Gift Ideas for the Teen Who Has Everything

Are you struggling to find the perfect present for the teenager in your life? With their ever changing interests (except for staring at their mobile) it can be challenging to find something they will actually use or play with. That's why we've put together a comprehensive gift guide specifically tailored for teenagers based on popular trends and ongoing interests. With Christmas coming up these gifts ideas will inspire you to give the best gift ever, or at least one that will get more than a grunt in response.

Christmas gifts for teenagers
Contains gifted items


AD Please note: items in this guide have all been hand selected and recommended by teen parents. Some items have been gifted and some links are affiliate. Affiliate links mean that if you make a purchase after clicking through we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the work of this website and the time to research and create articles. Thank you.


Great Christmas Gift Ideas For Teenagers



Scent

Perfume or aftershave makes the perfect gift for teens. The fancy bottle will look great in their room and it recognises their growing maturity. As a gift you can get them something a bit more special than they might be able to afford with their own money, but with specialists like Perfume Direct you can buy big names at competitive prices. Our pick for teen girls is Vera Wang Princess which comes in this gorgeous bottle. If you need tips on how to choose the best perfume as a gift check this post out. 


A purple perfume in a glass heart shape bottle with a crown on top
Vera Wang Princess Eau De Toilette from Perfume Direct


Practical Collectibles

Cute and practical there is a Cable Guy collectible to appeal to everyone’s interest. With characters like Stitch, Fall Guys, Star Wars and various comic book characters teens can accessorise their room with figures. The characters are cleverly designed with their arms out so they can hold tech from air pods cases to mobiles and gaming controls. They might even help them be more organised and not lose things! 

The Underpants Hero Stitch Holdem is from the Lilo & Stitch mini collectibles range, officially licensed by Disney. It is about 4 inches tall and perfect for small gadgets. The Original Cable Guys are roughly twice the height so they can easily hold remote controls or console controllers. 


A Disney Stitch character with underpants on his head and hands out to be a phone holder
From a range of cute collectibles that can help teens be more organised


Gadgets

Gadgets are always a good choice for teens. This 12mp digital camera has a built in thermal printer so not only can they snap away at everything, but they can create mini print outs too. The camera can take photographs and video and even has features such as fun effects and a timer for selfies. The built in battery is rechargeable. Suitable for 3 years, but better for those 8 and upwards it is easy to use and create fun prints, but it won’t feel babyish.

The kit comes with 3 rolls of printer paper and 1 roll of sticky paper for black and white prints, as well as marker pens which can be used to colour the images in. Each paper roll prints around 60 images and the refill paper is a good price so they can replace it with their pocket money.

Canal Toys also have an Instant Pocket Printer available in the Photo Creator range so if they prefer to capture and create images on their mobile they can download the app and use the standalone printer to create notes and images from their phone.

The Photo Creator Retro Instant Camera is available from Argos and other stores.


A camera and printer in one in the box next to wrapped presents
A fun camera with integrated thermal printer

Haircare

Gentle waves in long hair are on ongoing trend, but with young people increasingly aware of the damage of regular heat treatment someone at some point came up with the idea of using socks or dressing gown cords to wrap hair around and sleep with overnight. My daughter has been doing it for a while and it’s a great look. There is a better way though. You can buy kits designed to help create beautiful gentle waves. REHAB.'s Heatless Curler set is a cut above many because the the curler and scrunchies are covered with 100% mulberry silk fabric as well as including a claw clip and bag to keep it all together. Designed to be really gentle on hair and minimise damage, while preventing frizz.

REHAB. also sell a range of other products which help protect and care for hair including hair oil and a scalp massaging brush. We have used their Vital hairbrush for a few months and I love how it gently detangles hair while feeling like you are getting a massage, I don't love how I have to keep searching my teen's room for it when I want to use it.  The brush is eco-friendly, made from wheat based straw and biodegradable. If your teen loves haircare, REHAB. are a great brand to check out. 


A silk heatless curler, scrunchies, hair clip, bottle of hair oil and carry bag from Rehab
Help teens care for their hair with this silk heatless curler set, hair oil and massage brush


Cute Chocolate

Chocolates and sweets are always a popular gift for teens, but if you don’t want to overwhelm them with lots of sugar then a great option is some British handmade artisanal chocolate like this from Wickedly Welsh. The Christmas range includes Bryn The Christmas Bauble. Inside a plastic bauble (that comes apart so it can be eaten, don’t worry) is Bryn, a baby Welsh dragon, made from white chocolate and filled with caramel, snuggled in a milk chocolate half shell and with a sugar snow flurry. Wickedly Welsh is a family run business using locally sourced ingredients (where available) and sustainably sourced chocolate.


