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The road through tweendom is, like most developmental phases, not a straight line. By the time kids reach their first double-digit birthday, they might be asking for pimple patches or AirPods as much as they’re crying for Legos or yet another Squishmallow. Cognitively, they “can think more abstractly” and have developed the ability to gather information and formulate well-organized thoughts, says Glenda Stoller, a psychotherapist specializing in children and play therapy. And this new-found mental maturity gives them the skills to take on more complex games, crafts, and puzzles. It also carries over into deepening interests in sports, drama, painting, and other hobbies.
Kristin Morency Goldman, a senior editor at the Toy Association, says that kids around 10 years old are often playing independently and that many of them like collecting toys as much as they like playing with them. Some may be starting to grow out of toys altogether, showing more interest in reading, listening to music, or doodling in a journal. But we heard from multiple parents of 10-year-olds that stuffed animals and other toys still play an important role in their kids’ lives. So to find the best gifts for all different kinds of 10-year-olds, we asked experts like Stoller and Morency Goldman, highly discerning parents, and a couple of actual tweens for their recommendations. Since what 10-year-olds actually want will depend on their unique talents and interests, the resulting list — which I’ve organized by price — includes a wide range of age-appropriate STEM and craft kits that will spark their creativity, word and math games that’ll let them flex their problem-solving skills, and a whole lot of squishy, funny, collectible things too.
Meanwhile, if you’re shopping for kids in other age groups, we have gift guides for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 7-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and 12-year-olds — plus the meticulously curated Strategist Toy Store, which is filled with all of our greatest hits.
Update on November 22, 2024: Added new products including a DIY chain reaction set, a Minecoins gift card, and a kawaii-themed surprise bag; updated prices and checked stock for all products.
Under $25
I’ve heard over and over again — from kids, parents, teachers, and even camp counselors — that Squishmallows are the most popular plush toys for kids of all ages, from kindergarten to college. They come in a wide range of sizes, from one to 24 inches tall, and a variety of styles including keychains you can attach to a backpack. But according to Kayla Weissbuch, founder and executive director of Brave Trails, which runs camps designed for LGBTQ+ tweens and teens, many older kids prefer the larger sizes because they’re cute as bunk or room décor and double as an extra pillow. Any of these 14-inch Squishmallows — raccoon in a bucket hat, Hello Kitty in sunglasses, or Marill Pokémon — would make a perfect snuggly friend or a throw pillow to lean against while reading or doing homework.
New York features writer and mom to a 10-year-old Kathryn VanArendonk says two of her daughter’s favorite things are boba and things that squish. Though retailers like Amazon, Target, and Claire’s sell a huge variety of squishies, VanArendonk specifically called out the stress balls and fidget toys from Nee-Doh, which her daughter likes best and which tend to be higher quality.
My husband, Jacob, is a fourth-grade teacher in Brooklyn, which means he’s clued into the current toy, book, and crafting obsessions of 10-year-olds whether he likes it or not. So I asked him to poll his students on what they’re wishing for these days. In addition to squishies and fidgets, many told him they want this “remote-control snake from Amazon” with light-up eyes. The controls are super-simple: There’s a button for left turns, a button for right turns, and one for slithering forward, and if you press the two green buttons, the snake will slither backward. It moves in an S pattern, making it look real enough to startle friends and siblings.
This popular kind of squish toy, named after the Japanese dessert, is also popular among Jacob’s students and makes an ideal stocking stuffer or party favor.
I discovered this LEGO-like building toy at the New York Toy Fair — and fell in love pretty much immediately. As with LEGOs, the pieces come in varying sizes; the smallest, single-unit bricks measure five millimeters long, slightly smaller than a house fly. The tiny proportions make the building process painstaking, but really fun. There are individual characters — Hello Kitty is a recent launch — and giant kits where you can build things like the Eiffel Tower or Osaka Castle. But for a 10-year-old, depending on how focused they are, this set of four Kirby characters among two trees is probably a great place to start.
Around this age, kids are more and more interested in beauty and skin care, especially anything mini with cute packaging. If you’re not sure what lip oil or cleanser to get, nail stickers scratch a similar itch and are less dependent on a specific tween’s skin type or preferences. Plus, they’re temporary and therefore younger sibling and parent-friendly. There are tons of different brands that make nail stickers, but these packs are some of my favorites.
Former strategist writer Latifah Miles, who has a tween son with an interest in art and comic books, recommended this fill-in-the-blanks-style sketchbook. “He always talks about wanting to create his own comic but can get overwhelmed trying to plan it out,” she says. This book has individual boxes, prompts, and activities to help kids get started.
