Need an idea for a family for a holiday gift?
Here are 20 Perfect Family Gift Ideas for the Holidays
Some of our favorite family gifts we have received have been gift certificates or tickets to go have adventures and experiences together as a family. From family memberships at Children's Museums and the Zoo to outings and trips to take together - we have definitely made some rich family memories, thanks to family gifts such as these mentioned below.
I've put together a list of ideas families of all ages would enjoy.
The gift of time spent together...
1. These two books give great inspiration for experiences you should share with your kids. 101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home or 100 Things Kids Should See and Do (Or Else They Will Never Leave Home)
These two books have great ideas to spend quality time together.
2. A family pass to an area pool or many local pools have punch cards that can be used on a per-visit basis.
Gift certificates to water parks are always a hit!
3. Tickets to a Cultural Experience such as a Native American Pow Wow, a Jazz Festival or an Art Show.
Cultural experiences such as this Native American Pow Wow
4. Passes to an aquarium.
5. A membership or passes to a Children's Museum. Many Children's Museums and Zoos have reciprocal relationships with other museums and zoos across the country. When our kids were younger, we had a membership to a Children's Museum and a nearby zoo with reciprocal relationship with other fun museums in an hour radius of our local museum which made for great adventures. This makes a welcome gift for young families, providing easy access to educational outings.
6. A gift certificate for a day at the mountain with lift tickets for snow skiing or snow boarding or even a beginner or advanced class. Or tickets to spend a day tubing down a mountain.
LIft tickets for snow skiing or snowboarding
7. A gift certificate for an art class or a day at an art studio.
We spent many visits at the Masterpiece Art Studio in Portland, Oregon.
8. Passes to visit an interactive garden or outdoor horticulture exhibit. We are lucky to have the Oregon Garden near us and we have enjoyed seasonal events, activities and the Children's Museum especially.
The Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon is a stunning destination for all ages.
9. Entry fees or passes to wildlife exhibits. The High Desert Museum in Bend is an example of a fun, interactive destination for kids to learn about wildlife native to high desert along with history of the area.
The High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon
High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon
10. Entry passes to area or regional tourist attractions. The World of Coke in Atlanta, Georgia, which was a personal favorite of mine.
World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta, Georgia
Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washinton
11. Family Memberships to a Zoo or tickets to a game park. One year we were gifted a family pass to the Oregon Zoo and we absolutely loved being able to visit the animals frequently. We are huge fans of Bandon's West Coast Game Park Safari.
12. Tickets to Sporting Events. Connor has received tickets to an NBA game, college basketball and college football games as he is such a sport buff and has loved the special memories collected from each event.
University of Oregon Duck Game
13. Tickets to Amusement Parks. My parents treated us to a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure the first Christmas that we had blended our family and it was one of our best family vacations ever. Many friends have surprised their kids with trips to Disneyland or Disneyworld and have not told them where they were headed until arriving at their destination. I love this idea and would love to pull of a surprise trip some time with our kids.
Disneyland, Anaheim, California
14. Tickets to Indoor or Outdoor Wave Parks. We are lucky to live fairly close to Great Wolf Lodge and McMinnville, Oregon's Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark which is not only fun but a great educational waterpark.
Evergreen Wings and Waves Waterpark, McMinnville, Oregon
15. Movie Tickets or a subscription to Netflix. Although families may not be interacting during the movie, there is always time for great discussions after movies or during movie breaks while watching at home. We watched Downton Abbey with the kids during one holiday vacation and had such a good time talking about the characters and the historical period.
A subscription to Netflix
16. Tickets to a play, musical or a concert.
17. Passes to play paintball together. Even our girls are huge fans of playing paintball together.
These two are huge fans of playing paintball.
Here are a few gift items that can be picked up in local bookstores or toy stores (or ordered via Amazon, my crutch, during busy holiday seasons).
18. Outdoor Games families can play together. My parents gifted our kids a tetherball pole set, volleyball set and a wiffleball set over the years and they have all led to fun family challenges.
19. Family Time Fun's Dinner Games and Activities have activities that families can do during the dinner hour. These have been a big hit in our house!
Family Time Fun's Dinner Games
20. Family Games are always a sure bet. Fun family-friendly games we love include Qwirkle, Blokus, Kadoo, Sequence, Rummikub, Scattergories, Taboo, Bunco, Apples to Apples and WhooNu but I would be remiss to not include our kids' all-time favorites, Monopoly and Yahtzee. Watch out for the game, Beat the Parents if you are one who doesn't like to lose! The kids LOVE this game, the parents typcially lose. It makes for some good laughs though.
Do you know how many hours I have played Monopoly as a parent? I would not trade that time for anything.
Family Game Night
Good luck and happy gifting!
What are your family favorite gift ideas that you have gifted or received?
