40 Best Gifts for 11-Year-Olds That Tweens Will Actually Find Cool
They'll love these creative games, fun accessories, affordable room decor and more.
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When it comes to tween gifts, the dolls and trains may be gone, but that doesn't mean that they're done with creativity, imagination and fun. In fact, the best gifts for tweens manage to bring a sense of play into their lives but on a level that they can enjoy.
After consulting with the Good Housekeeping Institute — who evaluate toys for all ages in the run-up to the Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards, soliciting feedback from real tweens — checking the trends, looking at best-sellers and hearing from tweens and parents of tweens themselves, these are the best gifts to buy 11-year-olds in 2025. What's on their lists this year? Everything from fun room decor and DIY projects to tabletop games and at-home science experiments.
Big Joe Milano Bean Bag Chair
Who wouldn't want to cozy up and read, play video games or text and chat in a chair like this? This chair impressed Good Housekeeping Institute testers with its firm fill, but really won over Lab experts with how easy it was to clean the fabric. It comes in several colors and prints and has a handle so you can drag it around. No age recommendation given.
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Cell phone cameras get the job done, but it's way more fun to take pictures with an instant camera — especially when there's film involved. They'll especially appreciate the small mirror that makes taking selfies so much easier. The camera comes in several colors, and you can buy additional film with fun borders. (And get an album to put the pictures in and a matching case, too!) Ages 8+
Here's something that'll get them to hit the showers: Each of these bars of soap has real money inside — anywhere from a five-dollar bill to a hundred-dollar bill. To get it, though, they have to use the soap up! It comes in two scents: cucumber mint and orange peach. No age recommendation given.
My Friendship Bracelet Maker
Those summer camp days feel like they're here forever with this friendship bracelet kit. Not only does it come with 20 pre-cut threads (in their own storage drawer, no less), it has a board that holds the bracelet and strands in place while the creation is in progress. (The board even comes in several colors!) You can also use its app to find friendship bracelet patterns and instructions. Ages 8+
They'll love personalizing their rooms with these lights, which feature 50 clear clips to hang photos from on 17ft of lights. Their walls will be one-of-a-kind. No age recommendation given.
Melissa & Doug Scratch Art Rainbow Mini Notes
Notes to friends, reminders and doodles are way more fun when they're done on small squares of scratch-art paper. This comes with 125 square sheets of scratch-art paper plus a wooden stylus to use. It's a cute gift to put in a small gift basket or party favor. Ages 4+
LED Marquee Letter Light
You can't go wrong with multicolored anything at this age — though this light can also be just a solid color if they want, like blue or red. They'll love having something that represents their name. No age recommendation given.
This handheld device will keep your kid entertained for hours. Wave it around and watch as string billows from it making various shapes as it moves. Better yet, the string glows in the dark and has a cool cosmic design. Giving this a 2025 Good Housekeeping Toy Award was an easy decision. Ages 8+
Big, expensive and fancy karaoke systems can be a blast for a night out or a big party, but for hanging out with friends or on the go all you need is this small machine. It works with Bluetooth so that they can stream all their favorite songs, and it comes with two microphones. You can also get it in other colors. Ages 4+
They can take their art projects to the next dimension with this pen which gives them the basics for 3D printing. "The kit came with stencil paper and a QR code to figure out how to use it, which was nice," our tester said. The speed-control button slides to give you a range from slow to fast, which allows control. Amazon sells replacement filament for less than $10. No age recommendation given.
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Kanoodle Pyramid
You can credit TikTok with selling more than three million Kanoodle games, with those accepting the #KanoodleChallenge trying to solve the brain-teasing puzzles online. But by 11, they might be ready to step up and try the harder Kanoodle Pyramid. To play, contenders have to select a puzzle with a certain configuration of pieces, and then use their smarts to see if they can fit in the remaining pieces to make a 3D pyramid shape. Ages 7+
This glowing flying orb is definitely trendy among tweens — it has more than 2,000 5-star ratings on Amazon! The whole thing is controlled by hand, not remote, and kids will appreciate the under-30-minute charging time. Ages 6+
Tweens, Swifties and non-Swifties alike, are learning the joys of layering bracelets all the way up their wrists. This set gives them 16 new bracelets to work with, in a few different colors with different charms. Kids can mix and match them depending on how the mood strikes. No age recommendation given.
How can you have a bad day with this cute, fluffy frog hanging from your bag? This adorable bag charm has a big, sturdy clip to attach to backpacks or purses, and it's a Jellycat so you know it's soft. Ages 0+
This lamp is 3-D printed to look just like the surface of the moon. Kids can use a remote control to change the color and pattern of the lights or set an automatic shutoff timer. It also comes in four sizes. No age recommendation given.
Double-layer necklaces are in, and this one makes it easy with a matching custom-name necklace and a heart charm. You can also get it with a birthstone instead of a heart, with two names, or in other metals like rose gold or silver. No age recommendation given.
Kids love Nee Doh in all shapes in sizes, from the very small to the very large to groovy shapes like gummy bears or cats. The Nice Cube is still fun to squeeze and squish like all the other shapes of Nee Doh, but, no matter how much you smush it, when you put it down it will always return to its cube form. Ages 3+
They are learning how saving and spending work and are probably even getting money in lieu of toys from friends and family. Help them keep their cash safe (and make them think twice before spending it), with this cool electronic piggy bank that works with a special number combination like an ATM. Ages 3+
A mix of art and science, this device lets kids use an app and a mobile-based system to code pixel art onto the charm using Python, which they can display as a keychain or a bag charm. It's a fun way to get some experience coding. Ages 8+
They'll learn about electricity and circuits when they use this kit, which lets them make their own works of art with glowing, LED wire. They can use one of five picture templates, or come up with their own creations. When they're done, they can either hang it from the wall or display it on a wooden stand. Ages 9+
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Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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