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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. I’ve seen tweens in my classroom go from acting 3 years older to 3 years younger in the span of about 5 seconds!  

Even if they think they know everything, tweens are still building self-confidence which takes a daily hit. Changes to their bodies due to rising hormone levels, fluctuating friendships, and the vast differences in maturity in boys versus girls the same age can all be very hard to navigate.

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 12 items made my best gifts for tweens list and a wonderful giveaway from Outschool that encourages tweens to foster their growing interests through classes in any subject they can think of. Keep reading for your chance to win one of two $50 gift cards from Outschool!

mBot Neo from MakeBlock ($139 and get $10 off your first order with the code save10)

In just 30 minutes, teens can assemble mBot Neo, read the coding guide, start coding game-based projects, and then play them. mBot is great for teens with and without coding experience because you can begin with drag and drop block based mBlock programming before progressing to python through the same platform. The Coding Project Box series is designed around the mBot Neo coding robot, offering illustrated step-by-step guides and fun gamified coding projects around robotic coding, game development, AI, and data science topics. mBot Neo has a powerful and versatile microcontroller and electronic and mechanical parts. Best for ages 13+

Bean Bag Bucketz ($69.99)

Bean Bag Bucketz is a game that gets people up and playing, rather than watching. challenging, yet easy-to-learn, outdoor or indoor game is fast-paced, interactive team game that is easy to learn. Consisting of a game tower with 7 bucketz, 16 bean bags and carry bag, this item makes my Best Gifts for Tweens list because of the different many ways to play. If you have 2 or more players, create teams, take turns throwing into the bucketz. Bags that make it in range in points from 1 to 4 pts. The first team to score 21 points wins the game. Best for ages 8+

Dr. Seuss Monopoly ($35.95)

Cozy up to the table and get ready to take a trip down memory lane with this collectible edition of Monopoly featuring some of the most popular books written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss! Buy, sell, and trade your way to victory as you collect properties featuring some of the most iconic and recognizable Dr. Seuss books including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who, Fox in Socks, Hop on Pop, and many more. A great gift for any Dr. Seuss fan or book lover and perfect for family game night! Best for ages 8+

The Unofficial Hogwarts Cookbook for Kids ($15.49)

Perfect for any young fan of Harry Potter, The Unofficial Hogwarts Cookbook for Kids will have aspiring witches and wizards brewing potions, baking stellar treats, and cooking creative dishes in no time. With easy step-by-step instructions and spellbinding full-color photographs, this cookbook is sure to become a kitchen favorite. With 50 easy-to-follow recipes, you and your kids will learn to cook all the wizarding world favorites. From breakfast all the way to dessert, this book is on my Best Gifts for Tweens list because it makes any meal or snack extra special, with recipes like:

• Pumpkin Pasties
• Cauldron Cakes
• Muggle-Style Pizza
• Chocolate Frogs
• Great Hall Sandwiches
• And many more!

Outschool

Outschool offers a great way for kids to get excited about learning. With over 140K live, small group classes in nearly any subject you can think of – from cooking/baking to learning piano, to learning poetry by analyzing Taylor Swift lyrics, to Minecraft coding and singing classes, kids can explore what interests them. Outschool makes a great gift for for kids wanting to learn about fashion design, explore gardening and architecture design and more. It’s seriously fun to explore some of the classes offered. Plus Outschool offers gift cards for stockings (must have a free Outschool account to purchase). Keep reading to the end of this post for your chance to win 1 of 2 $50 gift cards to Outschool, provided by Outschool! 

Minecraft Magnetic Travel Puzzle Logic Game ($14.99)

Your tween may think the best gift for them is the gift of Minecraft but this year give the gift of screen-free Minecraft with this magnetic puzzle logic game that’s perfect for taking on the go or playing at home. In this game, the ender dragon is trying to prevent players from traveling through the worlds of Minecraft by placing 40 increasingly difficult challenges in your path. The goal is to solve challenges and advance on the journey, using your most powerful weapon—your brain! In this mind-bending game of deductive reasoning, players use positive and negative visual clues to place magnetic Minecraft weapons and armor on the Crafting Table in the correct arrangement. When your arrangement includes all the Clue Patterns on the Challenge—you win! Best for ages 8+

Let’s Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook ($30)

This is the cookbook I wish was available when my kids were in elementary school! Let’s Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook is a colorful, comprehensive cookbook that teaches kids (ages 9+) and beginner chefs to cook. I chose it for this year’s Best Gifts for Tweens list because it teaches tweens lifelong cooking skills by arming them with accessible. yet impressive. recipes they can make with little-to-no parental supervision. Tweens will learn basic/novice kitchen techniques, guiding them from easy snacks through to show-stopping feasts with little-to-no parental supervision. What parent wouldn’t want their tween to know how to prepare bacon and basic egg dishes then transition into lessons on how to make omelets and dishes like these:

• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Falafel Veggie Burgers
• Deviled Eggs
• Pulled Chicken Tacos
• Sweet Potato Curry
• Teriyaki Baked Salmon
• Oven Baked Doughnuts

Best for ages 9+

Clue: How the Grinch Stole Christmas Edition ($40)

