Life is busy, and someone's always overdue for a bath. On the average day, there's just not time to celebrate your husband and tell him how much you appreciate all he does for your family. So when Father's Day rolls around, he deserves more than yet another tie. Honor him with a personal, meaningful gift that shows him just how grateful you and the kids feel to have him in your lives.

As recognition that your husband is a great dad 365 days a year, give him a gift that keeps giving long past Father's Day. Sign him up for a subscription service that appeals to his particular interests. A beer-of-the-month club is perfect for a guy who loves trying new brews, but you'll also find services that send new types of coffee, snacks, grooming products, accessories, T-shirts and even condiments on a monthly basis. You can even find subscription boxes that are designed especially for dad and kids to enjoy together.

Has he always talked about skydiving, or does he long to learn to paint? Maybe he loves bowling but rarely gets to go, or wants to try every escape room within 100 miles. Men tend to love gifts that are active and experience-based, so embrace that. Think about what activities he would do on his perfect day. Buy a gift certificate for an indoor skydiving center, sign him up for a short series of art classes, or book a babysitter and organize some of his buddies to meet you at the bowling alley. As long as he spends most of Father's Day with the kids, there's no harm in having an adults-only celebration after they go to bed.

This is an especially sweet gift for his first Father's Day, but most dads will cherish a handmade present from the kids any year. Schedule a secret session with a professional photographer, or (wo)man the camera yourself for a photo shoot of the kids holding signs for dad. For his first Father's Day, take shots of your baby holding the letters “D” and “A” and make a three-photo series of her spelling out “DAD.” Make it an annual tradition to take the same photos so he ends up with a collection of photos that show the kids growing up. Alternately, give the kids canvases and finger paint and help them create creatures and other sweet or silly pictures out of their own hand or footprints.

If he's the kind of dad who loves nothing more than spending quality time with his kids, give him a gift that allows him to do more of that. Look for a joint project that he and the little ones can do together. Buy a simple kite-building kit for a dad with preschoolers, or pick up a bunch of 3D models that he and his grade-schoolers can do. If he loves puzzles, fill a box with several puzzles of different challenge levels. Whatever you pick, make sure it's an activity that he will genuinely enjoy. After all, kids are unpredictable. No matter how great their father is, yours might not feel like cooperating on the day Daddy pulls out the birdhouse-building kit—so he'd better be able to enjoy building it alone.