GREAT GIFTS FOR TEENS AND TWEENS

When shopping for teens and preteens, a panic can set in when you realize your gift options have moved out of the world of toys and cute clothes and into a new universe where you feel like nothing you will choose will be right. Of course you can expect to see some high priced electronics on the wish list of most kids this age. However, not everyone can or should buy an iphone for a 15 year old but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick a gift that will still be a huge hit. These suggested gifts encourage preteens and teens to create and express themselves in a time when they are discovering who they are, who they want to be and who they will become.

Server Design 1 Online Course by Youth Digital 

About Youth Digital

Youth Digital is an amazing group of people that prides itself on creating creators. Their vision is to make technology education accessible to children around the world in a manner that is as engaging and effective as it is fun.

They work toward this vision by offering online tech-education courses, after-school programs and summer camps for boys and girls, ages 8 to 14, in order to teach them how to code, develop, design and create with technology. They believe in giving every child access to computer science skills and through their programs, kids can actually become computer programmers! They currently offer 10 online coding and programming courses.

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Server Design 1 is the brand new online course offering from Youth Digital. This course teaches kids ages 8-14 professional java programming as they build their own Minecraft server. Minecraft is ridiculously popular with this age group. Take your child’s love of this game and get some good out of their screen time with the online course. Your child won’t just play Minecraft. He will create his own world, a world he can invite his friends to play in and your 1 year subscription to Server Design 1 also includes hosting on the server. The course includes engaging and hilarious videos, challenging assignments and interactive quizzes. The coding is all from scratch, so the server will be exactly what your child wants. If he can imagine it, he can code it!

 Features You Will LOVE

• Your child will learn how to use professional software development tools
• Software and Server hosting is included with the subscription
• Child safe, you control who can play in your server
• The instructors are always available to answer questions via email
• Your child can invite his friends to play in the Minecraft world that he creates

Perfect For

Any Minecraft player age 8-14 can learn to code their own Minecraft server with Server Design 1. Learning to code boosts creativity and is a productive use of technology. If you are worried about your child having too much mindless screen time, this course is the perfect remedy. If you are looking for a way to include computer and technology education into your homeschooling curriculum, this would be perfect. 

Holiday Gift Sets by 100 % Pure

About 100% Pure

100% Pure was co-founded by Susie Wang in a Napa, California farmhouse in 2005. With a mission and desire to create natural and pure products that nourish and protect the skin and body, 100% Pure is an organic cosmetic beauty firm that carries natural and organic lines of skin care, color cosmetics, bath and body products and candles. All 100% Pure products are made with the highest quality, cruelty-free ingredients, and are 100% free of artificial colors, artificial fragrances, synthetic chemical preservatives and toxins.

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100% Pure’s holiday gift sets are bursting with USDA certified organic, luxurious goodness this year! All four sets are filled with products thoughtfully selected to compliment one another with natural flavors and scents that will lift your spirits and make you feel festive. Each holiday gift set comes neatly packed in a gift box, making it ready to give instantly!

The Mint Lip Gift Set comes with two organic minty lip balms and brown sugar peppermint lip scrub. These products are only available in this gift set, so you won’t want to miss out! Everything in this set is made with all natural, organic oils that will provide your winter lips with moisture and nourishment all day long. As if that’s not enough, all three products in this set are vegetarian and 100% USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC. This set makes the perfect stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift!

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If your loved one is into nail polish and lip colorings, choose from one of the three Lips & Tips sets. Each set comes with one non toxic nail polish, a nail glitter, a caramel liquid lipstick and gemmed lipgloss. The lipstick and lip glosses are only available in these gift sets. You can’t order them separately, so don’t miss out! All of these gorgeous products are made free of synthetic dyes, fragrances, preservatives and chemicals. There’s a perfect set for everyone!

The Hold My Hand Gift Set includes four 2 oz bottles of 100% Pure’s rich, moisturizing hand buttercream. Made with USDA certified organic oils and 100% vegetarian ingredients, these hand buttercreams are packed full of antioxidants and anti-aging vitamins. With honey almond, vanilla bean, french vanilla and coconut, the most difficult decision your loved one will have is choosing which one to open first!

The Butta Like Skin gift set definitely lives up to its name! This set includes four 2 oz containers of luxuriously rich whipped body butter in coconut, pink grapefruit, mangosteen and gingerade. These body butters are 100% vegan, made with USDA certified organic oils and rich in antioxidants and anti-aging vitamins. They’re like a cool drink for thirsty skin.

If you love all of the holiday gift sets, you’re in luck. For a limited time now through December 15, buy three sets and receive an organic, vegan soy wax candle of your choice for free! 100% Pure’s all natural candles are hand-poured, made with essential oils and burn cleanly for 20 hours – and it goes without saying, but these candles smell AMAZING. At a $25 value, you won’t want to miss out on this deal!

