Help! Christmas gift for 13 year-old

AbbysMom

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Help! I need to buy a Christmas gift for a 13 year-old boy and girl. I really don't know them well at all, so don't know interests, sizes, etc. I do not want to give gift cards as that is what I gave for their birthdays and prefer to give an actual gift for Christmas.

Any ideas?
 

xocats

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On no...
13 is such an in between age.
They are not really adults nor are they young kids.

What are their interests other than the latest electronics?
In our area we have a teacher's store that has fascinating goodies for all ages.
I found this online as an example....
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/gifts-for-ages-11-13/c/86/

Good luck.... :dizzy: :lol3:
 

catlover19

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I am having the same problem. I have 12 year olds to buy for. 3 boys and I have no idea what to get them. I'm probably just going to get 2 of them gamestop gift cards but the other one isn't into video games so I have no idea.
 

sk_pacer

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My solution for that age always was a cheap t-shirt, carefully wrapped around cardboard with an envelope with $20.00 in it attached to the cardboard, then the whole package wrapped nicely. As those kids got older, the gifts went from t-shirts to silly things but still with the money carefully poked through a discrete hole cut in the packaging - they got light-up rulers, silly puzzle games, anything not age appropriate, all put into boxes (recycled) with tons of paper stuffed in, and sometimes polished stones from the dollar store to make the package heavier and noisy and still the nice wrapping complete with handmade bows. Yep, I am mean!!!ROFL
 

Draco

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I had no idea what to get a 9 year old boy and his 12 yearold sister. I went to AC Moores and Michael's craft stores. Used the weekly 40 or 50% coupon and got the boy a gummy bug kit, and the girl a spa kit. Something crafty and will keep them busy.. I'd check out the craft stores
 

MoochNNoodles

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Hmm... Maybe something from a novelty type shop?  Clean obviously; but something funny?  One year I found this little magnetic, bendable figure for my step-brother.  It was sort of like a stick figure with hands and feet and you could put it in all kinds of places or positions. 

I give you credit for trying.  My nephew is 14 now and I just give him money or gift cards!
 

swampwitch

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Teens want iTunes cards; we've been giving these to our 13-year-old daughter and her friends for a couple of years and they are always well received. My niece in Texas is marrying a man who has a 15-year-old son and I advised my nephews to give him an iTunes card for his birthday in August - was a big hit.

If the kids don't have mp3 players (is that possible?) any Cranium board game for their age group would also be a good bet. They are really, really fun and teens will play them. Movie theatre tickets are good, too, add in as many as you can afford for their friends. Tickets to amusement parks or some kind of "wild play" (think zip lines or rock climbing) are good, too, and remember they want to bring their friends along! 

Unless you know about something specific, most teens already have all the video games, movies, books, CDs, and clothes that they want, so stay away from those. Think more "doing" stuff rather than "having" stuff. Good luck!
 
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swampwitch

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p.s. If you absolutely want to give a gift that is an object that can be boxed and wrapped, look online at The National Geographic store or the Discovery store. They have some very cool gadgets and other amazing things from around the world. But if you want the kids to grab your gift first thing on Christmas and head off to download music and games, go for the iTunes card. Seriously we've given out a couple of dozen of them for gifts so far and they ALWAYS make the teen recipient happy.
 
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AbbysMom

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Thank you all for the ideas! :)
 
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