Gobble 15-Minute Meal Kits
From $12 per serving
Gobble’s 15-minute meal kits make it easy for families to have dinner together, even on busy nights when kids have extracurricular activities and parents are exhausted. Unlike other meal kit services, Gobble provides meals that fully prepped, so all you’re responsible for are the finishing touches.
EveryPlate Meal Kit Gift Card
From $5.99 per serving
If you have a little more time for cooking, consider an EveryPlate Meal Kit Gift Card. This service offers meals that require more cooking time than Gobble, but are still super simple. Plus, it has plenty of kid-friendly meals to choose from. It’s such an easy way to get food on the table for everyone, and research has linked regular family meals, where everyone sits down together to eat, with a myriad of benefits including healthier diets for kids, lowered risk of drug use in teens, and improved emotional health.
CraveBox Healthy Snack Box
$51.95 at Amazon
The CRAVEBOX Healthy Snack Box includes 55 shelf-stable snacks that are better for snackers. We love the variety of snacks in this box, which includes Mott's fruit snacks, Annie’s cheddar bunnies, and veggie straws. Because CRAVEBOX offers a wide variety of boxes, there’s bound to be a great option for both small and large families alike.
Talking Point
$29.97 at Amazon
Make mealtime with the family about more than just eating with Talking Point. Families that prioritize communication oriented toward conversation, allowing each member to share their feelings, beliefs, and opinions, are more likely to build a pattern of older children sharing information with their parents. These conversations may not feel natural to parents if it's a new habit. We love how Talking Point cards provide over 200 hundred conversation starters that encourage connection through open sharing.
America’s Test Kitchen: The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs
$8.16 at Amazon
$19.99Now 59% Off
This kid-friendly book is an excellent introduction to cooking and can help your children develop some kitchen skills – plus it creates a way to spend quality time with them. It includes more than 100 recipes that vary in complexity, from popcorn to avocado toast to pancakes and beyond. Who knows, maybe your kids will love cooking so much that they start making you dinner during the week.
Caraway Nonstick Ceramic Cookware Set
$355.50 at Target
$395Now 10% Off
With a cookware set you can rely on, getting in the kitchen to prepare family meals just might feel a little less like a chore. We love the Caraway Nonstick Ceramic Cookware set because it is free of substances and materials you don’t want leaching into your dinner, including polytetrafluoroethylene, polyfluoroalkyl substances, cadmium, and lead. They’re also oven safe up to 550 degrees, so they can move seamlessly from stovetop to oven.
Opinel Le Petit Chef Knife Set
$38.20 at Amazon
$50Now 24% Off
One way to encourage children to eat a variety of foods is by involving them in meal prep. Research has found that children who participate in cooking their dinner eat, on average, one more serving of fruits and vegetables a day compared to children who don’t help in the kitchen. Cooking with kids can be nerve-wracking, but keeping safe, kid-friendly tools on hand makes it easier to adopt this new habit. We love the Opinel Le Petit Chef Knife Set because it is a real knife with a rounded tip and a finger guard to prevent accidental knicks and cuts.
Vitamix 5200 Blender, Professional-Grade
$291.30 at Walmart
$545Now 47% Off
Smoothies are a quick and easy way to introduce more fruits and veggies into your family's diet, but making smoothies for an entire crew requires a blender that is up for the task. Our research found that the Vitamix 5200 Blender handles frozen fruits and large batches well, efficiently pureeing them into a drinkable consistency. We love the self-cleaning feature, enabling families to get out the door and off to work and school without the hassle of an involved clean-up.
Ninja Foodi 6-in-1 8 qt 2-Basket Air Fryer With DualZone Technology
$199.95 at Amazon
Sometimes meal time just needs to be easy, and the Ninja Foodi Dualzone Air Fryer is a small appliance that can quickly prep foods for an entire family. Because this is a two-basket model, you can prep two different foods at different temperatures. This is also a 6-in-1 air fryer that can roast, broil, reheat, dehydrate, and bake foods.
