Journal

70th birthday gift ideas for mum and dad

By seventy, most parents have the things they need, which is usually why they tell you not to get them anything. The gifts that land tend to be the ones about them: their people, their places, the things they love doing. Here are ideas across the range, from a day out to something the whole family makes, with a few notes on choosing.

Updated September 2026

Start with them, not the shop

Before you browse, spend five minutes on these:

What do they talk about most?
What do they do with a free afternoon?
Is there a place they always talk about?
Who do they wish they saw more often?
What would they never buy for themselves?

The answers usually point to the gift.

Experiences

A day back somewhere that mattered. The town they grew up in, the seaside they went to as children, the place they honeymooned. Plan the day around it, including lunch somewhere they used to go.
Tickets to the thing they love, whether that is a concert, a match, the theatre, or a garden they have always meant to visit, with the travel sorted so all they do is turn up.
A class in something they’ve always wanted to try: pottery, painting, bread, fly-fishing, a tasting.
A night away somewhere easy, with the booking and the lift handled.

Put the details in a card, so there is something to open on the day.

Time together

For a lot of parents, this is the present.

Everyone round one table, including the people who rarely make it home. It works best if the one who flies in is a surprise.
A standing date: lunch on the first Saturday of every month for a year, written in a card, with the first one already booked.
Let them teach you something, like the recipe nobody has written down, the card game, or the knot for the fishing line. Grandchildren are usually keen.
A proper family photograph, everyone together, with somebody who knows what they are doing behind the camera.

Something the family makes

These tend to be the gifts people call sentimental, because nobody else could have made them.

Their recipes, in print. Collect the dishes everyone remembers them for and have them typed up and bound.
Old photographs, sorted and scanned, or old home videos transferred so they can watch them on the television.
A family tree, researched and framed, with a story or two beside the names.
Letters from each of the children and grandchildren, gathered in one box.
A memory book: messages, stories and photographs from family and friends, collected into one book. If you are making one yourself, give people a date and a single question to answer. These work well:
- What’s a piece of advice from them you’ve held onto?
- What are they good at that they never make a fuss about?
- Through everything that’s changed, what about them has stayed exactly the same?
- What’s something you’ve always thought about them but never quite said?

For the thing they love

Gardeners: a rose or a small tree chosen for the year, planted together on the day.
Readers: a good edition of a book they loved when they were young.
Cooks: the one pan or knife they would never buy themselves.
Walkers: a guided walk on a route they have always meant to do.
Music lovers: the record they wore out, on vinyl, and something to play it on if they need it.

For mum, for dad

These aren’t rules. Plenty of dads bake and plenty of mums fish. But if you are looking for a starting point:

For mum:a day back where she grew up · her recipes in print · a portrait with all the grandchildren · lessons in something she has always meant to try.

For dad:a match or a race with his children · a drive in the kind of car he had at twenty · his parents’ old photographs restored and framed · a walk on a route he did when he was young.

Making it a gift from everyone

One person coordinates. Everyone else is asked for one thing.
Agree the budget privately, so nobody feels outdone.
Give people a date, a week or two before the birthday, not the day itself.
Plan it in a group chat they aren’t in, if you want it kept a surprise.
Leave room for the grandchildren. A drawing or a two-line note counts.

A few things to weigh up

No gift is wrong if it is chosen with them in mind. A few things are worth checking, though:

If they are clearing out the house, an experience or something to read may suit them better than something to keep on a shelf.
If they dislike being the centre of attention, a quiet lunch may beat a surprise party.
If the gift is a trip, check the dates with the other parent first.

A book from everyone who knows them

If a memory book appeals and you’d rather not assemble it by hand, Theirs & Ours makes a Birthday Book. You share one link with family and friends. Each person can write a message, record one, or add photographs. You arrange the pages and see every one, and nothing is printed until you approve the book, which comes as a printed hardcover. The board can be private to you, so nobody else sees what arrives.

About the Birthday Book