A plastic bauble filled with milk chocolate and a white chocolate dragon
Bryn The Christmas Bauble from Wickedly Welsh


Bubble Tea

The popularity of bubble tea isn’t showing any signs of decline yet and a new cafe seems to appear every time we go to the high street. If your teen loves their bubble tea you can buy a wide range of kits or just the boba popping balls, but if you are looking for a present this Fruit Tea Kit from Bubbleology is great (they also do a milk tea version). In the box you get: 4 sachets of flavoured syrup (2 passion fruit, 2 raspberry), 3 small pots of popping boba balls (1 mango, 2 strawberry), 2 jasmine tea bags and 4 straws. Enough for a treat, but not enough to get wasted.


Bubbleology fruit bubble tea kit in box next to Christmas gifts
Easy to make bubble tea kit for home


How to Draw Guides

If your teen loves to doodle then help them turn up the cute with an easy to use guide to draw Kawaii style. With step by step instructions they will be drawing in this friendly Japanese style in no time. The book featured covers the basics of how to draw in the Kawaii style before moving on to sections for people, animals and objects. You can buy it here.

If Kawaii isn’t their style then you can get books teaching you to draw nearly everything. These books will help teens gain confidence in their drawing and they can then go on to develop their own style. Check out this book which shows how to draw realistic faces and portraits.


A book to teach people how to draw in the cute Kawaii style
Help teens turn up the cute on their doodles

Cute Pens

Making a great combination gift with the Kawaii book or just for them to use with their school work: Japanese stationery is always a fun gift. This set has cute faces on the lids and the black ink is erasable too. 


4 pens with different animal faces on the lid
Japanese stationery is a great choice for teens

Challenging Craft Fun

Nano Tape Magic is based on a viral craft trend using special super sticky tape. It is pretty tricky to do, so not for teens that get easily frustrated, but the Nano Tape Magic kits allow you to create a range of cute and fun creations. This was tried and tested by one of our teens and it kept her off her phone for hours. The beginners set is a great low price and come with 2 rolls of tape and some accessories. Even the larger kits like that featured below (available from Smyths) are less than £15.


Nano Tape Magic Ultimate Creations set in the box
Sticky, challenging, crafting fun

Slime

Another trend that doesn’t seem to be going away is slime. Whether it’s for the ASMR aspect or to meet a fidget need, slime makes a great gift for teens. There are so many options out there, including making your own from PVA glue and slime activator and lots of ready made kits. We prefer to skip the kits with lots of unnecessary plastic just to make the slime, but you want something that looks fun too when it's a gift. Our pick for this Christmas is this kit from So Slime which has 4 different slimes in each set as well as different decorations you can mix with the slime. Argos isn't the cheapest price individually, but it is currently in the 2 for £15 deal at Argos which is great value if buying 2 or mix and match with another toy.

To keep the slime long term it’s worth having some plastic pots for storage. You might also want some activator solution so you can add a bit if it starts to dry out to keep it slimy. 


So Slime Creations Slime 4 pack kit in packaging
Ready made slime and decorations to mix it for a great ASMR gift


Mini Cake Kit

Combining cute things with food and an activity this kit ticks all the boxes for a great present for teens. Tasty Tinies Bake Shop kits contain everything you need to make real miniature cakes that you can actually eat (just add water and a microwave).

The kits contain: a teeny tiny mixing bowl, jug, spoon, mould and the cake ingredients as well as the frosting or sprinkles to decorate the cake. There are several different flavours available including chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. If you buy online you may not get a choice about which one you receive, but you can choose instore at Smyths and the Chocolate one is listed individually on Amazon.



Mini Crafts

If creating miniature creations is their thing then the MGA Miniverse range is perfect. You get everything you need to make doll's house size items in a number of ranges, including food, but unlike the cake kit above, these creations are for keeping and displaying. While you can choose your range, each capsule is a blind bag style so they won’t know exactly what they are going to get. Our pick is the lifestyle ranges where you can create plants and more, although the Harry Potter mini potions range is cute for Potter fans. Once you have revealed your item you can assemble it and use a UV light to harden it (buy a UV torch on Amazon or you can leave it to set in sunlight but this will take much longer) and then leave it on display. 


