My Holiday Gifting Strategy for Tweens Revealed!
I’ve been putting the Mommy Shorts Holiday Gift Guide together for the last eight years and over that time, I’ve learned a thing or two about giving gifts to kids, particularly kids past the age of ten. What I’ve realized is that the best gifts for tweens are not always the hottest or biggest toys (unless you are getting them a PS5 or a hoverboard), they are the ones that tell your child that you are paying attention and that you understand who they are.
This is hard to do with one gift, but on the holidays, when you have multiple opportunities (like with the eight nights of Hanukkah), you can give several gifts that tell a broader story— the hoodie your kid has been coveting from Brandy Melville, stickers that represent your kids favorite show, their own set of the good markers that they’ve been stealing from their older sibling, the latest graphic novel from your kid’s favorite author, etc.
When I look for presents, I start with the things I know my kids love. For Mazzy, that’s Squishmallows, Stranger Things, drawing, Hello Kitty, New Girl, miniature modeling kits, and Frankie. So far, I’ve gotten Mazzy a Squishmallow Collector’s Guide, a Funko Pop of Steve in his Scoops Ahoy uniform, Hello Kitty jibbitz for her Crocs, a crafting kit to make miniature felted dogs and a Miss Day’s JAMboree t-shirt which is a reference from the first episode of New Girl.
None of these gifts are expensive, and as an added bonus, none of them are particularly large, so I can stick them all in my suitcase and give them to her when we celebrate Hanukkah in New Zealand. Have I mentioned that that’s where we will be for the holidays this year? They were also easily found just by cross referencing the thing Mazzy loves with the word “merch” or “toys” or “stickers” or simply googling “gifts for ______ fans.” Or sometimes I’ll combine two things she loves to create the perfect gift, like “drawing” and “dogs” or “Hello Kitty” and “Animal Crossing.”
For the rest of my gift guide, I just come up with hypothetical obsessions for kids (fairies, space, comic books, etc.) and then search from there. Obviously, I haven’t tested every toy I select for the guide. I just cross reference, look through the options to find the ones that are photographed in the most visually appealing way (which usually means that toy has a better chance of being higher quality) and then as the final test, check to make sure it’s got 4-5 star reviews. That’s it. My toy selection strategy revealed!
So far, it’s worked out pretty well and my kids are always super happy with their gifts. Also on the guide, you’ll find the hottest toys of the year, last year’s best sellers, tons of categories for grown-ups, and a new category for toys you can play with Christmas morning. This is important! Even if your tweens and teens tell you they are too old for toys, buy some things they can play with after all their presents are opened. I made that mistake one year and will never let that happen again.
Last year, the big Christmas Day hit was Klask.
FYI, I keep my holiday gift guide on Mommy Shorts because Substack has a limit of 10 graphics per post and the gift guide has 67 categories! If you are still on the fence about checking it out, maybe these people can push you over the edge:
Alright, I’m done with the hard sell. Oh wait, I got one more…
If you want to get something a little different this year and support a little toy shop I know in the East Village, I’ve got one more suggestion. We are selling a limited edition March Hare Holiday Box! The box allows you to choose between 5 main items (one of them is a mini version of our signature rainbow hot air balloon) and then we will also include 5 smaller classic toy surprises with a note from the March Hare Fairy (who personally selected each item, obviously).
I’m also throwing in a holiday card from our family to thank you for your support of our latest venture and for following us over the years! Believe me when I say, my relationship with you all brings me so much joy on the daily, so I’d be honored to be a small part of your holiday festivities!
I’ve got a two part question for the comments:
1) What’s the best gift you have ever received? 2) What’s the best gift you have ever given? Doesn’t have to be big! Just much appreciated.
My favorite gift I've ever given:
The year I turned 16 I finally could drive and I had (a little) money, so I got to give my parents gifts for the first time. In early November, I drove to the mall and bought one of the multi-pronged head scratchers (you can see it in the Minimalist Engineer category on the guide, if you need a visual) for my mom. She had mentioned once, back in April-ish of that year that she loved that sort of thing, and we had never talked about it again.
When I walked back into the house, I had an opaque bag of an indeterminate size in my hand, with absolutely no logo on it (I went to Brookstone). I told my mom that I was so excited, because I had the perfect gift for her, and that I was going to go upstairs and wrap it. She's sitting at the kitchen table, and looks up, and goes "Ooooh, did you get me one of those head scratchers?" I just gape at her and pull the unwrapped head scratcher out of the bag as she absolutely loses it and we both laugh so hard we cry. She said it completely as a joke, had no idea that it was in the bag, and had absolutely no expectation that that is what it would be...but clearly it was what she wanted most!
It still lives on top of her dresser, 10 years later & I've never been able to top the $15 head scratcher. Also, hi Mom! I know you read the comments here!
The best gift I ever received was a photo album with family pictures. It’s some thing that you can look at over and over again and never gets old. It brings smiles and tears of joy.