What is the absolute coolest thing to give a nine year-old girl?
June 3, 2024 8:54 PM Subscribe
We're visiting our favorite cousins in Romania next month, including their very awesome nine year-old daughter. What is the very coolest up-to-the-minute thing that little girls 9-to-11 like? Note: things that are thoughtful or non-material are easy; she has great parents. They take care of her imagination and heart. We're the weird Americans who show up with awesome junk she can't get in Romania. Toys, clothes, electronic, whatever.
squishmallows, slime, anything Taylor swift, Bluetooth microphone for karaoke, a journal with a lock and key, tamagotchis are cool again
posted by missjenny at 9:05 PM on June 3 [5 favorites]
posted by missjenny at 9:05 PM on June 3 [5 favorites]
Stanley cup, maybe? Or are those not cool anymore?
posted by sacrifix at 9:28 PM on June 3 [1 favorite]
posted by sacrifix at 9:28 PM on June 3 [1 favorite]
Candy, squishmellows, lego sets, blind box toy sets, hello kitty, nail stickers, instant camera like an Instax, friendship bracelet kits, tie dye kits, mosaic kits, squishy night light like this duck, any of those Japanese make your own candy kits, fanny pack or silly socks.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 9:48 PM on June 3 [4 favorites]
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 9:48 PM on June 3 [4 favorites]
Wanted to add that Target carries cute tshirts with logos/themes/pop culture references that are cute and popular.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 9:50 PM on June 3
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 9:50 PM on June 3
Just ask their parents to make sure the given cultural reference is universal - Taylor Swift, yes, but a lot of cartoons aren't. Different generation but I remember Americans being stunned the Simpsons and SpongeBob Squarepants were NOT universal cultural touchstones.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 10:02 PM on June 3 [3 favorites]
posted by I claim sanctuary at 10:02 PM on June 3 [3 favorites]
All the Romanian girls I know have ear piercings and love shiny fun earrings like you get at Claire’s or Hot Topic. Seconding Target for American cool pop culture overseas.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:25 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:25 PM on June 3 [2 favorites]
I have nieces in that age range, yes to anything bright, cheerful, and fun. They like to shop at Target, and both enjoy Squishmallows. One niece makes her own glitter slime.
All the girls in the family like cheerful clothing in gaudy colors (my kid, 5, shops at Walmart for their Wonder Nation summer dresses, the nieces like Target's Cat and Jack line). Also, glittery Skechers sneakers and pretty much any Cat and Jack shoes are popular at my daughter's school in the higher grades.
I wouldn't worry about pop culture translating to Romania, I think it's fun for it not to. When I was around that age, my dad would bring home random t shirts from his business trips to Moscow. I wore them constantly even though I had no clue what they said.
I don't see Stanley cups around my daughter's school, that wave never hit here (my town isn't the sort of place where people can afford them, tbh). But kids do like to put stickers on their water bottles and different keychains and charms on their backpacks.
posted by champers at 2:06 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]
All the girls in the family like cheerful clothing in gaudy colors (my kid, 5, shops at Walmart for their Wonder Nation summer dresses, the nieces like Target's Cat and Jack line). Also, glittery Skechers sneakers and pretty much any Cat and Jack shoes are popular at my daughter's school in the higher grades.
I wouldn't worry about pop culture translating to Romania, I think it's fun for it not to. When I was around that age, my dad would bring home random t shirts from his business trips to Moscow. I wore them constantly even though I had no clue what they said.
I don't see Stanley cups around my daughter's school, that wave never hit here (my town isn't the sort of place where people can afford them, tbh). But kids do like to put stickers on their water bottles and different keychains and charms on their backpacks.
posted by champers at 2:06 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]
Target has clothes (also the Cat & Jack line) with glitter embedded in it. Glitter. On the fabric. Every leggings-wearing child I know seems to have at least one pair.
Backpack pets (mostly miniature stuffies with giant eyes, some squishes) and beaded decorations on what I'd call a keychain clip but will probably never be used for actual keys.
Not merely locking journals, but elaborately decorated ones especially. The Scholastic book fair (which has a website these days) has been the pinnacle of this for us. My kid (not a girl, but often aligned with them in these regards) got one where the whole thing's wrapped in stretchy fabric that on the front becomes a racoon's sleeping bag with an actual zipper, and that was an agonizing choice amongst temptations.