This version of Monopoly is for cheaters, specifically; the object is to see what you can get away with. Complete with a set of plastic handcuffs, the game encourages secret bank thefts, property swipes, and serious consequences if caught. Zibby Owens, author of Blank: A Novel, mother of four, and host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, told us that one of her kids “saw this advertised on TV, grabbed my iPad, and before I knew it had added it to his wish list. Now the whole family plays.”
DIY friendship-style jewelry is as popular as ever, hat tip to Taylor Swift. For crafty 10-year-olds who want more of a challenge than stringing beads, this kit comes with everything they’ll need to make embroidery floss bracelets they can trade with their friends. It also provides a flat surface to anchor their in-progress work on.
Several parents I spoke to, including VanArendonk, mentioned that their fourth- and fifth-graders love cute notebooks. Extra points if you can find them with squishy elements, boba, or a classic lock for privacy.
This best-selling book series from writer Erin Hunt is a favorite of VanArendonk’s daughter, though she says it’s hard to keep up as the books are always checked out of the school library. And my 10-year-old niece is a megafan (she calls it “Lord of the Rings but with cats”) and has already finished reading most of the nearly 100 books in the vast Warriors universe, which contains seven different series. This box set introduces the first series to young readers. It revolves around four clans of wild cats, fighting over the forest they have shared for generations, and a surprisingly brave house cat named Rusty who joins the cause.
For a 10-year-old who’s already mastered the classic Rubik’s Cube, puzzle designer Adam G. Cowan presents a new challenge. The steely-toned Ghost Cube does not involve aligning colors but rather twisting up all kinds of shapes, after which you are faced with the task of returning the pieces to the original cube form. The puzzle is “hours of fun,” according to Beth Beckman, a co-founder of Little Kid Big City New York. “I came across it in a boutique toy store, and my son went crazy for it. He said it was a ‘way cooler’ version of a Rubik’s Cube that was dressed as a mummy.”
Tween Minecraft fans always appreciate Minecoins currency cards to purchase new skins, textures packs, maps, and more.
Under $50
Kelly Harris Smith, founder of children’s art space Minni and mom to a 10-year-old boy and an 12-year-old girl, told us her family loves spreading out a big puzzle to work on together over the course of a long weekend. This dog-wearing-hair-clips 500-piece puzzle from Le Puzz is challenging enough to entertain both kids and adults, with a cute and silly payoff at the end.
This Rube Goldberg–esque chain reaction set from KiwiCo is a wonderful family activity that’s challenging but promises exciting and fun payoffs. It comes with three step-by-step projects that teach kids everything they need to know to invent their own working machines. In the box: an array of components like ping-pong balls, tippy cups, an 18-piece motorized elevator set, poles, rails, Slinky-like coils, clips, a cymbal ringer, and an arm that lifts — plus a book of instructions and ideas.
Leaning on the math skills that 10-year-olds are learning in school, Prime Club gives young players meaningful practice with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as they move around the board making decisions about which operation will advance them or bump opponents back. The game is designed for two to four players, is fun for adults to play too, and helps kids develop deeper mathematical thinking and the ability to predict several moves ahead.
This collapsible version of cornhole conveniently zips up into an 11-by-11-inch bag and weighs less than five pounds, making it easy to store under a bed or couch and portable enough to bring to a park or a friend’s house.
Learning to knit or crochet is a wonderful (screen-free) way for kids to make stuff, and there are tons of kits that make it fun and easy. This rainbow loom knitting kit comes with a circular and a straight loom plus yarn, a hook, a needle, and simple instructions. I also love the Woobles kits that let kids create their very own crocheted stuffies like this Ravenclaw Raven from Harry Potter, complete with a scarf. And for kids who prefer cute décor, there’s this beginner kit that shows you how to make miniature crochet succulents.
I’ve long been a fan of Thames and Kosmos’s Mega Cyborg Hand that teaches kids (and adults) about pneumatics and hydraulics. But my new favorite toy from the brand is this water-and-air-powered-vehicle building kit. The box contains everything you need to create six different models, including a jet-propelled boat, water-rocket car, and even a working sprinkler for the lawn. Strategist contributor Ebony Roberts also featured it in our guide to the best STEM toys.
This Archi-Tech Smart House is another pick from our guide to the best STEM toys. The kit teaches kids the basics of electric circuitry, building a structure, and using sensors to set off lights, alarms, and trapdoors while they complete 20 different projects.
