100+ Non-Toy Christmas Gifts for Edmonton Kids | 2018

Experience gifts for children are a great way to gift lovingly to children, without adding to the pile of things that kids receive around the holidays from parents, extended family and Santa Clause.

Annual Experience Passes

• Royal Alberta Museum
  The mammoth pass for the Museum is $70/year for the whole family! That means you can visit twice to make it ‘worth your while’ for the whole year!
• Telus World of Science
• Edmonton Valley Zoo
• Naturally Edmonton Pass
  The naturally Edmonton pass is $249/family and includes membership for the full year to Edmonton Valley Zoo, Muttart Conservatory and John Janzen Nature Centre.
• Toddler Time Annual Pass
  You can get a full year of admission for toddler time at the World Waterpark (for children under 48″) or Toddler time at Galaxyland (for children under 42″) for only $80 for the full season – until June!
• Snow Valley Season Pass
  Tubing, skiing and great access to seasonal events – like the Aerial park, the Snow Valley Season Pass is a great way to get kids on the slopes in Edmonton!

Fun (but non-toy) gifts to Wrap Up

• A butterfly kit from Education Station
• A play tee-pee (this canvas striped one has great reviews from us!)
• Lush Rainbow Fun! This stuff is like Play-doh, but it’s a multi-purpose soap, shampoo and bubble bar that they can form into shapes in the bath tub.
• Boon ‘Glo’ Nighlight (pictured above)
• Instax Mini Polaroid Camera 
  Note: the film for these can be a little on the splurge side, at $10 for a package of 10 exposures – but the kids love capturing their memories from vacations and parties with their camera!
• An easy to use mini doughnut maker!
• Art Easel to create and display those masterpieces
• Janome children’s sewing machine – our kids have an incredible amount of fun with this machine. They’ve taken the basic course at the House of Sew and they’ve created clothing for their dolls and small purses.
• An indoor swing that you can anchor from the ceiling and create a reading spot, or a place to snuggle in and play
• A Zoku slush maker – this is the most fun way to turn chocolate milk, juice or soda into a delicious slushie – the kids love using this at our house! You can get a set of two for as little as $22 on Amazon and have it delivered straight to your door!
• A rock minerals excavation kid from Seedling – your kids can explore and break open a rock kit and see what it’s like to excavate a fossil!
• Or, an ancient treasures archaeology excavation kit. Roll up your sleeves and uncover mysterious treasures from the distant past with this fascinating DIY Archaeology Kit. What ancient stories will you unearth?
• Kano Motion Sensor coding kit. Kids can learn how to code using this interactive introduction to the science.
• Ninja rope line for indoor play (basement) or to bring along on camping trips or in the back yard! If there’s one thing that makes it top of our list this year, it’s this!

Classes and One-time Use Admission Passes

• Creation Space
• Movie Passes (Landmark Cinemas or Cineplex)
  Tip: Landmark Cinemas has $8.50 movies for adults in the morning, and a great package that includes popcorn and treats + movie admission for kids for around $8!)
• The Rec Room
• Snow Valley Aerial Park 
• Tubing at Sunridge
  Children must be at least seven years old and 48″ tall to go tubing at Sunridge
• Art Classes at the Art Gallery of Alberta 

Exploring and Travel Gifts

• Fantastyland Hotel Theme Room (Check the website for specials!)
• Sea Lion Encounter at West Edmonton Mall (children 8+)
• Foreign currency for an upcoming vacation or trip
• A headlamp for those upcoming camping adventures and imaginative play
• A fun, oversized pool float that they can use on an upcoming winter vacation
• Headphones
  We love these ones from Best Buy – you can connect multiple pairs of Headphones together to use one device, and it gets rid of the need to have multiple devices for a road trip.
• Tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil in February 2019

Monthly Subscription Gifts

• • Atlas Crate(get $10 off using this link)
  • Kiwi Crate (get $10 off using this link)
  • PipSticks Sticker Club
  • Magazine subscription to Chickadee or Chirp Magazine

Kid-Friendly Board Games

• Sequence Cats 
  Typically played with traditional cards, our kids love both versions of this game where you work alone or in pairs to create rows of five and win the game!
  Ages: 5+
• Pancake Pile Up Relay Game
  We’ve been playing this game since our kids were toddlers, and they still play it! It’s a relay game where you’ve got to pile the pancakes up in a specific order – and it’s so much fun!
  Ages: 2+
• Suspend 
  This one is tricky! You’ve got to suspend wires to create a structure without causing it to fall. The entire family is going to like this game, and it’s an interactive new one you’re going to want to add to your collection.
  Ages: 6+
• Don’t Rock the Croc
  Don’t make the crocodile angry! Place the colorful wooden pieces on the croc’s belly and make sure it is always balanced. But be careful, if you are not precise you will end up rocking the crocodile causing the wooden pieces to tumble and you will have to start all over.
  Ages: 3+
• Crazy Cereal
  The Crazy Cereal Game is a showdown in a bowl! Grab a spoon and watch as it magically changes colour. Then, dig into the cereal-serving bowl and scoop up pieces of that colour. Cross your fingers for a colour flash free-for-all and collect two pieces at a time. During this all-play game, quickly collect the most cereal pieces to win!
  Ages: 4+