The Intentional Learning Corner: Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids in Korea

Welcome back to the Intentional Learning Corner. We hope you are staying warm as winter begins here in Korea. The gift-giving season is upon us. Many parents and children are excited and some are even overwhelmed and scrambling to find the perfect gifts. The commercialization of Christmas has made this time of year much more challenging for many families and honestly, Christmas should be an enjoyable time and not a burden or chore that you dread. All of that stress will not make your holiday happier or more meaningful. 

I am sure you have heard of the many ways families celebrate Christmas and I am sure the way you celebrate is the best for your family. However, do you think your child remembers what they received last year for Christmas? Do they remember what you did as a family last Christmas? I encourage you to ask your child these simple questions and answer these questions yourself. In most cases, children and many adults often remember the experiences they had with their families and not the gifts they received. Important gifts may be remembered but eventually with time that memory will most likely fade. Watch how your child’s face lights up as they explain the wonderful adventures from Christmas past. That should be enough to encourage you to give your children an experience that is just for them no matter how small.

In our home we give everyone presents we have collected throughout the year while enjoying adventures together, at least one thing they have asked for, and an adventure that is just for them each year. Adventures can be simple or extravagant. Inexpensive or expensive. The choice is yours.

3 Tips for Gifting Adventures:

Have everyone in your family write a list of adventures that interest them. I suggest not giving many rules for this list and keeping it for years to come until all the adventures have been completed. Feel free to have everyone update the same list more than once a year to keep the fun going for other holidays and vacations you may plan.

Plan ahead and prepare your children for the change in gifts if there will be a noticeable change in the quantity of gifts they normally receive. Please note that this is not the cheapest way to celebrate holidays but it sure is fun!

Present the adventures in a fun way such as creating tickets, printing pictures, and creating a group box that everyone gets to open together.

Adventure Ideas:

Aquarium

• Coex Aquarium, Seoul

• Busan Sea Life Aquarium

Zoo

• Seoul Grand Park Zoo, Seoul

• Zoolung Zoolung (indoor), Seoul

• Zoo Zoopia (indoor), Cheonan

Museum

• War Memorial of Korea

• Seoul Children’s Museum

• Daegu National Science Museum

• Rice Museum, Seoul 

Kid’s Cafe

• Meta City Daegu Branch

• Gonggam Kids Cafe, Asan

• Themed Cafe

Trip to the Mountains

• Gangwon

  
  

Trip to the Beach

• Busan

• YangYang 

• Mallipo Beach

Explore a Palace

• Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul

Explore a Hanok Village

• Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul

• Jeonju Hanok Village, Jeonju

• Gyeongju Historic Area, Gyeongju

Explore a Temple

• Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Busan

• Naksansa Temple, Yangyang

• Gakwonsa Temple, Cheonan

Explore a Fortress

• Suwon Hwaseong Fortress

• Osan Doksanseong Fortress

• Gongju Gongsanseong Fortress

• Daegu Dalseong Fortress

Cultural Experiences 

• Harvesting Rice

• Picking Strawberries

• Dalgona Candy Game

Hotel stay  with Pools

• Dragon Hill Lodge, Seoul

Eating at a Favorite Restaurant

Bullet Train 

Cable Car 

• Apsan Cable Car, Daegu

Explore a Cave

• Hwalok Cave, Chungcheongbuk

Kayaking

Camping

Snow Tubing

Skiing

• Vilvaldi Park, Gangwon

Tickets to a Ballet Performance

Tickets to a Play

Theme Parks

• Legoland Korea, Chuncheon

• Everland, Gyeonggi

• Lotte World (Seoul) 

• E-World, Daegu

• Sparkland, Daegu

Parks

Nami Island, Gangwon

Shopping Trip (remember to set a spending limit)

A YES Day (Yes, you have to say YES all day!)

Each year our children are excited to know where we are going after Christmas and dig around in their stockings to find the card that gives them all of the details. Our four-year-old’s favorite stuffed animal is from a Christmas adventure two years ago and she remembers exactly where we were when it was purchased, but has no idea what else she received for Christmas that year.

Amazingly, all of these adventures are educational! Children learn so much participating in all of these activities making it easy for them to intentionally learn through play. Gifting adventures encourages curiosity, promotes critical thinking, builds stronger family bonds, fosters gratitude, and creates lasting memories. I encourage you to take a deep breath and step back this year while finalizing your gift-giving plans; remember that a simple adventure can be a beautiful way to enjoy Korea through intentional learning experiences that just so happen to also be the ultimate gift.