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I think tweens are the hardest age for buying gifts. Do you? Here you’ll find cool gifts for 11-year old girls including books, games, technology, and art kits. I hope this helps you with your holiday shopping!
Also check out:
Best Books for 11-Year Olds
2022 Toy and Book Gift Guide for Kids
Gifts for 11 Year Old Girls
Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs
ADVENTURE
The CIA asks a super genius 12-year-old girl named Charlie to help find Einstein’s missing and dangerous “Pandora” theory. You will fall in love with Charlie—she’s a creative thinker and a survivor who despite all her knowledge still can act like a child yet also outwit bad guys in amazing ways. Terrorists, Moussed, cross-world travel, and mathematical clues combine with excellent writing to make the perfect action-adventure spy story starring a female protagonist you’ll love!
Apple AirPods
These will be a hit with any tween! If your 11-year-old girl is like mine, they LOVE listening to music 24/7.
Cat Lamp
My daughter loves this cat lamp so much that she brought it to college with her and still displays it proudly even at age 20.
Hoverboard
This popular hoverboard self-balances. Step on it to ride in style! Includes a built-in speaker and a long-lasting battery.
Create This Book
Color, imagine, write, and create in this book of prompts and activities.
5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior by Mark Siegel, Alexis Siegel, Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, and Boya Sun
SCI-FI (series)
Gorgeous artwork sets the tone for an otherworldly story. The five worlds are falling into chaos. When one world attacks another, Oona Lee, a girl who is a sand dancer, rescues two boys and the three determine to lit the unlit Beacons and save the worlds. But, they face a dark force that comes with a devastating betrayal. See the artwork from 5 Worlds on their Tumblr page here.
Boolean Box
This amazing build-it-yourself computer kit will teach kids how to create games and animations, teach them engineering concepts, and help them learn new coding using Scratch and Python! This box, created with children who know very little about coding in mind, is the perfect gift for any child looking to learn STEM and have a lot of fun simultaneously!
Now you can hold a Nintendo Switch in your hands enjoy even more on-the-go games and fun. I have to admit, this gift got us through some tough quarantine times — and I’m so glad I got it for both my kids.
Abandon All Artichokes
From our friends at Gamewright, this new veggie power game’s goal is to ditch all the artichoke cards (to the compost) in favor of other vegetables.
Alexa Dot
The Alexa Dot was our successful compromise with our daughter who still wanted to listen to her music in her room but wasn’t allowed to have screen time in her bedroom. Now it’s become a favorite way to play music for both our girls. It’s voice-controlled and you can use it as an alarm, speaker, timer, and more.
Bouncing Planets
Make five colorful, rubbery balls resembling planets using the included spherical mold and polymer granules.
Scientific Explorer Crime Catchers Science Kit
Solve fun mysteries using science experiments that have kids thinking like a real scientist would!
Wireless Headphones
These aren’t just highly-rated, they’re really a good price, too! We also love that they have good sound, LED lights, and volume control.
Words Over Easy
A family game with letter eggs for making words. The object of the game is to write as many words as you can. But here’s the twist. Put the eggs in the sorter. You must only use ALL the letters in the green section to write words — and none of the letters in the red section. Fun!
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
On her 12th birthday, Zoe, a girl who loves to bake, discovers a letter from her incarcerated biological father, Marcus. She decides to write him back, even daring to ask him about the murder he’s in jail for — did he really do it? Marcus writes to Zoe that he’s innocent and he can prove it which sets Zoe on a quest to find out the truth for herself, even if her mom and dad forbid it. She enlists the help of her Grandma and her best friend, Trevor. You won’t be able to put down this winsome story with a heroine you can’t help but adore; a story that illuminates social justice with themes of family, friendship, and love.
Easy-To-Do Crochet Kit
This great beginner’s gift teaches any child the basics of crocheting and allows them to create awesome things like handbags, placemats, belts, etc.!
Crayola Light Up Tracing Pad
This pad comes with over 100 images that kids can trace by putting their blank sheets over the awesome light-up pad and drawing away!
Starfish by Lisa Fipps
Heartbreaking and inspiring, this poignant story in verse shows a girl who learns, after years of fat-shaming and bullying, to define herself not based on what others say but on who she really is.
Christmas Light Charger
If you’re going to charge a device, why not make it cool?
