With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s time to get serious about getting your gifts purchased. Stores are already putting up Black Friday sales and shelves are getting clear out.

With such a strange and hard year behind us, with many family activities being canceled, you might feel like making the holidays extra special this year. To help out, we’ve got some tips on buying amazing gifts for your children that they’ll cherish and remember.

New Video Game Consoles and Games

Both Playstation and Xbox are launching brand new video game consoles, but it’s easy to get lost and confused on which to buy.

Most importantly, talk to your children about what console they want. Just because they already own the old Xbox or Playstation doesn’t mean they want the new one. Likely, they are already talking with friends on which one to buy collectively so they can keep playing together.

Now, both Playstation and Xbox consoles have two different versions. Playstation has the standard edition that comes with a disc drive and a digital edition without a disc drive. Xbox has the Series X, that comes with a disc drive and more powerful graphics, while the Series S doesn’t have a disc drive and less powerful graphics.

You also can’t ignore Nintendo and the Switch. There are two versions of the Switch, the normal version and the Switch Lite. The normal Switch comes with a dock to play games on the TV and mobile and detachable controllers. The Switch Lite can’t dock to play games on the TV and it’s controllers don’t come off.

When it comes to buying games, talk to your child about what kind of games they like and what they want to play. For most games, you can watch gameplay or trailers on YouTube to see if it’s age-appropriate and looks fun to play. There are also a lot of great games for kids that are sold on each console’s digital store but are not sold in retail stores. That’s especially important since most of the big games coming out this holiday season are mature games more meant for adults.

Making Their List and Checking It Twice

Likely, you got the Amazon and Walmart holiday toy guides in the mail. They are a great resource to find what toys your kids want. Go through the books with them and have your children circle what toys they want.

If your kids make wish lists, use these to your advantage. Ask them what on their lists are the most important and then do your best to make it happen. While you might not be able to get that pony, dinosaur, motorcycle, but you can at least get a toy version.

If Going Educational, Make Sure It’s Fun

Educational toys are great in theory but can be a real bummer if not well done. Just because a toy is educational doesn’t mean it will work. If the toy is boring or hard to use, your kids won’t learn anything and the toy will be banished to the bottom of the toy box.

One great gift is getting educational projects or crafts where your kids end up with a fun toy at the end. LEGO kits, craft sets to build a toy, or experiments with fun results are all great examples of this. Rather than getting a book that teaches coding, give them a robot toy where they can code simple commands to it.

Move Quick on Hot Toys

Every year, there are certain toys that every kid wants. Whether it’s from the newest show they love or just something cool they saw in a commercial, there is always some sort of hot ticket item. If your child insists on getting one, you need to move sooner than later.

Don’t pull any number of classic Christmas movies where the parents get into crazy hijinks trying to get their child’s toy. Instead, order the toy now. Get it shipped, pick it up in the store, find it and buy it before it sells out.

Gifting an Experience

Holiday gifts for kids don’t all have to be toys and clothes, it can be experiences too. If there is something your child has been dying to do, gift it to them for the holidays. If your kid wants to learn to snowboard, pay for snowboarding lessons and a pass to Bogus Basin.

Gifting an experience could range from something simple like a trip out of town, a visit to Disneyland, going to a different country, attending a concert, or even just going to their favorite restaurant. With experiences, you can get creative. Is there something they love doing or going to that’s on the more expensive side? Gift it for the holidays.

If you want to do a big trip or fun experience as your gift, you might be closer to making it happen than you thought. Pioneer’s Rewards! program is filled with ways to redeem your points for different experiences. Pay for flights, hotel stays, or even a hot air balloon ride with your Rewards! Points. How do you earn points? By using a Pioneer debit or credit card!

Learn More About Rewards!