Kids love presents, but over time, and often over the course of a few days, the newness wears off. Toys are played with while they’re brand new and then progressively move to the toy box, under the bed and then the top shelf of the closet where they’re rarely played with. It’s time for non-toy gift ideas your kids will love this year!
The alternative to giving children toys is to give them a subscription box they’ll cherish all year long. What’s more exciting than waiting for a monthly package to arrive, hearing the doorbell ring after the mailman has left a special box on your front step and rushing to open it up and see what’s inside!
Grandparents, Aunts and gift-givers everywhere don’t buy anymore toys, this is the gift that keeps giving all year long.
There are many subscription services out there right now, but these are the BEST subscription boxes I’ve found for great quality, learning content and nourishing growing minds!
Feed imaginations, give them to the tools to learn, engage their minds, nurture their talents and let them explore and discover… this is what a subscription service will do and kids will continue to reap the benefits many times over during the course of the year.
These are the BEST Subscription Box Your Kids Will Love Receiving All Year Long!
Pssst…. Use These Blank Gift Certificates to Go With Your Subscription Box Gift
– MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS –
We love Kid’s National Geographic and Little Kid’s National Geographic, Highlight Magazine and Ladybug
– ARTS & CRAFTS –
Learning & Discovery Box: Green Kid Crafts
Green Kid Crafts is another box we get at our house because it’s different enough from Kiwi Craft Crate that the boxes cover a lot of different learning and discovery between the two.
Green Kid Crafts is a learning and explorer’s dream with fun, creative and eco-friendly craft and STEM activities (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) delivered to your doorstep. (Who doesn’t love receiving packages of their own!?!)
It’s a once a month delivery and the box contents are tailored to learning type and age. For example, the discovery box is available for kids (2-4years) and (5-10years) and the literacy box is available for kids (2-10+). They also have a sibling delivery service so if you have more than one child in your house like we do, then they get their own box and that eliminates any fighting or rivalry over who gets what in the box. (We love this because with twins, it’s a constant tug-of-war of who gets what.)
Each month brings a new theme; past themes we’ve received are Mad Scientist, Nocturnal Animals, Around the World, Outer Space, and Feathered Friends.
What’s Inside? Each box comes with 6 STEAM kits, a book, instructions, project materials, and a 12-page activity magazine.
– IMAGINATION –
My Pretend Place
I
absolutely LOVE My Pretend Place. Giving kids the space and ability to explore their imaginations and be creative is incredibly important for their development. My Presend Place jumpstarts children’s imaginations with durable products (because we all know how kids play) and curated costume choices.
Subscription boxes available very 1 or 3 months and choice of boy, girl or neutral options. Comes with costume, accessories and a coordinating book.
Get 20% off your first subscription box at MyPretendPlace.com – use code playtime. OR 10% off everything! Use code: play10
Surprise Ride
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this box! It comes jam packed with fun crafts and activities, a book, and even a snack that all revolve around a monthly theme. Whether it’s Treasures, Magic, Super Heroes or a specific location or animal, it’s a fun surprise for kids to discover and a huge boost for their imagination. And the best part – all supplies (learning kit includes all project supplies, a reading book, snack, fun extras, parent guide and easy-to-follow photo instructions) are included so you don’t have to researching projects and track down the supplies yourself. They’re delivered straight to your door, which busy Moms love.
Surprise Ride subscriptions are available on a month-by-month, 6-month or 12-month basis. Alternatively, you can order single boxes and select the theme best suited for your child.
Bramble Box
Bramble Box is a wonderful monthly subscription box with pretend play kits for kids 3-8. Each themed box provides fun, educational and engaging dramatic play props and activities, delivered right to your door every month. What busy Mom doesn’t love this!
Each box is mom-designed and, of course, tested by kids for hours of fun (& learning) with items to inspire imaginative play and all the materials for at least 2-3 hands-on activities and crafts.
A new themed box is produced every month; some past themes include Post Office, Detective and Bramble Bakery. Subscriptions can be ordered month-to-month, on a 3 months or 6 months basis and also annually. This is a great gift to give for younger kids to use their imaginations and allow creativity to flourish!
Pre-order your Bramble Box now for Holiday Delivery!
– READING & LEARNING –
The Story Box
You can never go wrong with giving the gift of books! The Story Box will make your kids fall in love with reading!
I especially love that this monthly subscription service is curated by a speech-language pathologist which handpicks selections that will help facilitate age-appropriate vocabulary skills, communication skills, and early literacy skills.
The Story Box subscriptions are available each month, or on a 3-month or 6-month basis. You’ll receive 2 brand-new books and a parent guide each time to help you get the most from each book.
Little Passports
Teach your kids all about the world, with a monthly adventure from Little Passports that focuses on geography, history, culture and language. Choose from the Early Explorers (ages 3-5), the World Edition (ages 6-10), or the USA Edition (ages 7-12).
Featured destinations (a new country or US State is featured each month) will be accompanying by souvenirs, pop-out models, activities, stickers and other fun goodies. It’s a really fun and unique way to inspire kids to learn about new cultures and inspire them to travel.
Look into the 12-month subscription to Little Passports – I know your kids will love it!
Psst… Use These Blank Gift Certificates to Go With Your Subscription Box Gift
You might Like…
- Gifting Experiences: Non-Toy Gift Ideas Your Kids Will Love
- Holiday Tipping & Gift Guide For Kids, Home, Pets & Senior Care
- Gift Ideas for Young Kids Ages 4+ That Promote Active Outdoor Play
- 30 Fun Holiday Traditions That Will Make Christmas Magical
- The Ultimate Holiday Planner – Get Organized, Have Fun, Don’t Stress!
Chelsea I truly love this post. We are very minimal when it comes to gift giving. Gifts are usually handmade, second hand or a ‘needed’ item for a new stage in development. We do similar gift giving at Christmas time amongst family and friends but never thought to do this for birthdays. I will certainly be keeping something tangible like this in mind for next year and am off to visit the blogs mentioned above now! ?
I love these ideas for birthdays too! So much more useful and meaningful than another toy from the store.