5 Ways To Give Money to Kids This Holiday Season

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Money is a gift that never goes out of style. If you don’t know what to get a special child on your list this year, opting for money can ensure your gift is well received.

What you might not realize is there are several different ways to gift money. Keep reading to discover five ways to give money to kids during the 2025 holiday season.

1. Savings Bond

You can buy two types of savings bonds on TreasuryDirect — Series EE and Series I — and they’re great gifts for kids’ future. EE bonds hold the same interest rate for at least 20 years, while I bond rates stay the same for six months, according to TreasuryDirect.

For bonds issued from Nov. 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026, Series EE have a 2.5% interest rate and Series I have a 4.03% interest rate, including a fixed rate of 0.9%.

Savings bonds are gifted electronically. To send one, you’ll need the recipient’s full name, Social Security number and TreasuryDirect account number. You can purchase up to $10,000 of either type of bond per calendar year for one Social Security number, according to TreasuryDirect.

2. 529 Plan Contribution

Invest in their future college education by making a contribution to their 529 plan account. If the child doesn’t already have one, you could set one up — of course, with the parents’ permission.

You can use Ugift to contribute funds to existing accounts managed by Ascensus. Additionally, some plan administrators may have a link parents can send to anyone interested in contributing money to their child’s account.

3. Stock

You can also give stocks to kids. This is a great gift for their future, and doing so could also allow you to avoid capital gains taxes and remove potential appreciation from your estate, according to Charles Schwab.

Do note that this unearned income could result in a kiddie tax, which could make the gift subject to their parents’ income tax rate. It could also impact their financial aid calculations, so it might be best to consult a financial advisor before making this type of gift.

4. Gift Card

Giving money via a gift card can be a great idea if you know what store you want to shop at but aren’t sure what the recipient wants. You might even be able to find a holiday deal, like buy a $50 gift card, get a $10 bonus card.

5. Cash

Everyone loves cash — even little kids. If you’re looking for the easiest possible way to give money to kids, this is it.

If you’re gifting little ones, consider giving them as many small bills as possible, since their idea of more is a higher number of bills. To get creative, you could also go to the bank and get their money in $2 bills.

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