It’s that time of year again! If you’re like me and you’re not super organized about holiday gifts, let these holiday gift guides help you get the process started. There will be three guides: food/edible gifts (see here); pampering gifts; and this peace-of-mind guide. From cyber security to saving the world, these gifts make life a little less stressful.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Gift Cards
Here’s a first! World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will be offering gift cards as of August 18th. They’ll be online only at first, but in October, you’ll be able to buy them at Kroger stores. The cards represent a donation in value from $25 – $250 in the recipient’s name. The recipient will be able to redeem the gift card at WWF’s Online Gift Center and choose from over 200 free thank-you items, including plush, apparel, home goods, and more, depending on the amount of the donation. WWF has a 4-star rating (out of 4 possible stars) on Charity Navigator and 85% of the donation is used for conservation work.
https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center
Cyber Safety from Gen Digital
Cyber safety is a great gift for anyone. From children to seniors, every device offers the potential for scamming, phishing, or worse. Gen Digital offers peace of mind for everyone on your list. Norton VPN protects your privacy wherever you are, including on public Wi-Fi. Norton Genie and Avast Scam Guardian use AI to detect scam calls and messages, protecting you and your loved ones from falling prey to cyber predators. Lifelock, another Norton product, protects you from identity theft, with their Million Dollar Protection package as a guarantee.
https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/
Sparq AI
Sparq devices are the perfect gift for every driver. This handheld AI device runs diagnostics on your car, so you know what’s right and what’s wrong at any given moment. Just plug it into your car, access the app, and you’ve got over 50,000 different diagnostics you can check. The app can even be voice-operated, so you just ask what you want to know and Sparq will tell you. Never wonder what that strange noise is or what that light on the dash means again.
Click here! SPARQ | Turn Your Car Into AI | SPARQ
GE Lighting
GE Lighting has an array of party lights that will make your place as festive as any city light show. From smart color bulbs to flexible light strips, your holidays will glow. Send a set to your college kids to decorate their rooms, too! In fact, the LED+ Speaker & Color Bulb would be a great gift for any of your children’s rooms, near or far. As well as a color-changing light, it has a built-in Bluetooth speaker – perfect for any size party or gathering. And they all sync (or Cync) to your phone for easy remote controlling. https://www.gelighting.com/
Shipt/Target Circle 360
Another great gift for your far-from-home family is a Shipt membership. Shipt delivers same-day from Target and other retailers . You’ll know they have access to whatever they need, but not what they don’t – alcohol items are excluded. Have senior parents that can’t get around as easily as they used to? Shipt does the shopping for them. Just tell them what you need, and they’ll get it for you, in-store discounts included.
https://www.shipt.com/discover
Merge Cube
Bring the world into your hands with Merge Cube. This educational device is a cube with QR codes on each side. When you scan the Merge Cube with the Merge app, you can choose from over 1000 objects and animals to learn more about them. The Merge Cube turns the object or animal into a 3-d representation that moves as you move and rotate the cube. The Merge Cube comes with 3 months of the subscription, but you can buy a 1-year subscription with the cube here: https://mergeedu.com/cube.
Help your family improve their financial literacy with a subscription plan from Greenlight. Greenlight offer safe debit cards for your kids and have even introduced Family Shield to help protect your seniors (as in elders, not students). The debit card includes safety controls, including an on/off switch so you can prevent overspending. Kids learn good spending habits and are rewarded for responsible money management with up to 1% cash back. Family Shield can include all generations and protects everyone from fraud, scams and theft.
Yubico’s Yubikey
Worried about phishing attacks? Keep yours and your loved ones accounts safe from phishing with a single touch. Yubico’s Yubikey will protect you. Yubikey is physical authentication protocol that lets you block access to your accounts with the touch of your finger. That’s right. Once your accounts are protected with Yubikey, you just need to touch the sensor on the Yubikey to log in and no-one else can log in without the key. And you can assign multiple Yubikeys to one user, so there is always a back-up. https://www.yubico.com/
BARK to Protect the Kids!
Have young ones who want smart phones and watches, but you’re wary of smart devices? For three years in row, PC Mag has named Bark Phone the best smart phone for kids. It has tamper-proof parental controls and monitoring. Text messages can’t be deleted. Any and all apps require approval, and it comes with GPS location tracking. The Bark Watch has similar features, but without the apps (no social media or games), and it has an SOS button, in case your littles (and not-so-littles) ever feel unsafe. There’s even Bark Home to help protect your kids on their home Wi-Fi and computers/laptops. https://www.bark.us/protects/home-page/
Schiffer Publishing Watercolor The Easy Way Paint-Your-Own Watercolor Cards Flowers
Make time for yourself with his notecard paint kit from Schiffer Publishing. Watercolor The Easy Way Paint-Your-Own Watercolor Cards Flowers is based on Sara Berrenson’s Watercolor the Easy Way and includes 12 notecards with envelopes, a paintbrush, a 9-color paint palette, and instructions. Each card has a sketched outline of a flower image for you to color as you choose with a smaller flower image on the reverse, which is lined for easy writing. If flowers aren’t your thing (or your giftee’s thing), there’s also a set of coastal designs. Buy it Here!
Pour Palz from ToyMonster
And for a bit of fun, check out Pour Palz from ToyMonster. These art kits are great for anyone 5+. The Pour Palz kits include paints, a mixing cup, and a pour spoon, as well as a figure and any necessary accessorties (key ring clip, for example). Choose among bear, bunny, and ballon dog in either key chain or figurine formats. There are a variety of paint combinations, too, so you could also buy multiples and make them as gifts.
https://www.toymonster.net/pourpalz
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