Features You Will LOVE

Mint Lip Gift Set

• Includes 2 lip balms and 1 brown sugar lip scrub
• Lip balms are 100% natural, made with organic oils
• Peppermint lip scrub is 100% vegan, brown sugar based, made with organic oils
• 100% USDA certified organic
• Can only get these three products in this gift set

Lips & Tips Sets

• Includes 1 nail polish, 1 nail glitter, 1 caramel liquid lipstick and 1 lipgloss in complimentary shades
• Natural and USDA certified organic ingredients, free from synthetic chemicals, dyes and fragrances
• Nail polish and glitter are free from formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, camphor, and formaldehyde resin
• Choice of 3 sets: Color Me Pink, My Favorite Gift, Sugar Plummed
• Can only get these lipsticks and lip glosses in these gift sets

Hold My Hand Gift Set

• Includes four 2 oz bottles of hand buttercream: Coconut, Honey Almond, French Lavender, Vanilla Bean
• Made with USDA certified organic oils, 100% vegetarian ingredients
• Highly nourishing and moisturizing
• Rich in antioxidants and anti-aging vitamins

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Butta Like Skin

• Includes four 2 oz containers of body butter: Coconut, Pink Grapefruit, Mangosteen, Gingerade
• 100% natural and vegan ingredients
• Made with USDA certified organic oils
• Rich in antioxidants, anti-aging nutrients and vitamins to nourish skin

Perfect For

The entire line of holiday gift sets is just about as good as it gets. From lips scrubs and gloss to nail polish, hand buttercream and body butter, there’s something for every person on your list who loves natural, organic, luxurious makeup and body products. Since all of 100% Pure’s products are made with cruelty-free, USDA certified organic, natural ingredients without the use of unnatural, toxic chemicals, fragrances and colors, these gift sets would be perfect for those with sensitive skin – especially teens! Pick a gift set for your daughter, mother, sister, and friend – there’s something perfect for everyone!

NatGeo Dinosaur 24 in 1 Set By Laser Pegs®

About Laser Pegs

Laser Pegs®—“, the Original Lighted Construction Set, ”—brings together the joy of building and the fun of LED lights. With modular open-ended pieces that are compatible with other leading construction sets, Laser Pegs® kits provide hours of fun and entertainment while promoting creativity, fostering imagination, and building STEM skills. Laser Pegs® have won the Oppenheim Toy Platinum Award, Dr. Toy’s Best 100, Dr. Toy’s Top 10 Tech, and Parenting Magazine’’s Toy of the Year. And with familiar building block assembly, there’s no learning curve to keep your child from jumping head first into fun and learning!

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Laser Pegs® National Geographic Dinosaur Kit comes with everything you need for your child to combine their love of prehistoric giant lizards with building and light technology. With the included power base, nearly 200 building pieces, and over two dozen LED building blocks, your child will have hours of fun recreating light up dinosaurs like the Velociraptor, Triceratops, Spinosaurus, and Stegosaurus.

The kits themselves build several items, but instead of coming with several instruction booklets— which quickly disintegrate with use or are inevitably lost around the house—, all of the manuals are available online for easy access on your favorite electronic device any time.

Features You Will LOVE

• Fosters creativity and critical thinking skills
• Encourages STEM play with building and light technology
• Multiple build instructions available online
• Compatible with other popular building block sets
• LED lights have an expected life of 11 years

Perfect For

Your budding scientist, engineer, or mathematician will love the hours of enjoyment these kits provide. And even if your child is not planning on a career in a STEM field, Laser Pegs® will encourage creativity and build logical thinking skills that will pay dividends no matter what their future holds.

Red Fusion Jet Set by Pinblock

About Pinblock

Motivated by their love for building things and the limitations with the building block options currently on the market, two best friends created and founded Pinblock in 2014. Their simple, yet ingenious design of a single plastic block that can twist, stack, lay flat and rotate has gained rave reviews over the last year, and has brought building blocks to a whole new level.

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Considered by Forbes as one of the “top ten toys to look for in 2015”, Pinblocks are arguably the most innovative building blocks on the market to date. Don’t let their singular design fool you. Each Pinblock has the unique ability to twist, stack, lay flat and rotate almost 360 degrees. With this much flexibility in every one of the 900 blocks in the Red Fusion Jet Set, your creative possibilities are endless.

Your children can follow the instructions in the provided book to create either the carefully thought-out jet or vehicle, or they can explore the depths of their creativity and build virtually anything that comes to mind. With their immense flexibility, Pinblocks are capable of forming 3D creations like trucks, castles and airplanes to wearable creations like watches, crowns and bracelets. They can even be used to create pixel art!

