42+ Best Experience Gifts For Kids That Will Create Lasting Memories

Want to give your kids meaningful gifts that are not just stuff and toys? Then check out these best experience gifts for kids that will create lasting memories!

They love unwrapping gifts, the big smile on their faces and the sparkle in their eyes make every parent want to give their kids gifts every now and then.

But with all the stuff, toys and new clothes they receive, it just gets too much sometimes!

Think about it, how many toys does your kid really need? Let’s not even mention the ones sitting in the basement that they’ll probably never ever use again!

Agreed, gifts are amazing and it’s one of the ways you show how much you love your kids but you also have to show them it’s not always about material things and toys!

Showing love and appreciation goes way deeper than that and sometimes the best way to show that is through experiences instead of piling on more stuff they probably don’t even need.

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So if you want something for a change or just want to reduce the clutter you buy your kids. It’s time to opt for experience gifts for kids.

Let’s put it into perspective! Though you probably still remember 1or 2 of your childhood toys, most of the things you remember are from experiences you had with your family and friends. The day you went hiking or the snow angels you built with your siblings! It all stays with you.

How about this time instead of buying the typical gifts for kids, you focus on memories they’ll cherish forever.

So if you’re ready to create lasting memories, here are the best experience gifts for kids to consider.

The Ultimate Experience Gifts For Kids

Gift Experiences For Kids Who Love The Outdoors

If your children are into the outdoors, then they’ll love these experience gift ideas for kids.

1. Take your kids camping

This is one of the best gifts for kids who love camping. This will teach them a different kind of survival life that they probably didn’t know about and even experience tent living.

They’ll never stop talking about their camping trip with their friends.

2. Plan a beach trip

This beach gift is perfect for kids who love playing in the sand and building sandcastles.

3. Let them splash water at a water park

Kids just love playing in the water. So if there is a water park in your town, get a day and take them and you bet they’ll love it so much.

4. Take them treasure hunting

If they’re the kind that keeps searching for treasures, help me realize their dreams by taking them. Make sure you buy this junior metal detector before you go.

Going skiing is one of the best experience gifts for kids

5. Go to the mountains for a ski trip or even other snow activities

If your kid is into snow activities, then this is one of the experience kids outdoor gifts they’ll love.

6. Visit a National park with them

If your kids are into wildlife, then they will love all things about National parks. You can even give them this National Parks Explorer Map to tick off every park they visit.

This is truly one of the amazing experience gifts for kids who love to travel.

7. Take them strawberry picking at a farm

There is no kid who doesn’t love strawberries. And instead of just buying them at a grocery store, you can give them the experience of picking them directly from the farm.

You can be sure that they’ll brag to their friends about how cool it was while learning exactly where strawberries come from.

8. Go on a family picnic

Picnicking is the new in-thing for outdoor family bonding and your outdoor-loving kid will enjoy it. You can even buy them this Picnic Book to fully plan for their picnicking adventure.

Going scavenger hunting is one of the fun experience gifts for kids

9. Plan an outdoor scavenger hunt

Get your kids to work for the gifts you want to give them by creating a scavenger hunt. This can be done with actual gifts or pieces of tokens; literally, anything can work.

The fun part for them will be the process of finding the objects you hid. This scavenger hunt game kit will help you plan the most epic hunt ever.

10. Create a mini garden for them

Is your kid obsessed with plants and gardening? Then they’ll love having their own garden to exercise their creativity and passion.

It might be fun gardening with you but they’ll love the experience of growing their own plants.

This is a passion project they’ll obsess over instead of TV and gadgets 24/7. With this kids’ gardening toolset and this seedling kit, your kids will be on their way to becoming professional young gardeners.

Biking is one of the experience gift ideas for kids

11. Go biking with them

This might seem like a typical thing but it’s actually one of the experience gifts for children who like exploring the outdoors in style. Just make sure to buy them a nice kid-friendly bike.

12. Take them to see wild animals at the zoo

If you can’t take them to the national park as we mentioned earlier, then the zoo might be the closest thing to seeing wild animals.