A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
An absolutely wonderful, heartwarming historical fiction story with close-knit siblings who stick together and eventually find their forever home. Evacuated from London during WWII these siblings need to find a new home. Unfortunately, their placements are horrid. It’s only the library and the kind librarian who help them survive the bullying and hunger. Unfortunately, the librarian is deemed “unsuitable” to be their foster mother since her missing husband is German. When things go from bad to worse in their latest home, can the children fight for a home with the librarian no matter what the town thinks?
Color Your Own Water Bottle
Get creative coloring and decorating this water bottle! This is a great activity that keeps kids hydrated and imaginative!
NYX Butter Lip Gloss Creme Brulee
Squishmallows (Cat)
Trust me when I say Squishmallows are THE SOFTEST, CUDDLIEST plush toys we’ve ever owned. And we own like a million. My kids LOVE these and want all of them. 🙂 I’m highly, highly, highly recommending these amazing toys. There are different animals, too — a llama, a frog, a unicorn, a cow,… My girls love these!
13 Dead End Drive
If you like CLUE, you’ll love 13 Dead End Drive. Channel your inner murderous tendencies, knock off the other players, and inherit good old Aunt Agatha’s fortune.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Wonderfully crafted and imagined, this 2017 Newbery winner is a fairy tale of sorts about a good witch who rescues one of the town’s many abandoned (sacrificed) babies instead of giving her to another town to adopt and love. She’s a special baby named Luna who accidentally becomes infused with moon magic. It’s also the story of the baby’s magical, bereaved mother, a wicked witch who feeds off sorrow, a woodcarver who wants justice, and most of all, an amazing girl named Luna.
Brain Waves: The Astute Goose
Put your thinking caps on for this unique award-winning memory game which asks players to recall what the burglary suspect was wearing, the color, and the animal he is holding. An added bonus to the thinking fun is that it can be for 1 to 5 players!
Create Your Own Bead Pets
Kids will love making all sorts of beaded animals with this awesome set that comes with cool accessories, including key rings and lanyard clips!
Klutz Sew Your Own Unicorn Cake Pillow
Cuteness alert! Learn to sew a soft decorative pillow using techniques like whip stitching, basting, and gathering. With plush faux fur, metallic gold lame, iridescent pom-poms, and pre-cut felt pieces, you’ll have tons of options to decorate your cake. Add a rainbow mane, a flower crown, rock Star fringe, wings or adorable Meringue dollops.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
Fantastic fantasy world-building, excellent writing, a strong female heroine of color, and a surprise plot twist ending are just a few of the reasons you’ll love this book. Amari is an exciting action-packed, suspenseful story about Amari whose beloved older brother has vanished. But, she gets a virtual message from him revealing that she’s a magician like him and at his bequest, gets to attend a secret school. There, she discovers she’s actually a dark magic magician (which is outlawed) but she’s determined to prove she isn’t evil, stay in the school, and find her brother.
Fashion Angels Mini Clay Tiny Food Kit
Do you have a crafter who loves making small things? (I do!) With this kit, you’ll get the air-dry clay and directions to make pancakes, cake, candy, donuts, and cupcakes.
Mystic Market
Hone your strategy and math skills and learn basic economics, all in a fun card game for 2 to 4 players. You’ll buy and sell magical potion-making ingredients to make sets then make the potions and trade them to earn points! Plus, aren’t the potion vials fantastic?
Sew Mini Gardens
Sew your own garden plants — using the book of colorful, step-by-step instructions and the provided materials like felt and stuffing. Darling.
Framed! A T.O.A.S.T. Mystery by James Ponti
Captivating from the first page, 12- year old Florian Bates uses his brilliant, observing brain to implement T.O.A.S.T. (the Theory of All Small Things) to notice things that others have missed. Including the FBI when there’s an art heist at the museum his mother works at. The FBI hires him to help unravel a mysterious art heist which he does with the help of his best friend, Margaret. Fast-paced and interesting.
Word-A-Round
We laugh so much during this game as we totally butcher words trying to figure them out. In fact, my daughter has started writing down the funny words we invent on accident.) To win a card, you correctly read the word around one of the colored circles. The player with the most cards wins.
Twin It!
Think fast and spot identical pairs. Grab the match. But don’t get tricked by similar patterns– because they can get stolen if a third match appears.
