The Holiday Gift Guide for 12 and 14 Year Old Boys was tough, for these ages we have a difficult time finding things they will like that are still fun and at the same time don’t break the bank. There are not as many items on this list as prior lists, but what we have done is also given you some larger categories and ideas at the end of the article as well as specific items.
So let us start the list with some specific items and follow that up with some categories that we think they will like items from:
Anker PowerCore II 20000, High Capacity Portable Charger – These are great for charging on the go and come in handy when the kids have to go to their other siblings sporting events. Nothing hurts more than being in the middle of nowhere on a soccer field and their phone runs out of power. They also come in handy when you are travelling and it is one of the first things that we know we have to pack for every trip. The Anker devices are our favorite as they charge fast, they are durable and are very reliable.
NERF RIVAL NEMESIS MXVII-10K Blaster from HASBRO – We are a Nerf Rival family. They play in the house and we have not had any accidental plate or artwork shooting yet, so that is good. The biggest upgrade for this blaster is the fact that it holds 100 rounds and that is usually where the arguing happens, while the other person is reloading. This gun with the amount of ammo it can hold makes for less reloading. The kids just love them and always look forward to opening the new Nerf Rival upgrade under the tree every year.
SKY VIPER v2450 GPS – The kids have had different drones and have really enjoyed them, but the Sky Viper is great as it allows you to replace the blades if you run into a tree or something of that nature. This has happened to us a few times already with other drones and it is a problem even if you can order parts, which sometimes you cannot. They also come with some extra blades right in the original purchase which is a great bonus. This streaming video drone also has built-in GPS which allows it to do many of the things that the more expensive hobby-grade drones do. Another great feature is the Return to Home that allows the drone to fly back to its original launch point. Overall a much needed upgrade from the toy drones that allows the kids to really get a great taste of a GPS drone with streaming video.
Nintendo Switch with Gray Joy-Con from Nintendo – We currently have this, but we were not one of the first people, it took us a while to find it in stock, but it is well worth it. This Holiday it is a bit easier to find and we think this is a great gift. The Nintendo library is just too good to pass up, and the fact that you can take the Switch with you and play is really fun. This makes a great travel companion and lends itself to some really fun matches of Mario Kart in the back seat of the minivan while on those long trips.
Introducing Echo Spot – Black – Yes it is not out yet, yes we have not used one, but if you want one for this Holiday you better go about pre-ordering it or you will be left out in the cold. Would be great for the kids, especially in the morning when they wake up.
RECOIL – RECOIL is one of those toys that you just have to see to believe, it is an awesome product. Go watch some videos on them and then come back to check out the rest of the list…we will wait. What RECOIL does is take a laser tag type game and augment it into a digitally-enhanced, multiplayer battlefield. You use in-ear surround sound, haptic response blasters, and integrated smartphone gameplay. Players get fully immersed in the gameplay. There is a GPS-enabled map and they have now introduced an indoor gameplay mode, which is perfect for our family.
New Lightning Wired Headphones – My kids love the Bluetooth headphones now that they do not have a headphone jack in their device, but they never seem to have them charged. That being said they are always looking for wired lightning headphones, but because they seems to break them often we do not go for the expensive ones. So far we have found the original Apple lightning headphones to be the best based on the price point for them, so we keep a few extras around. If they do not break them often, there are a bunch of nice higher end brands to look at.
Card Games, Board Games:
We are a family of gamers, all sorts of them, we find it helps us have a fun family night and really get to talk to each other while playing. Plus we are all super competitive, so finding new fun games for the holidays is always a plus.
Hasbro DropMix – It is a deck building game that has hot songs that your kids should like. Seems like a winner already, but the cool mixes they can make while trying to earn points really puts it over the top. There is a audio component to this deck building game that makes it really enjoyable time and time again.
Blue Orange Games Kingdomino – A tile placing game that also has a picking strategy with your pawn, that will affect your turn order. There is a strategy for picking your tile and trying to accumulate the most points as well. The crowns will come into play at the end of the game to determine the winner.
Spin Master 5 – Minute Dungeon – A cooperative game where you get to determine what hero you want to play and then each player will select their mat. Each hero has a special ability so this will come into play on who you select. You then get your cards and 5 minutes later you will see if you can beat the dungeon. A great game to have fun without being as cut throat.
Bezier Games One Night Ultimate Werewolf – They call them social deduction games and this is best played with 3 – 10 players. These can also be short games depending on how the cards lay out. There are three phases, one where you pick your role, the night phase, and the day phase. This one is super fun and easy to set up and play as long as you can agree to really close your eyes!
Spin Master Santorini – Now that this has come down in price since Spin Master got involved, the game of trying to get your worker to the highest level is more accessible for people. You move your worker and build, with your worker climbing up and down if they need to. There are also god powers that allow you to change the game a bit.
Czech Games Codenames – We love this one because when you choose the word for people to try to use to match to the cards it really says something about you and how you think. This is a card game where you are trying to deduce who is part of your spy organization as well as who is not. Easy setup and fun to play.
FoxMind Games Slide Blast Game – We love water slides and we love tile games. Slide Blast brings us both of them in a fun format. This is a game that is very fun to play with the whole family. This is the sort of game that we will leave out because it will get played with very often. Build the longest slide, win the game.
Alderac Entertainment Group Love Letter Boxed Edition – A very back and forth card game while you try to guess what everyone has in their hands. This is a game that really is fun with more than two people. It is both short and portable which is great for vacation. Don’t get thrown off by the title and theme, the boys love it.
Bob Ross The Art of Chill Board Game – It is a Bob Ross Game. Bob is really hot again with the kids and this game also teaches them a bit about art. A game that the kids just love because of Bob himself.
Clothing:
Shirts and socks are always really good ideas when it comes to clothing for the kids. Most of the time you will not spend a bunch of money on socks, so taking the time out to buy something like Bombas are a great gift idea. When it comes to shirts, there are just so many different places, but try to find one of those out-of-the-way websites that has really original tee shirts that most people will not have.
Sports:
At this age, the sports they play are probably not a passing phase so it is alright to spend some money and gift stock on these items. Sometimes it is tough because you don’t think things they need for sports are really gifts, but my stance has changed over time on this especially as prices have seem to risen. For baseball think new gloves or new bat, for swimming think new goggles (yes they can be expensive), for soccer think new top end shin guards, etc…
Tickets:
Another great gift idea is tickets to a sports event, concert, show and all of those good things. It does not always have to be a top professional team, there are a lot of great venues for some amateur teams and stadiums.
You may also be able to find some ideas at some of our Holiday Gift Guides, so make sure to check them out as well. If you have any other ideas head over to our Facebook Page and let us know.
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