This post about Christmas gift ideas for tween girls was written in collaboration with Wicked Uncle – please click here to visit their wonderful website for gift inspiration for children of any age!
My daughter – a fully fledged ‘tweenager’ – is at a very tricky age for gift buying.
Long gone are the days when she would be ecstatic with any old plastic tat as long as it was covered in pink glitter or had her favourite CBeebies character emblazoned on it. Toys and games, though not discarded completely, have to be selected very carefully.
Buying Christmas gifts for tween girls is hard!
Dare to buy something that is deemed ‘too babyish’ and you’ll be met with the kind of bombastic side-eye that you weren’t expecting to come out for at least another five years or so.
At the same time, Christmas gifts need to be age appropriate; she’s not yet a teenager (thank goodness!) after money for concert tickets or shoes or whatever it is kids do these days. She still loves the magic of Christmas, and the thrill of unwrapping a surprise, even if she has no idea what she actually wants.
I must admit that for her most recent birthday, I cheated a bit and used Wicked Uncle’s list of presents for girls aged 11 for inspiration.
I genuinely think that Wicked Uncle really do get it right, every time.
The products they sell on their website have been thoroughly tested by their official toy testers and only about 10-20% of the toys that they test make it to the site, and in every age category there’s something that makes me go ‘yes! They’d love that!’.
Here are fifteen ideas of Christmas gifts for tween girls inspired by Wicked Uncle!
1. Craft kits
From jewellery-making sets to DIY painting projects, tie dying to crystal growing, DIY crafting kits are a lovely Christmas gift ideas for tween girls. They provide an outlet for creativity, keep them entertained and often producing something that they can keep, or even give to a friend. Plus they’re at the age now where they really don’t need too much in the way of supervision, which is always a bonus.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Make it Real mini pottery studio, £29.95 – Make mini pottery which you can display!
2. Books
For avid readers, a book is a gift they can enjoy in that down time between Christmas and new year. Whether it’s fantasy, mystery, adventure, or even non fiction, a good book can transport them to magical worlds and ignite their imagination.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Factopia, £10.99 – Discover 400 fascinating new facts on a trail which flows from beginning to end.
3. STEM toys
Combine education and entertainment with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) toys such as building kits, science experiments, and coding games. Tween girls are just the right age to make the most of these types of toys without parents having to do all the tricky steps for them too.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Hydraulic Cyborg Hand kit, £36.99 – What could be cooler than building your very own robot hand?! Not much.
4. Board games
Once they hit the tween years, the number of age appropriate games is huge – and they can be played and enjoyed by everyone in the family together which can help to bridge that gap between Christmas and new year.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: This or That guessing game, £12.99 – This game of 50/50 answers has over 200 questions to keep your tween busy for ages.
5. Music
Introduce the joy of music by gifting a beginner’s musical instrument such as a ukulele or keyboard, or encourage them to dance in their bedroom to the music they love with child-friendly speaker, karaoke machine or disco ball.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Disco 360 flashing light, £19.95 – Plugs in to a USB socket and has LEDs which flash in time to whatever music your tween loves to listen to.
6. Clothes and accessories
It might be cliché, but clothes and accessories make great Christmas gift ideas for tween girls. Make sure you know their taste before hand though; a floral dress could go down like a bag of sick if they’re into monochrome, for instance. I like to stick to socks and fun accessories and avoid making costly mistakes.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Pawsome Poochie Oddsocks, £16.99 – Six doggy odd socks to wear in any combination. We already have the kitties so I know these will be a win.
7. Tech gadgets
Tweens may not be ready for their own mobile phones yet, but you can explore age-appropriate tech gadgets like a kid-friendly tablet, a digital camera, or a smartwatch. These gifts entertain and introduce them to the digital world in a safe and controlled manner.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Flip clock, £14.99 – A little kid-friendly clock that you flip to show the time, calendar, alarm and temperature.
8. Sports & outdoor equipment
For tween girls who are outdoors enthusiasts, consider sports equipment to encourage physical activity and promote a healthy lifestyle while having fun.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Mega Bounce XTR, £9.99 – The world’s ‘bounciest ball’, it bounces over 30ft. Probably one to use outside, then. If they’re a football fan, the Smart Ball, £24.99, keeps count of your keepy uppys for you.
9. Puzzles
Challenge their minds with puzzle sets ranging from jigsaw puzzles to brain-teasing games. These gifts stimulate cognitive skills and provide hours of engaging entertainment.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: A Puzzle a Day, £12.95 – 365 puzzles to wake your brain up every day.
NB this one is all wrapped up and ready to gift – it costs £3 to get your first gift wrapped, and £2.50 thereafter. If you’re sending straight to the recipient, it’s a lovely touch. There are loads of different wrapping papers to choose from.
10. Art supplies
Art is one of my daughter’s passions and any pens, pencils, paints, paper or colouring pads go down well. She particularly likes designing her own fashion items.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Fashion Design Sketchbook, £7.95 – Let them design their own outfits with this sketch book.
11. Room décor
Let tweens personalise their own personal space with room décor items like wall decals/stickers, string lights, or new bedding that reflects whatever they’re currently into.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Jellyfish tank colour changing mood light, £19.99 – Watch the lifelike jellyfish calmly floating in the colour changing tank.
12. Cooking and baking kits
Inspire a love for cooking with age-appropriate cooking and baking kits. These sets come with easy-to-follow recipes and kid-friendly utensils, turning the kitchen into a place of culinary exploration. And, once again, they can do most of it without help although you may wish to supervise unless you want it to look like a bomb went off.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Mug cake gift set, £14.99 – With this kit you can make 9 cookies, brownies and sticky toffee cakes with a mug, a microwave and one minute!
13. Journaling set/diary
For tween girl with lots of emotions to explore, you can encourage self-expression and reflection with a journaling set or diary. Include a note book or a locked diary, colourful pens, and stickers.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Secret lockable diary, £9.95 – Give them space to write down their secret thoughts.
14. Make up
Lots of tween girls are starting to experiment with make up and would enjoy an age appropriate makeup set.
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Lovely macaroon lip balms, £8.99 – This set of two lip balms are shaped like yummy macaroons and are scented with vanilla and strawberry. A lovely little stocking filler.
15. Chocolate or sweets
You have to have some kind of sweet treats at Christmas!
Top pick from the Wicked Uncle site: Chocolate nail polish trio, £5.99 – Good enough to eat!
I hope you found this list of Christmas gifts for tween girls useful – please click here to visit Wicked Uncle for gift inspiration for children of any age!
