Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The best gifts for 9-year-olds straddle a fine line. Nine-year-old kids are certainly growing up—but they are, in fact, still kids. Their tastes and styles are maturing on the way to teendom, but your 9-year-old is probably still, at times, pretty goofy. “What’s really interesting about tweens is they’re kind of in a liminal space in that they are still children, but they also want to be more mature,” says Brenna Hicks, a therapist with 20 years of experience and founder of the Kid Counselor Center, a play therapy center for kids and families in Tampa. “So they kind of wrestle within themselves because their instinct is still to play, yet they want to think that they’re too old to play. If there’s any resistance toward playing, it’s actually from within.” Even 9-year-olds will love these fun and age-appropriate treats. Illustration: Forbes / Photo: Retailers At Casey Sartain’s Tutoring Toy store in Salt Lake City, however, plenty of tweens are shopping Lego, games, Pokémon, Jellycat, slime, mini collectibles, balls and other sports activities. After speaking with Hicks, Sartain and other kid play experts, as well as considering what my own tweens prefer to unwrap at gift time, I assembled this list of the best gifts for 9-year-olds. MORE FROMFORBES VETTED The Best Hoka Shoes For Walking, Tested For Comfort And Support Cam Vigliotta The 12 Best Resorts In Costa Rica Astrid Taran Best Gifts For 9-Year-Olds At A Glance Squishmallows Cam the Cat Slippers Nex Playground Comfy Original Jr. Adidas MLS Club Soccer Ball (Size 4) Harry Potter Box Set: The Complete Collection Kindle Paperwhite Kids (16GB) Lego Speed Champions Ferrari F40 Supercar A Sample Pack Of Some Of Their Favorite Slimes Play-Doh 6 Variety Compounds Enjoy six colors, scents and types of Play-Doh slime in this variety pack. Each one is unique—including foam, butter, super-stretchy and cloud. Your little slime fan can stretch, squish and knead each one before settling on their favorite. They all smell delicious, though I’m partial to the strawberry-scented cloud slime. When speaking with Kerri Adams and Christina Eromenok, the founders of family therapy center Love Play Grow in New Jersey, both say that many tweens and teens are drawn to slime or another tactile sensory item during play therapy—and that when they have something in their hands, it’s not only potentially calming to them, they just may be more willing to talk to you. An Epic Read Harry Potter Box Set: The Complete Collection If they haven’t yet picked up the first book in the epic Harry Potter series—The Sorcerer’s Stone—a gift of the complete collection promises them months of exciting reading ahead. The first three books are generally considered age-appropriate for ages 8 and up while book four starts to take a slightly more mature (and scarier) turn, so you might hold onto the rest of the collection for them to finish closer to age 10 to 12, depending on your child’s tolerance. A Cozy Pair Of PJs They Can Wear To School Iscream Kids Blissful Plush Pajama Pants The iScream soft fleece pajama pants come in plenty of eye-catching designs from donuts to basketballs to these cheery smiley faces, all ideal for showing off to their friends. Whether they wear these for lazy weekend mornings or to school, they’re sure to appreciate both the comfort level and the conversations they spark. A Truly Funky Squish To Make Their Pals LOL ORB Mega Long Hairdo Funkee Monkee 3-Pack This trio of stretchy Funkee Monkees are sure to elicit plenty of giggles from your 9-year-old, and why not? These guys are funny. They’re just about 4-inches tall, so kids can easily hold them in their hands, pulling and stretching their hair and limbs for a little stress relief whether in the form of laughter or just through the fidget toy. A Crafting Kit That Appeals To Their Need To Accessorize Klutz The Best Ever Book of Lanyard, Scoubidou, and Boondoggle Craft Kit While tweens might view some toys as “babyish,” especially as they experience those natural hormonal shifts, says Adams, they are often happy to pick up an activity kit—especially if it appeals to their budding interests like this bracelet kit for the kid into fashion and accessorizing. A Guaranteed Way To Bring The Giggles To Family Game Night Gamewright Butts On Things: The Cheek To Cheek Card Game Love Play Grow recommends this cheeky game as a guaranteed way to get parents and kids laughing together. Plus, it’s easy to learn how to play and super silly. “Kids will love playing a silly card game about butts with their parents, and it’s sure to bring lots of laughs,” they say. An Eye-Catching Ball So They Don't Lose It Adidas MLS Club Soccer Ball (Size 4) A fresh new soccer ball makes a great gift for your 9-year-old footballer. These brightly hued Adidas balls are a popular and solid pick, and you’ll want size four for this age level. Eromenok says this is the perfect age to nurture those new interests and build on existing skills with something like a new sport. She explains: “What we typically see at this stage is kids are shifting away from pretend play and more toward, ‘What can I do?’ and ‘What am I really good at?’ and ‘What am I interested in?’" That means tweens will gravitate towards new experiential things that they can try out or, as Eromenok says, "skills that they can develop, or ways that they can really hone interests of theirs.” Cozy, Adorable Footwear Squishmallows Cam the Cat Slippers Plenty of tweens continue to snuggle and seem to crave comfort and all things cozy. These adorable Squishmallow slippers are the perfect pairing of plush cushiness and their seeking out of all things adorable and cute. A Fast-Moving Tabletop Game That's Easy To Learn This fast moving two-player table game is easily enjoyed by the whole gang. You play one-handed, moving your striker toward the ball, trying to score a goal on your opponent—but watch out, there are plenty of little challenges along the