This hands on history gift guide was made this family and yours, we love our history and are always on the hunt for unique ways to explore it, learn it, and honor it. We’ve put together some super fun hands on gift ideas that will be engaging for the whole family and sure to make a memory or two or ten….
This year instead of presents under the tree, think about creating an engaging and memorable experience for the whole family. We’ve tried everything here so these recommendations are from personal experience.
Merry Bells
Ring in the fun with this unique and totally hands on gift. Kids can play the bells as a set or the whole family can join in. The set of bells comes with 30 Christmas Songs on a Play Along DVD. There are other Play along DVDS and digital downloads that include 30 classic children’s songs, 30 primary songs, 30 church hymns, and 30 patriotic songs. Just watch the screen and when your color bar lands on the play line, ring the matching bell. It’s a super fun way to learn age old songs and have an absolute blast doing it.
Review: It was startling to me to learn how many of the songs we grew up with our daughter didn’t know at all. It was a super fun way to learn the songs. Talk about hands on history! These hands were scrambling to keep up with our girl and the great songs that brought back a flood of memories. So many smiles and much laughter as well as opportunity for stories along with the songs. This is now a part of our regular get togethers.
Buy It! Be sure to use: thisfamilycoupon for your discount!
Gettysburg App
This is a really unique Augmented Reality experience that is a great way to connect the generations! It’s a historically accurate detailed experience that puts you right in the middle of the battle. But don’t be fooled, it’s not an observer experience. Activites include searching for virtual historical artifacts, collecting Civil War gold coins, even taking selfies with Generals. You can use the app anywhere but I have to tell you, totally looking forward to using the app at the actual Gettysburg site.
Review: It is a very unique and cool experience. Know before you purchase that you will need an up to date phone or device as it’s a little ‘heavy’. It took us a couple tries to find an up to date iPhone that could handle. Once that hurdle was met, I have to say, it’s a really neat way to see grandparents and grandkids connect. And, who doesn’t love a treasure hunt? I’ve seen a lot of historical apps but this highly interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ one gets my vote!
Buy It! Be sure to use: ThisFamilyBlog for your discount!
Bundle Game
There are several options in this fun game! The When Calls the Heart is for those who love the show on Hallmark Channel. (who doesn’t?) Teacher on the frontier, strapping sassy RCMP, history and stories… yup. I’m there! We chose the personalized family bundle game to test. It was a unique experience where all family members got to put in their thoughts and memories and a truly personalized board game emerged.
Review: It was really fun filling out the questionnaire and watching the whole family be secretive about their answers. I think it was half the fun! As much as we loved the personalized game, once you know the answers IE have played it once or twice, it’s tough to play with the game people over and over as is. BUT It would be a perfect game for annual holiday get togethers and maybe add new things to it each year. I think that will be a great recurring tradition and truly fun for the whole family.
Buy It! Be sure to use: ThisFamilyBlog for your discount!
Dread Pirate Game
We love pirates. We celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day every September. We learn a little pirate lore…and we play the Dread Pirate Game. Warning, it can get a little, well, pirate-y. We have had games that have seen family members yelling pirate things and once there was even an attack over the table that resulted in chairs going down, game in the air, people on the floor, a lot of laughter.
Review: You can play as individual or as teams. It’s the only game I know of where cheating and pirate behavior is encouraged. We crack up, sometimes dress up and have a hoot trading and pillaging and collecting treasure. It’s ridiculous fun.
Historical Apothecary
The whole reason this apothecary exists is because our daughter fell down a rabbit hole of historical recipes for health and beauty. Voila, the Sage and Folly Historical Apothecary was born. She has historical teas, a couple magical teas, and historical beauty projects. They all come with a story (Look at the item descriptions) and will be sure to be a conversation piece with the family at the next get togethers.
Review: I’ve actually tried every single thing in the apothecary. My favorite teas are the magical ones and I don’t know if I could pick my favorite of the skin care. All the scrubs and salts are pretty fab. Personally I prefer the rouge as face color to the lip balm and I’m a huge fan of the pomade and powders as they make my hair feel AMAZING!
Colonial Crafts
Corn Husk Dolls, Potpourri, quill and ink sets! Family friendly tutorials (video and written instructions) to amuse and delight you. I recommend starting with Pomander Balls for the holiday season. They are simple to do and the whole family can make their own. The house will smell amazing and it will be great incentive to do the others. There are enough to get bite size history bits and big fun for the entire school vacation!
Review: Since I produced the series, I am probably a bit biased…LOL… but the whole reason we did these was to provide fun opportunities for families to work together ‘Making’ their own history. Thirteen crafts in honor of the original 13 colonies. Most can be done with items around the house. If not, we have a little Amazon store set up for anything you might need.
Why Hands On History?
We at This Family Blog feel like it’s important to know where we came from, collectively and individually. That’s why we encourage memory making opportunities such as these to bring a family closer together and sneak in bite size bites of history…like cauliflower in mashed potatoes. That’s how we roll. LOL
We also believe history doesn’t HAVE to be and absolutely SHOULDN’T be boring. Our tapestry of the American story is woven by so many diverse threads and textiles, it would be impossible to learn them all in one lifetime. What is possible to celebrate and honor the stories in creative and fun ways.
Experiences like these bring folks together, teach a little something, and quietly instill a little healthy pride that seems to be a bit lost in these modern times. In that spirit, our hope is to inspire a little more ‘together’ time. How will you integrate a little hands on history this holiday season? Let us know! We want to showcase you on the blog!
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