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Being a middle school teacher meant I spent a lot of time with tweens. This age group wants to leave childhood far behind in favor of being grown up. They feel stuck between the cute stuff from the kid years they’re longing to leave behind and things their parents think is too old for them.
Even if they think they know everything, tweens are still building self-confidence which takes a hit daily. A tween’s self-confidence needs to be nurtured along with independence, academic, and social and emotional skills. They may feel on top of the world as the oldest kids in elementary school but get knocked down a few pegs as middle schoolers, especially as those hormones start to set in.
Best Gifts for Tweens (ages 9-12)
The best gifts for tweens encourage them to be their best selves while fostering their growing interests. They crave autonomy to explore things they love while developing meaningful friendships. However, friendships can be fickle as tweens are working on developing their sense of self.
Gifts for tweens can be pricey but can also be a worthwhile investment for the future, especially if they want to learn about specific topics and develop proficiency in their skills. Here are the 11 products that made my best gifts for tweens list!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cheese Touch Game ($19.99)
Avoid the cheese touch! Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans will love this game where they can compete as a favorite character from the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. The goal is to race to the finish by completing activities as you learn more about your friends. The includes 5 different categories of actions – miss an answer and get the dreaded Cheese Touch! For 3-6 players. Best for ages 8+
Elenco Snap Circuits My Home Plus (currently $66.32 on Amazon, regularly $129.99)
Snap Circuits kits were favorites in our house because they’re a hands-on way of teaching the fundamentals of electricity and circuitry. Elenco Snap Circuits My Home Electronics Building Kit teaches electricity, building circuits, how power flows through our homes, and how they interact with various green energy technologies. Snap Circuits uses building blocks with snaps to build the different electrical and electronic circuits. Each block has a function including switch blocks, light blocks, battery blocks, different length wire blocks, etc. These blocks are colored and numbered to make them easy to identify during the building process. Tweens will have hours of fun creating up to 53 different circuit projects and learning about how electricity powers our everyday lives. This Snap Circuits Plus Home engineering set for kids also includes motion warning, house of features, doorbell recording home, and electronic wonderhome builds. The color-coded and detailed instruction sheets provide step-by-step directions on each project, making learning both easy and fun. Best for ages 8+
The Week Junior ($39.49 for 25 issues)
Tweens aren’t too young to understand the world around them. The Week Junior offers simplified explanations to complex topics happening nationally and globally. Also included in each issue are reviews on recent family-friendly movies, art, music, shows, books, games, and apps, family friendly recipes, puzzles, and a weekly quiz. The Week Junior is a great way to help your child know and understand what’s going on in the world in an age appropriate way. Best for ages 8+
Sherpa Fleece Blanket Hoodie ($32.99)
Give the gift of cozy this holiday season thanks to this wearable fleece blanket hoodie that comes in a variety of solid colors, patterns, and sizes. There’s even one that glows in the dark! Your tween might just live in this gift over winter break! Best for ages 8+
Gravity Maze by ThinkFun ($29.99)
We love marble runs, especially Gravity Maze! This gravity powered logic maze features colorful, translucent towers designed to test your visual perception and reasoning skills. Each challenge requires players to carefully to build a path that will successfully carry your ball to its target. There are over 60 challenges that range in difficulty for lots of creative building time that will challenge the mind. Ages 8+
The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs from America’s Test Kitchen ($9.75 on Amazon)
For the first time ever, America’s Test Kitchen is bringing their scientific know-how and hands-on learning to kids! The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs from America’s Test Kitchen teaches young chefs to cook using rigorously tested recipes that will help them feel successful and empowered in the kitchen. This book includes step by step photos of recipes along with tips and cooking techniques just right for cooks of all skill levels. This book covers all the bases for a kid who wants to whip up some breakfast tacos for the family or concoct a tasty after school snack. Over 5,000 kids test and approved the delicious recipes, and your family is sure to love them! Some kid recipes leave lots of room for guesswork, but this compilation has been thoroughly vetted, and will set your kid up for cooking confidence. Besides being a foundational life skill, cooking helps kids develop independence and gives them a boost toward taking charge of their own menu. More of a dessert lover? Get them The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs: 100+ Sweet and Savory Recipes that You’ll Love to Bake, Share and Eat! ($11.09 from Amazon) Best for ages 9+
