Gift Ideas for a 9-Year-Old Girl?

January 6, 2012 12:41 PM

What's a good gift for a 9-year-old girl?

What would be a great gift for a 9-year-old girl? I need a gift for my goddaughter's birthday. She loves fairies and is getting a hand-me-down Kindle, but I'd appreciate any great gift suggestion. Thanks!

posted by kirkaracha to human relations (23 answers total)

If she's getting a Kindle, I'd give an Amazon gift card, along with a long list of books you liked when you were her age. I know that gift cards usually feel like a cop out, but with a cool new toy like a Kindle, getting to pick out books is the best part, and you can contribute to that by making suggestions and helping her shop.
posted by decathecting at 12:47 PM on January 6, 2012 [5 favorites]

seconding the amazon GC. and there's a bunch of great kids book reviews at kidliterate, if you want to see if some newer stuff might be up her alley (full disclosure, i'm friends with a couple of reviewers there, but they do know their stuff.).
posted by koroshiya at 12:50 PM on January 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:56 PM on January 6, 2012

Amazon gift card. Also, consider Ivy and Bean and books or books by Daisy Meadows.
posted by 4ster at 12:56 PM on January 6, 2012

If she likes to sing and has (access to) some sort of MP3 player, the SingStand microphone was a HUGE hit with my 10-year-old this Christmas. You plug your MP3 device into it and then you can sing along with your music, and it even has a button to mute the vocal frequencies a bit for a quasi-karaoke experience. It is available at Toys-R-Usses if you need something bricks and mortar.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:01 PM on January 6, 2012

Art kits and art workbooks.
posted by deanc at 1:02 PM on January 6, 2012

Mother of a 9 year old girl here:

Klutz makes great stuff. My daughter has the friendship bracelet kit and it’s a huge hit. At least where we live (Toronto) these are the rage right now! Klutz kits are available at Michaels if there is one near you.

Also, the American Girl “Smart Girls Guide” books are fantastic!

More ideas:
Gel pens
Notebook/journal/notepads/stickers
Tattoos
The “next level” of crafts, such as latch hook or needlepoint (can get these in fairy motifs)
Makeup (lip gloss, glitter nailpolish etc – but not the real baby stuff)
Hair accessories
Cute accessories: bunny slippers, legwarmers, earmuffs, funny socks
Joke books
Puzzle books
Anything with sparkle usually goes over well!
posted by yawper at 1:04 PM on January 6, 2012 [4 favorites]

Does she like the Tinkerbell product line? You could get her a Pixie Hollow membership if she has regular computer access.

Disclaimer: It's amazing. I know from experience. Doesn't matter that I'm a 20-something adult. Nope. Sure doesn't.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 1:07 PM on January 6, 2012

And oh yeah, girls this age LOVE filling in stuff about what they like, etc. Something like this.

Something I should have mentioned in the first post: stay away from anything babyish. At this age it's all about being "cool". My daughter loves getting stuff that's more adult, like a sleek waterbottle. It depends on the kid of course, but this is the age when they start moving away from branded "kiddie" stuff.
posted by yawper at 1:13 PM on January 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't know how far away you are, but 9 was an age when I started to get to go to visit my aunt's, and have some small adventure like going to a play or out to dinner or walking around in the city shopping. It made me feel SO GROWN-UP, and I loved it, but that may depend on her temperament.
posted by mercredi at 1:38 PM on January 6, 2012

Mother of a former fairy-loving nine-year-old here. How about this book? It's got loads of pop-ups, things to pull out and look at, and little tidbits. It's really great.

I also recommend to anyone who will listen the American Girl series of books. Not the ones about the dolls! The ones geared to actual girls. One of the best ones is The Care and Keeping of You. It's fantastic and my daughter devoured it. Even if you don't get any of them for her right now, you can keep the idea on the back burner for later.
posted by cooker girl at 1:39 PM on January 6, 2012

The Daring Book For Girls!

You will be revered as the best uncle ever.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:57 PM on January 6, 2012 [5 favorites]

A collection of fairy tales along with a fairy tale cookbook.
posted by headnsouth at 2:15 PM on January 6, 2012

Having just had the holiday gift time with a 9 year old, I can tell you that though books are always well-received, even the most devoted readers will be much more enthusiastic about "things". The only thing I would add to yawpers excellent suggestions is wall or bedroom decor: I just saw this cool website with wall decals or a laptop decal that might even work on the kindle and you can get in a fairy theme (www.dezignwithaz.com), and there are most certainly other similar options that you could find.

It sounds like she hasn't yet moved into the 'tween stage, but for my kid, the Tiger Beat / Bop / J14 brand magazines featuring pop stars are a HUGE thing, which I would never buy her, but as an uncle you might be a hero to get her that kind of thing (if her parents are like me and have just kind of given over to that whole thing, but don't want to seem like they have).
posted by gubenuj at 2:24 PM on January 6, 2012

I just bought a friends 9yr old a diary! She loves it so very much.
posted by Sweetmag at 2:34 PM on January 6, 2012

Thanks for the excellent ideas, everyone! I went with the Klutz friendship bracelet kit, but I can use the other suggestions on future gift occasions.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:28 PM on January 6, 2012

I don't know if this is still The Thing, but my friend's kids were very into the Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow online game/community thing, and there are paid memberships that give kids access to enhanced features. Might go over really well if she's fairy-crazy!
posted by mskyle at 3:55 PM on January 6, 2012

I'm hoping my goddaughter, who will turn 9 in August, will not have read any Judy Blume books yet because I want to buy her this Judy Blume Box Set. These books killed me when I was a kid.
posted by wherever, whatever at 4:14 PM on January 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Does she have a real jewelry box yet? If not, then that would be a wonderful next gift. Then, all future gifts can be jewelry.
posted by myselfasme at 4:36 PM on January 6, 2012

I second cooker girl's recommendation of Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies books. The artwork in them is so charming and memorable that your goddaughter will probably want to keep them around long after she formally outgrows the fairy craze. :)
posted by arianell at 8:18 PM on January 6, 2012

One of the best gifts I got when I was nine, was a set of the Anne of Green Gables books.
posted by mimi at 8:32 PM on January 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nthing the gift card, especially with the new Kindle. Anecdata: my dad buys his neighbor's kids gift cards every year for their birthdays and they LOVE them. They love the novelty of picking out their own gifts. (They are about your goddaughter's age.)
posted by dovesandstones at 8:59 PM on January 6, 2012

If she loves fairies, and you want to introduce her to more traditional/historical readings of fairies; Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust, or modern urban fantasy, like Charles de Lindt's young adult novels.
posted by rodgerd at 2:47 AM on January 7, 2012