Solve the mystery of beloved Dr. Suess holiday classic of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Be the first to identify who caught the Grinch, what Christmas item the Grinch stole, and where the item was stolen from. Up to 6 players can choose from characters like Mayor, Papa Who, Cindy-loo Who as you move across the game board to determine where the Grinch stole the item featuring familiar locations from the book (Mount Crumpit, The Who’s Living Room and Town Hall). There are 6 custom sculpted tokens representing what the Grinch stole – Wreath, Drum, Christmas Tree, Roast Beef, Tricycle, Can of Who Hash. For a gameplay twist, “Little Bit More” Intrigue Cards are drawn when players land on ‘?’ spaces on the board. These cards represent iconic moments from the film and provide methods to aid in solving the mystery. This game puts a fun holiday twist on the classic game of Clue we all love. Best for ages 8+ 

Color Harmony Art Journal Kit ($19.99)

Give the gift of calm, reflection, and mindfulness while encouraging kids to express themselves through art with the Color Harmony Art Journal Kit. The all-inclusive portfolio includes a fold-up binder with elastic closure, oil pastels, markers, stencils, colored papers, drawing paper, 5 guided activity pages, and a comprehensive art guide. Best for ages 7+ 

Razor Black Label E90 Electric Scooter ($169, on sale at Walmart for $99)

Help them get there faster thanks to Razor’s Black Label E90 Electric Scooter. Razor’s innovative Power Core technology features a 90-watt, maintenance-free, high-torque, hub motor that delivers speeds up to 10 mph (16 km/h) – top speed in its class. The thumb-activated throttle provides smooth acceleration and a rear-fender brake for safe stopping so tweens can control the starts and stops with ease. A 12V rechargeable battery provides up to 40 minutes of uninterrupted ride time on a single charge. Just don’t forget to make sure someone gifts the tween in your life a helmet if you’re planning to give this gift! Best for ages 8+

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: The Chapter Book Collection ($41)

By the creators of the New York Time’s bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series, this irresistible collection of chapter books shares the real lives of five extraordinary women throughout history. It contains five individual, historical fiction chapter books, each exploring the life and times of an extraordinary woman in global history, as she overcomes challenges to pursue her boldest dream. Readers will meet Ada Lovelace—a nineteenth-century pioneer in computer science; Madam C. J. Walker—an early leader in the African American beauty industry; Dr. Wangari Maathai—an environmental warrior and Nobel Peace Prize winner from Kenya; Junko Tabei—a champion in mountaineering who became the first woman to summit Mount Everest; and Alicia Alonso—a prima ballerina and remarkable creator in the world of dance. Each stunningly designed chapter book features at least ten full-color illustrations from a female artist, as well as bonus activities in the backmatter to encourage kids to explore the various fields in which each of these women thrived. Best for ages 8+

Hues and Cues Game ($24.99, on sale at Amazon for $20.99)

What hue do you think of when we say “apple”? Hues and Cues is the award-winning vibrant game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors on the game board. The closer the guesses are to the target, the more points you earn. Since everyone imagines colors differently, connecting colors and clues has never been this much fun! Game can be played with 3-10 players. Best for ages 8+

Rubik’s Cube ($14.99)

Old school fidget toy or challenge for puzzle solvers? Rubik’s Cube is honestly both and the new magnetic Rubik’s Speed Cube features a stronger core with a mechanism designed to make it faster, smoother, and more reliable than ever. This means you can now turn and twist faster with no more frustrating snagging or popping core. It’s perfect for speed Cubers, beginners, & advanced players alike. Best for ages 8+

2023 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES

AGE-APPROPRIATE GIFT GUIDES

• Toddlers & Preschoolers
• Early Elementary Ages (ages 5-8)
• Teens (ages 13+)
• College Students (inspired by my own college student!)

SPECIALTY GIFT GUIDES:

• Best STEM Gifts for Kids
• Best Gifts for Outdoor Lovers
• Gifts for Teachers
• Gifts for People Who Love Their Dogs (inspired by Goldie and Murphy, of course)

Outschool Gift Card Giveaway!

   

To celebrate their building tween self-confidence while fostering their growing interests, Outschool has generously provided two $50 gift cards to give to two readers as a holiday giveaway!

To enter, search for a topic your child loves and find an Outschool class they’d love to take and leave the title of the class in the comments and use the Rafflecopter form below for extra entries. Winners will be sent their gift cards via email when the Rafflecopter giveaway ends.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FAVORITE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES FROM LAST YEAR

Need other ideas? Here’s a look at last year’s gift guides:

• Toddlers & Preschoolers
• Early Elementary Ages (grades K-2, ages 5-8)
• Tweens (ages 9-12)
• Teens (ages 13+)
• College Students 
• STEM Gifts for All Ages (preK-tween)
• Best Age-Appropriate Advent Calendars for Kids
• Best Subscription Boxes for All Ages
• Gifts for Teachers
• Gifts for People Who Love Their Dogs (inspired by Goldie and Murphy, of course)
• Fair Trade Holiday Gifts
• Best Gifts for Unplugged Fun
• Gifts for Outdoor Adventures
• Gifts for Gadget Lovers
• 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!

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 if you’re able to offer a reader giveaway. Giveaway items will be directly shipped to readers upon conclusion of the giveaway. 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.