The 2024 Museum Gift Guide Is Here!
The holidays are almost here, which means the gift-giving season is upon us. Beyond giving the gift of a Watson Adventures gift card (to turn their favorite museums into a game board), our annual holiday gift guide offers awesome options for the museum lovers on your list.
While running in-person scavenger hunts and virtual games at museums all over the U.S., we’ve scoured museum gift shops to find unique, and occasionally absurd, museum gift ideas. And each purchase supports a beloved cultural institution, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Getty Center in Los Angeles. So take a look at these 22 fun and unusual gift ideas from museum gift shops.
Countdown to Christmas
Advent calendars are everywhere this year. But why settle for tiny toys or generic chocolates when you can unlock 24 gorgeous pieces of art? The Met Museum’s Museum Favorites Advent Countdown offers just that, with two dozen artworks and artifacts from the collection—each in the form of a magnetic mini puzzle! Even the box is something of a masterpiece, featuring art from a vintage 1952 Christmas card. The Met Store, $50
The Mona LEGO
What says “holiday spirit” more than an American museum selling a Danish toy set depicting an Italian masterpiece owned by France? We couldn’t tell you—but we can tell you any brick builder in your life would love this LEGO Mona Lisa! Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, $100
Artsy Attire
For the casual art aficionado, the Art Institute of Chicago offers an array of t-shirts emblazoned with eye-catching artwork. Choose from Cezanne’s The Three Skulls (so festive!), an intimidating African face mask (happy holidays!), or Salvador Dalí’s Mae West’s Face which May be Used as a Surrealist Apartment (and a partridge in a pear tree!). AIC, $28-34
Hats Off to You
The Brooklyn Museum is known for offering distinctive exclusives, and this year is no different. We’re not totally clear what message this Art Baby trucker hat is trying to convey—like, is it shouting “art, baby! woohoo!,” or saying the wearer is some sort of baby…for art? But that automatically makes it cool and mysterious! Another, even more opaque, option is this Fragile trucker hat. Brooklyn Museum, $45
Historical Hanukkah
For a light take on the Festival of Lights, the store at the New York Historical (formerly the New-York Historical Society) sells this whimsical Dancing Rabbis Menorah. NY History Store, $190
Even More Menorahs
Not to be outdone in the oddball-menorah department, the Jewish Museum in New York City presents this truly one-of-a-kind Nail Polish Menorah. Oh, is a menorah featuring bottles of nail polish with such names as Gimel Five and Latke Surprise too traditional for you? Then check out this minimalist Emerald Ripple Menorah for something even more differently different. The Jewish Museum, $40 & $198
Choose Your Own Sculpture
The Getty Center boasts some of the most beautiful sculptures in the world, and their store features a wide selection of reproductions to call your very own. There’s something for everyone, including the renowned Vexed Man; this rendition of Hermes sniffing his armpit; this very sleepy nudist; this bronze nesting doll thingie by Magritte; and Pluto lovingly abducting Persephone and dragging her to hell. Getty Museum, prices vary
Weird Science
The gift shop at Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, famed repository of bizarre and baffling medical oddities, always features some truly out-there gift ideas. This year’s stocking-stuffer possibilities include these seemingly blood-filled Syringe Pens, special Cookie Cutters that let you bake up batches of jarred brains and hearts, and this Madame Dimanche Postcard, which pretty much speaks for itself. Mütter Museum, prices vary
Your Holiday Party Playlist
Plan your seasonal soiree the right way with A Booze & Vinyl Christmas: Merry Music-and-Drink Pairings to Celebrate the Season. Author André Darlington takes the guesswork out of the merriment, matching dozens of holiday songs with appropriate libations. Enjoy! Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, $26
It’s Panda-dorable
You might have heard that the Smithsonian’s National Zoo has welcomed two of its newest residents: the giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao. Before they’re introduced to the public for the first time in January, introduce one to your Christmas tree with this cute Glass Panda Ornament. Hopefully Bao Li and Qing Bao won’t be quite so wild-eyed when they meet their adoring fans, but you never know! Smithsonian, $38
Glow Up, Up, and Away
Wicked is so hot right now, and who in the film is more popular than—you guessed it—the Wizard of Oz himself? Not to mention the trusty conveyance he used to reach the Emerald City! Hang this Hot Air Balloon LED Light in your room, and you’ll be singing “The Wizard and I” till the flying monkeys come home. Museum of Modern Art, $138
A Striking Statement Piece
Finally, the Houston Museum of Natural Science has the perfect gift for the fossilized-lightning fan in your family. This stunning piece of Fulgurite is a stretch of sand dug up from the Sahara Desert after lightning struck it, fusing it into the piece of art you see before you. Now, it is so fragile that you have to be in the Houston area to nab it, so congratulations to one lucky Texan willing to shell out 14 large for a slab of zapped sand! HMNS, $14,095
Find More Fun
Contact us to learn more about our in-person and virtual holiday games, including the Ho-Ho-Ho for the Holidays Scavenger Hunt, the Puzzled for the Holidays Virtual Mystery Game, the Joy Around the World Virtual Scavenger Hunt, and more.
Image credits: All product images via their respective museums