What were hit presents for your preteen girls this year?

[foxgoosefinch]

DD is 8, nearly 9, and got:
Harry Potter Lego
Books
Glitter backpack
Puzzles and games, including HP Dobble, GravityMaze and Harry Potter games and puzzles

Light up indoor mini drone
Stationery
Instax camera
Skateboard from grandparents
HP chocolate, stocking bits, a couple of soft toys, mechanical hamster in a ball.

The one thing she apparently wanted that she didn’t get was a kids’ Fitbit (though if she had told us she wanted one at any point that might have helped 🤣)

Hits: the Lego, the mechanical hamster, the stocking things, the Harry Potter stuff, the stationery

Misses: she’s a bit lukewarm on the instax camera - annoying as a kids’ Fitbit would have been cheaper!!!

I’m looking for ideas for what your 8, 9, 10, 11 year old girls got and which presents were hits or misses - for ideas for DD’s upcoming birthday and for next year!

What went down well - or conversely didn’t - with your girls?

DD nearly 12

Hits:
Laptop
Exploding Kittens Game
Wreck This Journal
Huge tub of Swizzels sweets
LED light strips
LED mirror
Video maker kit with tripod and ring light
Fluffy leopard dressing gown
Vans trainers
Lots of gold bracelets from Shein

Misses (or just not yet):
Wireless ear buds
Make-up

Mine is 11, she has really enjoyed some watercolour pens. Biggest hit was her ring light which she asked for.
Phone case, phone charger, pop socket in her stocking.
Last year quite a lot of hype stuff.
Sports outfits and clothes from Zara.

Biggest hits here were
DD9 - bluetooth microphone, mario carts and a smoothie maker.
DD11 - straighteners, bluetooth colour change alarm clock/speaker, oodie and vouchers for bowling/indoor skydiving.

Oh yes, and they were both surprisingly excited about getting a selfie stick.

DD 8 big hit was roller skates

Oodie was the big hit here. Rarely seen without it now.

Hits for my 9 yr old DD include tattoo kit, squishmallow, Lego friends sets, crossover bag with matching purse and a lava lamp for her bedroom

Biggest hits for my 9 year old were:

Kids kindle
Kids Alexa
OMG doll
Sparkly phone cover (she has my old phone with no SIM card just for playing games and taking photos)

My nine year old loves the water beads she got (orbeez but not) and also various putty/ slime type
things.

I have a 8 (nearly 9) yo and 10yo dds. Hits were oodies, Switches and tickets to the Strictly live show. Surprise hit was some cheap as chips colour in canvases I picked up at hobbycraft as they were reduced.

I love these posts because it's often the cheap things. Biggest hit was probably a last minute £10 addition of foam hair rollers! Dd8 often comes home from her youth club with her hair curled and is most upset the curls don't last. I considered getting a curling tong but I couldn't trust her not to use it unattended and leave it on/burn herself and I was worried about hair damage. All take lower cost ones had poor reviews and I didn't want to spend a fortune at her age. Very last minute I bought a zipper bag of foam curlers from Amazon and both the 8 year old and my teenager have used them many times since Christmas day. I am dyspraxic and SO bad at doing hair that I even struggle with doing straight pig tails, but these are even easy and quick for me to do and have great results. Similar entertainment value as face paint/temporary tattoos when they are revealed but lower effort!

Also last year the favourite present was a Harry Potter blank letter writing set, and that was repeatedly asked for again this year, and has again been a hit (along with everything else HP).

Our Generation doll was the big hit

8yo!

10yo dts - Air Force ones and perfect petzzz

Lots of things already mentioned for my just 11yo like hp lego, teddy bear fur blanket from dunelm, drawing/colouring stuff (especially some black fine line drawing pens) and random hit - a silicone scalp massager/scrubber which will help her wash her hair better herself (about £4 in tk maxx)!

DD (8) had all manner of things, but she’s played non stop with my flipping cricut machine (which means that I haven’t had a look in )
The Joy version is about £130 and I know a few people one line who have bought them for older children

Hits for dd (9)
Lego friends sets.
Squishmallow.
Stocking full of fidget toys!
Furry coat!
Dinosaur fingerlings and jurassic world soft toy (bargain tip shop find!).
Box of different beauty sheet face masks from primark with headband for pushing back her hair!
Games! She loves a board game, biggest hit was a classic compendium. We've had great fun relearning to play chess, draughts etc. Also got OK play, p is for pizza, stinky pig, 5 second rule, and animal dobble!

We bought her a hair styling head and she's enjoyed it but hasn't been as big a hit as I thought it would be.

One thing she wanted and we didn't buy was rainbow high dolls, she has bought one with Christmas money but it hasn't arrived yet. Confident it will get loved as she adores her lol omg dolls, bratz and barbies!

Just 9.
Hits, Rainbow slime.
Fit bit watch! Sorry op.
Spy door thing (science musuem)
Mini voice changer (science musuem)
Destroy this diary.fountain pen funnily enough...

Oh and she requested an eye shadow set, lip stick and she loves her wolf bag.

@w @WorriedMillie

Wow I've never heard of that before just googled it and it looks amazing!

Oodie went down so much better than I'd imagined it would. It was bought as her older sister was getting one (on trend) and I wanted to avoid rivalry. I got her a full size one and as she's a waif of a thing, it totally swamps her. I had to force her to give it up today for washing as she has almost lived in it since Christmas Day and that's 2 weeks ago!! She's told all her friends about it.

Watercolours and canvases to paint upon have been a storm.

Stupid but home bargains do slushies in a bag- I got a few for the stocking and they've been enjoyed more than I imagined. They deliver what the mr frosty of my childhood dreams would have.

[quote JanuaryBluehoo]**@w* @WorriedMillie*

Wow I've never heard of that before just googled it and it looks amazing![/quote]
They are fantastic, expensive initial outlay, but if you have a crafty pre-teen or teen, they are great. The novelty hasn't worn off for DD, she's having her friend round for tea next week, so they can make T shirts!! (well, cut the vinyl and I'll iron it on!)