Clutter-Free Gifts for Kids

Guest post from Melanie of Unique Holiday Gift Ideas. 

Its hard enough for my children to keep their things neat all year long but when Christmas comes along, the pile of new things to find a place for can be overwhelming to say the least!

For this reason,  I greatly appreciate friends and relatives who choose gifts that don’t take up space…or only take up space for a short time and then are used up!

If you are buying or making gifts for children this year, you might like some of these fun AND clutter-free ideas:

Use it Up Gifts:

Put together a kit that includes all the supplies or ingredients for a recipe the child can make…and then use or eat.

Some examples of recipes you could make:

• Homemade marshmallows
• Caramel corn
• Ice cream toppings
• Lip balm, sugar scrub or other body products

Photo Credit: bochalla

Digital Gifts:

When I was younger, my mom recorded tapes for us with stories, songs, things she wanted us to learn, etc. and gave them to us as gifts. Twenty years later, my children are listening to the same tapes enjoying Grandma’s voice! With today’s easy-to-use recording software, you can make your own audio or video files and upload them to make digital {and clutter-free} gifts.

Some examples of things you might record:

• Manners
• Jokes
• A Day in the Life of…
• What Daddy/Mommy/Grandpa Does at Work
• Interviews with Friends asking “What do you like best about (child’s name)?”

**Other great digital gifts include online subscriptions to audiobooks.com, Netflix, or learning game software.

Adventure Gifts:

Come up with a fun adventure and present it as a gift. Create a treasure hunt with the end being a letter describing an adventure you are taking the child on. Or write a note explaining the gift, and wrap it in a small box, then a medium box, then a larger box, then a much larger box…and so on.

Some ideas for your adventure gifts:

• A bedroom makeover (use what you already have and add a fresh color of paint)
• Passes or membership to the zoo, museums, or amusement parks
• Trip to a place that will hold special meaning to the child like: a tv station for a kid who wants to be a reporter, a Civil War demonstration or Renaissance festival for the history lover, a short train ride from your town to the next, etc.

Photo Credit: Conspiracy of Happiness

Mel, the Gift Girl, liked to make gifts so much as a child that she made up her own holidays so there would be more chances to give gifts! She has many more great gift ideas for kids at her website: UniqueHolidayGiftIdeas.com!