Last-minute digital Christmas gifts: 12 thoughtful ideas you can give today

1. A printable memory journal for a parent or grandparent

A guided memory journal asks someone about their life, one question to a page. Ours come in four editions: Tell Me Your Story, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad. Each has 100 guided questions in ten chapters and 120 quick memory questions, plus photo pages, a family tree and a letter page.

Each is an instant download ($10.99): five PDF files in US Letter and A4, in full color and ink saver, with a printable cover. Print it at home, or send the files to a print shop and ask for spiral binding. If time is very short, print the cover and the first chapter, and add the rest after the holiday.

2. A family game to print for Christmas Eve

If you are a guest somewhere and want to bring something for the whole table, print a game. Our Christmas Eve Family Question Game ($6.99) has 48 question cards in four categories, six Christmas Memory Bingo cards, Guess Who Said It answer slips and a keepsake page.

It is 15 pages, so it prints quickly on a home printer. Cut the cards, tie them with a ribbon, and you have a present for the host and an activity for the evening in one.

3. An online class in something they love

Many teachers and studios sell online classes that can be given as a gift: bread baking, watercolor, guitar, photography, gardening, a new language. Choose the subject the person keeps saying they would like to try someday. Print the confirmation, and add the one small supply they will need to begin, such as a brush, a bag of flour or a set of picks.

4. A slideshow of the year in photos

You already have the material on your phone. Pick forty or fifty photos from this year, put them in order, add a favorite song, and export a short video. Play it on the television on Christmas Day, then send the file to everyone in the family.

For grandparents this is a wonderful present, because they get to see every birthday, recital and lost tooth they could not attend in person.

5. A recorded message from the whole family

Ask each person to record thirty seconds on their phone: a memory, a thank-you, a song from the smallest grandchild. Collect the clips in one shared album or join them into a single video. It takes an evening of gentle reminding, and it works even when the family is spread across several states. The person receiving it can watch it again whenever they like.

6. An interview kit for the grandchildren

For a family with children, give an activity that connects them with their grandparents. Our printable kit The Family Reporter ($7.99) is for kids 6 to 12: 48 question cards in six themes, cut-out press passes, worksheets, a newspaper front page for the story, a certificate and a thank-you card.

Print it the same day, hand out the press passes, and the children have a job to do while the grown-ups finish cooking.

7. A membership or a season pass

A membership to a museum, a botanical garden, a zoo or a state park can usually be bought online in a few minutes, with a card or confirmation to print. It is a gift that lasts all year and never needs dusting. Choose a place close to their home, and offer to go along on the first visit.

8. An audiobook or a digital subscription

A year of a favorite magazine in digital form, a newspaper subscription, or a few audiobook credits is a fine present for a reader, and especially kind for someone whose eyes get tired. Write the title of the first book you think they should listen to on the card, and why. A recommendation makes it personal.

9. A family recipe collection as a PDF

Type up the family's best recipes, or photograph the handwritten cards, and arrange them in a simple document with a title page. Save it as a PDF and send it to everyone. Print one copy and put it in a binder for the person who cooked those meals for all of you. You can do this in one evening with a phone and a laptop.

10. A donation in their name

For the person who truly wants nothing, give to a cause they care about: the animal shelter, the library, the food pantry, the hospital that looked after someone they love. Most organizations will send a certificate to print right away. Choose the cause with care and say why in your card, so it is clearly about them.

11. A journal for two, or for the whole family

Two more of our printables suit a late gift for a couple or a household. Our Story is a memory journal for two, with 72 questions that each partner answers. Our Family Christmas has 30 questions about Christmases past and three pages for each of the next ten Christmases.

Both are instant downloads in US Letter and A4, in full color and ink saver, so they can be printed and under the tree the same day.

12. A homemade coupon for your time

The quickest digital gift is one you design yourself. Make a simple certificate on your computer: a dinner you will cook, a weekend visit, four Saturday mornings of yard help, a monthly video call with the grandchildren. Print it, sign it and date it. Time given freely is never a lesser gift, and the only thing it takes is your follow-through.