Lately all the girls those ages I actually know (as opposed to observing at a remove) are super into witchy magic and mythical monsters (more obscure the better), and love the Ologies books and making potions. Most of them wouldn't outright reject all bright, cheery things yet, but there's definitely a solid trend away from it, and I'd expect (for example) a headband with black cat ears to be better-received than one with bright tie-dye ones. (Everyone's got cat ear headbands too, btw.) Sometimes it feels like adults are trying to make unicorn-everything happen, and the kids just aren't into it.
Oh, and definitely the durable stickers for water bottles/laptops. My kid's class favors putting them on cuttable magnet sheets for locker decorations, which they then trade around. The stickers are absurdly cheap, kind of worryingly so, and really do hold up to life.
posted by teremala at 4:23 AM on June 4 [6 favorites]
Backpack pets (mostly miniature stuffies with giant eyes, some squishes) and beaded decorations on what I'd call a keychain clip but will probably never be used for actual keys.
Not merely locking journals, but elaborately decorated ones especially. The Scholastic book fair (which has a website these days) has been the pinnacle of this for us. My kid (not a girl, but often aligned with them in these regards) got one where the whole thing's wrapped in stretchy fabric that on the front becomes a racoon's sleeping bag with an actual zipper, and that was an agonizing choice amongst temptations.
Lately all the girls those ages I actually know (as opposed to observing at a remove) are super into witchy magic and mythical monsters (more obscure the better), and love the Ologies books and making potions. Most of them wouldn't outright reject all bright, cheery things yet, but there's definitely a solid trend away from it, and I'd expect (for example) a headband with black cat ears to be better-received than one with bright tie-dye ones. (Everyone's got cat ear headbands too, btw.) Sometimes it feels like adults are trying to make unicorn-everything happen, and the kids just aren't into it.
Oh, and definitely the durable stickers for water bottles/laptops. My kid's class favors putting them on cuttable magnet sheets for locker decorations, which they then trade around. The stickers are absurdly cheap, kind of worryingly so, and really do hold up to life.
posted by teremala at 4:23 AM on June 4 [6 favorites]
Cinnamon gum, last time I checked, has weirdly not made it to Europe. Also - cinnamon toothpaste!
If she's a girly-girl - the weird "fake nail party" sets.
posted by Dotty at 5:51 AM on June 4
If she's a girly-girl - the weird "fake nail party" sets.
posted by Dotty at 5:51 AM on June 4
I have no idea if this will work for you or not, but it popped into my head when I read "We're the weird Americans who show up with awesome junk she can't get in Romania" because that's very much up my alley as Weird Aunt.
I would pick an item - preferably a candy or something like that - and get ALL THE VARIETIES. I mean an ABSURD number of varieties. You know how visitors go to an American grocery store and get overwhelmed by cereal choice? You bring ALL THE CEREALS. Not one, not two, but like 30. Oreo varieties. M&M varieties. Cereals.
Background: I have done this with mac and cheese (I think I had 36 kinds) and non-mint-flavored toothpaste from New Zealand (so different realm entirely, but same idea, maybe 35 kinds?) and sent them to two of my niblings. The presents went over very well.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:25 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]
I would pick an item - preferably a candy or something like that - and get ALL THE VARIETIES. I mean an ABSURD number of varieties. You know how visitors go to an American grocery store and get overwhelmed by cereal choice? You bring ALL THE CEREALS. Not one, not two, but like 30. Oreo varieties. M&M varieties. Cereals.
Background: I have done this with mac and cheese (I think I had 36 kinds) and non-mint-flavored toothpaste from New Zealand (so different realm entirely, but same idea, maybe 35 kinds?) and sent them to two of my niblings. The presents went over very well.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:25 AM on June 4 [5 favorites]
Lately all the girls those ages I actually know (as opposed to observing at a remove) are super into witchy magic and mythical monsters ...
Yeah, there has been a big surge in the Baby Goth trend for the older elementary age crowd, probably magnified by the show Wednesday (with Jenna Ortega) that a lot of kids liked. Think Doc Martens, (sparkly) black accessories, maybe some slightly red lip gloss.
Seconding everything tipsyBumblebee listed, and also a Stanley cup (definitely still a thing my 10-year-old son says some of his classmates are obsessed with).
