Hark! The Herald Angels and Deck The Halls, Christmas is coming yet again! Yep, it’s that time of year where lights go up, trees are decorated and wish lists are sent to Santa.
For most kids, their Santa list consists of a whole bunch of toys they have seen at the shops, on TV or at their friend’s house. If you’re lucky, they might include a practical item on there like new shoes or a new stainless steel drink bottle.
Sometimes it can be hard to decide what to pop under the tree for the kids. Especially if the toy box is already overflowing. For us we try to steer away from all the plastic & commercial toys and always lean towards things that get the kids out in nature, promote creativity or allow them to experience new things. So with that in mind we’ve put together a list of non-toy Christmas gift ideas to help with the list making.
Non-toy Christmas Gift Ideas:
Items other than toys:
- Books – There are so many benefits to reading, I don’t know where to start…
- Audio Books – Long car rides, before bedtime whatever the reason, audio books certainly come in handy.
- Magazine Subscription – There are a few to choose from but National Geographic Kids magazine would be our pick!
- School supplies – A practical, ‘two birds with one stone kind of present’. These also make great little stocking fillers too.
- Dress Ups – Let their imaginations run wild…
- Arts & Crafts – Painting rocks, felt work, sewing, modelling clay, tie dye…. oh the list is endless. We love supporting a local mamma/ small business for our art & craft supplies. Check her out Indigo Inspirations
Get into nature:
- Gardening tools – kids love to help and they feel so special when they have their own gardening tools to help Mum and Dad! And I saw the cutest kids wheelbarrow at Bunnings the other week!
- Telescope – Another thing kids love to do is explore. Telescopes are great for night time star gazing.
- Camping Equipment – Even if the only camping you do is in the backyard, a tent and sleeping bag make for great, practical gifts.
- Umbrella & Gumboots – Summer time in the Northern Rivers, NSW can be the wettest time of year for us. Super fun & super practical gift!
- Binoculars & Bird Book – As we said, young kids love to explore, if you live near the bush or on property like us, bird watching can be very fun and educational.
- Bug House/ Bug Catcher – A great way to learn about bugs and inspects, just remember its nice to release them back into their home… catch & release 🙂
Experience:
- Travel Supplies – Trunkies are great, toiletries bag, luggage compartment bags or even a passport cover, just to name a few.
- Tickets to a day out – Family passes to a theme park or adventure park make great family gifts.
- Memberships – Take out a family membership to somewhere like Macadamia Castle, Wet n Wild or even the zoo so you can enjoy family outings year round.
- Classes – Try something a little left of field with dance classes, horse riding or even martial arts classes.
- Vouchers – Gift cards and vouchers for the cinema, iTunes and other things that tend to cost you during the year can be a great money saver. And the kids feel more independent with their “own” money as well.
- Tickets to an event: Concert tickets or event tickets are always a winner especially for the older kids.
- A family holiday – The gift that keeps on giving, tell the kids your taking them on a family holiday. Or surprise them with printed tickets/ boarding passes….
Do you have any non-toy Christmas gift ideas that you are looking to surprise the kids with this year? We’d love to know, feel free to tell us in the comments or comment on our Facebook page post.
Related post: Must watch Christmas Movie List
School supplies is always a good idea. We love stocking up throughout the year.
i love those Christmas rules. Funny but true. i will def keep that in mind
These are some really thoughtful Christmas Gifting ideas apart from just toys, I am planning to go with Audio Books to gift my nephew.
I have just bought mine all books for Christmas. I have asked for an NT membership for the family from my Mum too
Such great ideas – I am always happy with any voucher too 🙂
Great gift guide list. I like the idea of school supplies and dress up supplies instead of giving toys.
I love buying books for kids especially if I can find uniques ones that match their interests!
You have read my mind! This year we have decided not to give toys to our kids but more practical stuff and your blog post has so many practical and useful gift ideas
These are definitely some great ideas for non-toy Christmas gifts! I would love some of these as an adult too!
non toy ideas are awesome! people tend to buy too many toys at Christmas anyways, you have some great alternatives
These are all such great gift ideas for the non-toy peeps lol. I especially dig the gardening section here. xo, Suzanne
Books always go down well as gifts in our family with everyone, not just the kids!
These are great gift ideas I would totally get someone rain boots and an umbrella its rain so much where I am from!
I love this list! Toys are great too but these educational yet fun and creative ones are even better. Plus, this list can work with anyone too
What a great lists of gift ideas, this would be perfect this coming holidays. This is really what I want.
These are great non toys gifts for my kids and I am sure they are going to like having these stuffs.
I like giving books as a present! And I love receiving books too!
I love this list of ideas. I especially like the idea of gifiting a magazine subscription, my boys love getting new magazines as a treat. x
Great ideas! My kids are both avid readers so I know that they’ll be hoping for some book sets for Christmas. Our daughter (age 7) absolutely loves craft-y presents so we always top up her craft supplies at Christmas and she’s beginning to come up with some very imaginative ideas for upcycling!
These are some lovely ideas, I remember when I was a child getting a huge amount of books as presents and loving it I could easily read through then so quickly so having a stack of them ready was a dream.
I use to always ask for books when I was a kid and I still do now. Crafty things are nice as you can spend time doing them together x
Christmas with children is brilliant. So much fun and a good excuse to do things you wouldn’t necessarily do otherwise. This is a lovely guide for non toy gifts. I find our little boy can be inundated with toys, so it is always nice to have something else.
Awesome list, you can’t go wrong with school supplies in their stockings. My little boy loves gardening, so some gardening tools would be a great present.
This is one of my favorite posts I’ve read in a while. I go into wal mart on Black Friday just to people watch. I hardly ever buy anything. There are people with baskets full of things they probably wont need or will play with once. Seeing your kids open things like a zoo membership is so much better than a toy that will be thrown aside.
I love the idea of NOT giving toys for Christmas. There are so many great options, many of which you’ve listed here!
I am going to get a telescope for my god son. I know he’s going to love it!
Books are always a great idea and there’s something for everyone…love this idea for the holidays. I try to do this too.
These are some great non-toy gift ideas! Love how creative some of these ideas are. Thanks for sharing.