Unplugged Gifts For Teens (and Adults!)

When you’re thinking through gift-giving, the best thing to do is spend some time thinking about the person and their interests. For teens, this may require you to be very observant, because oftentimes, they don’t even realize what their interests are. This means when you ask, it’s an “I don’t know.” or “Nothing really…” So just spend some time with them, open conversations regularly and eventually you’ll catch onto what they are interested in.

For the Gamer
As a gamer myself, I totally get these kids! (It’s been over 10 years since I was a “gamer”, now I just use my computer time more productively. 😉 But I still love strategy games, though now, they are all tabletop games.) If they have never played tabletop games, you may need to sit down with them and learn it, but that is one of the best presents you can give! If you have a reluctant teen, here is the best way I have found to approaching time together.
  • Games
    • Our favorite is Settlers of Catan, and our kids learn to play this by the age of 7, so we tend to all enjoy sitting around the table and playing together. If you have more than 4 players, you’ll want to get the expansion pack as well.
    • Ticket to Ride is another hugely popular game, taking about an hour to play through, and don’t worry, they’ll want to play it again many times over.
    • Carcassonne is another strategy game that is tons of fun and gets everyone thinking.
    • Say Anything gives teens many opportunities to enjoy their crazy sense of humor. Similar to Apples-to-Apples, in that, you have to gear the response to what you think the “judge” will find the best, it’s hours of fun.
    • Nerts is another great group game – a mix of speed and solitaire, this is fast-paced and loads of fun. And for those of us old-school people, it’s basically Dutch Blitz. 🙂
  • Tabletop War Games. War Hammer is similar to playing a video game, but it takes place on a table, with friends. The best part, in my opinion, is that it requires the owner to be creative. Having a game to paint and choose a color scheme is a perfect incentive to get those creative juices flowing. You can get them the starter pack and it has everything they need to play with a friend.
For the Outdoor Lover
This might be anyone who enjoys outdoors, from walking, running, biking & swimming, hiking in the mountains or sitting on the beach. It doesn’t have to mean that they are serious survival campers, but if you find that they enjoy taking a walk with friends or they go for a run when they need time to themselves, think through what can help them in those experiences.
  • Road Rash first Aid kit (small enough for a pocket or backpack) throw in some of Friction Zone ointment (if they are a cyclist) and they’ll be much more comfortable on all those adventures.
  • If they commute on their bike, being able to pick up a coffee on the way is a huge perk (Perk! So punny! I make myself laugh!) and this is probably more of an American thing, but now they have nice drink holders for bicycles. 🙂
  • 12-in-1 headbands are great, especially in the cold weather: for either gender, these can be used as a hat, scarf, or scrunchy- and pack up small.
  • For the skateboarder: ask at a local skateboard shop if there are camps or clinics available, or grab them a nice new pair of skater shoes.
  • Camping, fishing, and hunting gear is also super helpful. Don’t fall into just getting them any gadget, even though they are “cool”. Search for things you know they will get a lot of use out of: binoculars, high-quality wool socks, a buck knife, etc.
For the Sports Lover
Think through what they really enjoy and what will get used, there are many ways to indulge them without adding to clutter to their life.
  • Tickets to an event, especially if you join them, builds stronger relationships and gives the opportunity to build cherished memories.
  • Better quality equipment can be very useful. Cheap equipment can get frustrating. Please cultivate responsibility and promote them passing on their old equipment. 😉
  • Clothing items, either useful for their sport or from their favorite team are much appreciated.
For the Reader
If you know what genre or authors they enjoy, you can grab a couple from the bestseller lists on Amazon or give a gift card for their kindle or a favorite local book store.

Many readers also write, and having a nice journal to collect quotes in is a wonderful add-on to their gift.

For the Music Lover
Gift cards for iTunes are always great, or paying for their subscription to Spotify or Pandora can be very exciting, along with a portable speaker, so, yes, they don’t have to be “plugged in”.

And if your music lover also is a musician:

  • Specialty Guitar Picks is great for the avid guitarist
  • Sheet music of a few favorite songs, or
  • Musician Dice can be a huge help when composing and needing an extra boost to help them through an area they are struggling with. Along with that, a music journal to keep track of their notes is very useful.
  • If their focus is more on writing songs from a poetic point of view, a nice journal is a great option.
For the entrepreneur or student
This is the time to encourage them as much as possible and you can definitely do that with these gifts:
  • Passion Planner is a huge help in aligning their day and getting the most out of it. With a full section on goal setting and how to use the planner to achieve those goals, along with monthly evaluations, it’s extremely beneficial to accomplishing what they set out to do.
  • The Freedom Journal goes hand-in-hand with the Passion Planner, in my opinion. Breaking down the biggest goal into 100 days and setting small daily goals means things get done and each day there is forward movement toward that goal.
  • Audible membership. For long commutes, trips, or just unwinding, listening to books that align with beliefs, goals, and niches is one of the best things a person can do.
  • Plan out a night every week, or every month, where you and the gift-recipient try a new restaurant, or try all the pizza places around you and rate the restaurants.
  • Coloring books are hugely popular and if you can find out what they love most: Cats, Coffee, Fantasy or Fashion. To go along with coloring books, I recommend soft-core colored pencils, blender pencils, and a case, as well as a decent pencil sharpener.
  • A nice sketchbook is always appreciated by the artist. Doodling is so important and can really help in processing emotions.

