It’s that time of year where many of us are looking for the perfect way to honor the father figures in our lives. Whether we’re assisting on a macaroni necklace for our spouse or wondering if the man who raised us could use another tie, the sentiment is the same. We want to show our appreciation for everything dads are and do.

When we asked, ‘What’s the best Father’s Day gift you’ve given?’ a lot of our readers shared that they surprised their spouse with news of a positive pregnancy test or even by going into labor on Father’s Day. Some with birthdays on or near the big day consider themselves the best gift ever (and we’re sure they are!). Unfortunately there’s no rush-shipping available on the miracle of new life, so here is some inspiration for the those of us still shopping around.

Creative & Crafty Gifts

“My husband’s favorite gifts were a collage of our daughter holding letters to spell D-A-D-D-Y and the remake we made when our son was born.”

“My husband still had an old voicemail from his dad who had passed years earlier. I had it made into a QR code so he would have it if he ever lost the voicemail. Made it pretty in a frame with the sound wavelength printed above it.”

“My (now ex) husband loves playing Scrabble. My then toddler would call it ‘scramble.’ I found a shadow box frame with the word ‘family,’ in the center, and played all of our names off it.”

“My husband has told his own version of the Three Little Pigs for years (he’s trying to watch football and our little piggies keep interrupting). It makes the kids laugh soooo hard and is the sweetest. I decided to paint a picture to honor his story and can’t wait to give it to him.”

“My preteen daughter sewed a throw pillow out of one of her Grammy’s house dresses the Father’s Day after she had passed away. I’d never seen her dad cry happy tears before that day.”

Classic Dad Stuff

“Ya know the whole dad has ‘HIS CHAIR’ thing, well….I made him a perfect dad-seating-area on the deck and — even the kids know — he gets precedence over that spot. When we can’t find him… yep, he’s out there getting fresh air in his chair.”

“One year I gave my father, who had never flown, an aerial tour out of a small town airport. It was a great surprise and in true ‘dad’ fashion…he chose to fly over our family home and check on how the roof was holding up from above.”

“It’s not fancy or expensive, but I got my husband a Jerky of the Month Club membership once and he talked about it forever.”

“When our kids were really young, I set it up for him and a friend to go to a BBQ class. He got tools and a cookbook – and they tried spices and rubs and different techniques. They had a great time and I’m still thankful for that gift!”

Perfectly Practical

“A permanent charger outlet, so that our teenagers can’t steal my husband’s charging cords anymore! You would have thought I gave him gold!”

“Coffee of the month club for a year. Just renewed for a third year!!!!”

“My dad was struggling financially one year so I covered his fees and half a year membership to his lodge. It’s one of his only social outlets and his gym. Mental and physical health are too important to ignore so I bypassed the standard BBQ equipment, emptied my savings account and made sure he could keep going.”

Documenting Memories

“A beautiful framed picture of my son watching his dad fix the car.”

“In lieu of gifts, each year we print off pictures from the past year of kids and dad, draw pictures, fill out those funny questionnaires, write and decorate in a journal. It’s fun to look back at the adventures we went on, read what the kids said each year, and see how they grow. In the digital-land where pictures get lost in the phone, it’s nice to have a dedicated place for pictures of our family.”

“We got my dad and all the grandkids polo shirts in the same color scheme and khaki shorts, then whisked them off to Picture People for a photo shoot, then lunch. Two months later, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and passed away the next year. The pictures are priceless!!!”

“Time. The last Father’s Day I had with my Daddy was in 2020, when we knew he was sick and we knew it was likely our last Father’s Day together. So we just sat together. Watched whatever he wanted, spent time in the same room. My sister had a book full of questions she asked him so we could know more about him.”

Traditions Together

“Doodle Dinner. This was something we started during the pandemic. We cover the dining table in sheets of drawing paper, so it’s one big doodle paper and everyone draws on it. It’s funny we all do different things, we talk about the drawings and doodles and it makes meal time fun. I leave it up for about 5 days and we add to it. Then take pictures to preserve the memories. My husband loves it and it’s become a new tradition in our house.”

“Kayak that we use for family adventures.”

“I like to gift my Dad an experience that we can share — we’ve been to concerts, sporting events, even just dinner & movie. I like spending time with him as opposed to a gift he probably doesn’t need.”

“We got my husband/their dad a small tree for his first Father’s Day and he has watched it grow along with his boys — now the tree and our oldest are 14 years old.”

Making Dad Dreams Come True

“My sister took an old cassette tape that my dad had made of his band playing. She converted it to a CD, separated all of the songs and created a jacket cover for the CD. The taping was from the mid to late 1980’s and she gave it to him around 2014. I think we all cried.”

“Tickets for my husband to a Red Sox game where the dads and kids got to go down onto the Fenway Park field afterwards to play catch.”

“My husband loves World War 2 planes so I got him a ride in a T6 Texan in Sonoma County CA. It was amazing.”

“A custom Pokemon card for my boyfriend while we are expecting our first baby. He collects and sells cards so I KNOW he’s going to love it.”

“My husband’s mother passed away when he was 32, and years later he was sharing his favorite memories of her with me. She used to read him a story that he loved as a little boy, but he could only remember vague details about the plot, not the author or title. As Father’s Day approached, I asked on Facebook (filtering him out of the post, of course) and was directed me to a Reddit community where people help to identify novels, poems, or short stories for each other. I made a post and someone was able to correctly ID the story. I found it in an obscure collection of Canadian Short Stories. When he opened his gift and I told him what page to turn to, it was the same story his mother read him. It was beautiful to see him so happy and I was so lucky to have had the online help to make it happen for him.”

What makes all of these gifts so special is the love and thought the gift-givers poured into choosing not the most expensive or elaborate gift, but the gift that would mean the most to the dad getting it. Good luck to everyone looking for gifts as one-of-a-kind as he is, and a very happy Father’s Day to all of the gifters and giftees.