ALT-2 Gifts for Tween Girls
With Christmas, Valentine's Day, birthdays and lots of other gift-giving opportunities, it's easy to feel lost when trying to figure out what to buy for your daughter or her friends or your niece-whoever your gift-giving dilemma might involve. Here are some of the top choices for pre-teen/tween girls:
Books
There is always a book series being passed around the girls. Here are some of the top series for girls this age right now.
Warriors: This series of books about the lives of cats that live in clans instead of as house pets is amazingly well thought out. It is very detailed, and the characters are as real as any humans. There are dozens of books in the collection which currently consists of four series of stories with six books in each, and three “Super Editions” which are standalone books about some of the favorite characters.
Guardians of Ga’Hoole: With the first three books recently made into a movie, this series has gained even more popularity than it had already garnered. The books start out following Soren, a young barn owl, and later follow Coryn, a barn owl who is a relative of Soren. There are 15 books in the series with a couple of extra books in addition.
Cornelia Funke is an author that has been popular for a number of years, and is always a good bet when choosing books for this age group. A favorite is Dragon Rider, the story of a young dragon, a human boy, and a brownie who are working together to find a sort of dragon utopia where dragons can live without fear of being destroyed by humans. Funke is also the author of The Thief Lord and the Inkheart trilogy.
Video Games
Pokémon Black or Pokémon White: These games are the latest in the Pokémon series, so if your tween is into Pokémon, they’re probably already clamoring for one or the other of these, if not both. These games are available for the Nintendo DS gaming system.
Kirby’s Epic Yarn: The newest Kirby game, and the first new one since it was available for Nintendo 64, this game for the Wii console follows Kirby on a quest to fix his world. It is a fun game, and Kirby has held appeal for both boys and girls.
Electronics
Cell Phone: At this age, many parents are divided as to whether or not a child this age should have their own cell phone. On the con side is the possibility that they may lose it, the possibility of high bills if it is overused, and the amount of time potentially spent on it when they should be doing something else. On the pro side, however, is perhaps the biggest reason—safety. This can be a good gift, especially if you chose one that is a “pay as you go” type and include a refill card or two with it.
iPod: For a major gift, this is another choice. The expense for some might make it impractical, but if it’s something you can afford there are a number of choices. The iPod Shuffle is the least expensive of the bunch. It can be loaded with music, and then plays the songs in a random order or from a pre-set play list. The iPod Nano has bigger storage, more flexibility, and both the Shuffle and the Nano are available in a number of different colors. The iPod Classic can play songs, video and hold pictures. Finally, there is the iPod Touch. Similar to an iPhone, it can hold songs, video, take and store pictures and video, and download any number of apps for use with it, from things that could help a tween girl with school to games to pass the time when she is bored. It offers a wifi connection as long as there is wifi available where she is, but since it is not a phone it cannot be used to make regular phone calls.
Clothes and Gift Cards
One thing it might be best to avoid is buying a girl this age clothes. This is a time when their personal style is really developing, and it can lead to extreme pickiness in clothing and accessories. Buying something is so hit or miss you can never be sure if it will be a new favorite or a total disaster. Unless you are absolutely certain of what you are buying, opt for a gift card to a department store instead.
Gift cards in general are usually a hit with this age group. Whether it’s to a clothing store, a game retailer, or iTunes, you can be sure that even if you don’t personally know what is on your tween girl’s wish list, she certainly does.