Do you have other suggestions? I’m all ears! Leave a comment below.

 

 

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About Rachel Jones

Hi there! I’m Rachel Jones, and I founded Nourishing Minimalism in 2012 at the beginning of my minimalist journey. If you're looking for encouragement in your journey, I created a FREE Facebook Group - feel free to join me there: Nourishing Minimalism Facebook Group and I share videos each week on YouTube

16 Comments

  1. kathy from ct on 11/09/2016 at 3:27 pm

    I bought season tickets to a local amusement park. They were a hit & my sons want them again this year. also, gift cards for gas, eating out, and plain old cash are always welcome.

    • Rachel on 11/09/2016 at 4:47 pm

      Oh great ideas!! Thanks Kathy!

  2. Anna Cole on 11/09/2016 at 6:42 pm

    I like to zentangle – a specific kind of Doodling. This book is excellent, and would be great for teens: One Zentagle A Day http://amzn.to/2eDSPZP

    • Rachel on 11/09/2016 at 7:16 pm

      Cool! Thanks!

  3. LACEY on 11/10/2016 at 12:50 pm

    THESE ARE AMAZING IDEAS! THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LIST THEM FOR US.

    • Rachel on 11/10/2016 at 5:16 pm

      Absolutely! Thanks Lacey!

  4. Stefanie Williams on 11/11/2016 at 1:30 pm

    tHESE ARE ALL GREAT IDEAS! wE LOVE sETTLERS OF CATAN AND CARCASSONNE. hAVE YOU EVER PLAYED sAN JUAN? iT’S PRETTY FUN TOO.

    • Stefanie Williams on 11/11/2016 at 1:34 pm

      not sure why my caps are backwards…..totally not screaming at you in excitement lol

      • Rachel on 11/11/2016 at 5:58 pm

        LOL! Thanks Stafanie! No, I will have to check out San Juan! Thanks for the suggestion!

  5. jO on 11/16/2016 at 5:10 am

    THESE HAVE BEEN APPRECIATED BY THE MALES IN MY FAMILY:
    mOVIE TICKETS, gIFT CARDS/VOUCHERS FOR MUSIC/dvd STORES, ELECTRONICS STORES, ItUNES GIFT CARDS, GADGETS SUCH AS KEYRINGS WITH led LIGHTS OR FUN pc GADGETS SUCH AS USB COFFEE CUP WARMERS OR usb SOFT DRINK COOLERS.
    yOUNGER MALES USED TO LIKE BASEBALL CAPS, SURFER TYPE WALLETS, BACKPACKS, PENCIL CASES, mAGAZINES (SPORTS/cOMPUTER/gAMING/eTC).
    tHESE IDEAS ALSO WORK IF YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO LOCAL AREA cHRISTMAS HAMPERS FOR THOSE LESS FORTUNATE. lOTS OF TIMES THE YOUNG MALES ESPECIALLY TEENS MISS OUT.

  6. jO on 11/16/2016 at 5:15 am

    Sorry about the caps, I couldn’t tell if the cap lock was on or off?? 🙁

    • Rachel on 11/16/2016 at 1:50 pm

      It happens. 🙂 Thanks for the great suggestions!

  7. Astrid on 11/11/2019 at 1:07 am

    My eldest is a big reader and a world war II fanatic… so that gives us plenty of options. Books, movies, theatre tickets … anything goes. We did an outing a while back, in which we visited several museums and other war related things in Amsterdam (we live in the Netherlands) and that was quite awesome.
    My youngest loves nature and is especially into birds, so we’ve got him a good telescope and books on birds and he also loves the books and movies by David Attenbourough… And also specially planned out nature walks.
    Also, they both appreciate sketch books and clay to work with.
    All in all, we try and see where their interests lie and try to match that…

    • Rachel Jones on 11/16/2019 at 11:58 pm

      That’s wonderful Astrid!

  8. Doneisha goodson on 10/30/2022 at 9:22 pm

    That is so cool

  9. Sharon H. on 11/05/2022 at 6:18 pm

    I just bought my sons beanie hats with LED headlamps built in. They are going in the Christmas stockings this year.

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