As a parent, have you ever felt stuck during a holiday or birthday with what to give your kids as a gift? We normally think of gift-giving as a physical gift, but a different kind of gift is rising in popularity and has even more long-term benefits. Giving kids experience gifts instead of physical gifts is just as fun, can be cost-effective, and also shows you care.
There are many benefits to giving your child an experience over a physical trip that’s often overlooked. Here are four reasons to take your kids on a trip instead of giving them a physical gift.
1- Family Bonding
With our life being so hectic, especially if kids are in school and parents are working, an experience gift such as traveling is a way to carve out some time for focused family bonding. Children need and want the attention of their parents, and giving trips over a physical gift helps to give children more of our time. It’s important for families, regardless of size, to spend time with each other to strengthen their relationships, and traveling together is a great way to put family time on the schedule.
2- Experiencing New Places
Everyone in the family, regardless of who it is and their age, can benefit from experiencing new places. Traveling even to another city for the weekend as a gift over physical gifts helps break the routine of everyday life and also allows kids to experience more of the world and learn new things. Staying at nice accommodations and resorts not only helps with making the trip a comfortable experience but many places also have amazing amenities included with the price so kids can have fun during their stay. Planning a loose itinerary for your travels ahead of time also helps children explore new places such as the local culture through food and activities, museums, parks, historical sites, and more.
3- Building Lasting Memories
Traveling near or far automatically builds lasting memories. Adults often have fond memories of the family vacations and travel they did when they were younger, so giving trips over physical gifts helps to build these cherished memories. Taking a lot of photos of each trip and then creating a scrapbook afterward is also a great way to save these memories for years to come. Building a travel scrapbook collection helps foster these fond childhood memories for kids.
4- Encouraging Independence and Curiosity
Traveling is not only fun and breaks the everyday routine, but it also encourages a child’s independence and curiosity. Being outside of their normal environment allows kids to expand their thinking and explore these new surroundings which naturally increases their curiosity for the world around them. Giving trips instead of physical gifts helps cultivate and stretch children’s personalities.
It’s easy to give a physical gift to a child, especially if it’s a new toy or item that they want. But giving the gift of travel instead of physical gifts can reap even more benefits in the long run than a physical gift can.