CHAMPAIGN-URBANA (Chambana Today) — As the holiday season approaches, many local families are looking for creative ways to make gift-giving more meaningful for their kids. While the shelves at area retailers are full of the latest toys and gadgets, parents are increasingly turning to unique, hands-on gifts that encourage creativity, learning and outdoor play.

Although toys and games are typical gifts for children, there are many other items that go beyond these staples to make for unique and creative gifts that can spark imagination or boost physical activity. Shoppers can consider these outside-the-box gift ideas when shopping for youngsters this holiday season.

• 3D pen or printer: Kids can design and build amazing objects that encourage them to employ their creative side.
• Soap-making kit: These skits spur creative endeavors and ultimately produce useful finished results. Soap or perfume kits are great for hands-on sensory learning. Such gifts also teach some components of science and math by requiring users to follow the recipe.
• Robot-building kits: Take building kits one step further with items that can move. Robot kits combine play with engineering basics.
• Interactive books: Children can solve puzzles or make choices to move the story along. These types of books may even appeal to the most hesitant readers.
• Bug collection kits: Budding entomologists can observe insects close up and then release them back into the wild.
• Greenhouse, terrarium or bonsai tree kit: Put together the materials needed for kids to grow something special. They can nurture the plant along the way.
• Dress up trunk: Fill a box or a trunk with various dress-up costumes and accessories and let children’s imaginations run wild. This will spur hours of imaginative play and crazy combinations of clothing.
• Geocaching app: Let kids find objects hidden all over their neighborhoods in real-world outdoor treasure hunts. Geocaching utilizes GPS coordinates to find hidden containers, called geocaches, placed there by other players.
• Various craft supplies: Let kids create any and all of their fun ideas by compiling a kit full of various craft supplies. From beads to wooden letters to paints to paper, there are plenty of items to be made.
• Hiking attire: Get kids out into nature by supplying the gear needed to take to the trails.
• Adopt a star or planet: Children can adopt and name a star or planet and get a certificate honoring the event.
• Time capsule: Let children store favorite items tucked away for safe keeping, where they’ll remain until unveiled in the future.

From dress-up trunks for imaginative play to greenhouse kits for budding gardeners, Champaign-Urbana shoppers are finding plenty of options — both online and at local craft stores — to make this holiday season as educational as it is exciting.