Gift Ideas For Your Tween Girls!

I blinked and suddenly my little girls are BIG girls! Every year it’s gotten a little harder to figure out what to give them for birthdays and holidays. In today’s post I wanted to share some of the things that were hits with our 10 and 12 year old girls! Consider this your Tween Girl Gift Guide!

Hope this is helpful for those of you on the hunt for the perfect gift. One thing that is tricky about this age is often they ask for “big kid things” but at the same time… I know my girls want to PLAY! I want to keep them little as long as possible. ;) So we like to do a mix of “practical big kid things” or electronics….but also toys they can play with. Here’s a round up of some great gift ideas!

Meet our girls! Sophia and Sienna. They just turned 12 and 10.
They love to play together and are both very creative.
So proud of the little women they are growing up into!

Let’s jump right into the Tween Girl Gift Guide!

First up.. The Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 Instant Camera. Below is the Lilac Purple but Sienna has the Pink one! She had been asking for it since last Christmas…and we felt like it was the perfect big gift from mom and dad for turning double digits! ;) She took the cutest photos of each family member and put them on her bulletin board. Thi

 

Sophia doesn’t usually ask for much when it comes to presents..( part of the reason it’s hard to shop for her! haha.) BUT..she did say that it would be so cool to have a microphone and kinetic sand set so she could make her own videos! Our kids love those videos of people cutting kinetic sand and the sound and texture it makes! It’s a thing! haha. So now she can make her own! It was pretty funny watching the two girls at the kitchen table make them. She also just plays with the kinetic sand.

Sienna saved up her money to get tie-dye Crocs and was SO happy with them – they have to make this list! She wears them all the time.
Sophia also had them on her list this last year but in light blue.

This next gift is one of those presents where you would think they are too big for it but the girls end up loving them!
Real Littles Shopkins are $10 and always asked about when I share them on insta-stories!
We’ve given these things to the girls the past couple years for different Holidays… and this past year for Sienna’s birthday we gave her a set. There’s something so fun for them about opening up all the little packages and seeing the mini version of real food brands! They are pretty darn cute. If your girls loved shopkins but are now “too big” for the regular ones… my girls enjoy collecting these!

You can’t go wrong with scrunchies! We’ve found some great big packs off Amazon.
both girls love wearing them in their hair or on their wrist.

 

The girls love playing with makeup – and last Christmas I got Sophia this Countertop Makeup Tray Organizer paired with a stash of great basic makeup products that I love. We’ve had some really sweet mother daughter moments with me showing her how to use the makeup. I need to do a blog post on the makeup products I picked out for her first “big girl” makeup collection.

I got the girls backpacks for their birthdays this year – they were due for a new purse and these backpacks from Target were a great size.
They love being able to load them up for car trips or when out running an errand with me.

My girls have really gotten into friendship bracelets! For Sophia’s birthday this year she had 2 friends over for a sleepover…and we grabbed some embroidery floss so they could do some crafting! I loved seeing the cute color combos they came up with. This would be great paired with a “how-to” book too! But our girls learned how to make them through a babysitter and then neighbor girls.

My girls love markers and pens and sharpies! They love to color inspirational coloring books with them… or just have fun doodling. This takes me back to the gel pens I always wanted as a little girl. ;) This Sharpie pack with fun colors is right up their alley! (We’ve gotten different ones over the years.)
Linking a fun coloring book with quotes but you can find so many cool ones on Amazon!

This past year when Sophia turned 12 we had the hardest time trying to think of a “big” present from Mom and Dad. She didn’t really ask for anything expensive or big… and was always asking to go shopping for clothes or accessories. So we decided that it made sense for us to give her a new wallet and surprise her with some spending money inside! She flipped! )Kids really do love cash and gift cards haha.) I did a little something on a Target gift card and then got cash back. I told the sweet cashier lady it was for a birthday present and she hooked me up with a big variety of bills. She got it! ;)

Sophia had been asking to have candles in her room and always loved the flickering battery operates candles we have on our mantel..so I grabbed her some! Now she can have the fun glow in her room and feel like a big girl…and I don’t have to worry about the house burning down. haha. WIN WIN.

One of Sophia’s big Christmas presents last year were AirPods! She was SO excited about these. You can also find knock off versions that are more affordable too!

At the start of our 2020 Quarantine..I had ordered some Air Dry Modeling Clay off Amazon for some indoor crafting! It was AWESOME. Sienna especially was into it. She made the cutest little characters!! It’s the best clay I’ve gotten… it’s soft and easily moldable but doesn’t leave color on your hands. It hardens after a couple days! If your girls love little treasures..they will love making their own little characters or designs to display on their shelves.

We’ve had a Nintendo Switch for a few years and it’s regularly used by all of the kids! One of the best gifts EVER!
It’s a great electronic option that the whole family can get in on by adding controllers. (This was a family present one Christmas. and now we give games as presents for specific kids.)

Our Sienna loves Gymnastics. She wants to go to the Olympics! She’s been practicing all summer, watching videos and trying till she gets the move down! We just had her join a new gym and they bumped her up to the next level right away. She’s almost totally ready to start competing! I knew she would love a new leotard for her birthday and this is the one we picked out! My parents gave her this gym bag as their present to her!
https://www.target.com/p/girls-39-barrel-bag-more-than-magic-8482-black/-/A-54480572

I saw this Retro Paradise Kit at Target and thought it was the perfect combo of things Sienna had put on her wishlist! Sticker decals, scrunchies and makeup! Elf has some great packaged up kits that are perfect for young girls!

For Sienna’s birthday this year she had one friend over for a sleepover. She wanted to do a craft and mentioned making charm bracelets! We found this Charm bracelet set on Amazon and it was the perfect kit! I ended up getting two so that her friend could take home a container as well. They loved them! Lots of cute charm designs and plenty of extras.

One day I was on the phone with my mom and Sienna comes running down the stairs to the front door, “My spaaaa headbands are hereee!” It was the funniest thing. She was so excited. She had picked them out via Amazon with Ben when using her allowance money. (She had helped a lot one week- she’s my super cleaner and we like to reward the kids for EXTRA help.) Ladies… everyone needs spa headbands in their life! haha. The girls use these when doing each other’s makeup… or face masks. I think these would be cute as favors for a party too! The photo looks like scrunchies sizes but they stretch to be soft headband size! Perfect to keep your hair out of your face and be just extra fun.

Sienna saved up to get this Echo dot and she was SO excited about it! She will use it to listen to music when unloading the dishes or cleaning her room… Or she takes it outside to play music while she does gymnastics! She loves the pink color.

Our Sophia loves doing the rubix Cube! There are a ton of fun ones out there you can get. Different shapes and sizes. She loves a lot of those logic, problem solving types of games and books too!

I hope this post is helpful if you are looking for the perfect gift for a tween girl in your life!
All of these things have been hits with our girls…it’s always so fun when you get a great reaction from your gifting.
Have fun shopping for your special girl! There are affiliate links in this post – thanks for your support!
(This photo is from our beach trip. We were all in the bathroom space getting ready for dinner and it was one of those moments I wanted to capture to remember forever. Love them so much and can’t believe how grown up they are getting!)