It’s getting late, are you still looking for Christmas gifts? Are family members looking for ideas for your kids? Don’t overlook the fun potential of gift cards.
Boring? You say? Ahhh…. Maybe at first glance. Consider, however, that a few gift cards from favorite places can turn a blah winter day into a gift card free adventure.
A few years back, the kids had accumulated several gift cards of random denominations. Some might have been from holidays, some from duplicate gifts returned, some were left over arcade game cards with game points still on them.
We didn’t go anywhere for spring break that year and were feeling pretty low that week in March when everyone else seemed to be somewhere warm. I think I was cleaning my purse and lamenting at all of my unused cards when the idea came to me that we could probably spend the better part of a day going around and redeeming cards, having fun, and spending very little money.
It was a great day! One kid had a card for Barnes and Noble, so we all got to spend an hour or so perusing new reading ideas for the rest of spring break. We had a family size gift card for a local restaurant, where we enjoyed lunch at a new and interesting place. We stopped off at the arcade and the kids used up the last of their tokens playing games while we enjoyed a drink.
If you need a bigger gift, consider a gift card of the month club. You could do smaller gift cards for more places – each one offering its own adventure. Another idea is to theme your cards. You could give larger cards for the entire family to the movies and then a smaller denomination to a local ice cream or yogurt shop for an after movie treat. Simply add a little note explaining what your idea was and presenting the cards in a fun way.
If you’re buying for someone whose family travels, do a little research and find a fun new place for them to try while they are on the road. Maybe it’s a different yogurt chain, a new restaurant, or a different theme park than they have at home.
One of the things I love most about this is that it eliminates just one more present being cast aside the week after Christmas and, instead, provides a reminder later in the year that someone did something truly special for you – and isn’t that what we’d like everyone to feel when they receive the gifts we give?
If you’re still looking for other travel gift ideas, you should check out Christmas Travel Gifts.
Image credit: imagesource / 123RF Stock Photo
