What to get teenage boys for Salvation Army appeal?

[Kwasi]

My local Salvation Army runs a Christmas present appeal every year. They get lot of donations for young kids but significantly fewer for teenagers, especially boys.

Does anyone have any specific gift ideas for teenage boys? Budget is anything up to £20.

for one of these things for a tee I once bought one of those beanie hats that has built in earphone.
you never know how something is received of course

I would keep a good eye on the TKmaxx.com clearance section. You can set a budget and display by biggest savings - there are often really nice things that come up here so your £20 can go much further than the lynx novelty set.
At the moment there are- for example- backpacks from hype - a brand I see lots of teens carrying- for about £14, DKNY beanie hats. Etc.

Gloves
playing cards
Body wash etc
wallet
lipsalve
inexpensive watch
book about optical illusions/ tricks
fidget toys
moon ball

To be honest, I’d say things like the lynx body sets, Nike socks, all the little things they might not get that are important to teens.

T-shirt with a big bar of chocolate or body sprays.
A voucher for food place like greggs, pizza hunt, nandos or Costa with a bar of chocolate/socks.

My DS15 loved his black Nike sports socks last year as he then wore them to school instead of his normal black socks - he was more thrilled with these than his AirPods.

Agree Greggs or Costa/Starbucks voucher , body spray, aftershave , watch

I would do something like a lynx body set with a Costa voucher.

Having a 15 year old boy, yes to nice socks, lynx etc. A voucher is a good idea if allowed. Also sweets if mine is anything to go by….

Amazon gift card and a bag of sweets

Its hard to say without knowing the kid.

My teen DS HATES anything 'trendy' or 'fashionable', he rolled his eyes so hard at the prime craze etc... so most these suggestions would be wasted on him.

I actually don't know ANY teens in real life that are into the so called 'big trends' you see mentioned online (not to say none are obviously so kids love them).

There a lot of 'Alt' kids at DS school that are now big into 'older' (hurts to say that) bands, like My chemical romance, Nirvana, Iron maiden, Metallica (which was made big by Stranger Things so getting more mainstream).

Plus then theres all the kids that love 'nerdy' fandoms. I'm not really knowledgeable on that but my friends kids get really into fandoms and collect loads of Pop figures and fan specific stuff etc... some recent mainstream fandoms (although they might be over now) included stranger things and squid games etc...

My DS personally kind of likes silly thing to fidget with (plus anything 'gaming' related but thats obviously harder if you don't know if they have access to anything like that).

The things people always suggest for these never sound like gifts just necessities with branding on. as a teen if my Christmas present had been a hype school bag, nike socks and a lynx set I would probably be even sadder than getting nothing because its kind of a salt in the wound gift.

This is why buying blindly can be a nightmare.

If I had to guess I would maybe go for something more 'fun' like games (maybe exploding kittens), fidget toys (rubix cube type stuff), classic toys (2,5 & 15 all my kids love a ball), a hobby item (like an instrument they could learn and get good at) or maybe take a punt on whatever the big fandom is at the moment.

Instead of the cheap stereotype of Lynx (lets be honest no teen actually wants that) I would go for something like David Beckham which is also very affordable.

I always buy a fairly cheap, plain wallet and stick a £20 note in it and tape the whole thing to a large bar of chocolate.

funko pop
nike socks
lego
body spray & wash
nice drawing pad, pencils and paints

Thanks, everyone. That’s so helpful. I really appreciate the input.

But they don’t know the child, and that is why it’s safer to get more typical teen gifts.

I didn’t see anyone suggest prime or anything else obviously big trend, just a few big brands were mentioned.

Having seen a few lists made by children, it often is the basics that they want as they don’t want to stand out by not having the basics. Of course it’s sad that a child needs as opposed to wants, socks for Christmas but for lots of children, that’s their life.

You completely missed the point of my post which is that me and ALL my friends have teen kids and I don't know ANY into hype or nike socks or lynx.

They aren't 'safe/typical' gifts as you say, very much the opposite as the are polarizing and stereotyped styles.

There's no point buying the generic gift no one wants.

I also live in one of the poorest areas of the country, make below the poverty threshold and my friend runs the local food bank. Every kid has socks (they aren't gifts, year round if people are struggling for warm clothes they can come to the bank and get some) and non I encountered where fussed by the brand.

Its another one of these very strange view people have of poor people. Worrying about the brand of your socks is very much not a 'poor' trait but the quite opposite.

Headphones, think tesco had some Bluetooth ones for around 20 quid

(edit: that was to housethatbuiltme, my quoting went wrong)

I have teenage boys who like Lynx sets and Nike socks.
The things you are suggesting are great for some kids, but without knowing my kids, it would be much safer to go for bag of sweets, shower gels and smelly sets than try to guess what fandoms they are into (none) and what heavy metal bands they might like (none).
If I was buying for a teenage boy in this circumstance I'd go for nice smelly set (Superdry or David Beckham) and one of those metres of Oreos or some other fun snacks.

North face t shirt in dark grey or black

Usually fancy hygiene kits for the teens. Nice brands or good quality small items. So rather than everyday socks, nice house fluffy socks etc.

The Christmas appeal isn't really about giving them everyday basics. It's supposed to be a treat that they might not otherwise receive as it may be their only present.

I would do a kit for boys to include lynx, shower gel, toothbrush, decent toothpaste, razors, hair gel, decent socks, chocolates, hot chocolate set, pack of cards. My mate does this at his school where is he head, lots of kids have no toothbrushes or razors, but slip them in around other treats.

A football, lego sets, nice art pens and sketchpad, card game/board game.

I think its really hard to buy blind but I assume there is some picking the other end? Like does the patent get to choose what their child gets from a selection on offer. I've seen a few places now doing a tree with wishlist type things so you buy a specific gift. The one I saw recently on a tree near us the couple of teenage boys had requested a football and pump, and alarm clock and a beanie hat.

I hadn’t even considered tooth brushes or razors. It’s so sad that some kids don’t even have these.

I really liked a pps idea of a wallet with £20 in taped to a big bar of choc then the teen can buy exactly what he wants or needs.

My teen boys love lynx, one will only use 1 type of lynx and nothing else.
Anything edible is always a hit with teens I have found!
They also love an oodie (or off brand) . Fluffy socks, onesies and blankets.

A good call I feel is always some kind of sensory or forget toy as even none SEN teens enjoy using them.
Board games of any type are always popular. My boys and their friends spend hours playing. They have even asked for hungry hippos for Christmas as I had given it way to a younger child.

Something I personally would avoid are hats, scarves and gloves as none of my teen boys or their friends wear them anymore.

Amazon voucher and a bar of chocolate.
Let the teen pick!
(mother of teens who hate north face, lynx etc)

a lad who is getting a Salvation Army box may not have any access to Amazon or know anyone with an Amazon account.

The Sally Army usually specify 'no food, no tech', and don't assume they have any access to tech at all.