By Jody Allen
The journey from boyhood to manhood is a rough one, but it’s a journey that should be celebrated along the way.
If you or your child is invited to a teenage boy’s birthday party, here are some ideas of what you could buy him as his gift — and it doesn’t have to be that expensive!
1. Tools
Tools are my failsafe teenage boy gifts. From 13 to 18 and beyond, there seems to be a sense of pride in owning and looking after their own tools. For younger teenagers, I tend to buy an ‘all-in-one’ tool kit which includes a few screwdrivers, a hammer and a tape measure. Enough for them to put together a TV unit from Ikea but not too much that they attempt to fix the leaking shower by themselves. For older teenagers, I go for quality over quantity and get maybe two screwdrivers but make sure they are going to last.
2. A New Wallet
Surf shops have some great fashion wallets for teenage boys at excellent prices. As most of the shop attendants are also young, get them to help you pick a cool design (and they’ll make sure you don’t accidentally pick a girl’s wallet!)
3. A Torch
Here’s my advice when buying a torch for a teenage boy. Go HUGE or go compact. And it all depends on what you think he’ll use it for. If he’s the camping sort, then bigger is probably better, but if he’s into tinkering with machinery, then a small LED torch is best.
4. Beach Towel
Boys love mucking around in water; be it the beach, a lake, river or by the pool. But they don’t want to be bringing their old Scooby Doo towel along with them. Buy him a large beach towel with classic design so it won’t date too quickly.
5. iTunes Voucher
No teenage boy is going to feel like an iTunes voucher is a lazy present: he’ll LOVE it! You might like to list a few bands you or your friends listened to when you were his age or recommend an artist for him to download. These are good too if you need to post your gift or the birthday child is in rural Australia and can’t easily get to the shops.
6. A Camping Chair
A camping chair is a great gift because it’s easy to transport and can be used in many situations. Whether going fishing, camping or just sitting around a fire with mates, you know your present will get lots of use.
7. A Magazine Subscription
There is a great variety of male-oriented magazines on the market from motorcycling to computers. Make sure you have a flick through and don’t just look at the front cover, so you can make sure the images inside are appropriate and not intended for adults. A couple of chocolate bars to wrap in with the magazine is a perfect gift idea. The best thing about magazine subscriptions is that you can write the details of the subscription in a Christmas card – and they just arrive every month!
Magazine ideas for teenager boys include:
Double Helix
A science magazine from CSIRO for kids aged 8 – 14 years. Find out more
Krash Magazine
Krash is the world’s coolest boys’ magazine. It’s core is WWE, anime and gaming surrounded by a world of sport, comics, cars and more. Aimed at 8 – 12 year old boys. Find out more.
8. A Trendy T-shirt
Find out what size clothing the birthday boy wears and get your own children to help pick a t-shirt they think he will like.
9. Movie Tickets
You can buy movie tickets in bulk for quite a bit less than box office prices. If you know you have a lot of teenage parties coming up – consider buying some and giving one or two for a gift with a bag of Jaffa’s at each birthday.
10. Junk Food
Ok, so it’s not going to change his world, build his friendships or make him smarter… but teenage boys do LOVE to eat! Make up a ‘man’ hamper for him. Put in some nuts, soft drink, potato chips, chocolate bars, savoury biscuits and if your budget allows, a pair of thick woolly socks.
What other gift ideas do you have for teenage boys?
