Christmas presents that aren't just more "stuff"

[sksjasams]

Another idea would be stock to something they are interested in. When my kids were very little I was overwhelmed but all the "stuff" so I started buying stock from ONESHARE.COM. I picked things that worked with their age, when they were 1, I bought Striderite, (since they were just walking and wearing shoes), at 2 it was Energizer since all their toys needed batteries, another year it was McDonalds, then Disney, then Delta to celebrate their first plane trip. DS received Nike stock when he got into sports, Oneshare.com has an option where you can even get the stock certificate framed. We have done this and presented the framed certificate as the gift. One year DH received a share of stock in for Home Depot and another year it was the company that makes his favorite beer.
The ideas are endless and can be adapted for any age.

Thanks - I like this idea! DS14 is a huge Nike fan. Two questions please...

I can't figure out how to get stock with out the frame. Am I missing something?

Sorry for this dumb question in advance..does a share of stock need to be reported for financial aid purposes when applying for college aid?

Thank you!

 

[ogreenlee]

At age 9, my DD still wants tangible gifts for Christmas. She is also questioning the deliverer now and wanting to know if I'm the one who says "ho ho ho". Anyway, I love the experience gifting, but wanting to have something under the tree as well.. not sure what to put under there.

We are surprising her with a trip to Disney/Universal leaving on 12/29 so the "under the tree" stuff will need to be fewer. Thinking of giving her a Kindle Fire, new ear buds, clothes, but I know she'll be kind of heartbroken a the lack of "toys", but she's at an age where toys just aren't her thing. Not sure what to do.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We got Blue Man group tickets for the boys last year. They were in our area a couple months after Christmas. That was a huge hit with my boys, although my boys are only 10 and 11!

 

[KCMiller]

My kids are about these ages, and ever since they all got smartphones, we pay for their phone service and internet access. They know that this is their Christmas present each year (it's not inexpensive, even though we're on a great familyplan with Verizon - the internet access really adds up!).

Less stuff, and they know we're thinking of them every day!

KC

 

[ogreenlee]

i'm kind of torn w/ the whole "letting the fat man of the hook" b/c i won't have to supply the underneath of the tree w/ loads of toys that never get played with. maybe i'll let this be the last year.

 

[bas71873]

At age 9, my DD still wants tangible gifts for Christmas. She is also questioning the deliverer now and wanting to know if I'm the one who says "ho ho ho". Anyway, I love the experience gifting, but wanting to have something under the tree as well.. not sure what to put under there.

We are surprising her with a trip to Disney/Universal leaving on 12/29 so the "under the tree" stuff will need to be fewer. Thinking of giving her a Kindle Fire, new ear buds, clothes, but I know she'll be kind of heartbroken a the lack of "toys", but she's at an age where toys just aren't her thing. Not sure what to do.

My DD is 9 too and kind of in that in between stage with toys, although she still plays with her AG dolls. In addition to some other things, I am putting together a spa kit for her. I got a robe & slippers from justice, a nail dryer with some polish & other accessories and am going to get her a kaboodle and fill it with things from bath & body, chapsticks, stuff like that.

She's also getting a jewelry armoire for her room since she uses 1/2 of mine. We redid her room this past spring and we'll get her one to match her furniture.

I'm also doing a gift card tree. I bought a cheap table top silver tree and I"ve been picking up gift cards here and there to her favorite places....Justice, Aeropostale, the movies, iTunes, claire's and am going to tie them to the tree.

Maybe that will help with some ideas

 

[kayrosek]

At age 9, my DD still wants tangible gifts for Christmas. She is also questioning the deliverer now and wanting to know if I'm the one who says "ho ho ho". Anyway, I love the experience gifting, but wanting to have something under the tree as well.. not sure what to put under there.

We are surprising her with a trip to Disney/Universal leaving on 12/29 so the "under the tree" stuff will need to be fewer. Thinking of giving her a Kindle Fire, new ear buds, clothes, but I know she'll be kind of heartbroken a the lack of "toys", but she's at an age where toys just aren't her thing. Not sure what to do.

