Christmas gifts for tween boys

[RebeccaR82]

My sons will be 10 and 9 this Christmas. They’ve had a lot of joint presents over the years as they’re close in age and tend to like the same things. I’m a bit of a second- hand-aholic and as a result I think they have everything they ever wanted/need and I’m completely stuck on what to get them this year. They share a (secondhand) Xbox and have a Nintendo Switch each and have lots of games for both but mainly play mine craft or fortnite (which my husband hates). They both have bikes and scooters (but don’t use the latter). They both read a lot but have hundreds of books to get through (because they can read each others books too) and love Harry Potter (they have quite a bit of HP merchandise between them which clutters shelves!) I’d get kindles but they have so many books still to read I doubt they’d use them much. We’ve always been very close to my family and spend Christmas together but there’s been quite a big rift and all family are doing their own things. Last year was quite bad as it was the first Christmas post-rift and also my grandmother (to whom my sons are very close) had a severe stroke and I spent a lot of time caring for her. She lives very close but probably isn’t well enough to come to us for Christmas. I don’t want Christmas to be flat again and want them to have some really special memories but really don’t know where to start! I’m normally about sorted for Christmas by September! We live in Cornwall so quite a way from most providers of experiences. They love being outdoors but aren’t very sporty- think beach rather than football, although they have surf stuff- wetsuits, surf boards, stand-up paddle boards... I’ve read lots of old threads about gifts for similar ages boys but still need inspiration- please help!

Watching. My ds is 11

the great thing about tweens and teens is that they don't believe in Santa and so you can ask them to write a list.

Lego?
Don't really know but I'm struggling this year too.

A really good Chemistry Set
A good Magic Set with some easy and some more complex tricks that they could entertain you with.(DC loved this at that age
Raspberry Pi build your own mini computer
Those electrical modular sets where you can build your own door alarm or set of lights etc.
An electric guitar or mini keyboard or drum kit
Adidas trainers and hoodie
Go kart - DS loved his at that age
Skateboard
Sledge (if you get snow in Cornwall - maybe not)
An exotic pet: A Giant African Land Snail, Tarantula or bearded dragon. But obviously only if you have the time, energy and money to devote to proper care of them.
Massive canvas and spray paints
A tent of their own with stove, billycan and bedrolls
venus flytrap style plants
lava lamp/light up globe lamp/rock salt lamp

A wind surfer. Or dinghy.

Remote controlled car.

A greenhouse, and equipment/seeds etc so that they can grow their own fruit and veg! I don't think the plastic ones are mega expensive.

Skateboards.

Trampoline.

A tent.

I can't help much I'm afraid, but I got my children a puppy last Christmas (after many years of nagging) (my son was 10 and my daughter 6 at the time) and I can safely say it is the best thing I could have bought my son. He adores that dog and the dog adores him.

He also got his first road bike and joined a cycling club - he loves that too (and he isn't sporty and would spend ALL his time on a PS4 if he could).

a trampoline is also a brilliant present - it's the most used toy in our house. DS goes on it with the puppy.

We got ds a gaming chair.

@TheRebelAlliance actually, whilst I can’t believe my luck, they seem to still believe or at least they haven’t let in to me that they don’t! I’ve asked what they would like and they’ve no idea!

@EdtheBear I’ve got a couple of small HP Lego sets but they’ve got the other sets already and are losing interest tbh, I don’t think they’d be interested in other Lego sets any more. They used to love ninjago and there were so many sets available it was easy but those days are gone 😢

I have a young 11 yo DS who sounds similar. Things that have gone down well previously are:

Football, goal and football shirt ( I know you said don't think football, but what about a different sport? Cricket, rugby etc)
Theatre tickets
Lego
Really decent art stuff like good watercolours and paper, pastels, acrylics, good brushes, clay
Board games
Food related things like popcorn maker, cake pop maker
Trampoline
Things of his choice for his room like light projector, music system type thing
Hornby
Nintendo Switch
Phone
Tablet
Bike plus helmet, water bottle that fixes on, spoke decorations, name sticker (a la Tour de France)
A series of books like the Alex Rider series or Narnia

Things that haven't gone down well but yours might like:

Magazine subscription
Newspaper subscription like First News

What about an Echo dot?

My ds will be 9 at Christmas.

My suggestions:
Echo dot
Tickets for a show / day out
Next size up bike
Clothes - my ds wants rugby kit for the team he supports
Fitbit? (I'm not sure about this for children but that's another discussion)

