Smarty Holiday Gift Guide: Tweens, Teens and Beyond

written by CSP Team November 30, 2017

The 2017 Smarty Holiday Toy Gift Guide is sponsored by our favorite local toy store, Toys & Co in Cotswold. Find everything on your child’s wish list and then some at Toys & Co! And guess what? They will wrap every gift BEAUTIFULLY and oh-so-expertly – so you don’t have to pull an all-nighter on Christmas Eve! Check out Toys & Co’s 2017 100 Best Toys List – you’ll have everyone covered on your list!

This is our BIG week here in Smartyland – our annual holiday toy gift guide. We divvy ’em up by ages and our Smarty bloggers get to work helping Santa figure out who gets what.

We bring you our Gift Guide for Tweens & Teens (these terms are totally interchangeable!), by our Smarty tween & teen team, we brought in the teen experts themselves for this bad boy!

It’s all about technology for the tween in your household…

If your teen is begging for an iPhone upgrade, the holidays is the perfect time to give it to him or her. We say have Santa give you the iPhone X and give the kids your old one, but whatever floats your boat:-)

We LOVE the new iPad Pro with the new iOS operating system, it’s as powerful as any laptop but more modern and mobile.

The Apple Watch is super popular for all ages, tween and up:

Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones – the best in speaker technology:

And wireless speaker:

Or a goPro for your budding youtuber!

How about a new bike from our Smarty experts at the Bike Source in Park Road Shopping Center?

Springfree Trampoline. This gift never gets old, for any age:

ENO Hammock. If your teen is preparing to be a Camp Counselor, you should definitely invest in this necessity. Many tweens have ENO’s on their list just to hang in their backyard, stacked one on top of the other, super fun and great for sleepovers!

Camp Under the Tree!
This is the best grandparents gift EVER. Whether it’s day camp like Camp Thunderbird, dance camp like Jami Masters School of Dance, or overnight camp like Camp Harrison, exotic camp like Moondance Adventures Camp, or even DOLPHIN CAMP at the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys (how cool is this?!), they will all be a hit!

For the girls:

The Shoe Box NYC in SouthPark Mall is the HOTTEST new place for kicks, particularly sneakers, check these fab ones out by P448 (make sure you sign up for the newsletter, there are sales often, like 60/70% off sales):

Perfume: Fresh & Library of Flowers are perfect options for teen girls with a variety of scents:

Mermaid Pillow – our teens have been talking about this pillow since the first spotting at a kiosk in SouthPark:

Adidas Hoodie – nothing screams cool like Adidas:

Wallet: The girls who are driving will love a new wallet to keep their licenses or permits in! Kate Spade and Tory Burch wallets are very popular, stylish, and will hold up well, but other cute wallets or wristlets can be found at half the price if you’re willing to look!

Jewelry: This is a classic. Kendra Scott pieces are top of a teen girl’s list.

Workout Clothes: Girls of all ages will love anything lululemon! It’s comfy, stylish, and of course great for working out!

Room: For some reason, many tween/teen girls always want to change something about their room. Help her decorate her room with a makeover that will last! If this is done right, the addition/removal of a few items can give a room a whole new look without being too expensive. Anthropologie, PB Teen & Homegoods are all great places to start!

Candles: Girls LOVE a good candle – Volcano candles are the fave on the teen circuit due to the fabulous vase.

Gift Cards to her fave boutiques and restaurants:

The Shoe Box (see above!), Sephora, Boem, KKBloom, Vestique, Bakersfield Tacos, Paco’s Tacos, Bricktop’s, Babablu, Brixx, Jolly Rolls, Rico’s Acai, Tupelo Honey, Crispy Crepe, Pike’s Soda Shoppe and more!

Fitness: A membership at the Y, her favorite yoga, barre or cycle studio – our faves are Pure Barre, Carolina Barre & Core, Cycle Bar, Y2 Yoga. Or find one close to your house! Make sure you ask for the student rate!

Concert tickets – find out when the next rapper is hitting the QC, every teen from every high school will want to be in attendance!

For the boys:

Teen boys are a little trickier, boys tend to be lower maintenance and less vocal about gifting!

Sports: If he is into sports (as many teen and tween boys are), you can’t go wrong with sports equipment. A jersey or any merchandise from their favorite player or team will be sure to put a smile on their face! If he is an athlete, ask him if he needs any new equipment (odds are he will, teenage boys tend to be rough, regardless of the sport). Any boy would also love tickets to a professional sports game to see their favorite team (we have the Panthers, the Hornets, the Checkers, the Knights, the Hounds and Independence all right here in the QC!).

Gaming: The Nintendo Switch is the gaming system of this holiday season. This is fun for the whole fam, but it’s usually the boys who hole up in the bonus room for hours on end. Games for the system are a must if you purchase one.

On-Demand TV: Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBOGo are all great subscriptions for teen boys on your list. Stranger Things Season 2 is out and I’m sure they’ve already binged.

Gym: Many teenage boys enjoy going to the gym, and if yours fits that description, a youth gym membership can be a great investment for him and one that he will love!

Clothes: This is what we usually end up buying for him when we can’t think of anything else, but clothes can be a great gift! A Vineyard Vines pullover or Patagonia jacket will look great on any guy! Just make sure it is something that he would like to wear instead of something you would like him to wear!

REI: If he’s the outdoorsy type, a trip to REI will do you wonders. Camping, fishing, or hunting equipment can make a great present! You could also plan a trip to take him on where he can try out his new gear!