birthday gift for friend's 10 yr old dd?

[bluets]

my best friend's dd is turning 10 in a month and i was looking for ideas. it's been awhile since I was 10, but i do remember a lot of dorky meaningless gifts from my parents' friends.

spam me please

[yogamama]

magazine subscription, books, gift card, body lotion, photo stuff (like a disposable camera and a cute album)

[canadianchick]

What about a gift certificate....

[1growingsprout]

stufff from bath body works... gift cards... movie tickets...

[LookMommy!]

special art supplies

beads, beads, beads!

Items from a craft store, not for little kids, like some nice oil paints and a sketch pad

a blank book and some fancy pens

calligraphy set

[soygurl]

I just got my niece a subscription to American Girl magazine for her 10th b-daya few months ago. I LOVED that magazine when I was that age (acctuall from the time I was about 9 to 13 or so, lol), and so far she seems to really like it too. Sereously, it is the BEST magazine I've ever seen for girls, and I've looked at a lot of them. Good mesages, nothing to encourage them "growing up" too fast, No adds, fun craft ideas, good advice, and really cool and inspirational real life stories. I highly recomend you check it out.
Arts and craft supplies are good too for some girls, but not everyone likes artsy stuff...

~Kelsie

[sunnysideup]

If you don't know her specific interests a gift card for a book store is a good gift idea. My kids are always happy with the Barnes & Noble gift cards.

[Mama2Bug]

I remember that, at that age, I recieved a lot of very nice, but totally impersonal gifts from adult friends and relatives. (Blank journals, stationary, hardcover, classic books etc.) Rare was the gift that had a lot of thought put into it, beyond making sure it was "nice" and "appropriate."

When I want to buy gifts for older kids, I ask their parents what they are interested in. If the answer is too generic, I also ask other kids in that age group what they would want. Usually there is some silly "must have" item for their age group, be it a certain kind of costume jewelry or a brand of really neat colored pens.Then I sometimes double check with the parents, to avoid duplicates and make sure there are no objections.

If you don't know any kids her age to ask, the sales staff at "tween" type stores usually have good ideas. (Limited Too, Claire's, etc.)

[orangefoot]

A bag or purse of some kind? I have always loved bags and at that age I was starting to spend money and need to carry things home from the shops and I had stuff I wanted to just keep in a bag so it was 'safe' from my sister.

[TiredX2]

I would definately ask the parent. I have three nieces who are 9-10 (and more outside of that age range) and they definately would want different things!

[5thAttempt]

My 9-year old is the most happy to gift cards from book store, sports store or even amazon.com (or just money). Very realy one person can buy what he really wants (since everything he wants is very expensive, every computer/video game is $30-60!) but once he combines several gift cards he can buy himself what he needs/wants. I personally think that this gift of money/card also teach him where to spend money, how to limit your choices, how to budjet or how to shop around for best deal/price. It also teaching him that there are such things as taxes, shipping charges etc.

[Hollydolly]

It's Terrific to be Ten!

We've gotten several of our daughters' friends for their 10th birthdays a paperback book called "It's Terrific to be Ten!"-it has chapters from different books about ten-year-olds (There are also versions for other years, like "It's Great to be Eight!").
Another favorite gift we've given and received this time of year is a scrapbook found in bookstores that is made specifically for the grade the child is in ("My Fifth-Grade Year", "My Fourth-Grade Year", etc.). It has specific questions in it geared toward that school year and makes a grade keepsake.
When all else fails, ten is a nice, even denomination to get a gift card from a favorite store! I like to give kids gift cards in the amount of the age they're turning.
~Alice

[Flor]

I've been doing the same gift for everyone lately-- a tackle box full of age-appropriate art supplies. I am acutally putting together one for 11 yo dss and another one for 3 yo old ds for Christmas. Dss's will have acrylic paints, oil pastels, chalks, nice drawing pens and pencils and maybe some Fimo. ( I stole this from WonderTime magazine, but I love how you can adjust the contents for ages.)

http://wondertime.go.com/life-at-hom...art-house.html

[mommy68]

At this age they like movies, girly stuff like beads and make-up, cute clothes. I would get a gift card to a clothing store or movie/restaurant. I have a 10 yr old and they love money and they absolutely LOVE to go out and shop for themselves rather than opening up a gift (atleast mine did). So I think you can never go wrong with giving them money or a gift card.

[JkFelix]

I have a nine and ten year old and we always give books - if they know what kind their friends like (mostly Madlibs!) - or we give gift cards to Barnes and Noble or the local ice cream shop if it is in the summer! Honestly, I never go above $10 because number one, Im not rich and number two they have SO many b-day parties, I would go broke if I were rich!

[SweetAfton]

A really cute gift is a beauty kit. Include a hairbrush, hairbands- they always seem to disappear, nail polish, flavored chapstick, things like that.

Good luck and let us know what you end up getting!

[Babes in arms]

I second the vote for the American Girl magazine. It is my soon to be 10yodd favorite! Also, they have several books aimed at preteens. They're about how to deal with the difficult parts of life at that age. I think they manage to put some sound advice out there in a light way that the girls relate to. Also, Bath and Body Works has a line of products from American Girl for that same age group. You could piece together a themed collection! American Girl rocks!

[Turkish Kate]

We had to cover this with my DD's friends a few years ago. At that time, the local mall had just started selling "Visa Gift Cards." They work like a gift card, but you can use them anyplace that accepts Visa cards. The ones we bought came with a little cardboard "pocket" with space to keep track of your transactions and keep a running balance. This is great because you don't have to use it at a specific store (that they may or may not like--it's so hard to tell at that age) and it teaches money-managing and fosters math skills. The first little girl that we gave one to was absolutely in awe of it ("I've got my own credit card!") and she was able to use it at several places to get small items like jewelry at Claire's, a small purse at some other boutique, and then bought her own lunch at the food court. Since then, that has been my standard gift to all in the teen and tween zone--works like a charm. I ended up buying a bunch of $25 Visa Gift cards to have on hand for gift-giving occasions and never had to worry about it again.

Kate

[PiePie]

Klutz makes nice activity books -- The Candy Book, Knitting, etc.

[dylan]

Fun journals
Jewelry
Books - my dd LOVES the "beacon st. girls" series. Each one is about $10, and the girls have good values, but are still "hip" and help each other thru challenging homelife and school life situations.

And all the other suggestions above!