Gift Ideas for Girls Ages 9 to 12

Looking for girls gift ideas? These fun toys, creative activities and beauty products are sweet surprises for girls who love to dress up and accessorize.  My own girls enjoy gifts that inspire their creativity. Our gift list for girls ages 9 to 12 includes stylish fashion dolls, DIY spa products, and make your own accessory ideas. Furthermore, each of these gift ideas for girls costs less than $30.

Creative Toys – Girls Gift Ideas

First on our list, Glo-Up Girls fashion dolls are a lot of fun to dress up and accessorize. The Glo-Up Girls collection includes several different characters, each which come with darling outfits and accessories. These dolls are fun to personalize because girls can customize each doll with hair rhinestones and body art stickers. My daughters received Sadie and Tiffany, which they really enjoyed unboxing and styling.

Glo-Up Girls Fashion Dolls

Made by Far Out Toys, Glo-Up Girls doll Tiffany has blond hair streaked with pink, blue eyes and color-changing nails and lips. Her stylish yellow and blue dress ties in the front and coordinates with her blue gladiator sandals. Last but not least, Tiffany’s accessories include a pearl handbag, gold bracelets, bow earrings and a matching bow necklace.

Glo-Up Girls doll Sadie has purple hair tucked into two buns. She’s accessorized with red heart earrings, butterfly sunglasses, an ice cream bag and bright pink boots. Sadie loves color and sparkle, which is evident by her colorful heart top, sparkly pink sweater and holographic silver skirt. Like Tiffany, Sadie’s lips and nails are color-changing with temperature. Best of all, girls can pretend like they are applying her lipstick or painting on nail polish.

Lego Friends Girls Gift Ideas

Also perfect for tween girls, Lego Friends sets come in all styles. My daughters’ favorite sets include the Lego hotel and the Lego mall. Each Lego Friends character such as Emma, Stephanie and Julian have their own hair colors, styles and outfits. My kids love playing with Legos, pretending to be the characters and building creative houses and shops. Lego Friends sets are very fun girls gift ideas for any special occasion.

Beauty Products – Girls Gift Ideas

My 10-year-old daughter especially loves spa and beauty products. Some of the best spa products include natural lip balm, homemade sugar scrub, body butter, and bath bombs. Additionally, many girls (and moms) will like the Java Skincare collection of body products which are made with coffee.

Coffee Infused Beauty Products

Java Skincare lip balm is especially lovely. It’s tinted pink and scented with rose geranium essential oil. Because it’s made with green coffee, this lip balm smooths and moisturizes with a delightful fragrance of fresh coffee grounds. Java Skincare natural lip balm is sophisticated yet naturally girly.

Homemade Sugar Scrub

Naturally exfoliating, homemade sugar scrub is another clever addition to our list of girls gift ideas. You can make sugar scrub by mixing coconut oil and sugar, plus any fragrance oil you’d like. Store homemade sugar scrub in a small jar and tie it with a bow. I’ve made mint sugar scrub and lavender sugar scrub. My daughters enjoy using sugar scrub on their feet and toes, after soaking their feet and before applying toenail polish. See my full sugar scrub tutorial here.

DIY Lip Gloss Kit

Many tween girls will also enjoy making their own lip gloss! You can either purchase a lip gloss craft kit, or do what I did and gather all the supplies needed to make lip gloss. We did this fun activity one afternoon and made tinted and flavored lip balm. I found these cute gem-inspired lip gloss jars on Amazon. Learn how to make your own lip balm in my DIY tutorial here.

Body Spray & Perfume

Simple and sweet, body spray is a personal and inexpensive gift idea for girls. Body spray also makes a great stocking stuffer! If you want to spend a bit extra, gifting your daughter a bottle of nicer perfume is a fun way to remind her she’s special. My favorite fragrances are light and floral, or fresh and inspired by spring and sunshine.

Hair Accessories – Girls Gift Ideas

In my experience, as girls learn how to create their signature style, they often enjoy doing their hair. Clips, headbands, and hair ties become must-have essentials for experimental hair styles. You can pick out new hair accessories from Amazon or Target, or gift your tween girl with supplies to make her own!

Braided & Jeweled Headbands

Furthermore, many tween girls will enjoy making their own headbands. All you need to make a custom headband is a plain headband, oversize silk flowers, rhinestones and other decorative accents.

Store bought headbands are great inexpensive girls gift ideas too! My girls love wearing fabric knotted headbands, braided headbands, thin plastic glitter headbands, and headbands with rhinestones. Just enough sparkle is perfect.

DIY Jewelry Supplies

Last but not least, many girls love making jewelry. You can buy a DIY jewelry kit which comes with everything girls need to make their own accessories. One year I gifted my daughter a jewelry making kit I put together myself. I went to Michaels craft store and picked out a variety of loose beads, charms and clasps. Craft stores often have great sales, and you can choose beads in your daughter’s favorite colors.

My gift guide for tween girls is primarily inspired by my own girls who love dressing up, crafting and creating. We enjoy trying out new beauty products or making DIY spa products together. In our family, creative ideas often create happy hearts!

Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!