Help with ideas for long term Christmas gift

[myhoney]

I want to wrap 12 boxes, each with a different family experience inside. I think the kids will look forward to seeing what the next box/outing is. Now that the little ones are getting bigger, it's easier to do things with them. We would still have a few gifts for them to open on Christmas, but probably only 1/2 as much as usual. It may not be any cheaper in the long run, but it will spread it out a bit.

So far, we are thinking:
- trip to the circus
- winter overnight at a hotel so we can swim/relax the bedtime rules
- snow tubing
- apple picking (?)
- boat cruise
- amusement park

We've never done any of these with the kids before. What other fun ideas are there? I don't want to spend a ton of money each month, but maybe alternate one bigger excursion with a milder one.

We have 4 kids, ranging from 2-10, and have just about every toy imaginable. We have a ton of books, and the kids wear a uniform so they don't need a lot of clothes. I am tired of the gifts they "have to have" getting broken or tossed aside in no time. The past few years, we've used a portion of the budget toward experiences - theater or concert performances. This year, I want to take it a step further and shift the focus from stuff to family, togetherness, and recognizing the gift that we have in each other.

 

[myhoney]

And I want to put clues in the box with a riddle so the kids have to decipher each one!

 

[HeatherC]

Where are you located?

how about...

tickets to a local museum one day
zoo
movie and ice cream day
Chuck E Cheese Day
Bowling and Pizza
Family CampOut...in backyard...eat dessert for dinner.
Local trampoline jump place?
Ice or Roller Skating

 

[LJSquishy]

Family movie night at home where you rent or buy a new movie and have all sorts of junk food, or ice cream for dinner night?

I donk know where you live...but maybe go for a hike? Fishing?

I bet they'd enjoy a week of no chores or something like that!

Maybe tickets to a local theatre show if there are any that would interest them or if Cirque comes to your area that would be great.

 

[myhoney]

We are in Buffalo, NY. DH and I always have great intentions of doing family activities, but time slips away from us. I'm thinking every month on the 25th, we'll open another present and since they are preplanned, we can make sure they happen! I love showing the kdis new things. We are about to leave for a tour of the chocolate factory in town. Only opens once a year to the public!! Just those different kinds of things.

 

[LynnTH]

This is an awesome idea. My kids are 16 and 14 but would love to think of something like this for them.

 

[MomToOne]

Do you all camp? If so, how about checking out a new campground for one or two nights somewhere near home? And if you don't camp, how about trying a backyard camp out, or even just a living room camp out? DD used to love that when she was younger. We'd just lay out sleeping bags on the living room floor, turn off all the lights except for some candles and/or flashlights, and watch a movie while eating "camping" foods. If you have a fireplace, you can cook hot dogs over the fire, or we have a little s'mores maker that we'd pull out (just a fancy sterno pot).

For October, how about a corn maze?

Tickets to Disney on Ice? (There always seems to be one touring these days)

Call me crazy, but I started taking DD to see the Nutcracker at Christmas when she was 3...if you have a local ballet, this can be lots of fun. Our ballet even does a "Sugar Plum Tea" one afternoon where kids can meet the dancers before the performance. Depending on your ballet, the tickets can be more reasonably priced than you might expect (go for the nose bleed section with kids - the patrons tend to be more forgiving LOL). Ours used to be quite reasonable, although they've become a bit more ridiculously priced the last couple of years. Skip ticketmaster and similar services and purchase directly from the box office to save a few dollars.

Do you have a local train that does a "Polar Express"-type ride?

 

[Narnia_girl]

Good for you! Sounds like a great plan. I think you have some great ideas so far!

Taking a slightly different angle, I wanted to do something similar with our extended family to make sure we did fun things after the holiday rush. We created a party plan for the following months.
For example:
January--snowman brunch with snow themed games, we created scarves and had great food (warm-you-up sausage quiche and maple French toast bake)
February--President's Day with presidential trivia, crafts and "presidential food" i.e. Jelly Beans (Reagan) Peanuts (Carter) NO BROCCOLI (Bush 41) etc.... We also served the famous Senate Bean Soup.
in early May we had a Kentucky Derby Party and decorated our own fancy hats. Then we bet on the horses using Monopoly money.

I found a ton of ideas on Pinterest. There are snowman party (Frozen) ideas, and all kinds of other birthday themes that could be turned into a fun party for each month so if you don't have enough outings you could throw some home parties.

 

[Ava]

I love this idea too. We already buy very little for the kids ourselves but they always end up with a ton of stuff from their grandparents, even though we've asked them for the last few years to tone it down. We live in an apartment and don't have a lot of space, so half the toys end up shoved into a closet or storage bin and forgotten.

 

[worm761]

OP, I love your idea and I think I'm going to steal it! LOL DD has entirely too much crap and rarely plays with most of it. And her birthday is just a few weeks before Christmas. December birthdays are expensive!

I would suggest some new board games for the whole family.

Good for you! Sounds like a great plan. I think you have some great ideas so far!