Help them see in real life the animals they’ve been seeing in books and on TV! This will probably help them even learn about more animals than before.

13. Visit an aquarium with them

It’s hard to find a kid who doesn’t love fish and they’ll appreciate you so much for taking them to see various types of fish.

Besides getting an up-close look at the life of Nimo from “Disney’s Finding Nemo movie“, they’ll also learn about the various species of fish while appreciating the beautiful colors they possess.

*Visiting an aquarium is one of the best experience gifts for kids*

14. Sign then up for Swimming Lessons

Learning how to swim is almost an essential thing for kids these days and there is no better way to prepare them for the world of fun (and safety) than signing them up for swimming lessons.

Think of this as the perfect gift for swimmers in the making.

15. Take them to a Rock climbing gym

Some kids just love to climb everything they can lay their little hands and eyes on. If you see an enthusiast climber in them, you can take them to an actual climbing gym to test their junior abilities.

Of course not the grown-ups climbing gym but these days various kid-friendly gyms have popped up and your kid will be happy to finally freely climb without hearing “DON’T CLIMB THAT HONEY”.

16. Take them to Disney or any Theme Park

Disney is the most magical place in the world for both kids and adults alike. They’ll love seeing their favorite Disney characters and the rides and the memories they’ll create will last forever.

If Disney is not close to you, you can still take them to any other theme park near you.

In my opinion, this is one of the best experience gifts for toddlers and kids!

Going to Disney is one of the experience gifts for toddlers

good experience gifts for kids that will instill new skills in them

Do you want to improve the skills and talents your kid is always showing? Then these are the best experience gifts for kids to consider.

17. Create any Craft with them

If your kids are crafty, then they’ll love creating new craft ideas. These could be a scrapbook, a mood board, coloring various objects; literally anything their little hands can handle.

If you don’t know which crafts to try out with your kids, then you can check out these kids’ craft ideas.

Crafting is one of the good experience gifts for kids

18. Sign them up for an Online class

Observe to see what your kid is passionate about and sign them up for that class. Are they interested in cooking, then this junior cooking class will be great for them. Do they love cooking, then consider this class but if they love music, then they’ll appreciate this lesson.

Other classes you can look out for based on your kids’ interests include;

Baking lessons.
Karate lessons.
Music lessons
Crafting lessons etc.

19. Subscribe them to STEM Subscription boxes

STEM Subscription boxes are some of the best ways to help your kids learn while still having fun. They’ll love the experience of receiving a box full of goodies each month/quarter depending on the delivery times.

Some of the STEM and other useful subscription boxes your kids will love receiving include;

Green Kid Crafts Discovery Box: This subscription box will help bring out their creativity side by making various crafts.
Wonder Crate Box: This kids’ subscription box will introduce your kids to the most influential people that changed the world so that they also feel inspired to make the world a better place.
STEM Discovery Boxes: Help them learn more about science in a fun way by subscribing them to this stem subscription box.
X Workbox STEM Subscription Box: With the science and engineering kits in this subscription box, your kids will be on their way to becoming great scientists.
Finders Seekers Junior Explorers: This subscription box will broaden your kids minds by solving puzzles while exploring the world. Think of it as the perfect kids’ travel-themed subscription box.
You can also check out more kids’ subscription boxes here if you can’t find one that suits your kid’s needs from the ones above.

Entertainment kids experience gifts

Some kids just love having fun and there is no better way to show support than by giving them entertainment-themed experience gifts for kids.

Taking them to a movie theater is one of the fun childrens gift experiences

20. Take them to see their favorite movie in a theater

Do they have a movie they keep talking about and watching non-stop, then taking them to see that movie in the theater will bring out a thousand “thanks yous”.

21. Take them to a concert

This experience gift may be more for older kids but I guarantee, they’ll love it. Find out the kind of concerts they like (that are kid-friendly) and take them.

This could be their favorite YouTuber, a Nickelodeon concert, a kid’s concert in your town; literally any concert they’d love.

22. Have fun in an Escape Room

Escape rooms may be commonly known for older people but these days kid-friendly escape rooms are coming up and for a kid that enjoys solving mysteries and puzzles, they’ll love trying to find their way out in an Escape room.

