Teenagers – even our own – are not the easiest people to please at the best of times. Of course, this Christmas you can play it super safe and purchase exactly what they’ve put on their wish list – but where’s the fun in that! Getting a spontaneous and unexpected gift (that you actually like) can often be the most memorable part of the whole Christmas. I remember getting a Scalextric off my brother when I was a young teenager – such a non-girly present, I loved it! So this guide has a few ‘safe’ options, some stocking fillers, and one or two high-end gifts that we hope will make you the favourite relative this Cool Yule!
Gift 1: Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Reindeer Selfie Grand Slab
Chocolate and Selfies … how very teenager! What’s not to love about this?! Amazingly tasty Hotel Chocolat milk and caramel chocolate. This beauty weighs 500g too! I’m hoping someone will buy me one!
RRP: £16.00
Link to purchase: HotelChocolatReindeerSelfieGrandSlab
Gift 2: Sheaffer R2-D2 Rollerball Pen
Star Wars is pretty cool, yes? I ask only because I’m not really into it, but every child around me seems to be. This is a high quality functional stocking filler from Sheaffer. The rollerball gives a really smooth writing motion.
RRP: £16.00
Link to purchase: SheafferR2D2RollerballPen
Gift 3: ‘My Golden Ticket’ Personalised book by Wonderbly
This is another fantastic personalised book from Wonderbly. You have the opportunity to write a message on the first page, which is always a nice touch. This is the perfect book for children aged 5-12 (though teenagers too, I think!) It’s a story based around Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory – your child takes a tour through the factory not unlike the one undertaken by Charlie Bucket. The book is very colourful. It’s very ‘busy’ – the design and style of every page differs from the previous one, hence why I believe it will appeal to a teenager. It’s fun, and if you include a bar of chocolate in with the package, what’s not to love?
RRP: £19.99
Link to purchase: MyGoldenTicketWonderbly
Gift 4: Venom 2017 Pro Mini BMX from skates.co.uk
So they’ve already got a cycle and a stunt scooter. Other outdoor ‘ride on’ toys are for “babies and kids”, so does that mean there’s nothing left to treat the teenager in your family? Nah, there’s still a mini BMX. It’s a shrunken version of the real thing – and they can perform some really mean tricks. This Venom branded mini BMX has been the chosen cycle for pro riders from RedBull and Nitro Circus. The 2017 model is the fifth generation of Venom mini BMX and has been designed to cater for the more serious rider who wants a mini BMX with all of the premium features you would expect from a full size Pro BMX. Toby has been lucky enough to receive one of these fabulous bikes to try out – come back to see how he gets on when we blog about it!
RRP: £159.99
Link to purchase: Venom2017ProMiniBMX
Gift 5: Bright Nights Dissolving Whitening Films by White Glo
Ok, now the box does say ‘for adult use only’ but my daughter uses them every now and again. Clean white teeth are a ‘must’ with the teens I know. They wear ripped vagabond ‘trendy’ clothes, but their hair and teeth need to be pristine! These strips are a great, useful, stocking filler. In each pack are 6 whitening films – you simply place over your teeth (usually just your upper set), and they dissolve with no mess. You can achieve one shade whiter using them.
RRP: £4.99
Link to purchase: BrightNightsDissolvingWhiteningFilms
Gift 6: Sharpie Limited Edition Set from Ryman
28 differently coloured Sharpie permanent markers … what teenager won’t like a set like that! Heck, forget the teen – I would LOVE one! You can never have too many marker pens – and none come close to Sharpies in terms of performance. Great gift. You can’t go wrong.
RRP: £19.99 (currently £9.99 in Ryman)
Link to purchase: SharpieLimitedEditionRyman
Gift 7: Fidget Toys from Zing
I’ve grouped these toys together, but they are individually very different. These make great stocking fillers – many of them light up too. Many skills can be learned playing with these and form part of Zing’s #EveryDayPlay series. They range from a tumbling stick, thumb chucks, fidget spinner, flip ‘n’ catch, and Klixx – the original fidget widget. My children are obsessed with all of these!
RRP: From £8.99
Link to purchase: ZingFidgetToys
Gift 8: The Year of the Geek book by James Clarke
The Year of the Geek – 365 Adventures from the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Universe … A nerd’s dream! This book is full of interesting facts. Did you know that the number of ways six LEGO bricks measuring 2 x 4 can be fixed together is 915,103,765. And did you know that today, 30 November, is film director Ridley Scott’s birthday? He was born in 1937. A great book for a fact-hungry teenager.
RRP: £18.00
Link to purchase: TheYearOfTheGeek
Gift 9: Beat The Flush Game by MegaBleu
Beat The Flush: The Potty Bug-Flipping Game! How can a teenager not want to play this ‘sic’ game?! Yes, it’s another easy, silly, game – but they are the best ones! And toilet humour is SO trendy among this age group … Up to four players can play at any one time. You wear a headband that has a magnetic dangly bit hanging from it. The object of the game is to wave you head left and right in an attempt to catch as many same-coloured bugs as you can. When you catch one, you have to place it on the flipper and then try to flip it into the loo. But the loo is rotating, and it’s spurting water at you.
The winner is the one with the most bugs in the loo at the end. Everyone stands an equal chance of winning, which is nice – and will definitely give a few laughs this Christmas 🙂
RRP: £24.99
Link to purchase: BeatTheFlush
Gift 10: Instant Magician Set from abracademy.com
This kit is designed for children aged 8+. It’s a magic kit with a difference. This kit will teach you three amazing tricks. You are invited to view two videos for each trick – one that shows you how it’s done, and another that gives hints and tips regarding your performance to make it look the most impressive. You’ll have mouth-opening tricks perfected within 1 hour. In addition to learning the tricks, you will learn techniques. How to tell a story; Learn how to create characters, especially villains; How to grab people’s attention (and keep it). The kit contains all the gear you need to learn and perform the tricks. Let them Wow the relatives this Christmas!
RRP: £15.00
Link to purchase: AbracademyInstantMagician
What do you think about our picks? Which one would you like, if you were a teenager?
A couple of the items above have been gifted to PackThePJs in exchange for our opinion (we only include things we really like though!)
End note: Would you like your products included in our Gift Guides? Please add us to your mailing list tracey@packthepjs.com and huw@packthepjs.com x
