Recommended Gifts - Early Teens

Invite your teen to step into a world of adventure and strategy with this cooperative board game where they and their friends become Heroes invited to investigate mysterious disappearances within the city. World builders will love the beautiful artwork, map of Gloomhaven, elaborate world, and four books (rules and how to play, plus two books centered on the game’s 25 scenarios!) Work together to save the day, with screen-free fun that fuels imagination, teamwork and strategic thinking!

• 1 - 4 players, ages 14 and up
• 30 - 120 minute playtime

Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise, in this fun Forbidden Island cooperative board game that encourages your child to develop strategic thinking and problem solving skills. Great activity when kids come over to play to get everyone off screens, and you can play an entire game in half an hour.

• 2010 Mensa Favorite Brainy Games Winner
• Best for 2 to 4 players
• Ages 10 and up

Your teen can take big sound wherever they go, with the small but mighty JBL Go 4 - Ultra-Portable, Waterproof and Dustproof Bluetooth Speaker, Big Pro Sound, 4-7 Hour Built-in Battery.

Are your teens begging for screen time or picking sibling fights from being cooped up indoors all day? This family friendly Glow in the Dark Capture the Flag Game includes 25 light up game pieces, can be played indoor/outdoor and day/night. Includes running and laughing with siblings/friends as they capture the enemy's flag. Check off your daily exercise and connection with your teen by joining in the fun!

At parties, on the phone, online - teens love to talk with their closest friends. These conversation starter cards with lively questions will provide thoughtful conversations and lots of laughter for teens, while hanging out, in classrooms, as writing prompts, at parties, or even with family members.

And for parents, this is a treasure trove of questions to ask your teen to create more connection with fun, casual chats.

This conversation card game encourages kids to see themselves from a growth mindset. It's a wonderful way to support healthy self-esteem and strengthen the sibling bond with positive interactions.

This fun game encourages your child to play as a team and strategize. Gear up for a thrilling adventure to recover a legendary flying machine buried deep in the ruins of an ancient desert city. You'll need to coordinate with your teammates and use every available resource if you hope to survive the scorching heat and relentless sandstorm. Find the flying machine and escape before you all become permanent artifacts of the Forbidden Desert. Great for building problem solving and critical thinking skills!

• 2 to 5 players
• Ages 10 and up
• Playing time: 45 minutes

This is a family-fun cooperative board game teens and parents will both enjoy playing together. Welcome to Mysterium Park! Its cotton candies, its circus and its dark secrets... The former director disappeared, but the investigation came to nothing. Since that night, weird things have happened at the fair. Psychics are convinced that a ghost haunts this carnival. When you play, the truth will be revealed! In this cooperative game of teamwork and deduction, players work together to solve the mystery. Best with four players, ages 10 and up.

This swing and ring combo generates tons of indoor fun for kids and lets them be physically active anytime or all the time! 

This 3D model kit is a great project to get your kid off the screen and into learning to build stuff! Actually teaches the use of a wrench and screw driver as well as how to follow instructions. A fun way to challenge your teen and increase their ability to focus as well as fine motor coordination. Designed for ages 14 and up, but can be a great bonding project with kids as young as 8 when you work with them.

Get your preteen or teen out of the house (and off the screen) with a family friendly, connection oriented game of pickle ball!  Gift this set of Pickleball Paddles to your child and take advantage of the exercise you'll both get as well as social connection with your child this year!  

The Music Box hole punch is a lovely gift for tweens and teens that encourages their creativity while they create their own melody.

Most teens don't get enough sleep. (Spoiler: They need 8 to 10 hours!) Sunrise alarm clocks can help anyone wake more gently and in a better mood, and even to re-set their sleep cycle. Even better, they can be set to Sunset mode, which can encourage your teen to put their phone away and start yawning!

• PERSONALIZED WAKE-UP AND WIND-DOWN: Simulated sunset and sunrise, 20 brightness settings, and choice of 5 natural wake-up sounds
• SMART FEATURES: FM radio, tap snooze, bedside lamp, and automatic dimmable display
• MOOD AND ENERGY: Proven to give you an easy and energetic wake-up and improve your mood in the morning
• CLINICALLY PROVEN*: Philips wake-up lights are recommended by physicians and pharmacists for establishing a healthy sleep and wake routine
• MONEY BACK GUARANTEE: 90 Day No Hassle Money Back Guarantee from Philips

Designed to get everyone laughing. Develops teamwork and connection through laughter.  (Pair up competitive siblings to get them working as a team!) Everyone needs to laugh daily, and those of us who tend to be more anxious or highly sensitive need to laugh even more! Fun for age 7 to Teens, and adults will love it as much as the kids do. Great for family game night.

Little pimple stickers help teens keep their hands off their skin so they don’t irritate it more.

