Gift ideas for a 12 year old (getting desperate!)

[Thealarmhasgoneoffagain]

About £50ish budget. She's 12 but young iyswim.

• She's just had her room done so nothing for that.
• not into clothes / make up / smellies
• not getting an alexa or anything like that
• we already have a couple of days out / experiences planned
• her hobbies don't need any equipment
• already have plenty of craft stuff.
• She's not having money or gift cards
• no garden and no where to ride a bike or the like.
• she is a viroucious (sp?) reader and loves writing her own stories

I can only really think of an ooodie or switch game but I don't think she particularly wants them. She would lose a really fancy pen.

Huge stack of books.
Book token.
Book subscription.

Lego? There's lots of Harry Potter themed lego if she's into that?

Board game - Ticket to ride, Pictionary Air, Exploding Kittens, Throw Throw burrito etc..,

Ice cream machine

Giant squishmallow?
Big bundle of fancy notebooks to write stories in?
Signed book from a favourite author?
Minalima Harry Potter books?

Giant pile of books
Kindle
As per previous poster- nice notebooks to write her stories in
A book binding kit- hot glue gun, end papers, covers etc so she can turn her stories into books?

Lots of books, my DD is a bookworm & it's all she wants. I'm the same so happy to buy her books anytime :))
You can usually get good deals on box sets in the works for kids books

My daughter wants a papercrafter magazine subscription for Xmas. Would that be something she would like?

I'm planning on buying one beforehand to wrap, make a little voucher saying she's having a six month subscription to last her until the summer.

Christmas is a long way away, unless this is for a birthday gift !

is this your dd or a family member? I’d your dd , I’d take her to a big shopping centre (a Bluewater or Trafford centre), officially for something else (cinema?) and say on the way you are trying to think of Christmas ideas so if she sees anything she likes, to let you know.

if she plays her switch lots, then maybe a pro controller (they are between £20-50 depending on how fancy you go).

Getting desperate????!!! It's 1 October ffs not Xmas Eve.

She's never been into lego. Strange child.

She LOVES robots and programming and all that but we have various robots she's built over the years and she goes to robot club at school so we don't need anymore.

We tend to get her books as and when she sees them (within reason) so they wouldn't be a gift really.

She has a stock of notepads so we've said no more until she uses them up!

No blooming Harry Potter! 🤣

Sorry to be so negative! 😂

Air up drinks bottle

Have you asked her? Does it have to be a £50 budget? If there isn't anything she has suggested it could be that she is struggling to think of something that expensive.

She's 12. Ask her.

i would say a kindle, or a nice personalised book mark, a book light. A nice journal and pen set.

What about a lockable box/case that she could keep her stories in? I am pretty clueless where girls are concerned, but when DS was invited to a girl's birthday party a few years ago, we bought her a lockable diary and a fancy cup… Went down very well apparently. The Gorjuss range by Santoro London.

I know you say that she'd lose a nice pen, but how many of the christmas gifts you received aged 12 do you still have? There are some lovely options at Cult Pens. It's small and sounds like something she would use.

I hadn't thought of asking her. 🤣She has requested approx £30 of fidget toy tat which isn't happening because after a day she'll never look at them again, just like all the others and a £5 game thing that I'm not sure is even made anymore but I'll do my best.

Doesn't have to be £50 obviously. I don't want to spend it for the sake of it but I gave the figure to give an indication.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

What's wrong with fidget toys if that's what she wants? What sort is it? There might be a better quality (so lasts longer) version or something similar. If she likes building robots maybe some type of kit that builds some kind of fidget toy.
Has she tried Meccano?
Although sometimes it's the small things and 'tat' that gives the most joy.

Getting desperate? We are a quarter of a year away from christmas, start panicking the week before! The only interest you've mentioned is reading and writing, how about a Kobo reader? I got my daughter one for her 9th birthday, she loves books but the advantage of an e-reader is being able to easily read in the dark and not lose your place etc I went for a Kobo because you can borrow library books directly from the library with a Kobo, and you can't with a Kindle, although for such a small budget you might only get a Kindle.

@user375242 desperate because it's for her bday which is v v soon, not Christmas but this seemed like the best place to ask. 😊 Funnily enough we know exactly what she is getting for Christmas. I do know "desperate" is overly dramatic!

She has a kindle and uses her Dad's audio book subscription. She doesn't read books on it.

@Needmorelego because I'm not spending £30 (or anything tbh) on little bits of tat that will be played with for 5mins! One thing is a giant rubix cube. She already has a rubix cube which she never plays with so I doubt a bigger one will be any different. We know from experience that she doesn't play with fidget toys.

A kindle un limited subscription.

She has some of her Dad's mecarno from when he was her age. She has shown zero interest despite her Dad's best efforts! 😂

I'm making her sound spoiled and like she has toys/stuff coming out her ears but she really doesn't.

I would also leave it a bit longer. I would have described my daughter in a similar way this time last year. By Christmas she was begging for clothes and make up and cash!

Ah, sorry-missed that this was for her birthday.
ukalele and ‘how to play’ book
pandora bracelet or similar
nice pen and nice Book mark?