Taking a slightly different angle, I wanted to do something similar with our extended family to make sure we did fun things after the holiday rush. We created a party plan for the following months.
For example:
January--snowman brunch with snow themed games, we created scarves and had great food (warm-you-up sausage quiche and maple French toast bake)
February--President's Day with presidential trivia, crafts and "presidential food" i.e. Jelly Beans (Reagan) Peanuts (Carter) NO BROCCOLI (Bush 41) etc.... We also served the famous Senate Bean Soup.
in early May we had a Kentucky Derby Party and decorated our own fancy hats. Then we bet on the horses using Monopoly money.

I found a ton of ideas on Pinterest. There are snowman party (Frozen) ideas, and all kinds of other birthday themes that could be turned into a fun party for each month so if you don't have enough outings you could throw some home parties.

I love this! Stealing this too!

 

[Narnia_girl]

Another idea: the summer Olympics are in August.
Maybe plan a week around that: food from a different country each night; indoor/outdoor Olympic games, watch the ceremonies and so on. I know Pinterest has ideas for Olympic celebrations.

 

[Halle]

I want to wrap 12 boxes, each with a different family experience inside. I think the kids will look forward to seeing what the next box/outing is. Now that the little ones are getting bigger, it's easier to do things with them. We would still have a few gifts for them to open on Christmas, but probably only 1/2 as much as usual. It may not be any cheaper in the long run, but it will spread it out a bit.

So far, we are thinking:
- trip to the circus
- winter overnight at a hotel so we can swim/relax the bedtime rules
- snow tubing
- apple picking (?)
- boat cruise
- amusement park

We've never done any of these with the kids before. What other fun ideas are there? I don't want to spend a ton of money each month, but maybe alternate one bigger excursion with a milder one.

We have 4 kids, ranging from 2-10, and have just about every toy imaginable. We have a ton of books, and the kids wear a uniform so they don't need a lot of clothes. I am tired of the gifts they "have to have" getting broken or tossed aside in no time. The past few years, we've used a portion of the budget toward experiences - theater or concert performances. This year, I want to take it a step further and shift the focus from stuff to family, togetherness, and recognizing the gift that we have in each other.

Since you are in Buffalo how about Great Wolf Lodge? My grandkids love it. Our Son buys it on Groupon or Zullily.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Children's theater

Outdoor concert venue

Canoe trip

Are there any factories around? Many do tours and sometimes they are free.

 

[Alexle2007]

Do you have a Medieval Times around? My son loves the show!

 

[Thing 1]

We love to do this. This year DS is getting The Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas and we will go just a few days later. We have done big, Disney World, down to simply movie tickets. We have done all sorts of sports tickets, wrestle mania, Disney on Ice, The Circus, Season Passes to our local Theme Park,etc. DS is getting archery lessons for his birthday. We have family that goes crazy with buying cloths and stuff and we need no toys. He is also starting to out grow a lot of toy stuff and it just does not get played with. We did and still do these things with our adult son as well.

 

[sk8jdgca]

Bit more expensive but the Ripleys aquarium in Toronto has swim with the sting ray experience. Looks good

 

[pjlla]

No time here to read all of the replies, so sorry if any of this is a repeat.....

membership to local science and/or art museum and/or zoo/aquarium
Segway tour (depends on kids ages) DS and I have done this a few times and it is great fun!
Ziplining or alpine slide.... you may have to hunt for this in your area.... check local ski resorts.
indoor surfing, skydiving, and/or trampoline park
visit to a local maple sugaring house followed by an INDULGENT breakfast/brunch out for pancakes and waffles (probably March or April for this)
hot air ballooning
Whale watch or deep sea fishing trip
Tix to a show..... sometimes you can find quirky things that aren't plays or concerts..... last year DD and I went to see Alton Brown (of the Food Network) and a few months before that we got the kids tix for Mythbuster: Live on stage (of the Discovery channel).
How about a funny themed day.... like "anything can happen" day..... let them have ice cream sundaes for breakfast, skip regular chores (like making beds), surprise them with new kites and a trip to a local field to fly them, then maybe someplace exotic for dinner ???

Check local area calendars of events, ask friends about yearly events in the area that they have enjoyed, etc. For example, Providence, RI does "WaterFire" on select weekends in the summer. DD took me for my 50th birthday and even booked a "WaterFire" cruise for the two of us! Something I would have never probably planned for myself, but SUPER fun! There is probably stuff like that around your area!

Great idea.... best of luck!...........P

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

If you are your childrens' main care provider, I think gifts you can extend the longest would be zoo or museum memberships. If you have a zoo, aquarium or museum within an hour of you, that's a great Christmas gift. A family membership for everyone.

 

[pklein09]

I don't think I saw this....mini golf. Art Park? Glass blowing demonstration?

Wrapping ideas: Circus peanuts and Barnum Animal crackers for circus tickets, blow-up inner tube for tubing, beach ball for the indoor water park, map for the amusement park, golf balls/tees for mini golf.

Neat idea!!! Good luck with everything!

 

[dhardawa]

Ugh. No circus.

What about a night in a hotel in a neighboring city?
Ball games?
Going to a local outdoor festival?