Building sets like the ones from K’Nex allow kids to flex both their construction skills and creativity. This bundle contains two sets: one that comes with 480 pieces — including wheels, rods, and rotors, plus an instruction booklet that kids can use to build 35 models — and another that comes with 250 pieces and allows them to assemble a 3-D, battery-operated dinosaur.
LEGO sets are a perennial favorite with kids of all ages, but for 10-year-olds, there is increasing interest in building worlds based on their other hobbies. This 409-piece set is on the simpler side to build but will appeal to 10-year-olds who have a growing interest in fashion: Once it’s complete, they’ll have a vintage clothing store to play with that comes with three characters, a cat, and clothing and accessories that can be swapped for each character’s original outfit.
Under $100
Since many 10-year-olds are starting to develop their musical tastes — from Swift to Olivia Rodrigo to Billie Eilish to Beyoncé — I asked the Strategist’s tech writer Jordan McMahon about the best Bluetooth speakers for kids. He recommended JBL’s Clip 4 because “it’s a fun speaker that they can carry with them to a friend’s house for a sleepover, or take to the park on a nice day.” It also “comes in a bunch of colors, and they can pair it with a smartphone or tablet to get better audio than either would provide on its own,” he says.
Cameras, in general, are a great gift for this age, according to child therapists, but this version stands out: “The Instax Mini cameras are the simplest in Fujifilm’s instant-camera line, making them the kid-friendliest,” says instant-camera expert and New York city editor Chris Bonanos (he’s written two books, one about the history of Polaroid and another about the photographer Weegee, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for the best biography of the year). Bonanos continues, “They use the least-expensive instant film Fuji makes, which can be important when kids don’t think about the economics of their party snapshots. My own kid took his to camp with the idea of photographing new friends and sending them home with souvenirs.”
This award-winning Brooklyn-based quarterly magazine is geared toward girls ages 5 to 12 years old. It’s full of vibrant illustrations, engaging activities, and stories written and inspired by legendary scientists, world-renowned artists, NASA engineers, U.S. senators, and Olympians. The team behind Kazoo has worked with and impressive list of experts such as Jane Goodall, Shonda Rhimes, Greta Thunberg, Misty Copeland, Alice Waters, and the U.S. women’s soccer team to create a unique and screen-free universe for kids to explore. After browsing a few issues that we have at home, Jacob bought a subscription for his fourth-grade class.
VanArendonk says that, after a family trip to Japan, both of her kids have become even more obsessed with anything Japanese or kawaii. So she’s planning to get them one of Sugio Mart’s Lucky Bags. There are over a dozen themes to choose from including Pokémon, Sanrio, Studio Ghibli, Sailor Moon, and this more general kawaii bag that includes a mix of snacks, capsule toys, stationery, beauty products, and plushies.
$100 and up
If your LEGO-fanatic 10-year-old is more musically inclined, Appell says this 3,662-piece grand piano set is “an amazing splurge gift.” It includes a motor along with keys, pedals, and dampers that actually move. After they construct it, kids can sync the piano to the LEGO Powered Up app, which allows them to play actual music on it (or to simply have the piano auto-play one of ten available songs).
Or if they’re more into video games, this 10,323-piece retro PAC-Man Arcade kit has a four-way joystick, light-up coin slot, adjustable game-score display, spinning game characters, and a mechanical maze that mimics the chase between PAC-Man, Blinky, and Clyde. It also comes with a miniature ’80s-themed arcade scene. I included it on my list of toys that are expensive, but worth it, as well.
When we talked to parents and experts about the best scooters for kids, Micro Kickboard was the most mentioned by a long shot. This two-wheel model — which most kids are ready for by age 10 — also features light-up LED wheels.
Story’s Quad Roller Skates were recommended by Ada, a 9-year-old avid skater, in our tween girls gift guide. She says they are comfortable, good for both rink and sidewalk skating, and come in a bunch of colors.
If they already have a scooter or skates, this is also a good age for kids to master cruising around on a hoverboard since they are more coordinated and up for new physical challenges. Just remember that, as with other wheeled gifts like bikes and scooters, kids should always wear a helmet, and in the case of skates and hoverboards, wrist guards too.
According to Jacob, the LED-light décor trend is still wildly popular among tweens. But at this point, many of them already own the most basic sets of LED strip lights for their rooms. This LED light-up basketball hoop is not cheap, but it’s a fresh take on the trend and sure to thrill 10-year-old basketball fans.
Additional reporting by: Latifah Miles, Trupti Rami, Dominique Pariso, and Lauren Ro
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