37 Unique Father's Day Gifts That Go Beyond Ties And Bourbon

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18 hours ago

A spiral cactus he'll assume you paid top dollar for at an expensive plant boutique. Bonus: Spin the pot around in his face to hypnotize him into admitting you're the favorite child. 🌀🌀🌀
I've Venn Thinking — a creative card game that lets players compete to find the funniest similarities between an unlikely pairing, like the Incredible Hulk and TSA agents (not a fan of shoes).
A miniature Stanley tape measurer keychain so he no longer has to wonder how tall something is and try to guesstimate with his hands. This would come in clutch when furniture shopping or measuring his latest fishing catch.
A tin of emergency googly eyes sure to help out your dad whenever he's in a pinch during a prank war. The pack comes with three different sizes, so get ready for everything in your home to suddenly start staring back at you.
A 3-in-1 portable charger that opens up to charge his iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch all at the same time. When they're done, it folds into a little dollop of a device that's easy to throw in a bag for later. Fights over the outlet and tangled cords are just not something we have to worry about these days.
An ice cream maker so he can enjoy ice cream at home. Folks: ice cream. At home. This particular machine is easy to use, fast (ice cream and sorbet in 20 minutes!) and makes up to 1.5 quarts of frozen goodness. The transparent lid even has a spout, so he can add ingredients while the machine works.
My favorite TikTok account uses this ice cream maker! See it in action here.Promising review: "I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this ice cream maker. I never purchase store-bought ice cream anymore. I make non-dairy ice cream. My children, husband, and everyone who tastes it can't believe I made it." —SaidaGet it from Amazon for $54.99.
A a pair of nostalgic baseball hat ice cream bowls sure to start an impromptu "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" singalong. These are sturdier than their plastic forebears, meaning they can become heirlooms.
A tabletop s'mores firepit so he can roast some marshmallows at a moment's notice — no campfire needed. He can use ethyl alcohol (which you can pick up for him at the hardware store), and it burns for up to an hour so everyone can get their sugar fix.
Murdle: Volume 1 — a book featuring 100 logic puzzles from the popular daily puzzle site, Murdle. Armchair detectives can work to crack the case and find out who did it, where, and with what. There are four levels of difficulty, ranging from elementary to impossible, so he can stay challenged as he goes.
A birdfeeder with a built-in camera so he can spy on his feathered friends and take notes on the avian goings-on. The camera has an AI system that can identify over 6,000 bird species, so he'll never have to argue whether the bird that visited was a goldfinch or an Eastern meadowlark.
An Ember temperature-control smart mug to help extra-particular drinkers keep their coffee or tea at the exact right temperature. Your dad can control the vessel through an app to ensure that his cuppa is consistently hot from the first sip to the last. There are even presets for specific drinks.
A tube of chocolate tennis balls that are surprisingly realistic. They have a marshmallow center that I think he's going to...love. ;)
Weird Medieval Guys, a silly coffee table book from my favorite Twitter account featuring quizzes, how-to guides, diagrams, and flow charts that give him a goofy peek at what his life as a peasant might have looked like.
A ticket stub diary to help him organize his loose theater, museum, concert, and sporting event tickets so he can fondly look back on all his favorite memories. Remember when you two caught a ball at Yankee Stadium? Thanks to this book, he'll know the exact date.
Yuzu kosho chili paste he can use to top oysters, season meat, mix with mayo for a sandwich topping, make salad dressing, jazz up soup — I could go on for a while, but you get the picture. It's citrusy, spicy, and briny, the trifecta of delicious condiment flavors.
A fancy book filled with lots of unusual knowledge so he can come prepared with interesting trivia the next time conversation falls flat. He can impress people with facts about Hollywood urban legends, presidential pets, strange sporting events, and more. No need to fall back on dad jokes all the time.
Or! If your dad's corny joke arsenal is getting old, a copy of The Very Embarrassing Book of Dad Jokes to arm him with some new groan-worthy zingers.
A whiskey glass that looks like it was on the receiving end of a really intense dice throw. The design is a nat20 in my book. :)
A wind-up toy shaped like a cat riding a robot vacuum. We've all the seen the videos — it's time to recreate it at home.
A high-end bottle of Takesan Kishibori soy sauce if you want to show your dad what he's been missing by sticking with grocery store brands. No offense to Kikkoman, but this elevated sauce from Shodoshima, Japan offers a richer, more complex flavor that has happy reviewers pledging their allegiance.
A — get this — CUSTOM BOBBLEHEAD! Whether he's a hardcore sports collector or has Dwight Shrute-like taste, he's gonna be nodding and smiling (just like his gift!) when he sees this.
A stargazing book and Stellarscope for the dad who's always encouraging you to look up. The portable star lens can help your pop identify over 1,500 stars that can be seen from the continental United States, along with most of Alaska, Canada and south of the Arctic Circle. The accompanying book offers some extra context and science trivia your dad is sure to regale you with every clear-skied evening.
A box of fried chicken...*drum roll*...ICE CREAM!!! He'll get nine pieces of waffle ice cream filled with chocolate "bones," covered in white chocolate and crushed cornflakes, and packaged in a KFC-like bucket.
A 10-year diary for the journaling experts who are ready to graduate from the famous 5-year journal. Your pa gets five lines per day to jot down his experiences, plus a prologue and epilogue. Already a cute gift idea, but it's made even better by the gold foil details and delicate illustrations!
A USB-C charging cube that looks like Susan Kare's smiling macintosh that yep, lights up when it's plugged in. He probably already has a charger, but is it this cute???
A glowing mini bowling set if your old man wishes he could be at the bowling alley instead of work. It even plays music!
A Japanese hori hori gardening knife sure to become the MVP of his gardening toolbox. The lightweight tool has a serrated side and straight edge, so he can dig, weed, slice roots, cut sod, and break up perennials. Deep-rooted dandelions and other summer weeds will see themselves out.
A set of LED lightsaber chopsticks to make fights over the last dumpling extra dramatic. They can change colors (red, blue, yellow, purple, and multicolor) so he can either make them match or change to red and blue to recreate the Duel on Cloud City.
A set of lights with flexible goosenecks so he can grill late into the night without having to grope around blindly for his tools. The battery-operated lights are magnetic — he can just pop them onto the hood of his grill.
A candy specimen display for the fatherly candy scientist. If you've seen him perform a gummy bear head transplant, you know he's gonna love this.
A jerky bouquet because flowers are so overdone and, honestly, not as tasty. Meat bouquets are the way of the future.
A handheld bookshelf filled with tiny books (based on real publications!) he can shake in fury whenever someone messes with the thermostat. Once the tiny earthquake has subsided, he can let off some steam by meditatively putting all the tiny tomes back.
Or, similar vibe here: a DIY miniature museum kit for the dad who's still thinking about how funny Night at the Museum was. Now listen, Lunch Box! This light-up 3D puzzle comes with 1,074 pieces and takes about 10 hours to complete, so you better not disturb the process.
A challenging, circular puzzle that will finally give your jigsaw-loving dad a challenge. Try not to be too jealous when you get a pic of the finished product.
Salteez drink strips for the dad who loves to turn his beers into tasty concoctions. The strips stick to bottles, cans, and glasses, and are basically a salt lick for humans. 🦌
A set of vinyl coasters offering a retro (and super cute) way to protect his furniture from condensation. Guests who actually want to use a coaster? How the turntables.
GoSports BattleChip, a blend of golf and cornhole, which has almost certainly been created in a lab to be the perfect gift for dads. While definitely on *my* dad's wishlist (even if he doesn't know it yet), this portable outdoor game is fun for just about anyone old enough to hold a golf club (not included).