Taking them to a bounce house is one of the kids experience gifts

23. Trampoline/Bounce House Passes

We all know how much kids love jumping around and receiving a Trampoline/Bounce House Pass will mean the world to kids who love the trampoline.

24. Spend a day at the spa

Do you have a kid that keeps coming to your room to “steal” your makeup, face masks, and all your beauty products? Then this is the perfect kids’ experience gift for them.

Find out if there is a kid-friendly spa near your home and take them to be pampered, and also get their manis and pedis done.

It’s a fun way to connect with your girl.

Spending a day at the spa is one of the fun gift experiences for kids

25. Get Them Tickets to a sports game

If your kid has set their heart on a specific sport, then you can be sure that they’re secretly hoping to watch it one day.

Make their dreams come true by gifting them a ticket to their favorite game.

26. Visit a Children’s museum with them

Kids museums are always fun and entertaining and they’re also great for kids to learn something new.

Whether about history, science, or even art, your kids will love exploring kids’ museums.

Other childrens gift experiences to consider

*Learning how to surf is one of the cool experience gifts for kids*

27. Buy them surfing lessons. This is the perfect gift for surfers in the making.

28. Go on a fishing trip with them. You’ll need to buy this kids’ fishing kit though.

29. Shooting or paintball range ticket. Let them play “Comando” at shooting ranges.

30. Take them to a local event: This could be a circus, a festival, or even a music show.

31. Plan a sleepover with their friends! No kid will say no to a sleepover with their friends.

32. Gift them a pet. If you’re at a place where you think you’re able to take of a pet, them gift them one. But brace yourself because even if it’s theirs, you’ll be the one taking care of it for the most part.

33. Take them horse riding! Every kid will love the experience of riding on a horse.

Going horse riding is the best experience gift for kids

34. Give them a magazine subscription. If your kids love magazines, then they’ll love this Highlight Magazine subscription or even this Ranger Rick Jr subscription.

35. Make a donation to sponsor an animal in their name: If your kid loves animals and giving back, then they’ll appreciate the act of sponsoring an animal. This will also teach them to be more generous with their resources.

36. Go Skating with them. Most kids love skating and they probably admire their friends that do. So gifting them an experience of skating will be much appreciated.

37. Indoor skydiving. Your older kids will love experiencing indoor skydiving.

39. Backyard camping: If you can’t take them on an actual camping trip like we mentioned earlier, then backyard camping will help them experience the life of sleeping in a tent.

Backyard camping is one of the fun activity gifts for kids

40. Sign them up for Dance lessons. If they keep standing up to dance every time a song comes up, then they must love dancing. Support their talent/ hobby by signing them up for a dance lesson.

41. Help them plan a tea party! Believe it or not, tea parties are a thing now and most kids want to try out this fun activity. Help them plan one and invite their friends to that kids-only high tea party.

Going on a road trip is one of the experience gifts for kids

42. Take them on a road trip. Help them explore new destinations they’ve never been to by hitting the road in your car. This is one of the best road trip gifts for kids who love to travel.

However, before going on a road trip, make sure that you pack all these road trip essentials and learn all the useful road trip tips to make the trip easier. And if it’s going to be a long ride, prepare several road trip games including fun questions you ask yourselves in the car.

Psst… If you don’t know how to plan a road trip, check out this step-by-step road trip planning guide.

Final Thoughts On The Best experience gifts for kids

And there you go, I hope you liked this comprehensive list of experience and activity gifts for kids! They’re guaranteed to provide hours of fun both indoor and outdoor while creating lasting memories they’ll cherish dearly.

And no, don’t just assume that your kids are only interested in stuff, every kid has something they’re passionate about that can inspire an experience gift.

All you have to do is to find out what your kid is obsessed with at that time, check on this list and you’ll definitely find something for them.

Remember that gift experiences for kids don’t have to cost money, even something as simple as helping them ride their bike or helping them create a craft at home can be a great bonding moment for you.

So get creative and seek out experiences that your kids will love.

More gift ideas to help you choose the perfect gift for your loved one

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