What is the Perfect Clutter-free Educational Gift for Kids?
The perfect clutter-free educational gift for kids is audiobooks. Also called, Audio stories or Audio Dramas. Listen to Audiobooks in the car, at home, while doing other things. You can listen to them on computers, tablets, and phones. Some stories you can listen to on the more traditional Compact Discs. Not only do Audiobooks cut the clutter, but they are also environmentally friendly and educational.
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As a homeschool mom of five children, I love to give gifts to my kids, but I dread the clutter that comes with Christmas and Birthdays. We live in a small house and when the toys and books begin to clutter the house, my stress level rises. Even organized clutter still takes up the little space we have. I find that the children’s excitement for the toy fades after a few weeks and then it gets boring and starts to collect dust.
The homeschooler in me wants my children to receive books, however, the bookshelves are also crammed with books. I have found one particular type of gift that our whole family loves and it doesn’t take up much space at all. In fact, many of the following suggestions are available as MP3 files on-line, so they are gifts that don’t take up space in your home.
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How to listen to audiobooks
You can listen to Audiobooks almost anywhere. Our favorite way is to listen in the car on long trips. You can listen on your iPad while you do dishes or other housework, while your kids play quietly. I even listen on my phone while cleaning out the barn or gardening. I have listened to audio stories since I learned how to drive several years ago when there were cassette tapes and walkmans. Advancements in technology have made listening to audiobooks so much more convenient. You can even change the speed of the story. In our fast pace culture, you can speed up the speed and listen faster.
Best Audiobooks for Families
Audible
Audible is Amazon’s Audiobook Library. It is the largest Audiobook Library in the world. A gift membership to Audible is a gift the whole family can enjoy. It is an affordable, monthly subscription that makes a perfect gift because it is the gift that keeps on giving all year long. If you wanted to give a physical gift to complement the subscription gift, you could also give an Echo Smart Speaker.
Audio Stories Around the World
We just discovered Around the World Stories. It is a treasure trove. It is not just audio stories. There are lessons and activities to go along with the stories. According to their website, this is what is included with memberships.
- A new 30-minute original adventure delivered to your inbox every week!
- A parent guide with each story full of discussion topics, recipes, and activities to connect your child with the culture.
- A new country and culture introduced every four weeks.
- Culture, geography, and history woven into the stories in exciting ways for organic learning.
- Engaging characters that bring young listeners into their lives as they solve mysteries, celebrate holidays, go on adventures and make a difference in their community–all of which inspires children to learn more about that culture and country.
Around the World Stories makes it very convenient to give the monthly or annual membership as a gift with a gift certificate option. This is a wonderful gift for homeschoolers.
Heirloom Audio Adventures
Another audio resource that is so much more than just stories. These audio dramas are books written by the famous G.A. Henty who wrote several living books about historical events.
At Heirloom Audio Productions, they are especially passionate about bringing real history to life. We own many of these productions and as an adult, I learned so much about ancient history. They also offer membership to an educational website called Live the Adventure Club. There are several resources that complement the audio stories and explain the events in more detail. Your children will be learning about history without feeling like they are in school.
Patch the Pirate
Patch the Pirate is a wonderful choice for younger children. These are Biblical lessons written in entertaining, often funny adventures. Each adventure has beautiful songs intertwined with the story. Some songs are sacred hymns, some are children’s Bible Songs and some are silly songs written by Ron and Shelly Hamilton, the producers of the audio adventures. I highly recommend this for children (and adults) of all ages, but especially young children. Each adventure will keep their attention, teach them a lesson and fun songs. There are many, many adventures. Here is a list of our top ten favorite adventures.
- Kingdom Chronicles
- The Colonel’s Colossal Character Quest
- Shipwrecked on Pleasure Island
- Harold the King (Christmas Adventure)
- Camp Kookawacka Woods
- The Great American Time Machine
- The Custard’s Last Stand
- Once Upon a Starry Knight
- Giant Killer
- The Lone Stranger
Lamplighter
Our favorite Audio Dramas are produced by Lamplighter. You can read about Lamplighter and our top 10 adventures here. These are high-quality, forgotten classic stories written from a Biblical point of view. I highly recommend these Audio Dramas.
I hope you found audio adventure recommendations helpful for a clutter-free Educational gift for kids. Audiobooks are the perfect gift that keeps on giving and cuts the clutter. They are educational and interesting. Give the priceless gift of stories to the kids in your life. Audiobooks are the perfect non-toy gift.
How about you? What are your favorite audiobooks? Let me know in the comments. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest articles from Cattle Upon a Hill.
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