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The Best Toys for 12-Year-Old Girls – 2022 Gift Ideas

A 12-year-old girl can be difficult to shop for. Kids today grow up pretty fast, and their interests can change not only from year to year but from month to month.

Twelve-year-old girls are often still interested in toys similar to ones they played with in their youth, but they’re also exploring an interest in more sophisticated toys for teens.

Here’s a look at the best toys for a 12 year old girl in 2022:

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera

Twelve can be a bit young for a fully-functioning smartphone. But being able to take pictures with friends is still very important for most 12-year-old girls. The Instax Mini 9 is like a high-tech, faster version of the classic Polaroid (remember those?) which prints out pictures instantly.

Film can be a bit pricey so you might want to consider the 60 picture Value Pack. Camera is available in pink, smoky white, ice blue, cobalt blue and lime green.

SmartLab Toys Girls Only! Secret Message Club

A 12-year-old girl’s best friend is an important relationship. This Secret Message club uses invisible ink, hidden messages and other “spy” techniques to teach science and crafts. Includes a complete workbook with instructions and even info on the history of spies. A good choice for future STEM students and future artists.

NOPTEG DIY Cinema Light Box

What girl doesn’t want to see her name in lights? This dynamic, durable Cinema Light Box can personalize any room with a name or message. Great for any girl interested in drama, writing, decorating and more.

LilGadgets Wireless Bluetooth Headphones

Durable and fashionable, these headphones connect easily to any Bluetooth device. Plus, they have a port to connect to non-Bluetooth devices, too. Can even be connected to two devices at the same time. A 12-hour battery life makes them great for road trips and plane rides.

Even better, a portion of the proceeds from every sale goes towards nationwide anti-bullying campaigns.

Original Tamagotchi Pet

While a 12-year old may not be ready for a phone just yet, a Tamagotchi pet is a great throwback toy that they can play with wherever they go. There are lots of versions offered, but we like the one that’s modeled after the original 1990s toy.

Tamagotchi gives kids a virtual pet that they have to take care of. They feed their pet, give it water, play with it, put it to sleep, and more.

Royal Brush RSET-ACR3000

Girls which have grown up drawing are often ready to move onto painting around the age of 12. This Royal Brush acrylic painting set for beginners is complete without being overwhelming.

Includes 10 acrylic paints, mixing pad, brushes, a drawing pencil and plastic palette knife. Also includes a few canvasses to get started.

ALEX Spa Fun Sparkle Tattoo Parlor

While 12 is still way too young for a real tattoo, these temporary impressions are great for party-time fun. All images are positive featuring animals and nature shapes. They’re placed with included “tattoo glue” and easily wash off with soap and water.

Juicy Couture DIY Charm Bracelet Kit

Many girls this age love to make jewelry but may feel like they’re too old for childish beads or friendship bracelets. Instead, consider this Juicy Couture bracelet kit. It feels more mature and girls will love that it’s the Juicy brand.

It comes with all of the materials needed to make five unique bracelets. Each bracelet has a distinct style, such as with a chain or with ribbon, so she’ll be able to make a fashion statement wherever she goes.

Endless Games the Sleepover Party Game

Suitable for three or more players, this box of fun includes over 200 different party games. The kids will be singing, making funny noises, acting silly and just having a blast. Great for sleepovers, parties, church groups and more.

The games encourage kids to perform and communication. Helps shy girls make new friends in a comfortable group setting.

Color Your Own Water Bottle Kit

With this Create Your Own Water Bottle kit, your girl will get a high-quality water bottle along with all of the tools that they’ll need to create a beautiful design of their choice. They’ll get to exercise their creative muscles while also being forced to adapt to the challenges of the media that they have on hand.

The result will be that your teen will make a water bottle that they’ll love to use. The only issue is that it’s a one-shot kit because it only includes one water bottle to decorate. You might find them asking for another kit once they’re finished with the first one.

Bluetooth Wireless Karaoke Machine

Available in a stylish design featuring four colors, this handheld karaoke machine connects easily to any Bluetooth device. Great for singing with KTV and during parties. Sound is loud and powerful, making this an excellent addition to your next event.

The best part is your child can change vocals, including sounding like a funky robot or a funny older man!

The Quarto Group Toys All-Natural Lip Balm Boutique

This all-natural lip balm kit contains six colorful mix-and-match pods, a recipe booklet, and additional molds. Use the recipe book to decide which scents and colors you need to pick up, and then whip up some all-natural lip balm. This kit also includes all-natural beeswax for the melt-and-pour recipes.

