For those who love shopping, the winter holiday season of Hanukah, Yule, Christmas, and Kwanzaa offers the time to shine. With the right buyer’s guide, those who detest setting foot in a retail store can also seem like holiday whiz kids. Parents might win the prize for toughest to shop for people on everyone’s list. In this article, we’ll tackle super dad gifts, so everyone can get something great for the guy who helped rear them.
Our ideas span the gamut of options with gifts for techies, road warriors, musicians, and much more. We came up with gift ideas to suit any budget. We even found a few that you won’t need to wrap because they fit into an envelope. Let’s consider the top super dad gifts of the 2023 holiday season.
3D Printer
Technically inclined dads may yearn to enter the world of digital manufacturing technology, but not have the time to shop the wide variety of 3D printers available. Their children can do that for them, picking this from the list of super dad gifts. Although when they debuted about a decade ago, 3D printers cost tens of thousands of dollars, today, they cost between $80 to $5,000, placing an option in almost everyone’s budget.
The lower-cost 3D printers can only handle small projects about the size of a coffee mug or bowl. Regular-sized printers can handle printing larger projects, such as helmets and toys. Choose a large-size 3D printer for oversized projects. The size of the platform and its height from the top of the printer head determine the size of the project you can print with it.
Utility Knife
Gentlemen who enjoy hiking, camping, or survival sports can always use a high-quality utility knife. Choose from one of the many tough carbon steel products on the market. This option in the super dad gifts list helps out your father every day.
Many utility knives offer multiple uses. Some use a design similar to a Swiss Army knife. Those designs include bottle openers, scissors, or other handy tools in a utility knife design. Look for one with a brushed wood finish to get him something that looks sharp.
New Software
Back to the super dad gifts for techies. Whether your father works as a website designer or a certified public accountant, he’ll love new software that helps him work or enjoy a hobby. Software offers a vast range of topics and price points, putting it within reach of any budget. To research what’s available, check the Microsoft store, Google Play, or the Apple store, depending on the device Dad will get.
Some software costs nothing, but it takes time to find those options. Consider partnering with your mom on a special gift, such as a tablet that she and the kids set up before giving it as a gift. This puts the expensive part of the tablet, which ranges in cost from $50 to $1,000, on mom (the adult). The child or kids put in the research to find all of the software their dad would love, and then they all work together to set up the tablet and install all the software before giving Dad his gift.
Guitar
What about musically inclined dads or those fathers who always wanted to explore learning to play an instrument? The whole family can put together a gift package that revolves around his interest. One person buys Dad the guitar, a top request on many lists of super dad gifts. Another person, such as the kids, can go in to buy him instrument lessons.
Guitars range in price from about $100 to $500 for a full-sized entry-level model. You’ll pay more for electric guitars than for classical guitars. If you purchase Dad an electric, he’ll also need a practice amp, extra strings, an effects pedal, and some picks. Big-name makers like Les Paul, and Yamaha cost more than foreign brands like Nikko.
Vintage Sign
These super dad gifts don’t cost much. Kids can shop at five-and-dime stores, vintage shops, or Salvation Army stores to find genuine vintage signs for less than five dollars. Create a grouping of three to five signs, so he can cover a wall with the children’s gifts. Vintage neon signs might prove tougher to find, but if he uses a music theme in his man cave, these match with it well.
New Tools
Whether your dad loves truck repair or woodworking, getting a gift of tools ranks high on everyone’s super dad gifts list. For great tools, check Sears for their Craftsman store brand. Other options include Rockler for woodworking tools and Lowe’s or Home Depot for home improvement tools.
Unless you have your father’s permission to explore his tool chest, ask your mom for help figuring out which tools he needs. Sometimes, you get lucky and he mutters something like, Guess it’s time for a new drill.”, as he tries to fix something around the house, but this one usually takes a little stealthy research. Besides tools, many super dads appreciate a new workshop table or upgraded lighting for their workshop.
Restaurant Giftcard
Dads have to eat! Feed your parent at a nice steak restaurant. You can do this easily by buying him a gift card. If your dad goes out with his guy friends once a week or travels a lot on business, a gift card can let him enjoy a meal at a favorite restaurant on you.
If you plan ahead, kids could earn this gift card on the super dad gifts list with just a little effort. Get mom’s help joining My Points or Fetch. Scan receipts for the family shopping or their own. The search engine Bing offers a free loyalty program that lets you earn points just for using the search engine. Have the kids use their Bing accounts to do the searches for their homework and they can earn gift cards to give as gifts or use for their own needs.
