“Gift ideas for teenage girls” contains some affiliate links

If you’re looking for gift ideas for teenage girls this Christmas then I guarantee you’ll have seen lots of similar posts.

Because all teen girls are passionate about lip gloss, “pamper sets” and bath bombs, right?

As a Mum to an 18 year old, those gift ideas do have a place – but I am always looking for more original gift ideas for teenage girls. Things that might inspire my teen daughter to have some fun, learn something new and (since we’re dreaming big) think I’m pretty cool. )If you need inspo for teenage boys, check out Helen’s guide)

This year, funds are a bit tighter than usual (hello, cost of living crisis!) so I’ve been on the hunt for creative and original ideas for my teen. On the basis that if I’m struggling for inspiration, maybe you are too, I decided to share some of my favourite ideas in this post.

Added note: lots of gift guides online are based on things that magazines have been sent for free. This gift guide for teenage girls is 100% independent and based on things I’ve bought myself, or that my teen has asked for. 

My Best Original Gift Ideas for Teenage Girls

Memorable Tee Shirts

One of the charming/annoying things about my teen is her habit of stealing my t-shirts to wear around the house, or to sleep in. This presents a challenge: if I buy her a t-shirt she loves, she’ll want to wear it out, and will keep stealing mine. But I don’t want to buy her HORRIBLE t-shirts, either. Because she just won’t wear them.

My solution when Flea was 15 was Etsy. I have purchased ten oversized tee shirts with slogans or graphics that meant something to us. So there were tee shirts with graphics showing places we’ve visited like Hawaii and the Grand Canyon. There are shirts featuring our favourite movies like The Goonies and TV shows like Gilmore Girls. Then there are shirts for movements we’ve supported and concert tours we attended together.

My thinking is – I get to keep my tee shirts and Flea gets a reminder of happy times and memories we’ve shared. These presents were a HUGE success and two years on, are still Flea’s go-to bedtime tees.

Waffle Maker

This mini waffle makers tick lots of boxes for teen girls. They’re small enough to not be overwhelming, and cute enough to share on social media. I apologise in advance for the future state of your kitchen, but who doesn’t love a waffle on a winters’ morning?

Gaming Accessories

This year Flea has spent a lot of time at home, and a lot of socialising has happened in PlayStation “parties” with her friends. To help her play in comfort, we’ve got her a decent gaming chair for her bedroom (this one has lots of 5* reviews and is £25 off right now) and a new sturdy gaming headset. This headset is currently 45% off, and has a lot of great reviews.

Whether your teen girl is a fan of Call of Duty or Animal Crossing, why not get them a gaming voucher for their preferred platform? Most games now can be downloaded, or kids can use these vouchers as ‘game currency’.

LED Lights

Pretty much every teen I know is obsessed with LED lights. Especially those adhesive strips that go along the top of their walls, and can be controlled via a remote control or mobile phone. Flea seems to love living her best life under a blue hue that gives me a headache, but what do I know? These lights are super affordable, available for under £20 on Amazon. Top tip – when you need to remove these, use a hairdryer to avoid taking the paint off.

Flea’s also got a hankering for these Helios hexagonal stick-on lights that can be arranged in various patterns. Meanwhile I’ve gone out on a limb and bought this pretty bell jar lamp for her to use as a bedside lamp.

Experience Gifts

I am a massive believer in experience gifts for kids, and have always bought Flea an experience for her birthday or Christmas. It can be concert tickets, driving lessons or a workshop in circus skills. I’ve got a whole post dedicated to the best experience gifts for kids. This year, my top recommendation if you’re looking for gift ideas for teen girls? Driving lessons.

At 15, Flea was basically counting down the months until she can get a driving license, and a driving experience is perfect at giving her some confidence and (hopefully) reducing the number of lessons she’ll need to pass her test when the time comes. We loved the driving lessons for teens that Flea took with Range Rover last year.

Pyjama Pants

Like many of us, Flea is a big fan of what might be called “loungewear”. The other day she came into my room one morning and called me a “psychopath” for wearing jeans.

While this phase will eventually end, I suspect Flea will always have an abiding love of pyjama pants, and this range of 100% cotton pyjama bottoms (complete with pockets) is a perfect gift for teen girls (and their mothers).

Personalised Simpsons Picture

There are loads of artists online who will create a personalised poster print of your family for £50 or less. For a little more, how about an original watercolour portrait?  You can even turn them into the Simpsons! But this year I’ve realised it doesn’t HAVE to be a family!

If you can, sneak your teen’s mobile phone from their hot little hand for this one. Find a great photo of your teen with her friends – and have it turned into a print that she can display in her room.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t make the picture massive – that would be weird and will make you teen look like a stalker. Something A4 size or smaller would be a lovely thing to hang over your teen’s desk. You could even order a couple of spare copies for your teen to give to her friends when she’s back at school.

Sound Wave Art

I know that I have my finger on the pulse of teen culture because I have TikTok. Or something. So I know that one of the best gifts for teenage girls this Christmas is a personalised Spotify print.

Basically every song you play on Spotify has a specific bar code that it generates. Scan that barcode with your phone and it will play the relevant song.

There’s a massive trend to print music art. How about a print of the Spotify play screen of a favourite song? Some prints use the barcode and kids can scan the barcode with their phone while enjoying a cool, custom piece of artwork. It could be a sticker that your teen puts on their laptop or school folder, or a perspex frame with a photo of someone special next to a barcode of a memorable song. How about a Spotify keyring?

Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker

My teen can’t do anything much without her Airpods stuck to her ears. Except … shower.

Tragically in the shower my teen must be temporarily parted from her mobile phone and Spotify account. Perhaps that’s why she is forever stealing my Bluetooth shower speaker. If your teen spends as much time in the bathroom as mine does, then a cool Bluetooth speaker like this will go down well with teen girls this Christmas. Generally these can be charged up via USB and will stream music from your teen’s phone when she’s in the bath or shower.

This is the one I have. It’s from Sony, and pretty robust. It has a six hour battery life, and is easily charged by USB.

 

So there you have it. Some of my favourite gift ideas for teenage girls. Now all I need to do is work out how to get a stocking into my 15 year old’s room when she stays up later than I do these days!