55 Experience Gift Ideas for Kids and Families in the Wabash Valley

Chances are good that your kids don’t need any more toys. At most houses, toys seem to magically multiple! They come to us from yard sales, birthday parties, well-meaning grandparents, free swaps, and the box of hand me downs from our neighbors. There’s nothing wrong with kids having toys, but sometimes it can feel like we just don’t need more stuff. If you understand this feeling, this list of experience gift ideas is for you!

40+ Local Experience Gift Ideas

Fun and Games

• Enjoy a membership to the Terre Haute Children’s Museum. Check out THIS POST to see why we love our museum membership.
• Already members? Why not add on a Ropes Course membership! You can find everything you need to know about the ropes course in THIS POST. 
• Attempt to escape from Escape Terre Haute
• Play (virtual) games at Terre Haute eBash or board games at Full Moon Games. 
• Get a dose of (virtual) reality by booking a travel party with Accushot Virtual World.  (Accushot’s physical location has closed, but they will travel to you!)
• Buy tickets to a Rex Baseball game or a college athletic events such as basketball, soccer, football, baseball, or volleyball with ISU Athletics
• Check out a New Wave Pro Wrestling Match
• Pick up movie tickets for AMC, the Paris (IL) Theatre, the Brazil Theatre, or the new Moon Lite Drive-In Theater in Terre Haute.
• Take a ride on the Deming Park train.

Travel

• Visit Indiana’s only indoor beach (Read about our visit HERE) 
• Spend the night in a local hotel and swim at their indoor pool
• Take a train trip to Chicago (Click HERE to read about our family’s train adventures!) and visit the Field Museum (for FREE)
• Splash and play in an indoor water park in French Lick. Read our review HERE!
• Buy a membership to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum or Indianapolis Zoo
• Get a season pass to Splash Island Waterpark in Plainfield
• Take a drive to Wolf Park Wildlife Sanctuary in Battle Ground, Indiana.
• Purchase tickets or a season pass to Holiday World. (Don’t go without reading our Holiday World tips!)
• Ski at Nordic Mountain, Alpine Valley, or Wilmot Mountain (in Wisconsin) or Paoli Peaks (in Indiana). Read all about our day of skiing with kids at Paoli Peaks here.

Movement

• Improve your ninja skills at Terre Haute’s Ninja Warrior Training Facility, Ivy Fit.
• Bounce at Strikerz Play Land or The Bouncin Barn
• Join Upward indoor soccer (winter) or basketball (fall)
• Play pickleball, learn how to play volleyball dance, join a fitness class, tumble  all year long with a family membership to the YMCA. (Childcare available.)
• Make plans to enroll in Vigo County Youth Soccer Association’s outdoor league in the spring
• Try Wabash Valley Tumbling and Gymnastics, Illiana gymnastics/tumbling classes, Tumble Express (in Brazil), or Terre Haute Cheer University. 
• Purchase passes to Wigwam Skate Center or Terre Haute Skateworld
• Join a league or train at the {new} Strive 365 indoor sports complex.
• Go bowling at Terre Haute Bowling Center or Vigo Bowl
• Get your bike tuned up and ready to ride at Pike Bike Tune Up and Repair
• Buy Chick Fil A gift cards (for the play area)
• Swim all summer long with a family membership to the Country Club of Terre Haute
• Take swimming classes with the Terre Haute Torpedoes, Rose-Hulman, or Indiana State University
• See our guide to local active classes and sports teams for more ideas

Music and Art

• Try out the new “Paint Your Own Pottery” experience at Shewey’s in Honey Creek Mall.
• Purchase gift certificates for classes for the ISU Community School of the Arts. 
• Make music with Kindermusik or Musikgarten classes with Browne Music School.
• Enjoy a Swope Art Museum Membership or participation in the FREE “Art Start” preschool program
• Try pottery classes at the Deming Park Torner Center
• Buy tickets to the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, or Bloomington Symphony
• Improve your art skills with Charm School Art Classes at Modern Charm or Chocolate Polkadots Painting Classes with Robyn Michelle

Imagination and Education

• Make plans to visit the new location of the Vigo County Historical Museum
• Sign up for your child’s first library card
• Let your kids learn through play at a local park through nature-oriented Tinkergarten class.
• Stop by the Wabash Valley Railroaders Museum (May-October)
• Visit the CANDLES Holocaust museum

Nature

• Invest in an Indiana State Park Entrance Permit. You can also turn your parks pass into a gift pack with a gift card and a subscription to Outdoor Indiana.
• Load up your bikes and head to the best mountain bike trail in Indiana for some exercise and family time.
• Take horseback riding lessons at one of these local stables
• Visit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center
• Adopt a pet from the Terre Haute Humane Society  or a fish from Atlantis

Theater

• Buy tickets to the ISU Performing Arts Series
• See a show at Rose Hulman’s Hatfield Hall
• Watch a performance by Children’s Theatre of Terre Haute
• Support local thespians by attending a show at Community Theatre of Terre Haute
• Watch the circus,  listen to an orchestra, or see Disney on Ice  at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Food and Drink

• Gather restaurant gift cards for a family date to any of the restaurants on our “Eat Local” restaurant list or in our “Places to Eat Outside” guide.
• Try a cooking class at Clabber Girl or the Asian Market.
• Visit one of Terre Haute’s local wineries and breweries: Terre Haute Brewing Company, Sycamore Winery, and Water Tower Estates Winery.

View this post on Instagram

We're enjoying the snow from the comfort of a train car headed to Chicago! The snow is beautiful, the kids can wander around the train, and the adults don't have to worry about driving conditions. #hautehappenings

A post shared by Rachael (@hautehappenings) on Nov 21, 2015 at 9:28am PST

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Did we leave out one of your favorite experience gift ideas? Let us know so we can update the list!

This post is part of a two-part series. In the the first post, I shared general ideas for experiential gifts to give to kids. Check it out HERE and let me know if you have other ideas to add! (It’s a great one to re-pin and save for later!)

The post you’re reading now is filled with specific ideas for our Wabash Valley/Terre Haute/Indiana readers.

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