Twister
$13.99 at Amazon
$19.99Now 30% Off
The classic game deserves a place in every family’s home. We love that Twister gets you moving, stretching, strategizing, and connecting. It’s unlikely that you can get through a game without a bit of laughter — just try not to throw out your back or strain a muscle proving to your kids that you’ve still got it.
Hues and Cues
$24.97 at Amazon
Hues and Cues is a board game built around a simple idea that is a ton of fun for family time. Players take turns guessing a color on a card based on provided clues, and score based on just how close their guess comes to the actual color. This is a game for 3 to 10 players over the age of 8 years old so it is best suited for families with kids who are elementary aged and older.
Outfoxed!
$28.94 at Amazon
Young children learn important prosocial skills from cooperative game play that they’re able to use and apply outside of playtime. These skills are learned from child-to-child and adult-to-child interactionsand include thinking and caring about the well-being of others, cooperation, sharing, and helping others. Outfoxed! is a popular cooperative game for families with kids ages four and up that encourages working together to solve the mystery of who stole Mrs. Plumpert’s pot pie.
For Rainy-Day Exercise
Ring Fit Adventure
$104.99 at Amazon
Learn to put screen time to good use with active games that encourage movement, strength building, and coordination. We love Ring Fit Adventure because players carry out movement in the game by movement of their own bodies. Using the Ring-Con and leg straps, players exercise their way through the game.
Poldr Pocket Binoculars
$19.99 at Amazon
These compact binoculars are great for families who hike and explore nature. They’re small enough to fit into your pocket, which means they’re also small enough for most kids to use, and the flexible design can expand for adults. If you want to make this gift even better, consider adding on a book that will help you identify birds and other animals you discover on your walks.
BOB Gear Revolution Flex 3.0 Duallie Double Jogging Stroller
$999.99 at Amazon
Establishing the habits of an active family life can start long before your kids are on the move. Lead by example, and take your littlest ones along for morning runs and long walks at the end of the day. Our research found the BOB Gear Revolution Flex 3.0 Duallie Double Jogging Stroller can provide a smooth ride for passengers on a wide variety of terrains. We love the extra storage space for snacks and drinks, so families are equipped with everything they need to spend some time together outdoors.
Burley Honey Bee 2-Seat Kids Bike Trailer and Stroller
Cycling is great exercise that can improve cardiovascular health and mood, while lowering the risk of obesity, why not make regular bike rides a family affair? The Burley Honey Bee is a two-seat bike trailer that can also be used as a jogging stroller. Our research found this model is comfortable for riders and glides smoothly over bumpy terrain.
Kazam Co-Pilot Trailer Bike
$220 at Amazon
$234.95Now 6% Off
The KaZAM Co-Pilot Bike is the perfect transition bike for families with kids who are beyond the weight limit of a bike trailer but aren’t ready to take off on their own. Because this bike connects to the back of an adult bike, the grown-up remains in charge of steering and speed while the little tag-along gets to practice peddling and operating the steering wheel.
Allen Sports 4-Bike Deluxe Hitch Bike Rack
$108.25 at Amazon
$189.99Now 43% Off
Staying active is just as important for kids as it is for adults, with exercise having an immediate, positive effect on cognition in kids and teens. Getting exercise as a family is a great way to model healthy habits, and a family bike ride keeps working out fun. We love the Allen Sports Deluxe 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack because it takes the stress out of transporting multiple bikes to nearby trails.
Core 9-Person Instant Cabin Tent
$269.99 at Amazon
The benefits of spending time in nature are numerous, including better mental health and improved attention. Camping is the perfect activity for families who want to spend more time in nature and spend more time together away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We love the Core 9 Person Instant Cabin Tent because it is easy to set up and has more than enough room for a large family.