On the candy front, Nerds Gummy Clusters are a new one that all the kids I know (and many adults) love. 99% of the time when a new candy is released it is absolute garbage, but these are actually really good! And new enough that they might not have made it to Romania yet and would be a fun novelty.
posted by Jemstar at 7:26 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]
Yeah, there has been a big surge in the Baby Goth trend for the older elementary age crowd, probably magnified by the show Wednesday (with Jenna Ortega) that a lot of kids liked. Think Doc Martens, (sparkly) black accessories, maybe some slightly red lip gloss.
Seconding everything tipsyBumblebee listed, and also a Stanley cup (definitely still a thing my 10-year-old son says some of his classmates are obsessed with).
On the candy front, Nerds Gummy Clusters are a new one that all the kids I know (and many adults) love. 99% of the time when a new candy is released it is absolute garbage, but these are actually really good! And new enough that they might not have made it to Romania yet and would be a fun novelty.
posted by Jemstar at 7:26 AM on June 4 [1 favorite]
My daughter is in this age group, and she has gotten really into rainbow looming.
posted by timestep at 7:28 AM on June 4
posted by timestep at 7:28 AM on June 4
Response by poster: Well, the good news is, you are all right on target with our thinking. The less good news is that we have already given squishmallows, slime, Legos, sparkle stuff, earrings, nail stickers, friendship bracelet kits...
Still some good stuff on here to consider though!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:31 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]
Still some good stuff on here to consider though!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:31 AM on June 4 [2 favorites]
If games might work, my 10-year-old niece is very into Uno and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza right now.
On the "I personally shudder to recommend, but" tip, at her almost-nine Christmas, the LOL Surprise dolls were a big hit with her (kind of a nightmare for everyone else with all the plastic and tiny pieces, but if you want wild overindulgence, they're that, for sure).
Do they have any hobbies you might be able to get weird/cute stuff for? Like my niece really loved a set of unicorn makeup brushes this past Christmas and would probably be really into some offbeat bakewear, like cookie cutters or mini-cake pans in cool shapes.
On the "look, America has nine million kinds" front, lip balms/glosses tend to go over well with more femme girls at this age.
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:47 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]
On the "I personally shudder to recommend, but" tip, at her almost-nine Christmas, the LOL Surprise dolls were a big hit with her (kind of a nightmare for everyone else with all the plastic and tiny pieces, but if you want wild overindulgence, they're that, for sure).
Do they have any hobbies you might be able to get weird/cute stuff for? Like my niece really loved a set of unicorn makeup brushes this past Christmas and would probably be really into some offbeat bakewear, like cookie cutters or mini-cake pans in cool shapes.
On the "look, America has nine million kinds" front, lip balms/glosses tend to go over well with more femme girls at this age.
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:47 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]
My mom turned eighty and my cousin turned fifty so we all went to the beach to celebrate the milestone birthdays. I brought some boring gifts I don't remember for my mother and cousin but I went all out on my cousin's kid, a girl of I think eleven or twelve, and brought all my nail polish plus everything I could get my hands on at the cheaper beauty supply places for a mani pedi party. HUGE hit. Huge.
My cousin's child and I were both familiar with the same YouTube nail-art superstar, who has since, I've just discovered, come out with her own line of polish. I don't know whether things have changed among the kids since this wildly successful nail polish event, but I can't imagine they would have. Child was way into TikTok then; kids are still way into TikTok, now; why would wacko nail polish trends be any different? So my idea is, if you really want to go all out, get the child HoloTaco stuff. IMO 9 is about ready to graduate from nail stickers to the real serious sparkle.
If I were doing this, I'd get:
*either the "rock candy" bundle or all the shimmers
*Maybe one or two magnetic polishes so she can do the cats-eye effect. She could totally use a simple 'fridge magnet, to make the effect happen, but I wouldn't cheap out, I'd get her the hilarious "magnetic wand."
*A few solid colors--at least one of them black because it looks cool with toppers see next item. (For solids you could actually go downmarket and hit up the Beauty Max for Wet 'n' Wild or whatever cheapies, though I wouldn't get cheap black; you have to use multiple coats of the cheap stuff to achieve true opaque black, and it takes forever, which is not optimal when you're nine.)