Gardening Supplies
Outdoorsy dads who love to garden need cool super dad gifts, too. If you’ve got the budget, shop Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, or Home Depot for gardening tools. Those on a tighter budget, visit your local plant nursery to purchase your father some flowers or small plants to pot or put in the ground. Shrubs also make great gifts because these mid-height landscaping needs often get overlooked, but they complete a landscape.
Gardner dads may also love new work gloves or a knee pad to add comfort to kneeling in the garden beds for long periods. Other low-cost, but well-loved options include seeds for future plantings, germination kits, or a collapsible greenhouse. All of these options cost between $5 to $100.
Motorcycle Parts
Few children have the funds to buy Dad a motorbike, but you can help him fix his up. Visit the local sales lot for his make of motorbike, for example, the Kawasaki dealership. These sales lots typically have a parts shop. Most mechanics agree that purchasing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts works better than buying aftermarket parts.
When looking for super dad gifts of motorcycle parts, consider buying a gift certificate from the dealership store. Let your dad pick out what he needs, so he definitely gets the needed part. If you know he needs a new carburetor though and you feel comfortable ordering it, verifying the year, make, and model, then go for it. More expensive parts make a great group gift since everyone can put forth a little to the gift.
Vape Carts
Your father might have switched to vaping to avoid putting secondhand smoke into your home. He deserves one of these super dad gifts for making such a huge change for everyone in the home’s health. If you’re old enough to enter, head to the nearest vape shop to pick up a vape cart for him. Otherwise, have your mom or grandparent go to the store for you and pick up your present for your dad.
Other vape store options include flavor sample cartridge packs or vaping accessories. Travel chargers or travel kit bags help out dads who travel a lot. Although younger kids need someone to help with the shopping on these options, kids who already hit 18 can do it themselves or help out younger siblings.
Monthly or One-time Subscription Box
Keep your super dad on the cutting edge of his interest with a monthly or one-time subscription box. Visit Cratejoy.com or another similar subscription box site and search for his interests. Each general search, such as “football,” “coffee,” “cigars,” or “fishing,” will bring up a list of subscription boxes and their descriptions. Choose one, then pick whether to it as a one-off or a monthly subscription.
If your dad travels a lot, try a subscription box of snacks. These come in themes, such as Chinese snacks, healthy snacks, sugar-free snack boxes, gluten-free snack boxes, etc. Most boxes contain 15 to 30 snacks.
Monthly subscriptions get the dad on your list something different every month. Subscription boxes put together a fresh, new list of content each month so their subscribers don’t get bored. Many monthly subscriptions cost between $15 and $25 each month, but you can nab a discount when subscribing for six to 12 months. One-time boxes typically cost between $20 and $25.
Coming Up with Your Own Super Dad Gift List
What if this list didn’t come up with something your dad might use or need? Here are a few ideas for how to come up with sure-fire great gifts for your beloved father. Make a list of his interests, then search for them online. Both Bing and Google offer related shopping items. Peruse the list for something he does not have and that fits your budget.
Keep your list with you while perusing a massive shopping platform like Temu, Walmart, or Amazon. You don’t need to have a specific idea to use these platforms, just the name of his interest. Type it into to the search box at the top, then scroll until you find something he needs. Use the price sorting features to see the most affordable options, and to set your budget for the gift.
If your father gets any catalogs in the mail, that typically means he bought something from that company before. Flip through the catalog with your mom’s permission. Look for page edges folded over or items Dad circled. That indicates favorite wish list items and you can give one he did not buy for himself.
Leafing through old-school paper catalogs can offer lots of ideas, too. If you find a copy of a Sears or Montgomery Ward catalog, it can help to just flip through it for ideas. These paper catalogs often include project ideas or use cases that provide you with gift ideas.
While it’s really fun to come up with great presents alone, ask your mom what she thinks he wants. He may have dropped some hints to her about his wish list. She’s also a great resource for sizes and favorite colors.
Holiday Shopping for Dad
Super dads deserve great gifts, but they can be really tough to shop for since they take care of a lot of things on their own. Your super dad probably has at least one thing he wants that he has not purchased for himself. When you figure out what that is, you’re halfway there.
Kids typically have more free time than grownups, so you can do the research to find the ideal present, and then get a trusted adult to help you buy it. Adults don’t write letters to Santa, but it would make shopping easier if they did. With a little creative thinking and some research, you can unearth an affordable gift for your dad.
