32 Christmas Gifts for 12-Year-Old Girls

Duets start with the very first song, since the RockJam comes with two microphones and the second one goes to whoever is closest on the couch.

She streams songs from her phone over Bluetooth, and the light show and voice effects do the rest.

Every Pokémon in her card binder is one she can name, and that gives her a head start on this jigsaw.

At 1,000 pieces and labeled a Challenge puzzle by Ravensburger, it is meant to take a while, so familiar faces serve as anchors while the rest fills in across a week of evenings.

Skullcandy Icon 180 headphones let her disappear into a playlist on the bus without the whole row hearing it.

They need a phone to pair with, so check she has her own before you wrap them.

The Kitsch satin pillowcase gives a 12-year-old with long hair a bedroom treat that is hers alone.

She now picks her own shampoo and scrunchies, and satin adds an easy bedtime step.

Late on a school night, a 12-year-old settles at her desk to shade the tiny petals in an intricate coloring book.

Crayola rates the Fine Line set for ages 12 and up, matching the detailed designs she prefers to cartoon outlines. Each finished page ends up taped to the wall above her lamp.

Scrambled colors on a Rubik's Cube give her hands something to do during long car rides.

Solving every side takes many tries, so a tutorial video helps her get started.

Her notebook margins fill up with quick doodles, so a preteen like her gets to pass sketches around a circle of friends.

She enjoys a lopsided picture as much as a neat one, and nobody in her group needs art talent to take a turn. The box then waits on her bedroom shelf for the next time her friends gather.

Whenever her friends crowd into the kitchen, a preteen who likes running the show can deal out this Big Potato deck.

Hosting is her favorite role, and a party deck built for a crowd puts her right at the center of everyone. Afterward the cards live in a kitchen drawer, close at hand for whoever drops by.

Ticket to Ride fills a board with cross-country routes she can learn in an evening.

Someone always blocks a route she was saving, so it plays best with a competitive streak and a sense of humor.

The preteen you are buying for collects postcards of forests and mountains and likes board games scored by careful planning.

Here she grows scenery of her own, weighing each turn the way she would frame a favorite view. Harmonies then rests on her shelf beside those postcards, ready for evenings when the family gathers around the dining table.

Monopoly's Pokémon Edition brings a preteen's favorite franchise to the classic her whole family knows by heart.

She trades cards and knows each character by name, so at family game night she explains the theme to grown-ups.

Quick to spot a sneaky move, a preteen who wins on her wits can bring Qwirkle to the table.

She likes outthinking her friends, and each turn hinges on reading what the board leaves open. Her highest total ends up penciled inside the box lid as the mark for friends to beat.

Wingspan turns a slow evening into a quiet strategy match that rewards thinking a few turns ahead.

Learning the rules takes patience, so teach it on a free afternoon rather than a school night.

Christmas afternoon gets a mystery once the family huddles over this EXIT game, The Cursed Labyrinth, a one-time solve.

Some riddles stump everyone, so expect a few long pauses before the next door opens.

Logic problems that hide their trick are what hook a preteen who would rather work it out alone than hear the hint.

The Bepuzzled Infinity puzzle gives her one to turn over in her fingers on the couch until the answer clicks. The method she finds stays her own secret, kept from anyone who asks how it works.

VLANDO splits this box into three layers, so earrings, rings and bracelets each get their own level, and a mirror handles the quick check before school.

The styling is princess themed and aimed at kids, so it suits her while her taste still runs sweet.

A STANLEY IceFlow tumbler of her own turns morning water refills into a small ritual before the bus.

Cups like this tend to go missing at school, so a name sticker helps it find its way home.

Putting contests down the hallway are her kind of fun, so this kit hands her the job of designing the course.

She builds each hole out of LEGO bricks, sets the tricky shots herself, then plays through what she made. When the course gets too easy, she can tear it down and try a new layout.

Quick videos on her phone are already a habit, and this kit plus a free stop-motion app turns that habit into a brick-built movie she directs herself.

Filming happens on a phone or tablet, so make sure she has one to use.

A diamond painting kit lets a 12-year-old who loves detail build a shimmering picture gem by gem.

She already fills mandala pages in fine pen, but this picture shimmers once done. On Saturday mornings she works a corner at a time from her bed.

Shaping air-dry clay at her desk becomes a weekend hobby with this Make It Real studio, no kiln needed.

Early pieces may come out lopsided, so give her room to start over a few times.

A Nerf Weather Blitz football keeps a game of catch going in the backyard after Christmas dinner.

It suits casual tosses with family more than serious practice for a school team.

This glowing basketball suits a 12-year-old hooked on shooting hoops, even after the sun goes down.

Winter dusk comes early, so she can still track each shot on the driveway. Unlike a regular ball, this one stays easy to spot near the hoop.

Myth-curious girls can unwrap the opening Percy Jackson adventure by Rick Riordan this Christmas.

She reads it by the tree on Christmas afternoon, then keeps going under the covers that night. By New Year, she will be swapping theories with friends.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han makes a Christmas gift for a preteen reader of novels.

She can save it for the quiet days after the holiday and read it in long stretches. Then it is an easy book to swap with a friend.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer gives a preteen fond of romance novels a Christmas read for the break.

She can curl up with it in the quiet days after the holiday. Once finished, it is an easy book to lend to a friend.

The ghd All-Rounder takes over the after-shower tangle session at her bathroom mirror.

It is a brush, not a styling tool, so pair it with whatever dryer she already uses.

Each time she rearranges her desk shelf, a preteen who hoards tiny replicas gives this miniature record player the center spot.

Old-fashioned objects shrunk are what she hunts for, and a turntable brings vintage music gear into the lineup she curates. Its little platter then sits beside her other finds, ready for the next addition.

The HP Sprocket gives a 12-year-old scrapbooker real pictures to glue beside her ticket stubs and notes.

She picks the shots on her phone, then lays out each page around them.

The Snap Circuits SC-300 gives a 12-year-old who wonders how gadgets work real circuits to build.

She snaps parts together, flips a switch and sees what happens. Batteries are required, so check the drawer before wrapping it.