*A flake topper or two
*Plenty o' taco (top coat) (can be used as a base coat; no need to buy both). Get at least one glossy and one matte. You can cheap out on top coat, too, but the cheaper ones can take ages to dry and can dry wrinkly.
*Maybe some hologram skinny brushes in case the child gets into it and wants to paint tiny designs. Or a manicure kit with the hologram tools?
To round out the kit, from a beauty supply store or big box store get nail polish remover and cotton balls.
If it's too late to order all this stuff or if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy influencer nail polish, you could do essentially the same gift but just buy piecemeal from the beauty supply, but they probably won't have hologram or magnetic polish, and what they do have, polish with glitter in it, is a nightmare to try to get off your nails.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:36 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]
My cousin's child and I were both familiar with the same YouTube nail-art superstar, who has since, I've just discovered, come out with her own line of polish. I don't know whether things have changed among the kids since this wildly successful nail polish event, but I can't imagine they would have. Child was way into TikTok then; kids are still way into TikTok, now; why would wacko nail polish trends be any different? So my idea is, if you really want to go all out, get the child HoloTaco stuff. IMO 9 is about ready to graduate from nail stickers to the real serious sparkle.
If I were doing this, I'd get:
*either the "rock candy" bundle or all the shimmers
*Maybe one or two magnetic polishes so she can do the cats-eye effect. She could totally use a simple 'fridge magnet, to make the effect happen, but I wouldn't cheap out, I'd get her the hilarious "magnetic wand."
*A few solid colors--at least one of them black because it looks cool with toppers see next item. (For solids you could actually go downmarket and hit up the Beauty Max for Wet 'n' Wild or whatever cheapies, though I wouldn't get cheap black; you have to use multiple coats of the cheap stuff to achieve true opaque black, and it takes forever, which is not optimal when you're nine.)
*A flake topper or two
*Plenty o' taco (top coat) (can be used as a base coat; no need to buy both). Get at least one glossy and one matte. You can cheap out on top coat, too, but the cheaper ones can take ages to dry and can dry wrinkly.
*Maybe some hologram skinny brushes in case the child gets into it and wants to paint tiny designs. Or a manicure kit with the hologram tools?
To round out the kit, from a beauty supply store or big box store get nail polish remover and cotton balls.
If it's too late to order all this stuff or if you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy influencer nail polish, you could do essentially the same gift but just buy piecemeal from the beauty supply, but they probably won't have hologram or magnetic polish, and what they do have, polish with glitter in it, is a nightmare to try to get off your nails.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:36 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]
Two HOT things in my niece and goddaughter's (8 and 11) world:
MINIVERSE (These are little collectable kits for food and plants and aquariums you put together with (included) UV resin. They're extremely fun, I've made them and would buy hundreds if I had unlimited budget). They are extremely in the awesome junk category. The packaging is very over the top adorable. Also, easy to pack! they're small and light! And they're tricky enough to be a fun challenge, so they aren't aimed at little kids.
Second: anything in a Sephora bag. Bring the folded up paper bag flat from the store and put it together there. This would probably get my vote for being cute and not too makeup-makeup.
In my experience at 9 to 11 they want to be seen as almost teenagers, not little girls! Just another factor to keep in mind.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 2:39 PM on June 4 [4 favorites]
MINIVERSE (These are little collectable kits for food and plants and aquariums you put together with (included) UV resin. They're extremely fun, I've made them and would buy hundreds if I had unlimited budget). They are extremely in the awesome junk category. The packaging is very over the top adorable. Also, easy to pack! they're small and light! And they're tricky enough to be a fun challenge, so they aren't aimed at little kids.
Second: anything in a Sephora bag. Bring the folded up paper bag flat from the store and put it together there. This would probably get my vote for being cute and not too makeup-makeup.
In my experience at 9 to 11 they want to be seen as almost teenagers, not little girls! Just another factor to keep in mind.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 2:39 PM on June 4 [4 favorites]
For my 9 year old girl the best recent hit defiantly-non-worthy-material-thing presents, other than Lego, have been:
V-Tech DJ mixer
Bitzee aka gen 202X tamagotchi
Perplexus puzzle maze balls
Shashibo high-end fidget cube
All of these (except Bitzee) have also led to adults genuinely wanting to have a go or three, which seems to still up the cool-factor for now.
