32 Christmas Gifts for 12-Year-Old Boys

A curfew of his own is easier to keep with the time right on his wrist.

The Timex Weekender pairs a plain gray dial with a gray and orange cloth strap, and when the streetlights flick on, one look tells him whether to start pedaling home.

Link's shield is Zelda gear he'd recognize anywhere, and that's the fun of this metal Hanayama version: knowing the shape gives away nothing about the trick hiding in it.

Working it out can take more than one bus ride home, and a friend or two will want a turn.

Rap verses fly by fast, and the lines he's trying to memorize get drowned out in a busy house.

Beats Studio Pro headphones cancel that noise so the words come through clean, and since they're wireless, they follow him from room to room without a cord to snag.

On the basement floor, a boy who always asks why gadgets behave as they do can piece together a coaster.

He has moved past kits with only one right answer, and here he can find out why a steep hill comes up short. He can leave the track standing overnight and rework its weakest stretch the next morning.

Akai Professional's MPK Mini Play MK3 gives a budding producer real keys for his beats.

He works out a melody by ear, then builds a beat underneath it. After homework, the keyboard waits on his desk for the next idea he wants to save.

Starlux Games Redux is a glow-in-the-dark base raid for a boy with a crowd of friends.

He loves dividing friends into sides and planning the sneak across, so this version lets the chase run after sundown. Over the holidays, visiting cousins can make up the rival crew.

The Guinness World Records book makes a Christmas gift for a preteen fact collector to flip through.

On Christmas afternoon he can read out the strangest feats to anyone nearby. It then lives by the couch for the rest of the break.

Your gift for a boy whose friends sit waiting for a turn on his console could be this pair of Joy-Con 2 controllers.

He would rather have a buddy beside him in the action than an audience behind him on the couch. The extra set waits in a drawer under the TV for whoever comes over next.

In PC shooters, aim comes down to quick flicks of the wrist, and the Razer Orochi V2 weighs so little that his hand barely notices it.

It's wireless and runs a very long time between battery swaps, handy for marathon Saturdays with his online squad.

Long before his favorite series, there was Atari, and this My Arcade console holds a large library of those classic games.

Its wireless joysticks let whoever's on the couch take player two.

If the boy you're buying for runs the music whenever friends come over, a Bose SoundLink Max puts his playlists out loud.

He trades new tracks with friends all the time now, and a shared sound beats passing earbuds back and forth.

Block-by-block planning is how he builds in Minecraft, and this ThinkFun puzzle asks for the same kind of thinking.

Its challenges make him think a few moves ahead, away from a screen for once. Since it's magnetic, nothing slides loose on the way to practice or during a long wait at the dentist's office.

Ravensburger's Porsche 911 R puzzle lets a car spotter build the coupe he points out in parking lots.

It's a 3D puzzle, so the shape he knows from a distance rises off the table as he works, and the finished car earns a spot on his shelf.

WobbleBall Marble Balance works for a boy who would rather outlast his friends with a still hand than quick reflexes.

He likes games where pressure creeps up slowly, and every careful move raises the stakes for whoever goes next. His running tally of wins, scribbled on a scrap of paper, stays tucked in the box for the next challenge.

Cutthroat rounds of UNO are ideal for a competitor who never lets a rival off easy at the family table.

He knows the regular rules by heart, so this No Mercy edition gives his ruthless streak harsher turns to exploit. The deck stays out for the rematch somebody always demands.

The KOMBOID cube puts a bouncing ball skill game in the hands of a 12-year-old hooked on trick shots.

He juggles a soccer ball whenever he gets the chance, and the cube asks for that same steady touch. Any friend visiting can take the next turn and see who keeps the ball going longer.

Hasbro Gaming's Risk gives a patient preteen strategist a classic territory game that takes real planning.

He thinks several turns ahead in every game, and on this board each move depends on that habit. Over winter break, he can set up the board and take on his parents and siblings.

This block puzzle board game gives a pattern-spotting preteen a reason to call relatives to the table.

He works out where each colored block goes, then passes the next challenge to whoever sits nearby. The box can stay out over winter break for another round.

The GiiKER Super Slide hands a puzzle-loving preteen a sliding block challenge to work through solo.

He plans several moves ahead, nudging pieces aside until the key block finally reaches its spot. During long car rides, he keeps sliding pieces until a stubborn layout gives way.

Each wire teaser hides its trick in plain sight, a stubborn knot for a solver who never peeks at answers.

After Christmas dinner, the whole set goes around the table, and he hangs on to whichever knot nobody else can crack.

The boy who clicks his pen through every class would rather twist a brain teaser apart than sit still.

Those restless fingers need somewhere to go, and each puzzle hands them a job while his head finds the trick. The solved ones end up lined along his desk for whoever wants a go.

Brain teasers stacked on his nightstand mark him as a solver who would rather crack a pattern alone than race anyone.

He'll sit with a stubborn layout all evening, switching to the hexagon challenge whenever the block puzzle stalls.

Every stuck zipper lands in his fingers, so a key-shaped brain teaser gives a tinkerer something to pull apart.

He stays with a jammed gadget until it opens, and this puzzle asks for that same stubborn patience.

Missed chances replay in his head long after the final whistle, and a Franklin Sports Blackhawk goal gives him somewhere to fix them between games, no coach or cones required.

It's wide enough to need an open stretch of yard. His weaker foot gets the most work, aimed low at the far corner.

Dusk is when pickup games at the park court get good, and a light-up basketball stays easy to follow as the sky darkens.

The game can run until someone calls him home. A new crossover traces a bright path between his hands.

At the kitchen table on a quiet Sunday, a 12-year-old who pries apart old remotes can wire up a circuit himself.

Opening a remote only shows him the pieces; the SC-300 gives him parts to connect and see what each does.

Kirby is the draw here, so pick this Otamatone Deluxe only if the pink puffball still gets a grin out of him.

If he'd rather skip the cartoon face, the plain white Otamatone does the same goofy tricks. For a fan, it doubles as a desk mascot that plays a song when homework stalls.

The Harry Potter Books 1-7 Special Edition Boxed Set makes a Christmas gift for a preteen reader.

He can start on Christmas afternoon and keep reading through the break. Each finished volume slides back into the case beside the rest.