Aah, choosing gifts… I do not like choosing gifts for people. It’s a huge source of stress for me. Will they like it? Do they already have it? What if they pretend to like it? What if they’re disappointed?
Thankfully, we have a long-held family tradition of sharing gift lists and I’m really grateful we do. We all write them; my mum, my sister and her family, Dom, Peggy and I. It means we’re always gifting something someone wants, needs and likes. It also helps to see what sorts of things they’re into (especially the younger ones as that changes so fast) so you can make educated guesses on non-gift-list buys.
With that in mind, and because this pre-teen age is one I find tricky to buy for, I roped Peggy into helping me craft this gift guide for pre-teen girls in the hope it’ll help you in the same way our lists help me.
*whispers* looking for gifts for yourself? Y’know, self-gifts? Pop this way…
Much-Wanted Gifts
There’s lots of school chat about Squishmallows as to who has which ones and it seems to get quite competitive.
I don’t generally like giving gift cards but these pre-teens are playing Roblox like I played Super Mario 3 all those years ago – A LOT.
Hours of endless fun and hundreds of precious keepsakes. I’ve had my FujiFilm Instax 210 for years and years and we still use it.
Family Game GIFTS
Not for the faint-hearted, Dobble is a fast-paced game which will get your heart racing. It’s really, really good fun.
“What do you meme?” This is on our list for Christmas, it looks hilarious. The perfect post-Christmas-lunch game.
I’ve included this travel Ludo set because we love playing it together as much as I did when I was younger. The travel set is so handy, I quite often have it in my rucksack.
Craft-y Gifts
I’d honestly hoped this slime phase would be a quick-passing one. Alas, it’s stood the test of time for Peggy and her friends.
Cyanotype Kit £8.50
This cool kit lends itself to that fun science-y stuff. The finished art can be framed too, which we do a lot anyway with Peggy’s art.
This tapestry kit is perfect for beginners. Easily put-down-able and pick-back-up-able, ending up with a really beautif
A really cute little craft kit, this. Perfect for beginners to this craft and for cat lovers. There’s a dog one for dog lovers, too.
This kit comes with everything you need to make some really lovely bath bombs.
Mini-things seem to be ‘on trend’ at the moment and these mini treats are the cutest.
Accessories
Personalised with a name, nickname, or an in-joke word, these beaded bracelets are gorge.
It’s simple, lovely and can be layered with other necklaces. A thoughtful gift.
Lava lamps have made a comeback and I’m not at all mad about it as I loved, loved, loved mine. Not sure they ever really went away…
This cup is what they call “aesthetic” and should come with the slogan “TikTok made me do it” even though we don’t go on TikTok, the trends seem to permeate their way in…
At any school gates, you’ll see a sea of Kanken rucksacks. I’d very much like mine back…
I don’t think you can ever have enough fleecey blankets and my daughter and her friends totally agree.
Stationery
Journalling / Scrapbooking Set £15.99
A bumper lush set of stationery to use individually or together in journals aplenty.
Updating your pencil case contents regularly is supposedly a thing… These Zebra Midliners get swapped in and out and in and out in our house.
I’ve put Harry Styles here because Harry Styles… You could also have Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Anne-Marie, Wednesday, Barbie, to name a few.