National Geographic Science Advent Calendar (currently $39.99 on Amazon, regularly $44.99)
During each day of December, tweens will open a door revealing an exciting science experiment, gemstone, or fossil to add to their collection. Behind 13 doors are National Geographic experiments from their science kits/ Tweens will love hiding/revealing a secret message, making a test tube glow, floating coins, growing a colorful crystal tree & much more. There are 11 fossils and gemstones this advent calendar, including carnelian, chevron amethyst, snowflake obsidian, gastropod, geode, tiger’s eye, and more! A storage pouch is also included for their new collection. The final piece in this collection is a stunning pyrite (fool’s gold) specimen kids will unearth from a mini dig brick, just like a real geologist! Best for ages 8+
Guess in 10 Countries of the World ($14.97 with 20% off coupon on Amazon)
This award-winning card game increases a child’s knowledge of geography while fostering global citizenship. This trivia and strategy game can be played with 2-6 players (teams or one on one) and the goal is to ask up to 10 questions to guess the country on the game card. Clue Cards and Bonus Questions can be helpful in narrowing down possible answers to be the first to collect 7 Game Cards to win. Average game play for this portable card game is 20 minutes. Best for ages 8+
The Great British Baking Show Game by Ravensburger ($24.99)
Fans of The Great British Baking Show will love this game! Players rise to claim the title of Star Baker by racing to create their perfect bake in this easy-to-learn, fast-paced game. The goal is to make your bake as quickly as you can by arranging your bake cards according to the recipe card. Score your creation to see if you’ve created a soggy bottom, great bake, or a masterpiece worthy of a Hollywood handshake. Whoever rises to the challenge and proves themselves over the signature, technical, and showstopper rounds will be awarded the title of Star Baker. Best for ages 10+
Keith Haring Chess Set ($76)
The classical board games are always a wonderful idea for some quiet family time in the evening. And if it is a chess game with the figures designed by Keith Haring, the game will become so much fun! The board and the figures are made of wood by French toymaker, Vilac, know for its charming wooden toys. Whether your tweens know how to play chess or not, this board and pieces will inspire them to learn and will become a favorite family game! Get an extra 20% off with the code XTR20
NBA 2K23 ($59.99)
Last year the 7th grade boys in my engineering class constantly talked about games they loved and NBA2K22 was a favorite. Why? Because the game immerses them in basketball culture they loved thanks to an authentic and hyper-realistic virtual basketball experience. This year NBA2K23 offers improved gameplay innovations and animations. Players will step onto the hardwood in the most definitive Michael Jordan experience to date thanks to the The Jordan Challenge. This allows them to relive and recreate 15 iconic performances from Jordan’s illustrious career, along with rewriting history in MyNBA. The return of Seasons delivers brand new music, challenges, and rewards for players to compete and win. NBA2K23 is perfect for tween sports fanatic, culture lovers, the baller in your life, Apple Arcade gamer and players that want to see IRL culture personified in video games. Available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S,Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Best for ages 10+
2022 Holiday Gift Guides
AGE APPROPRIATE GIFT GUIDES
- Toddlers & Preschoolers
- Early Elementary Ages (grades K-2, ages 5-8)
- Tweens (ages 9-12)
- Teens (ages 13+)
- College Students (inspired by my first year college student!)
SPECIALTY GIFT GUIDES:
- STEM Gifts for All Ages (preK-tween)
- Best Subscriptions for Kids, Teens & Adults
- Gifts for Teachers
- Gifts for People Who Love Their Dogs (inspired by Goldie and Murphy, of course)
FAVORITE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES FROM LAST YEAR
Need other ideas? Here’s a look at last year’s gift guides :
- Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Early Elementary Ages (grades K-2, ages 5-8)
- Tweens (ages 9-12)
- Teens (ages 13+)
- STEM Gifts for All Ages (preK-tween)
- Best Age Appropriate Advent Calendars for Kids
- Fair Trade Holiday Gifts
- Gifts for Unplugged Family Fun
- Gifts for Teachers
- Gifts for People Who Love Their Dogs (inspired by Goldie, of course)
- Best Gifts for Unplugged Fun
- Gifts for Outdoor Adventures
- Gifts for Gadget Lovers
- Best Subscriptions for All Ages
- Gifts that Give Back
- 9 Gifts that Make it Easy for Families to Give Back
I hope you enjoy this year’s picks and wish you happy and stress-free holiday shopping!
Samples were received to facilitate this post and affiliate links are included. No compensation was received for this post and all opinions are my own.
Note to PR: The period for accepting items for age specific gift guides has ended but I am happy to accept items for review to consider for specialty guides. Please be specific about the products you’d like me to consider reviewing in your pitch and thanks for understanding I’m on a short deadline to get most gift guides wrapped up before Thanksgiving and do not have the bandwidth to return samples during this extremely busy time of the year.
