SecondAct Asks: What's Your Favorite Experience Gift?

With the holidays in full swing, it seems everyone's feeling the gift-giving crunch. But the best gifts don't require a stress-filled trip to the mall. Looking inward and giving a gift of time or experience can be more meaningful than even the hottest gadget or designer sweater. We asked SecondAct contributors to share their favorite ideas for giving presence, rather than presents, this holiday season.

Here's what they had to say:

1. Aimee Liu, SecondAct contributing writer: "Last year for my mother's 90th birthday at Christmas we gave her a family talent show at which one granddaughter assembled her birthday cake a la Julia Child, my son flew a remote-controlled helicopter around the living room, my son's girlfriend bravely introduced herself to the family by singing God Bless America without moving her lips, and a grandson hosted a family version of Wheel of Fortune -- the solved puzzle being the news that a new great grandchild was on the way."

2. David Ferrell, SecondAct contributing writer: "I once gave a newly engaged couple a gondola trip through the canals in the Naples part of Long Beach, Calif. It was the type of unusual experience they never would have arranged for themselves, and I think they had a really wonderful time. I live in the area and see these rented gondolas going through the canals day and night with couples and small groups. They lend an extra bit of charm to an area that's beautiful anyway."

3. Veronica DeLuca, SecondAct site producer: "The best gift I ever gave was the year I gave my mom a husband. She'd been alone for over a decade and reluctant to date, but I knew she longed for companionship, so I signed her up for a six-month membership to eHarmony. I knew it was something she'd never do on her own, but since I'd already paid for it, she decided to humor me. We spent a few hours in a cafe together setting up her profile, and by the following Christmas she had a new man and a new last name."

4. Michelle Rafter, SecondAct blogger: "Share an afternoon or evening with a younger relative. I'm the oldest of five and have a brother nine years younger than me. Because of our age difference, we weren't together very much. So my gift was my time. When I was in high school and college, I gave him the same present every year -- a homemade gift certificate for lunch and a movie. When I was too young to drive, we took a bus into the city to have lunch at Burger King and see a show at a theater downtown. When I got older, I drove. It doesn't snow much in Portland, but the winter we saw Star Wars, we got caught in a blizzard and I ended up in a ditch. When my brother turned 40 a few years ago, my family surprised him with a scrapbook full of letters, pictures and memorabilia from his life. I included a letter about our "dates." But the biggest surprise was on me. Inside the pages was one of those gift certificates that my mom found in his old bedroom, saved from so many years before."

5. Jeanette Hurt, SecondAct "Delicious Nutrition" columnist: "This year we're going to take my mother-in-law and her husband (my hubby's step-dad) to the art museum and then have lunch afterward. We consider it a gift of art."

6. Patrick J. Kiger, SecondAct blogger: "After I put a picture up on Facebook of myself as a 14-year-old at basketball camp, my sister realized that she had my old camp t-shirt in her rag bin. She got it, cleaned it up and mended it, and wrapped it up as a gift for me that Christmas. I have it hanging on the wall in my office now. She's given me some really nice, expensive gifts over the years, but I have to say that was the one that I've treasured the most."

7. Kara Ohngren, SecondAct channel editor: "My mom had always wanted to learn to make homemade pasta from scratch. So one year for Christmas, we took a pasta-making course together. It was so much fun, and at the end of the day we got to sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy all of the delicious dishes we prepared. Since that class, we've made homemade pasta several times together."

8. Amaren Colosi, SecondAct contributing photographer: "I love this kind of gift giving; it's always unexpected. I like giving people a magazine subscription since it lasts an entire year. Also, we are surprising a friend this year with an hour-long horseback trail ride."

9. Lynne Domash, SecondAct channel editor: "A good idea would be to make a big batch of soup and freeze it in individual servings and take it to a friend who is ill, going through chemo or managing work and a family and is overstressed and overworked. You could also give respite care to a friend who's looking after an elderly parent."

10. Jane Ganahl, SecondAct "Single After 40" columnist: "One year for Christmas I organized all my dad's photos for him. Another year I took some old family film footage and converted it into CDs."

11. Donna Wares, SecondAct editor. "I try to make at least some of my holiday gifts to add a personal touch. I like to make lemon bars with Grandma Shirley's special recipe, handmade sachets with lavender from my garden, and this year ornaments from the seashells my family collect back home on Marco Island, Fla. After my mother died a few years ago, my husband and I scanned all of her beautiful family photos and then put together a video slide show set to music; we surprised the rest of the family with the CDs for Christmas, and it made a wonderful keepsake for all of us."

12. Karin Price Mueller, SecondAct personal finance columnist: "My favorite gift suggestion is a session with a fee-only certified financial planner or an estate planning attorney. We all have a to-do list when it comes to money issues, and sometimes a gentle push is all we need. Especially in these challenging economic times, we can use an objective opinion to make sure we're doing all we can with the resources we have. You can find a reputable financial planner in your loved one's geographic area using the Financial Planning Association or the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. Find an estate planning attorney through the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys or the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils."

SecondAct Asks: Have you given or received a great gift of time or experience? Share your comments sec below.