of the COVID pandemic, but, we could buy three 4-day passes (our youngest still gets in free) for a crazy discounted rate. We also have a lot of visitors coming in these next few months, and it seemed like a great thing to do with them as well!

In our area, we could have also chose Universal Studios, Legoland, or SeaWorld/Busch Gardens.

However, I do realize that not everyone lives in central Florida…although, it does feel like it sometimes! Is there a family vacation destination you’ve been spying out? Or maybe a local attraction or museum your kids would enjoy?

Getting to experience Disneyworld is a non-toy gift that we hope they (well, at least the oldest) will remember for a long time.

10 Non-Toy Gift Ideas for Christmas

2. Family Day Out

Depending on your where you live and your budget, something like Disneyworld may not be an option. And you know what? THAT’S OK!! Kids are so awesome, and truly don’t need a lot to be happy. I once shared a story about my daughter’s favorite part of our day being when she got to throw orange peels in the grass. Above all, they want your time and attention.

Can you make a day all about them? Maybe spend as long as they want to at a park with a picnic (eating outside is a BIG exciting adventure around here). Are there some new (or old!) hiking trails you can explore together? Would you kids like to learn to fish (I’ll go as long as I don’t have to “touch anything”) or one of your other hobbies? The possibilities are endless, you just may have to use your imagination!

3. Membership Passes

I really like this idea. Usually, the price per ticket for visiting more than once makes it well worth your while to buy the membership! Here are a few suggestions:

  • Zoo
  • Aquarium
  • Children’s Museum
  • Special Interest Museum
  • State Park
  • Skating Rink
  • Local Amusement Attraction (laser tag, mini golf, etc)

Membership passes are the non-toy gifts that keep on giving!

4. Coupons

I know of several families who use “coupons” as gifts for their kiddos and they’re a HUGE hit! Some of these overlap with the ideas above, but here’s a brief list to give you some ideas:

  • Stay up past bedtime
  • Choose menu for the day
  • Add favorite food to the grocery list
  • Have a family movie night
  • Go on a lunch date
  • Have one-on-one time with parent(s)
  • Have a family game night
  • Go out (or stay in) for ice cream
  • Choose the TV show
  • Sleep in
  • Get out of a chore for the day

I know I would’ve loved to use some of these as a kid! It would also be interesting to see which ones your kids would use first – which non-toy gift would be the most appealing to them.

5. Money for Savings

Ok, this is a non-toy gift that not many kids would be thrilled about, but it’s important! It’s never too early to start teaching good saving/spending habits and setting our children up to be financially responsible.

This could be as simple as a piggy bank, or more complex like a savings account at the bank or college fund.

10 Non-Toy Gift Ideas for Christmas that are totally fun!

6. “Fun” Money

Around here, we call this “Grandma Money.” My mom loves to send the girls cards at (seemingly šŸ˜‚) every holiday…and they love it! Usually there’s a note that says “treat yourself to some ice cream” or “pick out a little treat” but in typical Grandma-fashion, there is always WAY more than necessary to spend in the envelope. So, we put the extra in their shared wallet.

If we’re running errands and they see something they’d like to have, I remind them that they can spend their “Grandma Money” on it. That’s also an easy way to see if they really want it or not…sometimes it changes if they have to spend *their* money, haha.

Of course there are situations when either they don’t have enough money, or the purchase would wipe out the rest of what they do have. We use those as teaching opportunities! Like I said, it’s never too early to start learning the value of a dollar.

7. Books

According to Reach Out and Read, “children that are read to more often have improved language and listening skills, experience stronger emotional connections to their loved ones, and gain a lifelong love of reading.” I’ve even heard of mothers reading to their unborn babies in utero.

Some of my fondest memories are connected to reading together at the end of the day. Books make a wonderful non-toy gift that you can both enjoy!

Remember, my kids are 1 and 4, so my “recommended reading list” is pretty young, but here are some of our favorites:

What was your favorite book as a child?

8. Clothes / Shoes

We’ve been blessed to be given a lot of “hand-me-downs,” so our girls rarely “need” clothes. But, there are certain colors or characters that they really enjoy.

For example, our oldest needed some new “play shoes.” Now listen, kids grow FAST and play hard, and so we never spend very much on their shoes. Like “pick out what’s on sale at Wal-mart” is our shoe strategy at this point in their lives. She really wanted some Frozen II light-up shoes, but I wasn’t feeling it. I told her she could ask Santa for them and she went on to pick out some super cute rainbow star shoes. Santa’s getting some ideas for December – no need to give her everything she asks for.

One company that I’ve been recently introduced to is Primary.com. I like that their clothes are simple, easily sorted by color, and don’t have any logos or advertising on them. They even have organic options if that’s your jam! Use this link and get 20% off your first order.

If you really want to excite my kids, get them matching PJs. Every night it seems I’m asked which pajamas the baby is wearing so they can be “matchy matchy.” They even like to match Mommy sometimes šŸ˜. I’m going to soak up and enjoy this stage as long as they’ll let me!

9. Creative / Art Supplies

My little artists spend good chunks of their playtime coloring and creating. I love to see what they come up with. My 4-year-old is really starting to understand how different shapes form certain images. We’ve moved on slightly from “potato people” to drawing rainbows/patterns and flowers in flower pots, and it’s exciting to see!

Girls working on art projects

This is their all-time favorite art set. It has all of the colors they could possibly want in crayons, pencils, AND markers! And the fact that they’re “washable” markers is good for my clean-freak self haha.

Don’t forget to have plenty of paper on hand and let their creativity run wild with an artistic non-toy gift!

10. Food

Recently, my daughter gave me Skittles for my birthday so that I “stop eating [hers]” šŸ˜‚. I think a favorite candy or treat is a great non-toy gift idea. They’re usually pretty inexpensive and will make most kids extremely happy – especially if they don’t have to share!

  • Candy / Sweet Treat
  • Snack food
  • Beverage
  • “Special occasion” food (Lunchables around here šŸ˜)

5 Gift Christmas Rule

Sometimes, less is more. While we want our kids to enjoy their birthdays and holidays, it’s not healthy for them to expect they will get everything they ask for and more. They need to learn contentment and appreciation for what they have been given.

I have not personally tried this last idea, but it’s been pretty popular among my circle of friends. It’s called the “5 Gift Christmas” Rule. Here’s the gist:

5 Gift Christmas Rule

What are your thoughts on the 5 Gift Christmas?

Non-Toy Gift Goal

Well, there ya have it! I haven’t yet decided what my girls will find under the tree on Christmas morning, but putting this list together has given me a lot to think about.

Of course, toys are not a “bad thing” and a few will probably find their way under our tree. For a few great toy ideas, especially for toddler girls, check out my friend Rebecca’s gift guide here.

But even more than before, I want our family to focus on memories and moments, not things.

šŸŽ„šŸŽ… Merry Christmas!

2 thoughts on “10 Non-Toy Gift Ideas Your Kids Will Love this Christmas”

  1. Hi Kelcey!
    I’m also from Oklahoma and I was looking for some ideas for Santa gifts and came across your post. It didn’t even dawn on me that you were from Oklahoma, but I think I need to get to know you! I love your ideas, thank you for your post! Reach out to me please, I have 3 kids and very much am trying to raise Godly humans!

    1. Hi Villette! Oh that is so awesome – what a small world! What part of Oklahoma do you live in? I grew up in Norman. It’s nice to meet you šŸ™‚ thanks for reaching out!

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