Simplify the Holidays! Top 10 SoKind Gift Ideas

Every year, New Dream encourages our community to Simplify the Holidays.

In addition to resources like our popular Simplify the Holidays booklet, we are so proud this year to offer SoKind Registry as another resource for helping New Dreamers opt out of the excessive consumerism surrounding the holidays.

By creating a SoKind Holiday Wishlist, you can encourage your family members to stay out of the malls, stay out of debt, and, instead of more stuff, to give gifts that truly enhance your life. From homemade presents and secondhand goods to gifts of time and experience, SoKind can help you design a holiday season that’s about more fun and less stuff!

Looking for a place to get started? 

We’ve collected 10 of our top gift ideas to help you get started with your SoKind holiday registry, or simply to inspire your gift-giving this holiday season:

#1. Help With Your Favorite Cause

Whether you love serving meals at a local shelter or helping to build homes with Habitat for Humanity, register for help from your friends and family and get them involved, too. Instead of more clutter, you get to spend time with loved ones while making the world a better place. 

#2. Membership

Do you have a favorite museum or zoo? Is there a local community center where you've always wanted to take a class? Register for the membership itself or for funds to help cover the costs.

#3. Favorite Recipes

Meaningful gifts can be as simple as asking for loved ones to e-mail you their favorite recipes. If you’re really a novice, register for some cooking lessons along with the recipes!

#4. Coupon Book

New Dream's Simpllfy the Holidays Coupon Book is a fantastic way to give a gift of time, skill, or experience to a friend or loved one.

#5. Home Project

From big projects, like a bathroom renovation, to little ones, like organizing a junk drawer, most of us have a task on our to-do list that’s been nagging us for years. By registering for help, you’ll finally get to cross something off that list!

#6. Adventure Buddy

Always wanted to go camping (or skiing or kayaking or skydiving) but you’re nervous about going alone? Register to have a more seasoned friend show you the ropes.

#7. Homemade Gifts

Are you constantly pinning images of DIY projects but you simply don’t have the time, skills, or both to make them a reality? Register for someone else to give you the gift of your favorite DIY project. If you want to be surprised, you can include a link to a Pinterest board of all your favorites. 

#8. Date Passport

Register for someone to collect the best 50 local places to visit. Then visit one per week for the year as a date or a family outing. No more “you choose… no, you choose.”

#9. The Gift of Celebration

Have you always dreamed of hosting a regular board game night, poker night, or book club, but just don’t have the time, resources, or space? Register for a co-host to do it with you. (Talk about the gift that keeps on giving!)

#10. Dream Vacation

Author Susan Sontag once said, “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” Whether you collect funds for a rail pass, airline points, or carbon offsets, there are many (affordable) ways that your friends and family can help you achieve your goal of worldwide travel.