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50+ Experience Gift Ideas for Kids in Champaign-Urbana

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Create memories, not clutter, with the gift of an experience this holiday season

 

We’ve put together the definitive list of Champaign-Urbana experience gifts that your family will love to give or receive

Experience Gifts for Kids in Champaign-Urbana

Tips to giving the gift of an experience:

  1. Give the child a small, inexpensive item that relates to the “experience” gift. Want to give that pool membership? Wrap up a pool toy. If you give movie tickets, pick up a cute popcorn bucket and throw in some candy.
  2. If the event has a specific date, create a countdown calendar for the child to post in his/her space. Doesn’t have to be purchased; homemade or printouts are good enough.
  3. If the gift is something they’ve never tried before or haven’t been to, get them excited about it by watching related videos on YouTube or finding photos.

Our 2021 Champaign-Urbana “Experience” Gift List:

MEMBERSHIPS 

  • Big Illini fans in the house? Buy your children Fighting Illini Kids Club All-American memberships. In addition to free football and men’s basketball tickets, All-American members will receive an Illini Kid Nation Passport, which allows members to get their passports stamped at any Fighting Illini regular season event and redeem stamps for prizes.
  • Get a family membership to the Children’s Discovery Museum (Bloomington-Normal) or the Children’s Museum of Illinois (Decatur). BONUS TIP: if you get the “Family Plus Membership” in Bloomington-Normal or “Fun Family Membership” in Decatur, the membership provides discounts at other museums around the country.
  • Space fans? Get a family membership to the Staerkel Planetarium, which offers free admission to unlimited shows for a year.
  • Summer pool memberships are a great gift idea, even if outdoor swim season seems so far away. The Champaign and Urbana Park Districts often offer some of the best rates of the year around the holidays.
  • Dog park memberships are great for active dogs and their families. For example, the Urbana Dog Park annual membership is $41 + $10 fob fee for a resident, for one dog.
  • The Stephens Family YMCA in Champaign offers a great year-round membership opportunity for families and kids.

TICKETS TO EVENTS

LESSONS, CLASSES and OUTINGS 

  • Buy a package of lessons – music, gymnastics, dance, ice skating, roller skating, martial arts? The list is endless.
  • Buy a class experience in something crafty. Joann Fabrics offers beginner classes for kids so they can learn how to sew, knit, and more.
  • Sign up for a class. A great idea for big kids, Parkland College offers specialty classes, like archery, coding, chess camp and more.
  • Make them flip with an Open Gym Punch Card at I-Power School of Gymnastics.
  • Want to swim indoors this winter? Get a punch card to the Urbana Indoor Aquatic Center, and your sharks and fishies can swim all winter long. A five-pass card is $25; 10 punches are $50.
  • Got a child with an artistic flair? Plan a trip to The Pottery Place in Champaign or Pretties by Paris where you can make beautiful creations together that will last a lifetime.
  • Kids will jump for joy with a gift card to Elevate Trampoline Park in Champaign.
  • Buy a gift card for roller skating at Skateland in Savoy, or take to the ice with the gift of ice skating at the University of Illinois Ice Arena.
  • Go bowling at the Illini Union Rec Room. Or let the kids play old school arcade games there.
  • Movie tickets never go out of style.
  • Recipe and Ingredients. Kids love cooking with their parents. Print out a recipe, take a shopping trip to the store to purchase all the ingredients, and set a date for cooking together. Your work product is edible (hopefully!).

PLAN A ROAD TRIP 

PAMPER THEM 

  • Our girls can’t get enough manis and pedis. Our readers weigh in on where to go with kids. 
  • Hair color is another big trend, for boys as well as girls. Treat them to a professional experience.

Looking for more? Subscribe to our Home for the Holidays Newsletter.  Want more ideas for holiday (or everyday) fun? Check out our Event Calendar.

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