The best part of this beauty-based chemistry kit is it helps you learn more about the science behind creating lip balm in a fun and creative way!

3D Coloring Puzzle Set

Stimulate your child’s creativity while they discover puzzle-building solutions. The five different models are fun to color and put together. There’s no need for scissors because you press the puzzle shapes and pop them out.

The variety of designs will help keep your child entertained and engaged for hours!

Grow ‘N Glow Terrarium Science Kit

This terrarium kit combines fun with education as your child creates a one-of-a-kind eco-friendly environment. After following a few simple instructions, ecosystems are ready to grow! Some grow in as little as three to four days, making this is a quick and fun learning experience.

Help your child develop independence, nurturing skills, and independence with this exciting and fun kit!

Walkie Talkies for Kids

Children love communicating on walkie talkies, and, with the extended capabilities on these, they can talk to each other even if they’re up to three miles away! With twenty-two different channels, you don’t have to worry about compromising your child’s privacy.

The best part is, when you activate the VOX function, there’s no need to press a button when using these walkie talkies!

Alex Spa Sketch It Nail Pens Salon Girls Fashion Activity

Future manicurists and nail art lovers will find everything they need in this kit from Alexa. It contains two-tip nail pens in five different colors, decals, and gems. It’s the ideal activity for birthday parties, holiday gatherings, and sleepovers.

The best part of this kit is it contains high-quality nail polish and precision tools for creating the best-looking nail art.

Meet sun LCD Colorful Writing Tablet

Creating colorful designs that light up has never been so easy thanks to the Meet sun LCD Colorful Writing Tablet. Your child can write and use it for art the same way they would for paper. Its pressure-sensitive technology means your child can create drawings or text and then erase everything with one-touch.

One of the best things about this tablet is it’s the equivalent of using 50,000 sheets of paper.

DIY Fairy Lantern Night Light Kit

Your child can create this beautiful fairy lantern nightlight using its complete craft kit. The kit has everything necessary for making this night light, including a jar with fairy lights, fairy dust, flower and sprig, foam brush, glitter, glue, instructions, lantern handle, two fairies on vellum, and wish card. It only takes two AAA batteries to light this lantern up when the craft project is complete.

Another fun twist to this project is the addition of the wish card to the center of the jar that your child can sprinkle with fairy dust!

Crystal Slime Kit

There’s no shortage of fun and original creations when your child sees all the colors and accessories available in this kit. It contains twelve colors, as well as ten bottles full of sequins and glitter powder. You’ll also find four packages of fruit slices, three packets of foam balls, two straw pieces, and one bag of fishbowl beads.

The best part of this science-based craft project is that it has many uses, including playing games and sharing creations with friends!

Light-up Crystal Growing Science Experiments Kit

Growing crystals helps your child understand chemistry while creating something beautiful. This kit comes complete with everything, including an LED light-up display and all the chemistry ingredients you’ll need for growing gorgeous and colorful crystals.

Once you follow the directions carefully, you’ll have a one-of-a-kind light-up display.

DIY Clay Jewelry Dish Arts and Crafts Kit Gift

As soon as your child opens this gift box, they have everything they need to make three jewelry trinket dishes. The kit includes an artist brush, cutting template, cutting tool, easy step-by-step directions, glitter powder, gold metallic paint, mat, and roller. Your child can mix and match the seven coordinating colors, which include black, blue, lime green, pink, purple, turquoise, and white.

These jewelry trinket dishes make beautiful birthday or Mother’s Day gifts, or your child can keep them for themselves!

DIY Wear Infinity Jewelry Kids Art and Craft Activity

If your daughter loves playing dress-up with jewelry, then this kit is a perfect gift idea. It includes thirty-one pieces for creating bracelets and necklaces. The charms feature the word love, peace symbols, and infinity symbols.

There’s no limit to the varieties of fashionable and designer jewelry pieces your child can make thanks to the charms, beads, gems, and colorful twine and cords.

DIY Cake Pop Baking Kit

Many girls express an interest in cooking and baking around the age of 12. This DIY cake pop baking kit is a fun and easy way to introduce them to baking. Baketivity is a company designed to help kids learn how to bake, and so everything in the box is designed with kids in mind.

Instructions and ingredients are color-coded. There are also instructional videos if your kid learns better through viewing.

