Gift Ideas

35 Best Gifts for 11-Year-Olds 2023, Tested by Experts

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Fun Puzzle Game

Kanoodle Pyramid

Fun Puzzle Game

Kanoodle Pyramid

Now 30% Off

Credit: Educational Insights

You can credit TikTok with selling more than 3 million Kanoodle games, with those accepting the #KanoodleChallenge trying to solve the brain-teasing puzzles online. But by 11, they might be ready to step up and try the harder Kanoodle Pyramid. To play, contenders have to select a puzzle with a certain configuration of pieces, and then use their smarts to see if they can fit in the remaining pieces to make a 3D pyramid shape. Ages 7+

Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner

Professor Maxwell’s VR Dinosaurs

Professor Maxwell's VR Dinosaurs

Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner

Professor Maxwell’s VR Dinosaurs

Now 26% Off

Credit: Abacus Brands

Good Housekeeping testers were impressed with this STEM set, saying that it felt like dinosaurs were right there in the room with them. The set comes with VR goggles, an 80-page book filled with immersive activities and supplies for hands-on projects to do at home. Ages 8+

Fun, Casual Game

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Card Game

Amazon’s Choice

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Card Game

Fun, Casual Game

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Card Game

Now 20% Off

Credit: Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

Easy to learn, fast to play, this is the epitome of a game you can just break out whenever there’s a dull moment. Players have to flip over cards while saying one of five words (appropriately, either “taco,” “cat,” “goat,” “cheese” or “pizza”), and if the word they say matches the word on the card they’ve played, all the players have to rush to slap the pile. Whoever gets there last has to take the pile, and the player who gets rid of their cards first wins. People love this so much, it has more than 38,000 five-star ratings on Amazon. Ages 8+

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For Future Business Leaders

It’s My Biz Pet Care Business Kit

Pet Care Business Kit

For Future Business Leaders

It’s My Biz Pet Care Business Kit

Credit: Fashion Angels

Get them started on an entrepreneurial path with this kit, which helps them get a pet-care business off the ground. It comes with some tools of the trade (like some pet toys, a collapsible water bowl, a pet brush and poop bags), but also marketing materials (door hangers, pins, business cards, etc) and items to keep them organized (a client book, receipts). Or, if pet care isn’t their passion, there are also It’s My Biz kits for a lemonade stand, babysitting business or baked-goods business. Ages 8+

Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner

GraviTrax: The Game – Impact

GraviTrax: The Game - Impact

Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner

GraviTrax: The Game – Impact

Credit: Ravensburger

This game takes their marble runs to the next level: The STEM-themed brain-teasing game challenges players to make different kinds of marble runs using limited pieces. Good Housekeeping Institute testers say that, since there are challenges of varying difficulty included in the same box, older and younger siblings were able to play together. Ages 8+

Best Gift Under $20

Sleuth & Solve: Science

Sleuth & Solve: Science

Best Gift Under $20

Sleuth & Solve: Science

Credit: Chronicle Books

They’ll have to keep their minds sharp and their observational skills on point to solve the 20 mysteries in this book. Each of them has a science-themed bent, too, so they might pick up facts about how a baker can know if an egg is raw or hard-boiled, or how an animal expert might know if an elephant stampede is coming. If they like it, they can get the other books in the Sleuth & Solve series. Ages 8 – 12

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Unique Fidget Toy

Nee Doh Nice Cube

Nee Doh Nice Cube

Unique Fidget Toy

Nee Doh Nice Cube

Credit: Schylling

Kids love Nee Doh in all shapes in sizes, from the very small to the very large to groovy shapes like fruit or cats. The Nice Cube is still fun to squeeze and squish like all the other shapes of Nee Doh, but, no matter how much you smush it, when you put it down it will always return to its cube form. Ages 3+

Cool Craft Kit

My Friendship Bracelet Maker

My Friendship Bracelet Maker

Cool Craft Kit

My Friendship Bracelet Maker

Credit: Choose Friendship

Those summer-camp days feel like they’re here forever with this friendship-bracelet kit. Not only does it come with 20 pre-cut threads (in their own storage drawer, no less), it has a board that holds the bracelet and strands in place while the creation is in-progress. (The board even comes in several colors!) You can also use its app to find friendship-bracelet patterns and instructions. Ages 8+

Fun LEGO Set

LEGO Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set

Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set

Fun LEGO Set

LEGO Donkey Kong’s Tree House Expansion Set

Credit: LEGO

LEGO fans and Super Mario Bros. devotees will be thrilled to be able to build out Donkey Kong’s jungle habitat, complete with a Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong. (There’s also a smaller, less expensive Dixie Kong set.) And, if you have the figures from the Super Mario Starter Course (or Peach Starer Course), you’ll be able to send them through the area and use the LEGO app to collect digital coins. Ages 7+

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Best Fidget Toy for 11-Year-Olds

Shashibo Shape Shifting Box

Best Seller

Shape Shifting Box

Best Fidget Toy for 11-Year-Olds

Shashibo Shape Shifting Box

Credit: Shashibo

Tweens are still into the fidget craze, and this amazing box will give his hands something quiet to do for minutes on end. It unfolds into different shapes, revealing different patterns inside, and then it’s a puzzle to get it back into its cube form again. Ages 8+

Fun For Their Rooms

Big Joe Milano Bean Bag Chair

Milano Bean Bag Chair

Fun For Their Rooms

Big Joe Milano Bean Bag Chair

Credit: Big Joe

Who wouldn’t want to cozy up and read, play video games or text and chat in a chair like this? This chair impressed Good Housekeeping Institute testers with its firm fill, but really won over Lab experts with how easy it was to clean the fabric. It comes in several colors and prints, and has a handle so you can drag it around.

