40th birthday gifts that celebrate life so far

By the Great Gifts team · Updated 5 October 2026

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Colourful balloons printed with the number 40

Forty gets a lot of “over the hill” jokes. Skip them. The best 40th presents celebrate the life they’ve built — the people, the places, the things they’ve always meant to do — rather than commiserating about age.

A star certificate, “Sarah’s Star”, framed beside wrapped presents and a card

We make this

A star for their 40th

Name a real star. A heartfelt gift they’ll cherish forever. Our sister company, The Star Naming Co., dedicates a real catalogued star to their name, with a dated certificate, a sky chart and a live viewer to find it. It’s symbolic rather than official — and a far better 40th present than another joke mug.

£9.99 delivered in minutes, or £19.99 as a printed Gift Pack posted free in the UK.

See birthday stars

The bucket-list experience

Think about what they’ve always said they’d do “one day”: fly a plane, drive a supercar, learn to sail, see the Northern Lights. A 40th is the perfect excuse to make “one day” happen — and to go with them.

Red Letter Days · Virgin Experience Days

Keepsakes with meaning

40 reasons we love you

Collect forty short notes from family and friends and present them in a book or box. Easy to organise with a group message, and very hard to forget.

A print of the year they were born

A personalised print with the headlines, prices and number ones from their birth year — a conversation-starter at the party and on the wall afterwards.

Birth-year prints on Etsy · 40th prints on Not On The High Street

Little luxuries

A cashmere scarf or jumper.
A really good bottle from the year they were born, if you can find one.
A luxury robe and slippers set.

Cashmere scarves on Amazon