• The Original Award-Winning Acne Patch: hydrocolloid sticker that improves the look of pimples overnight without the popping. Just stick it on, get some sleep, and wake up with clearer-looking skin.
• Results in 6-8 Hours: Absorbs pimple gunk thanks to our medical-grade hydrocolloid. 
• Clinically tested, drug-free, and safe for all skin types.
• All-Night Adhesion: Strong enough to stay on through a whole night of tossing, turning, and pillow-squishing. Easy to remove in the AM without redness or irritation.
• Thin sticker with a translucent matte finish keeps your pimple under wraps day or night. You might just forget you’re even wearing it.

The ooze tube is a great calming tool for all ages of kids (and adults too!). 
 

This is a wonderful book that will engage teens in thinking about historical and current actions of resistance and persistence.

If you had stars on your ceiling as a child, you'll know how terrific these are. If you didn't, wait until you lie with your child in her dark room looking at her glowing ceiling! Relaxing as kids fall asleep. Even teenagers love them.

This massager is a great way for your tween and teen to unwind and relieve tension.

Whether your child is recently interested in art, or has been sketching for years, they will enjoy this drawing prompt book. The prompts will spark your child's imagination and ensure that they have a creative and enjoyable time drawing.

This is a fun card game that teaches kids mindfulness strategies to reduce their stress, anger, and worry, and enhance focus and social skills.

This is a fun and safe way for your teen to engage in Escape Room play. Develops critical reasoning and logical deduction skills as players follow the story and solve challenges, unlocking clues together to unravel the mystery and escape. Age 13 and up.

This handy journal is just the ticket for preserving and showing off tickets saved from sporting events, museum openings, rock concerts, and more. The roomy sleeves store tickets of all shapes and sizes, and lined margins provide space to  jot down notes about the events. The acid-free pages will keep memorabilia in tip-top shape for years to come.

This is a great imaginative family game that will have everyone talking and laughing together.  Even if you’ve played story games before, this will be a new experience. Simple enough for the little ones to play yet experienced storytellers will find an exciting challenge. INCLUDES: SPARK App with over 16 hours of story music. Plot Cards to help you steer your story. Objects to include in the story. Twists that take the story in an unexpected direction. Goal cards for competitive play. Players: 2-10 or more. Ages: 6+ 

For the budding engineer in your home, this kit allows them to build a monophonic FM receiver!  Great gift for teaching children about how electronics work and how to repair them!  Super easy to assemble and the perfect way for kids to learn the science of electronics and circuitry, hands-on. Designed for ages 8-10.

A fun and functional gift for gradeschoolers up through early teens, this silly sharpener makes a great stocking stuffer!

Fun Sleepover or Party Game for Teens

• 250 questions to see how well you really know your friends, ranging from probing ones (“Who’s my celebrity crush?”; “What’s my least favorite place I’ve ever traveled to?”) to hypothetical questions (“What’s the first thing I would buy if I won the lottery?”; “Who would I call if I had to get rid of a dead body?”)
• Also includes 6 dry-erase boards, 6 markers and 6 clean-up cloths
• Answer questions in secret using dry-erase boards – reveal to see if answers match to get a point. It’s like the Newlywed Game – but for friends
• For 4+ players and ages 14+

This journal is a fabulous way for your teen to engage in self-reflection, even if they are not interested in typical journalling. Playful, fun, teaches math skills in a nondirect way.

This laundry bag also functions as a punching bag, which is a great way for your teen to use their dirty laundry while getting a work out! Cool decor that you can actually hang.

This journal is a lovely way for moms and daughters to connect. The prompts cover a large variety of topics and there's a lot of free space to encourage creativity and discussion about whatever topics you find important. 

Your teen will love creating their own guitar picks!  Designed by guitar players for guitar players; heavy duty, sturdy construction and a stainless steel blade allows the user to create uniform and smooth guitar picks every time. Arrives in its own gift box.

Preteens and Teens love to use their minds, which are exploding with new capacity for conceptual thinking.  The Rubik cube is a puzzle that teens love to experiment with, and it expands their problem solving abilities, STEM skills, eye-hand coordination. Great fidget toy.  Terrific stocking stuffer!

An Interactive Globe that makes geography fun and engaging, so kids can uncover the world one scratch at a time -- and a fun way to track their travels! 

This is a terrific gift for parents of teens, designed to help parents reconnect with their teenagers.

This book makes reading Shakespeare easy and fun! Serving as an introduction to the language of Shakespeare, this entertaining story appeals to young adults and is a wonderful way to make Shakespeare accessible and interesting. 

This glow in the dark basketball is perfect for long dark winter nights. Play a game of H-O-R-S-E outside after a big family meal for some much-needed fresh air and exercise. You could even use it indoors, just turn out all the lights and pass it back and forth or in a circle for some guaranteed laughs!