Gifts to Inspire Creativity

Inspire creativity with these great gift ideas!

Whether you’re looking to add a little more creativity to your life (or someone else’s), here are seven of our favorite gifts (to give & receive) that are sure to inspire any lucky recipient. This collection is full of possibilities for endless creative fun for all ages and for any budget!

1. An Easel — What better way to inspire creativity than with a quality easel? Look for an easel that is adjustable, so it will grow with your child (or for you to use as well). If it has a chalkboard side to it, even better. Ours was a find from a local yard sale, but I highly recommend this easel from Melissa & Doug which is adjustable and has plenty of storage for paint cups and other art supplies. It also features a chalkboard side, and my kids have used their easel to create art for hours. It also gets used quite regularly for pretend play — the menu board for a restaurant, or the chalkboard for a play school, for example.

 2. Pick and Draw Game by Rich Davis — This game is new to me, and it became an instant favorite for our entire family! The concept is simple, there are several cards labelled: face, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, and hair. Players take turns picking facial features to draw out cartoon characters, and while this isn’t a typical “game” in the sense that there is a winner or loser, the kids and I had great fun with it!

I also highly recommend The Big Book of Pick and Draw Activities that is full of absolutely brilliant extension activities based on the Pick and Draw game to use at home or in the classroom. This is a must!

 3. Clipboard and Drawing Paper — Such a simple gift idea, but one that gets used almost every day. The kids and I now own several “inspiration clipboards” that let us draw and sketch whenever the mood strikes! We also like to add clippings from magazines or newspapers for ideas for future projects. 

 4. Story Stones — I absolutely love the idea of story stones as a gift to inspire creativity and plenty of story telling fun. These beauties were created by our contributing writer, Val from Inner Child Learning, and she explains how to make them in this post. We have combined these with sidewalk drawings to make up the scenery and have spent hours and hours absorbed in creative play!

 5. Olloclip 3-in-1 Lens System for iPhone — For the shutterbug who doesn’t want to carry around large bags of camera equipment, but still wants something powerful enough to capture those special moments. This lens kit is incredibly compact (it fits in your pocket), yet is capable of taking amazing photos with a telephoto, fish lens, and macro lens combination! I was gifted with this last year, and I take it with me whenever I go. Love!!

6. Manual Typewriter — There’s something about the clicking of keys on a manual typewriter that makes the writing process all the more satisfying, isn’t there? They can be difficult to find in thrift shops, which makes them that much more special if you can actually hunt one down, but they are super charming and can inspire even more storytelling fun for kids of any age!

7. One Sketch a Day Journal — Don’t have the time to create masterpieces of artwork, but still need a creative outlet?? Then a “sketch a day” journal is for you! This one simple exercise can help boost creativity without taking up huge amounts of time. For very young children who aren’t able to write yet, a color journal may work well to encourage them to explore art as a powerful medium for expressing emotion. Plus, sketching is super fun!!

Do you have a gift to inspire creativity that you’d love to recommend?? We would love to hear from you! Leave a comment and share your ideas with us!

(Note: Some links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)