a few of us are buying gifts for a family. I’m out of practice with this age group! Any great ideas? There are several kids in the family, so games or things that can be played together would be great. Boys and girls
What about a big puzzle? Games like the game of Life, or Clue, or Monopoly.
My kids like crafts kits, and science kits.
Our entire family from kids around this age to the oldest love the electronic Catch Phrase games. You can get a junior game or the regular. If the kids are decently bright, they can do the adult version. But the junior version is still fun for everyone.
Ticket to Ride is a big hit with my great-nephews in that age range. And the rest of the family.
jenga
I was going to suggest Ticket to Ride also. And my guys who are 19 and 21 also like it. Balderdash was a fun game too. Or a poker set?
I often recommend King of Tokyo for kids of this age (and sometimes for adults too!). It’s a game where you roll specialized dice Yahtzee style in order fight the other players, gain control of Tokyo, and get energy to get special powers. It’s very easy to learn, fun to play, and dice rolling games are always a big hit with kids I know. It has a light-hearted monster theme that is fun for kids, and it’s a game that the whole family (including parents) could play and enjoy. I don’t know how big the family is, but it plays 2-6. They sell it on Amazon (and other online retailers), but I’ve also seen it for sale at places like Target and Barnes and Noble.
The color me calm coloring books. (harry potter version)
Last year I bought a set of R L!StinemGoosebump books for a 10 year old boy.mhis dad says he and the younger boy enjoy reading them. This year, I got them both Lego sets for the new Star Wars movie, which they are into.
This year, I was asked to,promote the cooking skills of a few kids in this age range. I bought baskets and/or plastic clear containers. I bought cookie cutters, rolling pins, food dye, measuring cups and spoons, big measuring cup, spatulas, wood spoons, dish towels, pizza cutter, aprons, sprinkles, etc. I went over my budget, but if I was buying for one child, I would have added an easy cookbook, potholder, and more kitchen tools. I also knew the favorite colors of each child, so could order aprons in that color, and get the container in the color, also,spatulas and sprinkles.
For boys, anything Lego.
One of my boys loved Legos and couldn’t get enough of them. The other is an outside kid and was not at all interested in Legos. Give him a basketball or soccer ball and he was happy. One of my girls also enjoyed Legos.
My kids liked knex better than Legos. I think I have thousands of them, still.
Bananagrams is a fun, versatile game. If you buy the London Olympic version on Amazon.com, it’s only $7.99 and has all the regular tikes plus 5 pink “wild” tiles. The standard set is $11.99-14.99, depending on where you buy it.
The rubber band bracelet kit was popular with my male and female nieces and nephew around that age. Have given females of that age jewelry–bracelets, necklaces.
Dominoes is fun and suitable for that age and younger. Chess might be a hit or miss, depending on the kid. S loved magic and I bought him some magic kits and books around that age.
Origami, juggling, paper airplanes were other things our kids tried in that age range. Our kids loved LOTS of wooden blocks, train sets, Jenga, and other wooden things. They weren’t as into calligraphy or art sets they were gifted.