A MGA Miniverse ball from mini lifestyle range
Make miniature items from plants to potions to fish tanks to fish fingers with MGA Miniverse


Mini Collectibles

Continuing on the miniature theme it's worth checking out this range from Zuru which don't require any assembly skills or patience. Mini Brands from Zuru is a range of bling bag capsules with lots of different themes. There is a Disney one, retro versions of products, home items etc, but our pick is the Mini Brands Books capsule which has 3 books in, a mini bookshelf and a bookmark. They claim that each book can actually be read, but many people have reported they sometimes have blank pages in. Even in the books which are complete the writing is too small to be read, so don’t expect this to increase their literary knowledge, but they are cute. A fun gift for a bookworm.


Mini Brands book capsule next to wrapped presents
Collectibles, but make them miniature


Make Your Own Fidget Toys

Teens might spend a lot of their time staring at small screens, but they often enjoy playing with a fidget toy at the same time. There are so many different types out there, but we love squeezey squishy balls as they feel great and can be really pretty to look at too. With this kit from John Adams (Doctor Squish Squishy Maker) you can make your own. The kit comes with 8 balloons you can fill with the slime powder, glitter and confetti. You can also buy refills and add your own content. They might not be quite as durable as store bought balls, so check regularly for leaks, but they are definitely more fun. 

There are a few brands which sell similar toys, all of which have both good and bad reviews. We like the design of the Doctor Squish one, but it’s also worth checking out the cheaper Character Options version, or the Smyths exclusive Disney Stitch version. My advice is check for offers, but if they are all the same price buy in store from somewhere like Smyths or The Entertainer so you can easily return it or get a replacement if there is anything missing or broken. 


Doctor Squish Squishy maker box next to Christmas Presents
Create squishy balls of your own design

LEGO

There are very few age groups we don’t recommend buying LEGO for (pretty much only babies and older people who might have arthritis or poor vision) so it’s no surprise to find it here in this gift guide. You can get sets for all budgets and there are so many ranges you are sure to find something to match a teens interest like: Animal Crossing, Minecraft or Fortnite. If they enjoy building, but not playing then a set they can put on display is a great option like this LEGO daffodil. It's at the lower end of the LEGO set range price wise, easy to make and great to display.

Our advice when buying LEGO is to shop around as places often have offers on. For instance this set is RRP £12.99 but you can currently buy it most places for £9.99 (Amazon also include it on the deal where you save 5% when purchased with other items). The LEGO store is often at the more expensive end, but in the run up to Christmas they have offers on so you can get additional sets for free or a discount. Also with their loyalty card you can use points for discounts and get free magazines etc. So if it’s the same price I recommend signing up to LEGO insiders and buying through LEGO direct (online or instore). Another LEGO Insiders tip: you can get points if you register existing sets so if you have instructions with the QR code get registering.


LEGO Daffodil set in box
Brighten their day with this gift


Card Games

Some teens love card games, others are reluctant, but there is no denying that if you can get them involved it is a great way to spend time with them. Do you know really know your family? takes the experience one step further as it’s a card game specifically aimed at families. With questions like “What do I wish I had in my room?” and “What is my favourite restaurant?” as well as challenges like “Balance on one leg for 60 seconds without falling in order to keep this card” and “Do an impression of one of your relatives” the winner is likely to be whoever knows the family best. Regardless of who gets 15 cards first though, everyone will win as you’ll get to know each other better. 


Do you really know your family card game in box
Have fun while finding out how well you really know each other with this game


Physical Games

Flipslide from Moose Toys is a game where you have to physically move the pieces to complete the challenges. There are 3 different modes they can play on their own so it is a great option for getting them off their phones and thinking quickly, although there is a multiplayer version too. There are 4 squares in the middle of the game which light up different colours to play you need to match the plastic squares round the edge with the colour lights by sliding them round or flipping them over. 

It comes with batteries included (for display purposes, so have 2 AA batteries and a screwdriver on hand). In the packaging it is LOUD, but luckily you can reduce the volume once unpackaged. The instructions advise to: ‘Flip either side block until the 'VOLUME' mode appears (white colour light). Slide either block around a corner to select, then Flip a side block to scroll through the 4 volume options - Silent > Quiet > Medium > Loud. To select the required volume slide a block around the corner”.


The flipslide game in packaging
Encourage quick thinking and focus with this game

We hope you find this guide useful, if you have any more ideas feel free to get in touch. If you have found this post helpful, please share with others.

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