US Park Pass America the Beautiful National Park Pass
Give the gift of seeing some of the most beautiful natural spaces in the world with The National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass. This pass covers free admittance to over 2,000 federally managed parks and recreation lands for one person over the age of 16. Children 16 and under are free, so a family will only need as many passes as there are adults living in their home.
Max Fun Snowball Makers
$19.99 at Amazon
$20.99Now 5% Off
For families who live in colder climates, these snowball makers will save some serious time when lighthearted battles begin in the backyard. The set includes four makers in different shapes — a ball, a heart, a soccer ball, and a duck — as well as a bag for storage and transport. They’re easy to use but best for kids age 4 and up.
Park & Sun Sports Spectrum Classic Outdoor Volleyball Net System
$289.99 at Amazon
When the weather starts warming up again, volleyball and badminton are excellent ways to get the whole family outside for physical activity and fun. Our research found that the Park & Sun Sports Outdoor Volleyball Net System is remarkably easy to set up and durable enough to withstand the wear and tear of regular play. We also love how easily this set disassembles for compact storage.
For Family Parties and Cookouts
GoSports 90mm Backyard Bocce Set — Outdoor Lawn Game
$39.99 at Amazon
Bocce ball is a lawn game in which two teams compete against each other to roll their balls as close as possible to a target ball. It’s a great option for family parties and BBQs when the weather is nice. We love this option for a family gift because Bocce Ball is an easy game to learn and can be played by all ages.
Bark App
$14 per month
As kids get older and more independent, personal devices become an integral part of family life, staying in touch between activities, and allowing kids to chat with their friends. Screens are great for these purposes, but they do come with risks, and Bark’s monthly app helps to mitigate those risks by monitoring kids’ activities on their personal devices. From blocking unsafe websites to reporting back to parents if bullying or dangerous talk comes in content and chats, Bark has created a digital watchdog for kids and teens who are navigating use of devices for the first time.
Grove Co. Scent Celebration Set
Give the gift of a clean home that smells delightful! This collection from Grove Co. includes a hand soap refill, a candle, laundry sheets, room spray, and two bars of soap scented with Winter Grove or Iced Pear. We love these items because they are plant-based and sent in earth-friendly packaging while being scented with naturally derived fragrances.
Norwex Just Add Water Package
Norwex makes cleaning products that are non-toxic and sustainable. We love what Norwex stands for, including diverting plastic originally bound for the ocean and complying with Oeko Tex standards. This gift set includes the right products including a mop starter system, window cloth, and dusting mitt.
JBL Partybox Encore Essential
$329.95 at Amazon
The JBL Partybox Encore Essential lets the whole family listen to their favorite things together. It’s a Bluetooth-enabled speaker that connects to smartphones, tablets, and laptops for a high-quality audio experience of your family’s favorite songs, podcasts, and audiobooks. This device can plug into the wall or operate on battery alone for six hours. It even has a multi-color light ring that dances with the music.
Perfect Practice Perfect Putting Mat
$119.99 at Amazon
$139.99Now 14% Off
For the family who enjoys a good round of golf, the Perfect Practice Golf Putting Matt is an indoor green for working on your putts before you head out on the golf course. It’s also a great activity for older children and teens who are stuck inside on a rainy day and need something to do without turning to screens. Our research finds that this putting mat works best on hardwood or tile surfaces and that it is easy to assemble and tear down when you’re ready to put it away.
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Mary Sauer
Author
Mary Sauer is a freelance health and parenting writer whose work often covers mental health (especially maternal mental health), grief, and caregiving. Her work has been published by the Washington Post, Verywell Mind, Parents, Vice's Tonic, and ARC Poetry Magazine. She's also the managing editor of the upcoming Salt Tooth Press and an MFA student at University of Missouri, Kansas City.
Sauer is a mom of four and lives in Kansas City, Missouri. She enjoys hiking, trying new coffee shops, and shopping at used bookstores. At home, she spends her precious free time reading, rewatching Fleabag, and gardening.