Seeing kids around that age react to random awesome gifts is such a huge dose of positive feels. Have a great time enjoying it and the rest of your time with your big and little cousins :)
posted by protorp at 2:40 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]
V-Tech DJ mixer
Bitzee aka gen 202X tamagotchi
Perplexus puzzle maze balls
Shashibo high-end fidget cube
All of these (except Bitzee) have also led to adults genuinely wanting to have a go or three, which seems to still up the cool-factor for now.
Seeing kids around that age react to random awesome gifts is such a huge dose of positive feels. Have a great time enjoying it and the rest of your time with your big and little cousins :)
posted by protorp at 2:40 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]
Sample size of 1 friend who's a parent of a third-grade girl: Five Nights at Freddy's stuff. (aka FNAF) It's appalling-to-me enough that it's probably exactly right!
posted by orange (sherbet) rabbit at 3:26 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]
posted by orange (sherbet) rabbit at 3:26 PM on June 4 [1 favorite]
Similar to Miniverse, is Mini brands Not only are my students obsessed with them (I am a school librarians.) I am too, and so our my kids in their 20s. They just came out with BOOKS! Tiny books, with real pages and words. They come in a round container, and inside are 5 tiny wrapped items that you unwrap.
The other thing that some kids in my school. are into- they started on Tik Tok, but you can find them at Micheal's, are Book Nooks They are a craft kit of miniatures that when assembled fit on your bookshelf and are a tiny diorama to look at.
One last idea- you could get 30 small things and put them in envelopes- candy, stickers, arty things, and tell her to open them one day at a time after you leave.
posted by momochan at 4:56 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]
The other thing that some kids in my school. are into- they started on Tik Tok, but you can find them at Micheal's, are Book Nooks They are a craft kit of miniatures that when assembled fit on your bookshelf and are a tiny diorama to look at.
One last idea- you could get 30 small things and put them in envelopes- candy, stickers, arty things, and tell her to open them one day at a time after you leave.
posted by momochan at 4:56 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]
White converse sneakers in their size, with great fabric markers to personalize them.
posted by beccaj at 6:56 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]
posted by beccaj at 6:56 PM on June 4 [2 favorites]
If you've already done Squishmallows and sticker stuff, I'd consider a pair of black glitter Doc Martens.
I have a pair (I have small feet and often shop in the kids department) and the older girls at my daughter's school always notice them. They're a nice bridge between the glitter-everything aesthetic and Wednesday Addams.
Mine are from Amazon, but you can also find cool Doc Martens in the kids department at Nordstrom Rack.
posted by champers at 2:50 AM on June 5
I have a pair (I have small feet and often shop in the kids department) and the older girls at my daughter's school always notice them. They're a nice bridge between the glitter-everything aesthetic and Wednesday Addams.
Mine are from Amazon, but you can also find cool Doc Martens in the kids department at Nordstrom Rack.
posted by champers at 2:50 AM on June 5
The tween girls in my life are into crocs and jibbitz, scented candles, and anything and everything from Hot Topic.
posted by rebeccabeagle at 10:50 AM on June 5
posted by rebeccabeagle at 10:50 AM on June 5
My 11-year-old niece is SUPER into Kuromi (which ties into the witchy baby goth vibe others are bringing up). I know Sanrio isn't exactly American, but it does have international appeal, and it may be easier for you to get Sanrio stuff in the States compared to Romania.
At that age I wanted more books and possibly more computer games, especially stuff I wouldn't be able to get easily back in Malaysia. Are there some cool YA type series you could bring over?
posted by creatrixtiara at 8:44 PM on June 6
At that age I wanted more books and possibly more computer games, especially stuff I wouldn't be able to get easily back in Malaysia. Are there some cool YA type series you could bring over?
posted by creatrixtiara at 8:44 PM on June 6
Response by poster: I think the Bitzee may be the winner, but I appreciate all of the input and will keep this bookmarked.
We probably get one more year of being able to pull off this trick before she becomes an inscrutable tween/teen.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:57 AM on June 7 [1 favorite]
We probably get one more year of being able to pull off this trick before she becomes an inscrutable tween/teen.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:57 AM on June 7 [1 favorite]
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We are the weird American cousins who bring things the exchange rate does not allow Romanian girls to have.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:59 PM on June 3 [3 favorites]