NOV 5 and 6th 2018 ONLY – CLICK HERE FOR FLASH SALE FOR DECLUTTERING/ORGANIZATIONAL/HOMEMAKING COURSE+WORKBOOK BUNDLE!!

It’s that time of year! My son is looking through toy catalogs reminding me daily about his love of legos, and Cars 3….as if I don’t know. We have started bagging up some of the toys and honestly…junk…he and his sister have accumulated to give away. I’ve posted in the past about being Minimalist with Children (go check that out if you haven’t yet) and I was asked about what to do at gift-giving times like birthdays, religious ceremonies and Christmas. Well, here’s my answer:

What to gift children in minimalist (or even, cozy minimalist) families.

E-books

If your child has a kindle or some type of e-reader, then ebooks are the perfect minimalist gift. You’ll avoid bookshelf clutter and your child wont miss out on their educational hobby. You can also go with an audible account for audio books!

Minimalist tip: go through the titles with your child so you can remove older books, books below their current reading level, and books they’re not interested in re-reading.

Digital Gifts

Gift cards, app store credits, and everything online is an easy gift for minimalist families. If it won’t take up physical clutter and can be easily organized in online folders and inboxes, consider it a win. Some people feel awkward giving a gift solely online, but trust me, minimalist moms will be grateful that you chose that option. For kids 2nd grade and below I strongly suggest gifting an ABC Mouse enrollment. The service has SO much for kids to do, it’ll be a well-used gift that lasts all year.

Subscriptions 

Subscription boxes and magazine/book subscriptions are a great minimalist kid gift. My son loves when he gets mail. We currently have Nat Geo Kids subscription and we had his favorite Koala Crate for a while. (I strongly suggest Kiwi Crate / Koala Crate / Tinker Crate if your kids are creatives or makers – those are affiliate links btw.)

Bonus: The boxes are recyclable, the kits generally come with very little waste, magazines/books can be recycled, up-cycled or donated to your local library when you’re done.

Local Passes 

Passes to local museums, movie tickets, zoo tickets or local national park passes are a great experiential gift for kids in a minimalist family. Often, minimalist parents have less “stuff” so they can go DO more, so this type of gift would be welcome. Your gift will provide a family excursion and memories that will last a lifetime. I recently found out about Moviepass for unlimited movies in theaters for $10/month!

Lessons/Classes 

Gifting a month of gymnastics classes or swimming lessons is a dope idea for minimalist families. Simply find out what lessons the child takes or would like to take, and provide for a month of instruction. Alternatively, if you are great at something a minimalist kid wants to learn, or you speak another language, you can gift them lessons with you! Think digitally as well. Sites like Lynda and Udemy offer a wide variety of courses (often on deep discount) that you can gift as well.

What ideas do you have for minimalist kid gifting?