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson, illustrated by Chloe Bristol
MYSTERY
Elizabeth, an orphan, is unexpectedly sent to a large, stately hotel with a kind, grandfatherly proprietor for Christmas vacation. There, she discovers a magical book, a sinister couple, a family mystery, and a new friend who loves puzzles as much as she does. The writing is mesmerizing, the mystery fascinating, and the characters, enchanting. This is a delightful, atmospheric mystery series.
One by Wacom Digital Drawing Tablet
The original Wacom tablets cost $500+ so this is a more affordable option at $60 for kids who want to get started with digital art. Plug into your computer and start drawing! My daughter even figured out all the technical stuff on her own becasue this tablet motivated her so much.
Super Sphere STEM Experiment Kit
Not only will you build a robotic sphere, but you’ll also get directions for six more robot models. Program the robot to do different things and use a remote control to make your models move.
Texting Gloves Tween Girls
LEGO City Express Passenger Train
My kids can’t wait to get their hands on this remote control passenger train set with motorized engine, 2 cars, platform, signals and configurable circular track with this train set and tracks. Includes 4 mini-figures on their journey: 2 passengers, a train conductor and a train attendant.
Kid Made Modern Studio in a Box
We regularly by the Kid Made Modern art supplies just like you’ll find in this incredible kit that is filled with paints, brushes, pencils, markers, four canvas boards, and two quality paper pads. I love that this kit gives kids supplies to allow them open-ended imaginative creation, don’t you?
iPad Pro + Apple Pencil
Both the Pro and the Apple Pencil have been much-used, favorite gifts for both my girls. They’re loving the pencil for drawing apps and think that the functionality of the Pro rocks.
Paint Pour Art Set
Create beautiful works of art by pouring the provided different colors of paint into the provided tray.
Two Truths and a Lie by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Lisa K. Weber
This book is GENIUS! It’s an impressive dare really for kids to read and figure out what is true and what is a lie. Know that readers will not just be reading and thinking deeply, but they’ll also doing research while they’re immersed in the book… (Because 11 year old readers must know if a prehistoric dinosaur named “Bambi” exists, if the slyrking will take over your picnic, or if doctors really can implant a stimoceiver in the brain to control your behavior.)
Yummy Scented Glitter Gel Pens
My kids LOVE to write with these yummy smelling and spar sparkly set of 12 pens. These last forever, too!
Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
My daughter found this excellent graphic novel SO RELATABLE — just like she struggles with confidence and speaking up, so does the main character, Peppi. The story tackles the issues of friendships and confidence, among other things.
Bose SoundLink Color Bluetooth Speaker
My kids LOVE their portable mini-speakers and so will yours. Something about kids — they need their music, right? This Bose provides amazingly high-quality sound in a waterproof, silicone exterior. (Yes, one kids takes it in the shower with her!) Charge up to give yourself 8 hours of play time on the go. (It’s compatible with Google Now and Siri.)
Fashion Angels Fashion Design Sketch Portfolio with Stencils
My kids LOVE these! 40 sketch sheets with pre-printed models’ silhouettes to make fashion drawing easy for beginners or for anyone who wants to improve their drawing techniques. Use the removable stencils with over 50+ clothing and accessory shapes to help create different outfits and styles.
Sleeping Queens
Help the Sleeping Queens wake up. The goal is to be the first player with queens that add up to 50 points. Steal queens, put opponents queens back to sleep, and fight dragons. What will your kids’ favorite queens and kings be? This is a fun family favorite game!
Sphero BOLT Robot
This is the latest Sphero app-enabled robot. Isn’t it the coolest looking one yet? 11 year old girls will learn to code through hands-on activities to program infrared, compass, light sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer, and motor encoders. Drive BOLT and play games. 2+ hours of battery.
Sofa Chair / Gaming Lounger
What tween wouldn’t love this soft chair that provides great support for reading, meditating, watching TV or playing games?
Fleece Knit Christmas Slipper Socks
Check the Fridge! A Shameless Game of Bluffing
We’re pretty picky about which games stay in the game night rotation. Check the Fridge is a win for us. We loved it because it got us laughing and we practiced our ninja-like addition math skills.
Nintendo Labo
Get five different DIY toy and game projects like making a music simulator, a fishing game, or motorbike. This kit is meant to accompany Nintendo Switch. This kit makes technology hands-on & is very highly rated.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Hands-down one of the best life-changing books you’ll ever read. Narrated by Melody, we learn what it’s like for her, trapped in a body with cerebral palsy that doesn’t allow her to speak or take care of herself. No one, except her parents think she’s smart. Then one day, she gets a chance to prove it. Heartbreaking. Real. Inspiring. Beautifully written.
