By Guest Blogger Britney Dent
The holiday season is all about goodwill, good friends, family, and love. Unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned to believe that the best way to show these feelings is through elaborate gifts. This is especially true for teens who are on social media or in school outside of the home. They see all the latest gadgets and “cool” items but there’s still a way to give well on a budget; even for the teens in your life! Here are 10 Teen Gift Ideas for Holiday Shopping on a Budget.
If you’re strapped for cash this year, but don’t want to give up the giving aspect of the season, look no further!
Here are some great gift ideas for when you’re pinching pennies during the holiday season but gifting teens:
- Gourmet tea and coffee. Create a gourmet tea or coffee basket combining a hand-picked mug with a favorite flavor or two of coffee or tea. Add in other items as desired, such as honey, sweetener sticks, specialty creamers and marshmallows to suit the gift recipient.
- Homemade cocoa mix. Create a homemade cocoa mix by combining powdered sugar, cocoa, powdered milk, and other desired ingredients. Layer the mix in a jar to create a unique gift and include instructions for making the hot cocoa on the gift tag.
- Homemade baking mix. Follow the same idea as the homemade cocoa mix, but this time with cookie or brownie mix. Layer the individual ingredients like flour, sugar, and chocolate chips in the jar to create a unique gift. Include clear instructions, so the recipient can recreate your favorite cookie recipes.
- Gardening gift basket. Combine flower seeds, vegetable seeds, and other gardening goodies – like trowels and hand shovels – to create a gift basket for someone who enjoys gardening. Add other goodies as desired, like plant markers, pretty containers, and homemade soil mix. Gardening Kit
- Home movie basket. Combine a gift card for movie rentals with popcorn and butter spray or seasoning and a box of movie theater-style candy to create a gift basket for enjoying movies at home with the family. Popcorn Buckets
- Muffin baking basket Combine muffin tins with a couple of different store-bought or homemade muffin mixes and some fresh berries or chocolate chips. Include the recipe for each muffin mix. Martha White Variety
- Favorite candy jar. Buy and decorate a glass jar and fill it with some of the recipient’s favorite candies. Layer different colored candies to create a colorful effect. For example, separate gummy fish by color and layer them from bottom to top, then hand paint an aquarium scene on the outside of the jar. (Top choices: sour patch kids, caramel m & m’s, nerds gummy clusters, & whoppers)
- Gift cards, gift cards, and more gift cards – For tweens, get them to their favorite stores or Amazon. For teens (especially those of driving age), get fast food or gas gift cards (Amazon still is a great choice for this age group too!) Top choices: Roblox, Starbucks, Ulta, Sephora, Target, Shein, Lululemon, Five Below, Chipotle)
- Money – What tween or teen doesn’t love cash? Every dollar adds up!
- Outings – Similar to elementary age pick an experience they will love – you could even give a weekend trip to somewhere they’d enjoy or have always wanted to visit. Teen Activities in the Triad
For experiences, you can still make it something they can unwrap. For example, print the tickets and get something related to or a souvenir from that place and wrap it up together.
You can customize all of these gift ideas to suit the recipient, and each gift is meaningful because you put it together yourself. To give gifts that truly matter, make them yourself and put your heart into them.
More ideas: Favorite Board Games for the Whole Family, Phone cases, Skincare Sets, Portable Phone Chargers, Stanley Cups, Stickers, Squishmallows, Blue Light Glasses, Crocs, Airpods
Giving back is the best gift of all.
Finally, when considering gift ideas for teens, remember there are people in need all over our community—and the world. Perhaps the best gift you can give is to teach your child how good it feels to give to others. Give your teen the gift of helping others. Your child can pick out a favorite charity to give to, or can volunteer to help someone who needs some holiday cheer. There are literally hundreds of ways to help others. See this for ideas.
Other Blogs to Check out:
Cheap Gifts for Teens
Experience Gift Ideas for Teens
Teen and Tween Activities in the Triad
