To gift experiences rather than presents?

Alicorn1707 · 10/12/2025 01:49

Isn't it about what would give your children the most pleasure, rather than what you think they should enjoy @BigFishLittleFishy

DeanStockwell · 10/12/2025 02:11

Have your DCs ever expressed interest in the kind of things you want to buy them ? If not then wouldn't do it
If they have is it the only gift they will get tbh I'd not be impressed with not having any gift to open on Christmas day and having to wait for weeks/ months for x show / event to come around .
Unless you never normally go for meals out or you are really going to splash out a meal out is not a Christmas gift imo.

MayaPinion · 10/12/2025 02:17

If they’re little I’d definitely do presents. If they’re adults then they might enjoy experiences. One of my favourite Christmas gifts comes from my mother in law and is a gift voucher to a wonderful restaurant in a nearby historic town.

Farticus101 · 10/12/2025 02:58

I think most young kids would be less enthusiastic as it as it would take away some of the pleasure of having a pile of presents and playing with them immediately afterwards on Christmas day. Telling kids to wait to enjoy a water park later in the holidays might be a bit less exciting for them.

Grumpynan · 10/12/2025 03:25

I’ve done that for big birthdays, I feel it’s something that will never be lost or broken.

christmas - well if that’s what they asked for otherwise I think a present is better, maybe a gift and money towards or some tickets . Mind you I’m talking adults.

my GDs I always gift them annually zoo passes because their parents ask for that as a family, but they all get a gift too, a five year old wants something in paper and a bow not an envelope.

bizkittt · 10/12/2025 03:26

Sounds a bit crap if your kids are young

PollyBell · 10/12/2025 03:43

Well I dont disagree as such but as a family we do experiences as they are nice to do as part of being in a family so for young kids they may not get the gift aspect, when older if it is something they would like I would have no problem with it, but to me it is what the children want not what we have decided they should have

SalmonOnFinnCrisp · 10/12/2025 03:46

Age 7 or 8 if they wanted passionately to see frozen the musical or whatever...yes.

My 3 yr old would either be annoyed and want to know where her "real present" was or pulling on her shoes to "go now" at 6.52am christmas day for a show held in mid-jan 😵‍💫

littlemisspickles · 10/12/2025 06:07

I much prefer 'doing' over 'having' so ever since my daughter was a teen the main present is an activity, same for my husband and me. We've gifted go ape, escape rooms, spa days, sky dives, theatre tickets, meals at fancy restaurants, driving experiences, days out, weekends away. Loads of great memories, something to look forward to after the birthday/Christmas celebrations are over. Everyone is different, but we find it hard to think of things we really want, but easy to think of thinks we'd like to do, places we'd like to go.

HerNeighbourTotoro · 10/12/2025 06:12

I guess it depends if they kids enjoy the activities or if it's about you enjoying them and thinking they should too. Or maybe combining the two- a physical gift and a ticket to an event? Depending on the age of the child, if my 5yo opened an envelope with a ticket to something he would probably be disappointed. If it was a teenage me, Id have loved it.

Damnloginpopup · 10/12/2025 06:20

For an adult, yes. For a child not really. But at least it's not a goat.

My partner bought me a goat once.

And my kids.

In Africa.

We didn't want or appreciate a fucking goat in Africa.

And I bet the goat didn't even exist. Or the child who apparently had our apparent goats. Fucking expensive those African goats too. More than they are in the UK.

persisted · 10/12/2025 06:26

I did this for a sibling from when they were about 7. Big age gap, they could choose a day out and we’d go between Christmas and new year. They loved it.
They didn’t have to wait very long, it was exciting planning it, and they had lots to open from other people though. Not sure they would have been happy if that was it.

TheScenicWay · 10/12/2025 06:28

My Dd would be very excited at that but it would have to be something she wanted to do. Like go to a cat cafe or go horse riding so that’s what her gift was.
I would still give Xmas presents but scale them down. Save some money and spend on doing something instead. We do that anyway.

passiveaggressivenonsense · 10/12/2025 06:29

They remember experiences longer than presents.

ohfook · 10/12/2025 06:32

I think it’s one of those ideas that sounds lovely but would be a bit anti-climatic on the day. I’d only do it if I was confident that they had enough other stuff to play with/be excited about on Christmas morning, which could potentially make it more expensive than you’d planned.

orangewasp · 10/12/2025 06:35

Experiences can be a great gift for adults but I think most kids would prefer the presents.

