Holiday Gift Guide for Tweens and Teens 2009 » Gifts for Tweens

Blurt! Board Game

Elizabeth — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:13:36 +0000

Blurt! would make a great gift for a tween or to give as a family gift! In this fast-paced game of word recall, players take turns rolling a die and reading the definition to a word from a card (for example, what word means “a partially dried grape?”) All players blurt out their word guesses, the first player to blurt out the correct answer moves ahead on the board. The first player to circle the game board wins! Blurt is a great vocabulary builder for kids, a hilarious addition to adult parties, and a must for family game night. Comes with 300 cards containing 1800 clues, jumbo Blurt game board, 6 game pieces, die, and guide. Price (on Amazon.com):$20.95

FaceChipz-Safe Social Networking for Tweens

Elizabeth — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:48:06 +0000

FaceChipz were created by George Zaloom, a father of four girls who wanted to help them find a safe way to interact with friends online. They were too old for sites like Club Penguin or Webkinz, but not old enough for MySpace or Facebook. So, they put their heads together and came up with FaceChipz! FaceChipz are sold in packs of five for $4.99, making them a great stocking stuffer or gift for kids to give their friends for Christmas!

The tokens are meant to be physically exchanged between friends. The code on the back of the chip (pictured here) is entered both on the giver’s page and the receiver’s page. Once this is done, FaceChipz.com connects the two friends and they can communicate together, share photos and much more. Once the code is used by two friends the code becomes invalid so if it is lost or passed on it cannot be entered at FaceChipz.com. Also, kids are only allowed to connect online with friends whom they have exchanged chipz with. They cannot see or connect with any “fringe” friends like Facebook or MySpace might allow. It’s all about safety but with the fun features of an adult social networking site! Price: $4.99 at Toys “R” Us.

Crocodile Tears: An Alex Rider Adventure

Elizabeth — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:12:51 +0000

Crocodile Tears: An Alex Rider Novel (#8) feels ripped from the headlines, with a charity broker con artist raising millions of dollars in donations, only to invest them in a form of genetically modified wheat that has the power to release an airborne strain of virus so powerful, it can knock out an entire country in one windy day – a catastrophe so far-reaching that it would raise millions of dollars more in charitable donations, all of which would be embezzled by one man. The antidote? Alex Rider, of course, who survives gunfire, explosions, and hand-to-combat with mercenaries – just another day in the life of an average teen super-spy kid.

The Alex Rider Adventures by Anthony Horowitz have already spent over a year on the New York Times best seller list and sold 12 million copies in English alone, with sales of over 5 million in the US. This past July, Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times included the Alex Rider Adventures on his “The Best Kids’ Books Ever” list. List price is $17.99, but get it through this Amazon link for only $9.71 plus shipping!

Myzos Collector Bracelets

Elizabeth — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:15:37 +0000

Two years ago Savanna Sterling (then went to her mother with an idea for a bracelet that she had created in her bedroom. Realizing her daughter was onto something, mother Caryn told her daughter to go back to being a kid but took on the work of proving to her daughter that with hard work and determination, you can make anything happen. Since then Caryn has successfully created a line of MYZOS (mymyzos.com), sold in the trendiest boutiques and worn/traded by Hollywood’s most famous kids, tweens and teens. On August 22nd, Caryn celebrated the launch of MYZOS featuring our favorite Disney characters from Disney Fairies, High School Musical 3, Hannah Montana and Muppets. The theme: Celebrating the creativity of children and determination of their moms.

The event, hosted by celebrity mom Alison Sweeney (The Biggest Losers) and BFFs Noah Cyrus (Hannah Montana) and Emily Grace Reaves (Hannah Montana: The Movie), brought out celebrities including Lionel Richie (with his daughter Sophia), Twilight star Boo Boo Stewart (with sister Fivel), Denise Richards (with her 2 girls), Brittany Curran, Kathryn Newton (Gary Unmarried), Ryan Newman, Daniel Samonas and many more. Their favorite MYZOS varied from Animal to Tinkerbell to Kermit. Myzos Bracelets are $12.00 on MyMyzos.com.