Fitbit
My daughter LOVES her Fitbit! Get one for your kids that will tell time and help you calculate steps, calories, distance, and sleep. It’s a great way to motivate healthy living.
Twinkle Star LED Window curtain String Lights
These make a grown-up tween bedroom beautiful and cozy. They look amazing!
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
Fantastic fantasy world-building, excellent writing, a strong female heroine of color, and a surprise plot twist ending are just a few of the reasons you’ll love this book. On top of that, you’ll find an exciting action-packed, suspenseful story about Amari whose brother vanishes mysteriously. He sends her a message that she’s a magician and should attend a special school. There, she discovers she’s a magician with outlawed dark magic but she’s determined to stay in the school and find her brother.
Lokai Classic Bracelet (other colors available)
The white bead with water from Mount Everest represents life’s highest moments. The black bead with mud from the Dead Sea signifies difficult moments.
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson, illustrated by Chloe Bristol
Elizabeth, an orphan, is unexpectedly sent to a large, stately hotel with a kind, grandfatherly proprietor for Christmas vacation. There, she discovers a magical book, a sinister couple, a family mystery, and a new friend who loves puzzles as much as she does. The writing is mesmerizing, the mystery fascinating, and the characters, enchanting. This is a delightful, atmospheric read.
Crystal Growing Experimental Kit
Put those science skills to use by growing these amazing, eye-catching crystals that come with their own display cases!
EOS Lip Balm
My daughter got these for all her friends last year — and they were a big hit!
Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller, illustrated by Karl Kwasny
This is a superbly written and conceived series. Charlie lives in a purple mansion with a portal to the world of nightmares. Charlie, his little brother, and his friends must learn to face their fears in order for the nightmare world not to have access to the real world.
Sew Mini Treats KLUTZ
This beautiful book will show you step by step how to sew 18 food plushies. The kit includes the materials: felt, needles, floss, stuffing, patterns, and felt eyes & cheeks.
Kids use to pop, tilt, wrap, prop, collapse, and grip their electronic devices. Available in other styles and colors, too! And if they already have one, consider getting a new one — they get really dirty.
The Amazing Story Generator
This flipbook for writers and other creative types allows users to randomly combine three different elements to generate a unique story idea. With hundreds of settings, characters, and plots to mix and match, the possibilities are just about endless. Packed with colorful, wacky, and engaging prompts, this is the perfect tool for jump-starting fresh new short stories, novels, scripts, screenplays, and improv sessions.
KLUTZ Pet Adoption
Make and bake 15 cute clay animals using the step-by-step instructions in a 32-page book! You’ll find directions for animals like puppies, kitties, birds, and guinea pigs.
Origami Chic: A Guide to Foldable Fashion by Sok Song
We think this is the best origami book ever — the directions are very clear, the designs are amazing, and the oversized papers are gorgeous! My 11-year old already has used all the papers and made most of the designs. It’s a big hit in our house!!
Creative Lettering and Beyond: Inspiring tips, techniques, and ideas for hand lettering your way to beautiful works of art by Gabri Joy Kirkendall, Laura Lavender, Julie Manuring, Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn
We’ve been using this book a LOT for art journaling and quote writing. This is the best book of all the many lettering books I own.
Adjustable Headbands
Scented Glitter Gel Pens
Add some sparkle to your writing and drawing!
The Brave by James Bird
Run out to get this absolutely jaw-dropping, stunningly beautiful book with a main character you’ll fall in love with (and whose character arc is HUGE.) It’s filled with metaphorical, meaningful, and symbolic writing and you will feel ALL the feelings. When Collin, a boy who counts every letter spoken to him and says the number out loud, gets kicked out of yet another school, his neglectful father sends Collin to live with his mom. Collin has never met his mother but he’s curious to meet her and live on the Ojibwe reservation. Living with her is a totally different experience than his previous home — because with his mother, he’s welcomed and not judged. He befriends the neighbor girl who teaches Collin how to be brave. Which he needs. And so does she because she’s going to be a butterfly soon…
Make Your Own Trading Card Kit
Kids can create their own custom trading cards with this imaginative kit that comes with blank cards, pens, foil sleeves, and a sticker sheet!
Also read: Gifts for 11 year old boys
