£20 gift for 12 year old girl?

[Smedsmoos]

A charity has allocated me a 12 year old girl to buy a Christmas gift for. The budget is around £20.

It is likely that this will be her only Christmas present.

What can I get her?

I don’t want to buy a load of cheap tat just to make it look like more but equally I don’t want her to only have one thing to open. Help please!

Definitely if it’s the right sort

One of the few things they can take to school that isn’t uniform controlled so a bit of a status symbol. The Stanley style might be phasing out but there’s always a new ‘hot’ style and Primark always has loads of knock offs in a range of colours and with accessories like straw covers.

So the charity can check it’s appropriate first

I agree with the person that said ‘primark haul’, fluffy blanket, fake Stanley cup and cosy socks/gloves or hat.

Other ideas….
Lego, I saw a set in Asda today that make 3 different things (cat, pigeon and something else) for £15. My kids are now older but we have a tradition of getting a small Lego set every year.

Stationary or craft supplies, maybe something not too messy, paper craft type thing. Sketch pad and good pens/pencils?

I would stay away from skin care, perfume. Not all girls are girly and into those thing (mine would have hated it).

As the mum of three teenage daughters… they bloody love a water bottle 😂 although the ones mine want are £40 🫣😬

My secondary aged child refuses to take a water bottle - also dodges the school loos but that's another issue.

I think lip gloss and a jellycat type things are safer bets

Are they the Stanley ones?
I wonder if my boys isnt 'cool' enough.

I go to a lot of conferences/exhibitions tech/cybersecurity related and end up with bags full of freebies. Every time when I get home my house becomes the most popular of all the hang out spots while DD and her friends scrap it out over all the tat.

The order of preference is:

• stanley style cups
• the metal water bottles like this - https://www.dunelm.com/product/500ml-water-flask-1000221877?defaultSkuId=30688793&branchCode=0175&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Cook_Food+Storage-PMax_%5BGOO-LIA-COOK-STORAGE%5D&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20700850734&gbraid=0AAAAADGqyX2YGGhyuYF6QrK-3FaKjGQcY&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUvBaPZ_9yx1g4wpKBfsY4wbPMFHPd85radWVCMc6cx0XoHbcqA3JChoCPI4QAvD_BwE
• Bento style lunch boxes
• Notepads with the ribbon bookmarks, little elastic pen holder and matching pen
• Blocks of post-its
• The really really random ass key rings with spirit levels/measuring tapes etc built in

The above stuff always without fail flies out the house with lots of happy little kids boasting about their picks.

oh and the free sweets and cookies always disappear quicker than I can blink too.

They really are strangely obsessed with water bottles/cups.

One is into air up bottles and flavour pods, the other spent her birthday money on an Owala bottle. I think it’s an individuality thing at school (but different groups all gave the same).

Going slightly over budget, if I were to have a £20 budget for a 12 year old girl, I’d go:

£12.50 - Byoma: https://www.boots.com/byoma-stellar-skin-plus-bodycare-set-10365532

£8 - PJs: https://www.primark.com/en-gb/p/microfleece-pyjama-set-taupe-991138124606 (I’d play it safe with a medium)

£1.50 - Terry’s chocolate orange, or a selection box.

If I was comfortable pushing up to £25 mark, I’d add in some slippers, too - https://www.primark.com/en-gb/p/fluffy-crossband-slippers-beige-991135857118

I have an 11yo & 13yo DDs. If I was getting a 12yo girl I didn’t know a present for £20 especially one in care or from a struggling family I would get the following

Bkack tote bag for around £10 or less - nothing fancy. The bag can be used for school. Most girls this age use hand bags rather than back packs. My 13yo uses one I bought for £7 in a primark sale and 11yo uses one I found in a charity shop for £3

Then I’d add

Daise set, its a nice brand from Boots, it’s a reasonably priced brand but also popular. You can buy a set for £11.50 of deodorant, lip balm & body spray. Both my DDs have these as well as the other more expensive brands.

https://www.boots.com/daise-sunny-vanilla-bundle-10371125?traffic=paid.shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19971247832&gbraid=0AAAAA-AdmwT0ovBgFthQeCw3a2nUr9nNZ&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUpBJ59jQY38medblbV-RsjOHQ_v160jKF64-yfqC7lv3JDtZtrStQhoC23cQAvD_BwE

Or

Fluffy PJ set - sizing may be an issue here

Or

fake oodie

Other items you could consider as top ups

Fluffy socks
lip balms ( Nivea, Dr Pawpaw, Vaseline)
tweezers
pimple patches
luffa, exfoliating mittens
face mask.

all can be picked up in home bargains, b&m, primark for £1 or less.