Discover Electronics Kit by Sparkle Labs

Elizabeth — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:08:31 +0000

With 130 real parts like switches, buttons, diodes, capacitors, transistors and regulators and bread board, the Discover Electronics Kit by Sparkle Labs is a great gift for tweens, teens, even adults. Comes with a step-by-step illustrated manual easily guides you through challenging projects with ease. After mastering the basics of real-world circuits with our sample projects, you can rearrange the parts to create your own gadgets again and again. $49.99 from Sparkle Labs.

Artistic Sensations Room Decor

Elizabeth — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:43:29 +0000

For the tween or teen who would love new bedding, furniture, or room art for Christmas, Artistic Sensations offers unique, one-stop shopping for creating your tween’s dream room. Founded by Kim Gellman, stay-at-home Mom of two, Artistic Sensations was born to fulfill the needs of all those parents who desire unique, customized, high quality furniture, bedding, accessories, and more. Check out the Gifts Under $50.00 page for items like personalized laptop pillows, bookends, and pretty picture frames. If you have a little more to spend, I love these Mitt Chairs that are shaped and covered to look like knit gloves, priced on sale at $169.99. You’re sure to find something your tween (or teen!) will love.

Crazerasers Collectible Puzzle Erasers

Elizabeth — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:09:47 +0000

Two words? VERY COOL. Crazerasers are Collectible Puzzle erasers sold by Toys4Minds.com, sold in sets as well as individually. Each puzzle looks like a familiar object, then separates into pieces, made from a soft foam. Food is a popular theme, with erasers shaped like ice cream treats, hamburgers, breakfast foods, and more. There are also sets shaped like furniture, tools, even toothbrushes! Each set is a very affordable $1.24. Look for Crazerasers at toy stores and some bookstores. WARNING!!! These puzzles have VERY SMALL PIECES!!! Please use caution if you have a baby in the house and give a Crazeraser puzzle to an older child.

Kooky Klickers Big Hit With Tweens And Teens

Elizabeth — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:32:58 +0000

Kooky Klickers are a novelty pen with a face and “hair”, and kids of all ages love to collect them! Each Klicker is part of a group of four called a “Krew”, and can be purchased individually or in a set with a special stand for display. Kooky Klickers retail for $3.49 each or for $14.99 for a set. Some of the sets I think tweens and teens would love are the Spongebob set shown here, the Star Wars set, Major League Baseball or National Hockey League set, and for the holidays, any of the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Kookys. The Kooky Store also carries lanyards, single and multi-pen carrying cases, and lots more. I recommend these as stocking stuffers or gifts for any age!

Welcome to the Holiday Gift Guide for Tweens and Teens!

Elizabeth — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:51:08 +0000

email me: elizabethreviews@gmail.com

Welcome to the MomReviews Holiday Gift Guide for Tweens and Teens! On November 2nd, I’ll be publishing a list of links to help guide your shopping whether online or in stores. If you’ve got someone age 10 and up on your gift list, you’ll love the suggestions I’ll have for you! Each product listed here has been evaluated by me, my son Nathan (the tween) and my son Ryan (the teen). If they say it’s something they would want for Christmas, it makes it onto this site!

There are lots of blogs doing a Gift Guide, but mine is unique because it will focus just on gifts for tweens and teens! What is a “tween”? It’s a term used to describe someone who is in between being a child and a teen, generally 10 to 12 years old.

I got the idea while talking to my oldest son who just turned 13, about what he might want for Christmas. All he could think of was video games and music downloads. My middle child is my son who will turn 11 on December 21st, and he has lost interest in most toys (with the exception of Legos). So, I thought, what the heck DO tweens and teens want for Christmas? What gifts are out there that I don’t know about?

So the idea was hatched, make this year’s Holiday Gift Guide an exclusive Tweens and Teens issue. I put out a call to PR firms and site owners to email me links to their products, and the replies are pouring in! Please submit yours to me at elizabethreviews@gmail.com. There is NO CHARGE to list your URL, if you would like an individual review of your product, please email me about sending me a product to review.

The first list of links will be published November 2nd and another list of links will be posted December 7th. In addition, products will be reviewed in individual posts. This site will be updated January 4th, 2010. I hope this Gift Guide helps you find some terrific holiday gifts!