We all love to spoil our kids. However, the 24/7 bombardment of TV and social media advertising, not to mention pressure from their peers, means that children will always want the latest gadget, toy or article that they see.
But eons of research have shown that it isn’t the transient gifts that are remembered. Speak to any adult about great childhood memories and they’ll be almost guaranteed to be experience-based, rather than material goods.
With that in mind, let’s look at some great ideal for pressies that you can buy for your offspring to create those magical and long-lived moments.
The joy of skipping
Skipping ropes are an inexpensive and well-received present that bring multiple benefits. Not only is learning to skip a wonderfully fun thing to do, but it also helps your child hone many other key skills, including:
- Balance
- Coordination
- Spatial awareness
Plus, it’s a great way workout that’ll get them pink in the face, breathing hard and improve their fitness levels.
Skipping is also a great shared activity that can be enjoyed with friends and other family members. Buy a skipping rope for both you and your child and skip together. Not only will you be creating precious life memories, but you’ll be getting all the advantages of an awesome workout – and without a gym or fitness instructor in sight!
Board games
This is another excellent way to spend quality time with your child or children, as well as allowing them to play alone with friends. Hands-on games are the best, and for this you might want to embrace the old-school favourites. Examples include:
- Mousetrap
- Operation
- Monopoly
- Scrabble
Happily, the purchase of these needn’t break the bank. Charity shops regularly have such items on offer, or check out local garage sales, car boots or similar.
A trampoline
Installing a trampoline in the garden isn’t as expensive as you might think – and what child doesn’t love bouncing higher and higher and higher…? Here’s betting that you may well have fond memories of trampoline activities from your childhood. Well, with the advancement of materials and affordability factors, such an upgrade to your garden is well within the bounds of possibility.
A skateboard
Another fun activity that, for many kids, stays with them for life. Kitted out with the appropriate safety gear, learning to skateboard is a pivotal childhood moment that also offers great scope for making friends. You only need checkout the popularity of your local skateboard park for proof of this.
You can also bet your bottom dollar that if you were to speak to any of the dudes enjoying the half pipes or perfecting their tricks, that they’d all remember their first board. It’s a bit like your first bike, which brings us neatly onto our next memory-making gift idea.
A pushbike
Getting your first bike is virtually a childhood rite of passage. Learning to ride it is a shared activity with your loved ones, being held supported as you wobble from stabiliser to stabiliser, and eventually that magical moment when Mum or Dad lets go and you take your first solo cycle adventure along the street outside your house.
Again, bikes don’t have to cost the earth. Check out offerings on eBay, Facebook Marketplace or any other facility where people can offer their unwanted items for sale.
The two elements that all these five ideas have in common are:
- They create experiences that can be enjoyed with others and alone
- They involve learning and honing skills, be it the balance of riding a bike or learning the rules to play a board game.
They also provide the ability to get improve, rather than the instant gratification of, say a new phone or tablet.
In today’s materialistic world, creating experience-based memories is so important. Careful gift selection is the key to wonderful reminiscence that’ll not only stay with your little one for life, but that they’ll be keen to replicate with their own children, when the time comes.