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Experience Gifts the Whole Family Can Do Together




The season of gift-giving draws rapidly closer and we face the same dilemmas we face every year. They go more or less like this: 

The kids are getting older and their lists grow shorter; what the heck are we going to get them? 

We spent most of the year tossing clutter and how can we undo all of that hard work by bringing piles of stuff back into the house? How are we going to make the holidays about family and not just piles of stuff?

The answer? Experience gifts. We love experience gifts, for ourselves, for our kids, and best of all, for the whole family. Here are some ideas for gifts that the whole family can get in on together:

  • Good old-fashioned board games. We love them. Occasionally one of them does get banned due to bad behaviour but fortunately there are many out there to choose from. 
  • Family memberships to art galleries or museums.
  • One of those cooking subscription boxes where the ingredients are all measured out. It’s a great way to get the whole family working together in the kitchen. 
  • Brand new, renewed library cards for everybody. 
  • Equipment for a sport the family can do together: hiking boots, cross-country skis, snowshoes, running shoes. 
  • A day of being tourists in your own town. It’s amazing how many things there are to do that you would never think to do. 
  • An evening at a restaurant with phones left at home. Or at least in pockets. 
  • A family trip or a night at a hotel or motel with a pool. Great for little kids. 
  • For families with young adults and teens, how about a Masterclass subscription? Masterclass offers dozens online courses from famous people, like cooking with Gordon Ramsey, filmmaking with Martin Scorcese, magic with Penn and Teller, space travel with astronaut Chris Hadfield. You can buy a year-long unlimited subscription so every member of the family can learn more about the things that interest them.
  • And for kids under 13 who have enough toys, Mail Order Mysteries are a great way to get siblings working together, solving clues and cracking ciphers. And when they need a little help, Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents can get in on the fun. There are four mysteries to choose from: the pirate-themed Treasure Hunt, espionage-themed Spies, Lies and Serious Bad Guys, fairy-tale themed Enchanted Slumber and the classic whodunnit detective story The Case of the Missing Bigfoot. Mail Order Mysteries are immersive, intriguing and make for weeks of great dinner table conversation.