.... But mainly I am following for inspiration

Thanks for great suggestions! The eldest is allergic to most pets and we also go away at least 4 weeks a year (we do home swaps - can’t recommend it enough!) so wouldn’t really be ok to get one of the more exotic types that he wouldn’t have allergies to either. They have a (secondhand) tent but a camping stove etc is a great idea. They had a trampoline and loved it but it was damaged in storms the winter before last and they’re not bothered about replacing. I’ve looked at raspberry pi before but can’t help thinking it’s something to buy and unwrap and won’t entertain them for long as they’ll go back to the Nintendo Switch where they can talk to friends on head sets. Gaming chairs won’t fit in their rooms. They’ve had magic sets/chemistry sets and become bored of them, have an electronic set which they play with sporadically at best and have no coordination for skate boards! I think they have enough equipment to play in the sea with (we have kayaks as well as their surf boards and SUPs) as the weather isn’t good enough to spend any more time at the beach and in the water than they already do! They have acoustic guitars and have lessons at school but don’t practice enough to justify electric ones and also have a secondhand keyboard gathering dust. We bought grow your own Venus fly trap plants last year - they didn’t grow! Not enough tarmacked space around us for a go kart (which they would love if we did) but we do have a big garden. They get so much as we have a massive family so there’s a football goal and a basketball net set up outside as well which they will play with when friends visit but not when it’s just the two of them. They’ve had various remote control cars, helicopters and drones over the years. Thanks so much for taking the time for the suggestions! A green house is a great idea that I may look into... any other ideas gratefully received 😊

We have bought DS (12) a VR headset for xmas (HTC Vive) bloody expensive but he has used them before and loves VR - it's bloody good exercise as well which is great as he is geeky not sporty so needs something physical.

The echo dots are definitely going to feature - we have the larger one in our lounge which they love so they’ll get one each for rooms. They have read Alex Rider and Narnia and don’t follow any sports teams. We are going to see Mamma Mia in Plymouth in July but our local theatre is closed for refurb for two years - we get to the theatre as much as possible and love it but there aren’t any shows that would interest them locally at the moment. I’ve bought Harry cluedo and ordered monopoly deal which I saw recommended on another thread. They have lots of art stuff but use it rarely although they love the water colour pencils they got last year. They have secondhand but quite old iPad minis but they seem to still update minecraft and they just use them to iMessage family so they’re sufficient and they have mine and my husband’s old iPhone 5ss - they want SIM cards for Christmas but I’m not keen at their ages. They have a Nintendo switch each (secondhand) which is what they mostly play with and don’t need more games as they have quite a few but only seem to use two of them. Hornsby isn’t really their thing. We tried First News and whilst they really liked it they seemed to read it less and less as they read books mostly. Their bikes and accessories are absolutely fine and don’t need replacing. The eldest had his room redone for his birthday and the youngest wants to keep his as it is!
Last year I made a massive effort and decorated the lounge diner like Hogwarts with floating candles, flying keys, letters to Harry Potter in the cupboard under the stairs (with two letters addressed to my son’s hidden amongst them with tickets to Disney and Universal Studios) so I set the bar quite high last year and they’re not really into anything more than HP so there’s not really an alternative for this year! Just really want the whole thing to feel magical as I’m sure that they won’t believe by next year. We’ve talked about going away but they both say that Christmas is about being at home with family, problem is we won’t be seeing much of the family so I need to get just the right gifts to entertain them for the day so they don’t dwell on what they would like in an ideal world which is everyone together 🤞

@Titsywoo the VR looks great but at over £1000 it’s quite a lot more than I’d want to pay!

@beela they actually have fitbits (secondhand again!) as my eldest would live a very sedentary life if he was allowed and at the moment it is incentivising him so fingers crossed the novelty doesn’t wear off too quickly!

Ds will be 11 at Christmas he has started his list already! He asking for
New headphones
A joystick for his flight simulator games on pc.
A flight simulator experience at local airport.
Rollerblades
A pogo ball - sort of ball in a circle that they stand on and bounce apparently.

I've just bought 10y old DS a FitBit and he loves it. Checking his steps, looking at his sleep etc. He also had a gaming headset so he can talk to his school friends when he plays online which went down well.

And actually that Nintendo Labo thing for the Switch is also really very good. I was skeptical about spending £60 on cardboard but was happy to be proved wrong.

@RebeccaR82 can I derail slightly and ask if you have any recommendations for nintendo switch games for that age group?

Polaroid camera was a big hit here, been used a lot

Just really want the whole thing to feel magical as I’m sure that they won’t believe by next year. We’ve talked about going away but they both say that Christmas is about being at home with family, problem is we won’t be seeing much of the family so I need to get just the right gifts to entertain them for the day so they don’t dwell on what they would like in an ideal world which is everyone together

It sounds as though they really value family time. How about things you can do together? It doesn't have to be expensive.... Monopoly, cluedo, dvds to watch as a family, or as they don't seem to need more 'stuff' then maybe think about spending present money on a weekend away together?

How many times have you clarified “second hand”?!

Do you have a garden?

One year I got my boys a pop up tent and loads of bushcraft type stuff for cooking- a Trangia, firefighting kits with those stones to make your own sparks, the metal pots and cups. A penknife.
My family got them lightweight sleeping bags and a couple of the self inflating bed mats and they camped out the next summer so much in the garden and made hundreds of fires
They still use it all now and are total bushcraft enthusiasts.

In fact if you wrap up enough you can camp in December too- can always come in when it gets too cold but we always do a little fire on Xmas eve and toast marshmallows etc.
So they won’t have to wait until summer to use the gift