No idea what to buy 11 yr old DD

[MummyHummous]

11 yr old DD, not at all girly, loves Harry Potter, His Dark Materials and recently Agatha Christie. We have loads of books already and too much stuff. Was thinking tickets to see HP and the Cursed Child. Is it any good? Other than panto and In the Night Garden when she was very young, she has not been to the theatre.

On Cursed Child: the general verdict is that the staging is spectacular, the kind of theatre that wows even people who are lukewarm on the story itself. For an 11 year old who loves the books, seeing the magic done live is usually the memorable part. Worth checking the running time though, it is long, often in two parts, so matinee plus evening makes a full day of it.

Other ideas for a bookish 11 year old who already has shelves of books:

• The Harry Potter studio tour. Pricey, but it is the obvious big one for a HP fan and works as the year's "experience present".
• The Mousetrap in the West End for the Agatha Christie side. A proper whodunnit on stage and a nice first "grown-up" theatre trip.
• An escape room voucher. Great for kids who love puzzles and mysteries, and it is something you can do together as a family.
• A family murder mystery game night kit. Agatha Christie energy at home for a fraction of the price.
• Nice stationery, a reading journal or a fancy bookmark. Small, but bookish kids genuinely use them.

Experience gifts are a good answer to "too much stuff" in general. The memory lasts longer than another thing on the shelf.

My dd got an Agatha Christie 1000 piece puzzle one year which she loved. There were clues to solve.

The cursed child isn’t in 2 parts anymore so don’t worry about that. I’ve heard great things about it and am taking my DD there next year.

How about a 3d printer? Waterstones do lots of great smaller gifts too, we got an escape room type came from there which was good

We have HP fans here and have bought the replica wands which always go down well. The tour is incredible!
Other things I would get... clothes, hair stuff, earrings.
We are moving to a new and much bigger house so are getting bits for their bedrooms too.

The cursed child is absolutely brilliant. You could combine it with a trip to the new HP store that is opening on Oxford Street if you want something tangible for her to come home with. Or go to mina Lima which is near the theatre (they made a lot of the props)

DD started collecting Converse boots at 11. Different colours, designs, limited editions, fabrics, hi top, lo top… but her feet had stopped growing.

Honestly as a child who loved to read, I couldn't get enough books.

Kindle?

Also agree with the experience ideas especially if linked to something they love. We really enjoyed the HP tour!

I bought my DD an Agatha Christie puzzle book last year she enjoyed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1399627937?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

Maybe tickets to see The Mousetrap.

An Oodie is usually a nice present (and perfect in winter!) My dc have the adult sized ones and love them as theyvare a lot heavier, thicker and much warmer than high street / supermarket versions... they have nice general patterns but also licenced ones, eg Pokemon, Hello Kitty, Scooby Doo etc

Thank you everyone, some brilliant ideas, I am very grateful you took the time to suggest them.

If she’s into Harry Potter, the LEGO Cornish Pixie set (about £25) or the Secret Potions Classroom cauldron (about £55) are both lovely builds for that age. Apologies if someone has already suggested them. I got some of these for my kids and they loved it.

If you go to the lego store there are quite a few sets! Good luck...