Christmas Gift Guide for pre-teen boys: 2022

Getting pressies for toddlers and young children is a no-brainer; it’s the usual stuff and characters (Peppa, Paw Patrol, vehicles of all sorts for boys and LOL Surprise for girls, superheroes… you get the gist). But shopping for pre-teenage boys is a minefield (I know, I have one!!!).

Fear not, this gift guide shares ideas and links to some of the best presents you can gift your pre-teen son (or nephew/ friend’s son etc) this Christmas. Happy shopping!!!

Board games and DIY creations

It’s great fun to play board games with your pre-teenager, as they are now at an age where they better understand the rules of the game, and even make for challenging opponents. Which make board games the perfect gift to spend quality family time during those cosy winter evenings.

DIY kits are also a great gifting idea for this age group as it helps them develop their STEM skills, and also keeps them occupied and away from a screen. Here are some great gifts to consider…

Link Logo board game

If you’re familiar with Logo (the game with the picture cards and accompanying trivia questions), then you will love Link Logo from Drumond Park. It takes the game a step further, adding layers of fun and suspense. Each Link lego card has six pictures tied together with one link. The challenge is to work out that link. But the fun doesn’t stop there because then you have four questions relating to the pictures as well as four questions relating to the link.

The game is available at Argos, Very, Smyths, The Entertainer, The Range, The Works, WHSmith, independent toy stores and on Amazon.

Science Mad! Crystal Growing Lab

Science-related stuff never fails to excite boys of this age group, as their curious minds are figuring out the mechanics of how things work and come to be. This Crystal Growing Lab by Science Mad! is super fun as kids discover and learn how to grow their own crystals. The detailed instruction booklet contains fascinating experiments and explains how crystals were formed, bringing the magic of science and the sparkle of crystals to life!

Check out other fun learning sets from Science Mad! as well. These make for excellent gifts.

Prints, posters and more

Hidden Prints

Walk into any pre-teen boy’s room and you will not see bare walls. There will be posters galore of their favourite footballers/ cars/ movies and more. So why not surprise them and gift them high-quality posters and prints of their favourites?! Hidden Prints has a fabulous selection of prints and posters on a variety of themes (some popular choices for this age group are football posters and F1 posters); they even do personalised posters if you want to add that something special to your gift.

The posters are available in 4 sizes and different colours, printed on a luxury 230gsm smooth matt paper in ultra-high, pin-sharp resolution; I one-hundred per cent vouch for the quality and choice of selection.

X-box and Nintendo games and gift cards

You cannot ignore the fact that video games are often the centrepoint of a pre-teen boy’s life, so anything X-box, Nintendo (or whatever other console he has) related is a win-win. If you know the kind of games the recipient is into, then you’re set as there’s a LOT of choice. Else, if you want to play it safe, you can always get them a gift card so they can choose their own games.

Something from the Nerf family…

What is it about Nerf guns that excite young boys so much?! Ninety per cent of the time, you will be safe getting a 8-12 year old boy a nerf gun, and him claiming it’s the best gift ever!!! And don’t suppose it’s that simple – there are a variety of types and sizes, with a variety of bullets as well. So there will be some decision-making to do…

Gift an experience…

Often, memories made and things experienced are far more precious than material gifts. How about gifting an experience of some kind as a different, unique gift. It could be a special day out to somewhere like Winter Wonderland or perhaps tickets to their favourite show/ sporting event. Think out-of-the-box on this one coz you know your child best – what experience would make Christmas truly magical and memorable for them? Make that experience their gift… it won’t be one they will forget for years to come!

Books

Perhaps the easiest gift to give (and also a valuable one), if your boy is into reading. Some gifting ideas:

• A selection of different books by his favourite author/s
• A box-set of his favourite book series
• Book advent calendars like this Harry Potter Advent calendar
• Books based on their interests, for instance, my football-loving son is enjoying the recently-published J G Nolan book Jump

Disclosure: I was gifted some of the items in the gift guide to review; however, all opinions are my own.