TeenToTwenties · 10/12/2025 06:39

We did experiences but as individuals. Eg keeper experience for the animal lover, speedboat ride for the thrill seeker. Things they could do for them. (And not as only present, or when very young).

TheScenicWay · 10/12/2025 06:45

It does depend on how your kids are and what your family lifestyle is. If they like going out and doing things then yes. Ine if my friends always does this for her kids but it would be things like walking with wolves or kayaking somewhere because they’re a really outdoorsy family.

PinkElephants356 · 10/12/2025 06:49

For young/teen kids, giving them one less present to spend the money on doing something nice is not a bad idea but I think they’ll still want gifts to open on Christmas Day.

For adults I have mixed feelings about “experience” gifts. They are great if they’re very thoughtful. For example we were gifted £25 national trust vouchers because people knew we go to one or two properties each year, that’s great because we will use them. We were also gifted afternoon tea vouchers for a town people knew we frequently visited and you could use the voucher on a Saturday, also great.

But we’ve also been gifted activities which we would never think about doing without a voucher and are an absolute pain to book (like a racing day where you have to drive hours to get to it, pay extra for a Saturday booking, pay extra for insurance to the point it’s not worth doing) or a voucher booklet for a selection of options none of which really appeal or work for us and we end up scrabbling around for anything we can do in the booklet that does not have a loads of stipulations in the small print. We once drove 2 hours to a wine tasting just because you could go on a weekend, it just wasn’t worth it at all.

For retired couples with lots of time and flexibility they’re probably a great gift but for two very busy working adults with no time, what people are gifting is often a headache. But for the gift giver it’s a very easy gift to buy, pick it up from a stand at a department store or simply download it online, you can even sort it on Christmas morning if your really unorganised. So I get why people give them but I also get why loads get unused every year.

But thoughtful experiences are a good gift as long as you know the person will enjoy it.

Thingsthatgo · 10/12/2025 06:52

My kids are 11 and 13. My 13 year old particularly likes doing things rather than owning things. He has lots of tickets as part of his gift - 4 different events.
he will definitely love it, but I would be careful not to do events that happen before Christmas. It will be very anticlimactic on the day I think. ‘Merry Christmas! - remember we saw the lights and went ice skating, that was your gift’
It would be much better to say ‘we are going ice skating and to the panto tomorrow’

Celestialmoods · 10/12/2025 07:06

That would be a huge anti climax on Christmas Day. Plus the rest of the family, including you, would get to go on their present, so it doesn’t really seem like a gift. If you want to do experiences then do them, but not at the expense of your kids Christmas presents.

Zanatdy · 10/12/2025 07:08

Depends on their ages. Once they are teens one gift experience is fine, but i’d get presents too. I got my son and his gf a couple of gift experiences last year and they enjoyed them both but I also got other things to open. Daughter this year I got strictly tickets.

whyohwhyisitalwayswet · 10/12/2025 08:06

BigFishLittleFishy · 10/12/2025 01:33

each Christmas I usually get my kids something to wear, something to eat, a craft, a book, a game and then one big present they’ve chosen themselves, but I want to spend the money on experiences instead like going to the theatre, a nice dinner, illuminations, a water park etc over Christmas instead. Has anyone done this rather than gifts to open and enjoy on Xmas day? If so did your kids love it / hate it?

I'm taking my son to a concert of his favorite band as a Christmas gift. It is a surprise just before Christmas. I have no doubt he will love it way more than anything I could buy him. I think experiences make memories - most material things don't!

ShesTheAlbatross · 10/12/2025 08:10

How old are the children?

I can see that some children would enjoy a theatre trip or water park, an understand that that is their Christmas present.

I would not say that going to see illuminations would be a Christmas present.

NewAgeNewMe · 10/12/2025 08:18

How old are they? Mine are older We do an experience gift eg theatre show, but we print off a voucher or photo of activity and wrap it up. So they are still opening something. It’s then fun to together.

My alternative this year for family is book a restaurant in January and I’ve told them to save the date. I’ll wrap up the reservation details as they have no idea what I’ve booked so will be a nice surprise for them and something to look forward to in January.