Id personally stay away from main skin care items as you don’t know the child or what they can use. It’s one thing not being about to use a top up face mask bought for less than £1 but another to not to be able to use the entire gift.

Maybe not a child that has been earmarked not to recive any Christmas presents.

Possibly. But might possibly appeal to a child who doesn’t have any cool items to take to school. Doesn’t have to be water bottles of course, but a child who has to watch others have trendy items at school might appreciate being able to have something too.

Yeah I get where your coming from there.

personally I have 2 reasons I wouldnt

1. my DDs & their friends have no interest in these water bottles, never have
2. I was once this child not having Christmas or birthday presents. Trying to put myself in this girls position now id choose practical and something I can use that I need. Being cool wouldn’t enter my head.

@ITSSSSCHRISTMASSS
I think your bag idea is a really good one. Now that I think about it my own secondary school bag was a handbag style (that was too small for my folders) and that wasn't exactly yesterday 🤔. I ditched the big sports bag thing that was deemed necessary for starting secondary for it.

We definitely have some of the metal bottles in the house that don't make it to school.

My choice would be an Oodie or fake Oodie because it is practical but still “cool”.

This site often comes up on the Christmas bargain threads as they often have genuine Oodies for £10 although the Oodie label may be cut out. I bought some from them the year that Oodie failed to deliver their Black Friday orders in time for Christmas 🙄 I am pretty sure these designs are genuine Oodies.

£10.99 Oodie

I would then spend the remaining £9 on some nice toiletries or stationery, and sweets.

Are freeze dried sweets still cool or are they too last Christmas? 😂 Home Bargains have some for 99p.

99p Freeze dried candy
£1.69 Freeze dried candy

Primark have good dupes of Lush or Sol de Janeiro products starting at £2.

Sol de Janeiro
Snow Fairy dupe

Or a selection of gel pens and stationery from Flying Tiger is always useful, if you want to play it safe. They often have last season’s design for half price if you want to max out what you can get for your money.

I think your idea of having lots of things to unwrap sounds like a nice idea but it could cause issues if a sibling gets one gift and another gets one medium gift and several small items.The charity may decide to split multiple items up. If you want to give lots of items, a wash bag or pencil case with multiple items in it might be a better option. You could wrap the items inside the wash bag/pencil case in tissue (so the charity can still check them).

https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/lego-and-bricks/lego-flowers-and-botanicals/lego-botanicals-10349-happy-plants-set/p/248594

Something cute, something to do and something nice for her room house, also avoids the not all 12 year olds like make up and skincare dilemma

Primark definitely. Beanie hat, some nice smellies like body spray and bath bombs, a little keyring plushie, some fluffy socks. Maybe some cheap jewellery if within budget.

Not bath bombs - she might only have access to a shower.
Shower gel is great though and can double up as bubble bath if she does have one.

Handbags aren’t allowed at my kids school

I would go with body sprays and lip balms and a plushie type toy

There are lot of lovely gifts in the Boots 3 for 2 so you could get 3 x £10 gift sets for £20

How do they define a handbag?

A tote bag can easily fit the same description as a sports hold all.
Zipped bag, with two handles?

@WatchingTheDetective - she won't be in foster care, in care there is an allocated amount of money for each child for Christmas and typically carers spend more. This will be for a child living at home likely on child in need or child protection plan whose parents can't afford gifts.

For those looking for something similar contact your local authorities as most will do something like this - we always collect gifts for our care leavers and for many of them it can be the only gift they receive.

I would suggest not getting a craft set or anything that involves space or other typical household items (like an iron for Hama beads if she was younger) as the family may well be living in one room.
As others have said, vouchers are in appropriate.
I would avoid PJs as a lot of charities around here do Cmas PJ drives.
I would also avoid sweets unless you go for Halal ones.
If you can get a £5 Oodie, I think that that is a great place to start. Then I think Primark is your friend. A couple of bits of make up or skin care, some fluffy socks & gloves (practical & seasonal),
perhaps a top or something and then a bar of chocolate. If you want to give her something to do, stalk Amazon & get something like UNO when there is a price drop.
If you know any 12yo girls, as their parents if they have anything brand new that they’d donate. That could stretch your budget (although being mindful of the £20 cap). My DD is a bit older but has some unused skin care as she knows it’s a type her skin reacts to. This reminds me that I need to donate it to the food bank ahead of Christmas.

I have a 12 year old- she loves:
fluffy socks, Oodies (or primark versions) makeup, skin care, nail polish, jewellery, lip balms, Nike socks, notebooks, etc are the quite generic things she likes. Other things like books or clothes I wouldn’t attempt to guess what she would like as her taste are very specific. This is a lovely thing to do op