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Okay, I know we’ve talked at length about new and interesting gift ideas for different groups, but I wanted to pull together a quick reference list for your holiday shopping. Take a deep breath and get ready for my Top Ten Ways to Break the Boring Gifts Habit!

1.    Gifts for Senior Citizens: Vow this year to stop with the fruitcakes and handkerchiefs! If they’re tech savvy, buy them software, an mp3 player or computer accessories. Older travelers would appreciate a car safety kit, an easy-to-use GPS, compact map sets or a digital camera. One more thought: give your time and a scrapbook kit to help them put together special memories.
2.    Gifts for Kids: Get kids off the couch and back outdoors with active gifts: in-line skates (with helmet!), sports equipment like basketballs and baseball gloves, running shoes and yard games. You could also give the gift of a day for just the two of you to scour the consignment sporting goods shops most cities have. For days indoors, buy fun educational software. Check out Software for Kids for the newest games with a purpose.
3.    Gifts for ‘Tweens: Give ‘tween girls another goal besides becoming a pop star by encouraging them to read great books. The American Library Association publishes a top ten book list for young readers each year. Are your young teens skaters, gamers or techies? Find magazines that feed that genre and subscribe in your ‘tween’s name. One more great idea: take your young teen to cultural and educational experiences – lectures, gallery shows, concerts, science demonstrations. The time spent doing so could be a real gift to his future.
4.    Gifts for Teens: A reader told me she bought gas gift cards for young drivers last year, along with large strobe flashlights for their cars. Another teen gift outside the norm is the gift of history. Create a scrapbook or digital photo album with their family history in pictures. Take your teens skiing, snowmobiling or cave exploring, any type of adventure trip gift that will spark an interest outside the Internet.
5.    Gifts for College Students: Obviously, college students like to receive money to supplement meager funds. But what about making a basket of groceries, laundry supplies or toiletries? Find out how they travel to class and order train or subway passes. Have their car detailed during Christmas break. Buy them a membership to a gym they’ve mentioned. If the dorm allows appliances, think espresso makers or mini microwaves.
6.    Gifts for Young Professionals: Surprisingly, one of the things the young career set misses most is home cooking. Make casseroles and freeze them in small containers that can go straight into the microwave. Packed in a soft-side cooler, they’re easy to take home (and bring back for more!)
7.    Gifts for Young Marrieds’: Remember what it was like just getting started? They may have registered for china, crystal and silver, but few couples receive everything they need to set up house. Encourage a green married lifestyle with household gifts from Gaiam.
8.    Gifts for Parents: Trust me, every parent has had a day or two when they questioned whether they were equipped to raise children! Books, DVDs and mp3s on parenting issues, given with empathy, can really help. Another great gift for parents in your life – a day to themselves. Create a gift certificate awarding them a Saturday without kids, and then show up to babysit. They might also appreciate a “grown-up basket” filled with books by their favorite authors (check used bookstores), munchies and a set of foam earplugs!
9.    Gifts for Baby Boomers: Not everyone with grey hair is quite ready to settle down to retirement. Many over 50’s are working full-time and caring for older parents, and maybe even grandchildren. Why not give a massage gift certificate, an invitation to a dinner they don’t have to cook or a mix of great mp3 music they’ve mentioned?
10.    Gifts for Party Hosts & Last Minute Guests: I always like to have some small gifts made or purchased to give as hostess gifts or for last minute arrivals. Bake miniature fruit breads or shortbread and freeze it until the day you need it. Wrap in colorful plastic wrap and use those gift bags you recycled from last year to make them festive. If you want to go all out, shop your local dried fruit & nut vendor for goodies you can drop into the gift bags.

Geared up now to get started with this year’s gifts? Remember, if money is an issue, give time or the fruit of your individual talents. Let’s take the pressure off to buy more this year, and focus on giving gifts that reflect our relationships, instead.

Filed under: holiday shopping, holiday tips