RELATED: The Best Bean Bag Chairs, According to Expert Testing

For DIY Kids

Kid Made Modern Rainbow Craft Kit

Rainbow Craft Kit

For DIY Kids

Kid Made Modern Rainbow Craft Kit

Credit: Kid Made Modern

As kids get older, their craft projects may get bigger and more elaborate, but the supplies are still basically the same. If they need their stash refreshed, give them this all-in-one craft kit, which comes with more than 300 pieces in a range of colors. Ages 6+

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Gift Under $10

Melissa & Doug Scratch Art Rainbow Mini Notes

Scratch Art Rainbow Mini Notes

Gift Under $10

Melissa & Doug Scratch Art Rainbow Mini Notes

Now 56% Off

Credit: Melissa & Doug

Notes to friends, reminders and doodles are way more fun when they’re done on small squares of scratch-art paper. This comes with 125 square sheets of scratch-art paper, plus a wooden stylus to use. It’s a cute gift to put in a stocking or a small gift basket. Ages 4+

For Pokéfans

Pokémon Paldea Evolved Elite Trainer Box

Pokémon Paldea Evolved Elite Trainer Box

For Pokéfans

Pokémon Paldea Evolved Elite Trainer Box

Credit: The Pokémon Company

For tweens into the Pokémon Trading Card game, this box will beef up their card collections with their favorite Paldea-region Pokémon from the Scarlet and Violet games. It comes with nine booster packs, along with fun extras for players like damage-counter dice, card sleeves, coins for coin flips, status markers and energy cards. Ages 6+

Top Gift for 11-Year-Olds

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera

Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera

Top Gift for 11-Year-Olds

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera

Credit: Fujifilm

Cell phone cameras get the job done, but it’s way more fun to take pictures with an instant camera — especially when there’s film involved. They’ll especially appreciate the small mirror that makes taking selfies so much easier. The camera comes in several colors, and you can buy additional film with fun borders. (And get an album to put the pictures in, too!) Ages 8+

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Just a Little Something

Reversible Axolotl Plushie

Reversible Axolotl Plushie

Just a Little Something

Reversible Axolotl Plushie

Credit: TeeTurtle

Axolotls are the animal du jour, and this plush gives you two for the price of one. It comes in a galaxy pattern with a happy expression, but flip it inside-out and you get the firey one with an angry expression. If you don’t like that pattern combo, it comes in more than a dozen others. Ages 3+

For the 11-Year-Old Who Has Everything

Flying Orb Ball

Flying Orb Ball

For the 11-Year-Old Who Has Everything

Flying Orb Ball

Credit: HIJJPS

These glowing, flying spheres are definitely trendy among tweens, and this one has received more than 4,000 five-star ratings on Amazon. The whole thing is controlled by hand, not remote, and kids can learn how different throwing angles result in different flight paths. Ages 6+

For Creative LEGO Fans

Klutz LEGO Minifigure Photography

LEGO Minifigure Photography

For Creative LEGO Fans

Klutz LEGO Minifigure Photography

Credit: Klutz

Whether they’re into taking cool photographs or building elaborate LEGO scenes, this book will get their creativity working overtime. It teaches kids different photography techniques, like how to use forced perspective to make a minifigure look as tall as a person, or how to use depth of field to direct attention to a certain part of the scene. It also comes with props, like a clear posing rod, to help inspire scenes. Ages 7+

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Great for Brightening Up a Space

Photo Clip String Lights

Photo Clip String Lights

Great for Brightening Up a Space

Photo Clip String Lights

Credit: LECLSTAR

They’ll love personalizing their rooms with these lights, which feature 50 clear clips to hang photos from on 17ft of lights. Their walls will be one-of-a-kind.

Unique Artsy Gift

Super 3D Pen

Super 3D Pen

Unique Artsy Gift

Super 3D Pen

Credit: MYNT3D

They can take their art projects into the next dimension with this pen, which gives them the basics for 3D printing. It lets them control the flow speed for the plastic filament, and it also comes with three colors (though you can always get them extras).

Headshot of Marisa LaScala

Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.

Headshot of Rachel Rothman

Chief Technologist & Executive Technical Director

Rachel Rothman (she/her) is the chief technologist and executive technical director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she oversees testing methodology, implementation and reporting for all GH Labs. She also manages GH’s growing research division and the analysis of applicants for the GH Seal and all other testing emblems. During her 15 years at Good Housekeeping, Rachel has had the opportunity to evaluate thousands of products, including toys and cars for GH’s annual awards programs and countless innovative breakthroughs in consumer tech and home improvement. 

 

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