My friend Emily wrote me a birthday card this year that talked about an article she had recently read. In the article, it described the things that make people happy and pointed out that 1. experiences tend to make people happier than material posessions and 2. anticipation of something increases the enjoyment.
I’m still relishing how I’m going to spend my Fandango movie card when I take James on a matinee date next Friday…(thanks Em!)
And in this spirit, I decided I needed to do a little research on experiential presents for little kids. Our social calendar has been quite different these days… we just attended our first “My Little Pony Seashell Sparkle Ariel Party” just last weekend. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
* Bug Ball: http://www.offthewallsoccer.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:art-classes&catid=37:cat-classes&Itemid=63
* Happy Hollow Park & Zoo: www.hhpz.org
* Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose: www.cdm.org
* Bay Area Discovery Museum: www.baykidsmuseum.org
* Petroglyph: www.petroglyph.com
* Cucina Bambini: www.cucinabambini.com
* My Gym: www.my-gym.com
* 529 College Savings Plan: www.scholarshare.com (Emily is also really good about personal finance… yes, she’s always had her $#%+ together)
* Monterey Bay Aquarium: www.montereybayaquarium.org
* San Francisco Zoo: www.sfzoo.org
* Oakland Zoo: www.oaklandzoo.org
And you won’t trip over these experiential presents while crossing your living room floor.