Unique gifts for kids – Holiday gift idea #2

Educational gifts for kids – let your kids experience other cultures!

Unique gifts for kids are usually hard to come by. Especially the kind that holds their attention and excitement for more than a few fleeting minutes under the tree. Which is why I am really impressed with Little Passports.

(Disclaimer – I haven’t purchased a Little Passports subscription yet – my daughter is too young for it – but I really do like the idea a lot and will definitely be choosing it as a gift for one of my older nieces in the coming months. This is NOT a paid review. )

Little Passports – Let your child view the world through Sam and Sophie’s eyes

If you can’t take your kids to see the pyramids or the Taj Mahal, you could still give them the experience of world travel this holiday.

When you give your child a Little Passports subscription, what you’re really giving them is a window to other cultures and countries. A subscription brings your child souvenirs, maps, accessories, music and other items from countries across the globe. So, what’s so different about this, you ask? It’s not just the gift in itself, but also how it is presented and delivered to children.

Remember your pen pal days?

The whole concept revolves around two pals – Sophie and Sam – who travel the world and send your child souvenirs from their adventures. Every month from a different country, for up to 12 months. So, each month, your child rushes to your mail box – yes the physical one standing beside your drive way – and opens it eagerly, in anticipation of the package from a far away land. Currently, the subscription brings you gifts from Japan, Brazil, India, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, China and a few other countries.

The gift set includes a suitcase and a realistic looking ‘little passport’ plus distinctive items from each country, representing their culture such as small statues, photographs, maps, music clips, stamps, reading material and activity sheets pertaining to each place. Each package is accompanied by a personalized note from Sam and Sophie addressed to your child, describing the places they’ve visited and the experiences they’ve had – a travelogue if you will.
The pricing is approximately $11 per month, and subscription packages currently offered are 1 month, 6 months and 12 months.

Now, Little Passports has won several awards including the iParenting Award for 2009 Outstanding Products and Parents’ Choice award. I don’t know what criteria they used to judge. But me?

I can immediately think of a few reasons why a Little Passport Subscription would make a terrific gift for kids.
- History and Geography become favorite subjects all of a sudden. Did you ever think the day would come? But, that’s exactly what Little Passports accomplishes. It gets kids interested in the world beyond their neighborhood, video games and chat rooms and opens their eyes to a whole new global experience with this interestingly packaged staycation.
- It fosters other related interests and hobbies. Stamp collection, map reading, souvenir collection, flag identification, learning a new language, listening to different types of music….need I go on?
- It opens their hearts and minds. In this day and age of hate crimes, bullying and school shoot outs…we could all use a generous dose of studying, understanding and showing compassion for other countries and their people. Let’s start with our kids learning a little bit more each day. And maybe it will rub off on us?
- It gets them to read. Be it the personalized letter from Sam and Sophie or any of the other fun, educational material included in the set – Little Passports nudges your child closer towards and/or encourages his existing interest in reading for the purpose of learning and for pleasure.

If you are considering putting Little Passports on your list when buying kids’ Christmas gifts ( or for any occasion for that matter), check out more details and testimonials on their website.

It all started with two San Francisco area moms who were looking for children’s products with a global element. From their website : ” We both felt a deep and personal drive to help raise a generation of children who are more empathetic to people and cultures around the world. ” “…We remembered the joy we experienced as kids when we received personal mail. We wanted to find a way to deliver that same excitement, surprise and delight to children via good old snail mail.”

I think it’s a fantastic way to get kids interested in other countries, languages and cultures without blowing your budget or stepping foot inside an airplane. And what a great way to restore the anticipation associated with the arrival of a good old-fashioned snail mail!

I often wonder if our texting, IMing, tweeting kids even know what purpose the mail box outside our home serves? If we gave them the Little Passports experience, they just might find out.