My thought with your daughter would be if you are surprising her with the trip for Christmas I would wrap up items for the trip to kinda pad her gifts a bit. Some ideas:
Glow sticks or LED toys
Fun water bottle
Character T
Swim suit
Lanyard or pins
Autograph book or item for charcters to sign(i.e. plain tote, T orpillow case)
Park bag

 

[crazyme5kids]

Over the years I have given my kids concert tickets, tickets for Broadway/Off Broadway sows, Opera tickets, sporting event tickets, movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, gas gift cards.

Last year two of the older ones wanted things for their apartments. Vacuum, good cutting knives, etc... My daughter needed new tires for her car. Another year she got camping gear.

This year I am pitching airline gift cards to the older ones.

 

[ceecee]

I really like the Netflix subscription idea, especially for the older ones that are out of the house.

 

[QueenElinor]

We try to emphasize the family traditions and not so much the "stuff", and have for a long time. That's why my family would absolutely revolt if we tried to vacation over Christmas!

A few examples- there is no Christmas anything around the house until the day after Thanksgiving- then I wake them up with the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel- really LOUDLY. Which annoys them to no end but if I didn't do it, they'd miss it.

We go out that weekend and cut down a Christmas tree (even if you're not near Forest Service land like we are you might be able to go to a tree farm). Then we drink eggnog and decorate the tree (it's about 12 feet tall and takes all day to do). We observe Advent, and before Mass at midnight Christmas Eve we go out and look at all the Christmas lights around town. On Christmas Day we open presents and watch several favorite old Christmas movies.

I don't think it has ever been about presents, and now that the kids are older and away from home it's the traditions they really want. If you can think of anything like that, maybe even traditions from their childhoods that you might not have done in awhile, that's what I would do.

 

[tinkgirl1984]

I'm 27 and my sister is 24 and our favorite thing in our stocking every year is the $100 grocery store gift card. Lol. My mom still buys presents also, usually expensive things that I want but won't splurge on for myself, but usually other than 1 or 2 big items, it's gift cards for every day useful things like the grocery store, Panera, Starbucks, iTunes etc. I also agree with the poster who mentioned making things more about the tradition. The thing I miss most now that I'm a grown up is waking up early on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa left under the tree with my sister.

 

[NotUrsula]

...
Last year all the nieces and nephews (10 - 18) recieved footie pj's from an aunt. They were a hit much to my surprise. They all pu them on for a group pic.

OT, but I had to laugh at this. DH saw the footie PJ's in an ad flyer last weekend and declared tha he was going to make sure that our DD had plenty of them once she hit puberty, "Because THAT is the most effective mood-killer that I've ever seen. Those things are a guaranteed man-repellant."

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

We used to travel a lot in lieu of many gifts. With two girls, the 'stuff' got overwhelming early on. I put a moratorium on dollar store crap, stickers, lisa frank and single-purpose gadgets/garbage that were tossable months later. We used to give a year of lessons for different activities instead; dance, soccer, piano, etc. Still, girls are girls and I know how much they love it at Christmas when I get them each a new wallet loaded with gift cards for their favorite stores; whole foods, trader joe's, nordstrom, amazon, bloomingdales, jamba juice, starbucks, itunes, target, etc. If we plan to travel I add in Visa or Amex gift cards so they can buy a souvenir on the trip. They also love a nice wool coat or a pair of pricey boots under the tree. Something they could never buy themselves. It's an indulgance they can use for years to come. This year I am probably going to get them Kindle Paperwhites or iPad minis, something they can travel with.

 

[Mirax]

My father always fills the stocking, it's his job and we are all adults. It's always fun to see what he comes up with. Most items in our stockings are things we need, shampoo, deoderant, chapstick, ect..... Sometimes we get a scarf or other peice of unique accesory type thing(jewelry). He doesn't spend alot on stockings it's just fun to see what he picks out for us. This year the boys(10 & 12) stockings are going to be filled much the same way. We just don't need to fill our house with things we don't need. The baby is getting toys that the older boys played with when they were babys. I have a crate of geotracks

 

[disneywwjrb]

We are going on a cruise in April, Disney, of course, and are buying the kids things they'll need on the cruise. Snorkels, swimsuits, trading pins, pirate costumes, and water bottles will all be found under our tree! What are you planning for next year that you can gift for now? How about new luggage?