With Pinblocks, your children will not be halted by the limitations of the non-flexible building blocks of the past. The Red Fusion Jet Set is the perfect introduction set for them. As they explore what they’re capable of with Pinblocks, you can add to their collection with other sets to provide them with more colors for even more possibilities.

Features You Will LOVE

• Set comes with approximately 900 red, black, white and silver Pinblocks
• Every Pinblock is designed identically
• Each Pinblock has one piece that can twist, stack, lay flat or rotate almost 360 degrees to make your creative possibilities endless
• Set comes with instruction book to create a jet or vehicle, but freestyle creations are encouraged
• Can use Pinblocks to build any 3D creation you can imagine, including wearable items like crowns, watches, etc.
• Proven to hurt significantly less than legos when stepped on

Perfect For

Any Pinblock set would make the perfect gift for the creative people in your life, young and old. With numerous sets and 20 colors, Pinblocks will provide hours of fun and stir creativity and imagination with everything they build.

Sew Softies™ and PlushCraft® By Orb Factory

About Orb Factory

When he was 6 years old, Steven Kay began designing toys. After receiving formal training in photography, sculpture, and design, he founded Orb Factory in 1991 with a line based around the Celestial Orb, a transforming, hand-held, wire widget. With a focus on rewarding play experience and customer service, Orb Factory has grown to have a worldwide presence and has won numerous awards.

Orb Factory believes in the power of play. Producing toys that are both educational and imaginative, Orb Factory kits are easy to use, mess-free, and produce outstanding results every time, allowing children to explore a world of magic, imagination, and artistic freedom.

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Each Sew Softies™ kit contains all the materials needed to make one or more adorable Softies (just add scissors to cut the thread). The components themselves are kid friendly, child safe, and parent approved with over-sized needles and pre-cut holes, making learning to sew easy and fun.

The PlushCraft® line requires no sewing at all! The unique “fabric” by number system allows children to create colorful pillows, wall art, and cuddly friends with the push of a stylus.

With all materials and components provided, children simply follow a numbered legend, to quickly punch fabrics through the designated holes, creating colorful, funky, and glittering accessories for their bedrooms.

Features You Will LOVE

Sew Softies™

• Over-sized needles and pre-cut holes
• Learning to sew is easy and fun
• All materials provided

PlushCraft®

• Unique “fabric” by number system with provided pillow, fabric, and stylus
• No sewing required!

Perfect For

Whether seasoned crafters or novices, children will love the open and go aspect of Sew Softies™ and PlushCraft®, while you’ll delight knowing that your children are learning and stretching their imaginations at the same time.

SOPHi By Piggy Paint

About Piggy Paint

As the mother of two very fancy little girls who loved to have their nails painted, Melanie Hurley, founder of Piggy Paint, worried about her daughters putting their fingers in their mouths and accidentally ingesting chemicals from traditional nail polish. The smell of traditional nail polish was also worrisome, but one day, one of her daughters accidentally dropped a glob of nail polish on a foam plate, and Melanie Hurley was horrified to watch the polish eat through the foam plate.

Fed up with using questionable chemical-filled nail polish on her two daughters, Melanie Hurley became a mom on a mission. Her quest led her to found Piggy Paint, and make available to little girls everywhere, safe, non-flammable, solvent free, natural, odorless, hypoallergenic, water-based nail polish.

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Available in more SOPHisticated colors… from traditional pinks and reds, to blues and purples, pastels and saturated hues, there is a SOPHi Nail Polish color to fit every personality and occasion. With the release of SOPHi, Piggy Paint expanded from a nail polish company for little girls, to providing worry-free manicures for all ages. AND, more than just the avoidance of harsh chemicals, using SOPHi also does not cause nails to become yellow or brittle, as can happen with extended wear of traditional nail polish.

Since SOPHi does not contain harsh chemicals, it requires a few extra steps for durability. The new SOPHi system includes a PRIME + SHINE + SEAL System for maximum durability. The Primer + Sealer helps your polish to resist chipping while the Shine Topcoat offers scratch resistance. Using SOPHi Paint’s 4-step process will yield more durability like traditional nail polish, without all the hazards.

Features You Will LOVE

SOPHi

• Available in a variety of SOPHisticated colors
• Water-based, natural, odorless and worry-free formula
• Won’t cause yellow or brittle nails

PRIME + SHINE + SEAL System

• Helps polish resist chipping and scratching
• Durability comparable to traditional nail polish

Perfect For

SOPHi Nail Polish makes it possible for all ages to enjoy a harsh-chemical free manicure. Whether your tween or teen is ready for a more sophisticated hue, or if you’ve been in pursuit of a gentler way to keep your nails manicured, the expanded color palette and the PRIME + SHINE + SEAL System are an ideal fit.