To ask if you have a 15yo son, can you please help me?

[Lovingalltheserings]

Taking part in one of those Christmas gift donation appeals and when I went to pick up a ticket there were only teenage boys left which made me feel sad and like everyone leaves them until last as they don’t know what to buy. Which has made me want to get something really good for the 15yo boy whose ticket I picked up. So, if you have a 15yo son, could you give me some ideas of presents I could buy (nothing extortionate!), bearing in mind I know literally nothing else about him?

I have bought my 15 year old son so far:

jazzy socks (he is always jazzy of sock)
boxers
the clothes he has sent me links for from DePop - Adidas top etc all secondhand
an electronic massager for neck and shoulders
a skateboard
Both Suicide Squad DVDs
some Aftershave

and I've just bought him the above bracelets

Agree with posters saying that you can’t assume kids in this situation will have phones or other devices.

I reckon you can’t go wrong with a Nando’s gift card - it’s halal and there’s veggie options.

Cinema gift card?....do they still go to the cinema?! I'm 32 but we used to go all the time...although it was about £4 a ticket back in the day!

Aaw, I feel sad that teenage boys are left until last! I'm a mother of boys and now a GM to a 16 year old.

They usually love sweets/chocolates; and you can't go wrong with some decent shower gel and shampoo.

Not everyone has a Nandos near them either

Agree with a plain black backpack doesn’t have to be a good make just plain black from primark or somewhere - pop in some Slippers and fluffy socks - even my too cool for school nephews like this, body spray and shower gel and maybe something like a £10 light up speaker or strip of LEDs

Thank you all so much - lots of great ideas! I would be absolutely lost otherwise as I have two pre-school daughters 😂

15 year olds can be quite tricky to buy for if you don't know them personally, as they could be old for their age, young for their age, or have really different interests.

With you not knowing them personally you could play it safe with maybe a dove/nivea gift set and possibly sweets/chocolate.

Packs of black ballpoint pens - they'll always need pens for school and I think they must eat them (!)
Shower gel
T-shirts
Odd little fidget toys (teenage boys always need to be fiddling with things, in my experience)
Sweets and crisps!!

I don't really have any suggestions as mine is 10 and I don't actually know any 15 year old boys but I am starting to understand the deluge of lynx and dove sets in the shops! . Is this a big teenage boy thing!?

My ds wouldn't use Lynx; mainly because it's body spray usually rather than antiperspirant

He would use a set with antiperspirant. Can't go wrong with a tub of sweets tbh

I was quite surprised, but 17 year old grandson bought a lava lamp for his dorm room. I thought they went the way of the dinosaurs, but clearly not.

So a lava lamp.

Please! for the sake of the rest of us, don't buy him any Lynx.

@dementedpixie

Not everyone has a Nandos near them either

True but if it's a local collection OP will know whether there is one.

Lots of good ideas here. I would add maybe Nanoblocks, Rubicks Cube, gym bag (Nike or similar) if it's in budget, football. You may need to check whether edibles are allowed as some places don't take them.

My son is 14, one thing on his wish list was one of those Ooodie things... the big oversized jumpers to lounge about in around the house.
I got him a Marvel one from the Gents section in Primark, was £21, but they had different designs (not branded, just plain grey) which were £16 (I think)

Sweets. Gregg's gift card

I always want to do those gift trees but it’s so difficult to pick a gift for a child you know, never mind one you don’t. Especially as all the info you get is age and sex, but two 15yo boys can be hugely different from each other. It would be better if they could maybe include a small ‘I like’ section so you could get some sort of clue.

But I agree with pp’s that stuff like lynx sets, socks etc are always good because they can be used by basically anyone. Maybe a gift card to the cinema/a pizza place?

A good board or card game. Something funny like one of the fluxx alternatives. Nothing dull like monopoly but there are many games out there

Not Lynx sets please. They can trigger severe asthma!

@lunarlandscape

Not Lynx sets please. They can trigger severe asthma!

Surely this is true of any deodorant or body spray?

Again mine wouldn't use lynx type set...or any sort of sport thing...
.led light strips,
lava lamp,
North face or torch beanie good idea
North face seems to cut across different groups...
Vegetarian sweets....
Playing cards/flux/exploding kittens or cards against humanity if you find a deal...
Socks .....maybe colourful
Phone gloves ,
oversized hoodie....

Costa gift cards.....

You can’t go wrong with one of those massive packs of Oreos or Jaffa cakes.
Nike / Adidas socks in black or white
One of those drawstring bags - Nike or Adidas is a good bet again
Greggs gift card
Smellies - not lynx, the younger ones tend to like that.

Sweets
Greggs gift card
Socks
Biscuits (big selection tin)
Pop tarts

My 15yo would be very disappointed with games or smelly stuff.

I have a fifteen year old son. Heres a few ideas from what hes asked for recently from birthdays and Christmas where you dont need to worry about sizes etc;

Water bottle
Slush puppy cup (you put them in freezer so no machine needed) saw them for about a tenner in B&M or online
An oversized pyjama hoodie
Football
Aftershave
Warm black gloves
Jelly beans with 30 or so flavours
Boxing target you put on your head and theres a ball you punch. Cant remember its name but he loves it
Dumbells