For kids who get into baking, you can consider signing them up for Baketivity’s monthly membership. They’ll get new things to bake each month along with access to a chef to ask questions and learn. Each month, they’ll also learn new baking skills.

Hair Chalk Salon

Not only is this hair chalk salon simple to use and mess-free, but it contains twelve high-quality hair chalk pens. That means your child has hours of fun ahead. Create one-of-a-kind unicorn designs, and more!

The best part about this hair chalk salon is that, while your child is expressing their creativity, they’re also expressing themselves with color!

Best Toys for 12-Year Old Girls FAQ

Tween girls are just starting to discover who they are as a person. Their tastes in music, movies and toys is often a reflection of their self-image. And this taste can change without much warning as the girl “tries on” new personas or is influenced by peers or cultural factors.

So, when buying a toy for a 12-year-old girl, try not to focus too much on long-term use. Her interests might be completely different in just a year. Instead, focus more on the types of toys she might enjoy for the next few months. Here are the answers to common questions about the best toys for 12-year old girls.

What Do 12-Year-Old Girls Think About Toys?

Twelve-year-old girls have one foot in childhood and the other in early adulthood. In many ways, toys still play an important role in allowing the girl to explore and play. But 12-year-olds are also eager to be seen as adults, so they’ll be interested in toys which seem more sophisticated and “mature.”

Research suggests a girl’s self-image is primarily affected by two main factors: the imaginary audience and the personal fable.

The imaginary audience is the idea that others notice and care about an individual’s appearance. In a Tween girl, this idea is usually a bit out of proportion. They tend to overestimate how carefully others are watching them. These leads young girls to overly scrutinize their own appearance and even what accessories they’re seen with.

Most 12-year-old girls are very concerned with what their peers think. This means they want to be seen as cool – so they’re likely to embrace the hottest trends in fashion, culture and toys. When shopping for a 12-year-old girl, your best bet is to stay away from the more obscure in favor of the current trends.

The “personal fable” concept means young girls are likely to feel that their personal experiences are unique. Nobody else understands their feelings, struggles and other emotional highs and lows. Certain toys and media help girls connect their inner emotions to the larger world, which can feel comforting and reassuring.

What Electronic Toys are Best for 12-Year-Old Girls?

Parents often have to play a careful balancing act regarding online access at this age. By the age of 12, most girls will feel more confident when going online. But 12 is still too young to allow anything but very controlled Internet access.

A lot of social interaction can take place online. Girls can feel left out if they’re not allowed to interact with their friends online. Fortunately, there are often ways for your child to virtually hang with friends safely.

More and more young girls are into video games. Fortunately, many games let you restrict your online appearance and speech only to friends. Twelve-year-olds shouldn’t have unrestricted access to send or receive written or voice communications with strangers online.

Social media pages should be carefully controlled, too. Even though all of their friends might have them, 12-year-olds are actually prohibited by the terms of service of all major social media platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all require users to be at least 13 years old.

What Creative Toys are Best for 12-Year-Old Girls?

Adolescence is a time when girls begin to discover creative talents and passions. This could be drawing, painting, writing, playing music, building or more. While most 12-year-olds are young enough to still be able to tap into their childhood creativity, they’re also now old enough to also be interested in the process of creating.

Many girls like toys which combine both creativity and construction. LEGOs, robot kits and other building sets are popular choices. Virtual building is also a favorite. Games like Minecraft allow girls to build fantastic virtual structures without limits regarding physical space.

12-year-olds are usually responsible enough to use “real” artistic materials such as acrylic and oil paints. This is a good age for kids to start washing brushing, using plastic sheeting and otherwise care for their art supplies.

What Outdoor Toys are Best for 12-Year-Old Girls?

Toys which encourage outdoor activity are a great way for young girls to develop healthy habits for life. Bikes are a great way for girls to explore their neighborhood while also getting fresh air and exercise. Both cruisers and mountain bikes can be customized to reflect any girl’s personal style.

Of course, you don’t want to forget all the essential safety gear including helmets and pads. Fortunately, getting girls to actually wear the safety equipment is often far easier than it is with boys.

Nerf guns are another fun outdoor toy. Many girls love Nerf bows. We can thank Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games for this popular trend in girl toys, which gives girls a chance to play the role of hero.

Conclusion

Twelve can be a difficult age for girls as they transition away from childhood and towards being a teenager. But the right toys can help make this transition easier. The best toys for 12-year-old girls both provide familiar comfort while also help girls prepare for the upcoming teenage years.