Do you ever feel like toys are taking over your household? I believe one of the biggest causes of toy clutter today is simply, overabundance! Our kids have too much!
Moms, you’ll be happy to hear this but I’ve been finding lately that it’s not entirely our fault! What about the grandparents, aunts and uncles that come to spoil our children and leave clutter in their wake! They have the best of intentions but sometimes the toys can get overwhelming, not just for us trying to keep them picked up, but it can be overwhelming for the kids too.
Don’t despair I have a few ideas that you can pass on to your relatives when they are looking for gift ideas:
1. Subscriptions:
Whether the subscription is to a favorite magazine or movie rentals this is the gift that keeps on giving with minimal clutter left behind. My Mom gets our family a NEtflix subscription every year and just keeps it going. The kids love picking out the movies they want to see and we don’t have to store tons of videos.
2. Food:
Who doesn’t love to go out to eat? The kids will find it fun to have their own gift cards to buy food with or just go out for a special ice cream treat.
3. Time:
Taking a bike ride or a hike in the woods can be a special one-on-one time that will stick in your child’s memory longer than that widget so-and-so bought them that will break or get lost in a matter of weeks.
4. Experiences:
If Grandma is not the outdoorsy type then a trip to the theatre will surely be a fun time to remember. Maybe plan a few of these trips ahead of time and get gift certificates so that you physically have an item to give on a Birthday.
5. Money:
I know money can sometimes be the least fun gift to give but enlist a family member or two to just get savings bonds each year for Christmas. When Junior is ready to buy a car in the future it will be nice to have something to go towards it and he will be so thankful to know that Grandpa helped by giving those bonds.
Does your family have any special clutter free gifts they give?
[photo: MarcinMoga/Lolek
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Gift certificates to our local parks and rec for classes are a hit around here. My kids look forward to a box of art supplies each Christmas from their Grandma to replenish what’s been used up over the year.
I’m all over this! I can’t stand all the STUFF that our kids get. My husbands family has a hard time not buying things, but my parents are more practical like I am. In the past we have had people go in together on a play structure for the kids. We had them spend the night at grandmas, had help putting it together and then surprised them on the day of the party.
Now that my daughter is getting older she loves taking theater classes and performing in plays. The classes and plays are a significant chunk of money that we could not do by ourselves. My daughter loves them so much she would rather have that as a gift than “things”. So for her birthday and Christmas we usually have family contribute to paying for those things.
Now that the kids are getting older it’s easier to not have so many little things. They are starting to want big ticket items like mp3 players and a ds. At this time we can’t purchase those things all by ourselves so asking for money to go toward the purchase of a big ticket item and/or music or games for it is a great idea also.
Great post! Thanks!
I try to stay away from giving toys. I give magazine subscriptions. I also sew for them- pajamas, pillow cases, aprons, little quilts. And best of all- I give them books. Yes, books do add to the clutter but they can donate them after they’ve read them- and they seem to read them several times.
Yes, Books! My oldest is a huge reader and he loves books. He is really into history so he has a nice collection. The kids love getting books for gifts and more importantly having them read to them. My mother in law is an amazing story teller and we all end up mesmerized when she reads to the kids. :) I wouldn’t consider books clutter if you keep a reasonable amount. There are tons of great places that will take used books. :)
Contrary to popular belief, Time is the greatest gift anyone can get.
Good job, Tanna!
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