Christmas Gifts For Teenagers

Teenagers are, in a lot of ways, much easier to buy for because they've an opinion on everything and aren't at all reserved about telling you exactly what they do and don't like! Unfortunately though, once they have every pair of jeans, hilarious T-shirt, CD, DVD and game that they'll ever need, you can be left a bit stuck - especially for smaller gifts.

We've reviewed some lovely things throughout the past year, and these are some of our favourites for teenagers...

Never underestimate books. There are books out there for everyone. Fiction books can be tricky unless you have a good idea of what they like. We reviewed Skulduggery Pleasant, which was great for the Harry Potter/Lord Of The Rings generation and reminded me very much of Discworld. Suitable for age 11+ and currently £6.

Non-fiction books are brilliant for teens. Whether it's the Miley Cyrus or Mighty Boosh Annual, Basic Car Maintenance or my personal favourites - cook books....two that we reviewed which really interested my teens were The Burger and Classic Baking. Team it up with a little frying pan or cupcake stand and piping bags and you've got an afternoon's entertainment while they gain confidence and learn a skill.

IWOOT - or I Want One Of Those - is a great website for stockingfillers for teens. I've used it for years now and although barely anything I've ever bought still survives intact, it's given us hours of hilarity and moments of cool...we reviewed the Retro Calculator at £6.49.

When I was a teenager I spent a huge percentage of my money on films and developing of photographs. Now teenagers don't have to - but it doesn't make their photo's any less interesting or important. Posterfriend is a great way to display photographs taken directly from Facebook - you can even select your friend's (or child's) photo's. Loads of sizes and layouts available, prices start at only £12.

Cable And Cotton lights are perfect for adding a personal touch and making a room look like your own. Teenagers spend more time by choice in their bedrooms than at any other age, so it needs to be a pleasant place to be. You choose the colours, and let the lights set the mood. Currently £25.90 for a string of 20 lights.

We've had absolutely tons of fun with Celebrity-Cutouts. They've joined in with all sorts of activities and Tom Jones even came out for the day to Blackpool. Completely pointless, totally brilliant. Prices start at £3.58 for masks, rising to £32.97 for full size cutouts.

 Katamino is a great game for teenagers. Highly competitive, but you can play on your own and build your skills. It gets your brain active but is ridiculously quick to get to grips with. It's not cheap, but it'll last forever and makes a very beautiful gift. Currently £25.

Plus Plus is a 2D and 3D building medium consisting of ++ shaped plastic blocks. It's actually very relaxing and full of creativity. Whenever my teens are stressed and snappy I try and remember to bring it out and put it on the table, and it's moments before someone picks it up and starts making something. Prices start at £5 for 100 piece boxes.

Music is important to a huge percentage of teenagers. You could always encourage any latent ability and secure your own luxury retirement by investing in the most ridiculously loud instrument you can think of and raising the next Noel Gallagher or John Lennon.

Of course there is always Lego....

I was not paid to review any of these items or add these links to my gift guide, they are just my personal favourites and the favourites of my 5 teenagers.