A Mindful Parent Gift Guide

Like this heartwarming IKEA advertisement points out, the best gift for a child is not a toy, but time. That’s right — out of the children interviewed, all of them chose to ask their parents for more time together, whether it be spent playing soccer or eating dinner as a family, instead of sending a letter to Santa asking for their dream toys.

It’s not hard to see why kids want more time together as a family, but sometimes it is a challenge to find new, “special” activities to serve as gifts. With that in mind, we assembled some of our team’s favorite activities into a “gift list” that doesn’t require any trips to the toy aisle.

1. Buy a season pass to the local children’s theater for your whole family. This gift will keep giving for months, meaning extra time to focus on family.
2. Subscribe to a service that sends different interactive activities every month. With services like Koala Crate, your child can look forward to new art kits and science experiments every month.
3. Set up a standing “mom-or-dad and me” date for your child where you choose different one-on-one adventures every so often. This “special time” is so rewarding for parents and children alike.
4. Build something together. Whether it be a bookshelf for their room, a playhouse for the backyard, or a jungle gym for your cat, the building process will bring you closer and give your child some great carpentry skills.
5. Make a giant fort out of pillows and blankets, and then turn it into a reading nook for you to share your favorite stories.
6. Take a trip to a local state or national park. No matter your child’s age, a walk in the woods is great for unwinding and bonding.
7. Make a meal together, from start to finish. As a team, come up with the menu, acquire the ingredients, cook, and enjoy as a family.
8. Set a regular time in your schedule to explore the local library and find a stack of books to take home and explore together.
9. Attend a concert together. Many towns have local orchestras that offer relatively inexpensive tickets for a nice evening that might even inspire your child to start playing the piano.
10. Plan an activity around your child’s latest passion. Is he currently obsessed with animals? Take a trip to the zoo together. If she’s a huge fan of playing Nerf hoop, take her to a local basketball game.

This piece was originally posted at VersaMe.com. VersaMe created the Starling the world’s first wearable engagement tracker that helps encourage and reinforce positive parenting behaviors.