way like the magnetic “biscuits.” It’s a Danish-designed tabletop game popular in Nordic countries that’s easy to pick up and move to wherever the kids want to play. My kids, ages 6 to 12, enjoy playing many a rowdy round together with our set and I appreciate that it’s easy for any age to pick up the rules right away. A More Interactive And Group-Friendly Video Game Nex Playground This new video game cube gets them off the couch with interactive games the whole family can play together. It has plenty of fun favorites like Fruit Ninja but also familiar characters that can appeal to both younger and older siblings, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Kung Fu Panda to Peppa Pig and Miraculous Ladybug. It’s unlikely to distract the kid who already has a Nintendo Switch or a PlayStation 5, but it does offer a fun alternative for younger kids, and I’ve watched a multi-age group of kids, including 9-year-olds, laugh their way through a round with their Nex Playground. A Lego Set That Wows Them Lego Friends Friendship Tree House Hangout At this age, your Lego fan is ready for more complex building challenges like this playable (and displayable) Lego Friends Friendship Tree House Hangout. It comes with around 700 pieces, four minifigures, animal figurines and plenty of interesting details like a slide and workbench. My oldest daughter has a similar Lego Friends tree house set that she built around this age, and it was a highlight of her birthday that year. An Oversized Wearable Blanket For Them To Escape Into Comfy Original Jr. These oversized wearable blankets remain super popular with tweens and teens. They can throw them on to snuggle into the couch for family movie night, or just when they need an extra dose of comfort at home or during school. The thick fleece lining is extra soft and the hood offers them a way to escape when they need a moment. My kids also love the oversize front pocket for keeping their hands warm or just carrying around their essentials. Because They're Ready To Level Up Their Game Magnetic Chess Board Set A quiet game of chess can both boost your child’s strategic thinking and offer an opportunity to chat with them. My kids really took to chess around this age, and I have to recommend making sure you select a magnetic board to keep all the pieces from scattering each time someone bumps the coffee table. “Studies have shown that if the hands are occupied, your inhibitions are lessened,” adds Hicks, who often incorporates games into play therapy with kids and tweens. “It really doesn’t matter what it is. They can squeeze a squish ball, they can doodle, they can do a puzzle, they can play Uno. If their hands are actively doing something, they’re more likely to feel comfortable having conversations and they’re going to naturally feel more at ease versus not having anything to do.” Everything She Needs To Customize Her Journal STMT D.I.Y. Dreamers Become Doers Journaling Set This journaling set comes with everything they need to write down all the new thoughts swirling around their head. It’s also an elevated crafting kit allowing them to customize their journal and notes with the included stickers, sayings and frames. It comes with a 70-sheet journal and dozens of additional stationary supplies to embellish it. The Card Game That Encourages You To Sound A Little Dumb Poetry For Neanderthals Game From the makers of Exploding Kittens, this word game is a little bit like a verbal charades challenge—except to win, you can’t speak in full, grammatically correct sentences. It’s a lot of fun and easy for kids to pick up. (I always appreciate a game that doesn’t come with a lengthy set of directions to digest.) My 10-year-old and I were giggling our way through this one speaking in mono-syllabic incomplete sentences to get the other player to guess what the heck we were trying to describe. A Screen-Free Gaming Challenge Educational Insights BrainBolt This handheld brain teaser from Educational Insights was a big hit with my 9-year-old last holiday season. Try to follow the light sequence and then repeat it back, but watch out: The challenges get harder and harder. I like that this feels a bit like a video game (but without the screen), that it’s challenging him intellectually and that it is portable—but I also love that my kid thinks it’s fun! An Adjustable Set Of Beginner Inline Skates Crazy Skates Adjustable Inline Skates If they already have a bike and their scooter suddenly feels too young, consider a pair of skates. You might be surprised at how quickly they pick it up. Crazy Skates makes both inline and traditional roller skates aimed at beginners and with styles designed to appeal to both boys and girls. Given that their feet are still growing so fast, I definitely recommend purchasing an adjustable pair like this one. For Encouraging Your Budding Bookworm Kindle Paperwhite Kids (16 GB) If there’s one thing that really helped my older kids’ reading take off (once they had progressed to a certain proficiency thanks to their tireless teachers, of course), it was giving them each a Kindle. Now, when I tuck them into bed each night, they often barely lift their eyes from the book they’re reading on it. Yes, they do sometimes still read physical books. But the portability of the Kindle Kids—along with its dimmable, anti-glare screen, the ability to look up words they don’t know right on the page and the wide availability of every book they’ve ever wanted to read—is hard to beat. A Just Released New Edition Of Their Beloved Pokémon Series Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Journey Together Booster Bundle For the Pokémon fans in the crowd, this just released Journey Together bundle is a coveted get, says Sartain of Tutoring Toy where Pokémon remains one of his best sellers. It includes six booster packs and 180 cards to celebrate the trainer and Pokémon friendship. You can find it in-store at independent shops and places like GameStop, too. Lego Speed Champions Ferrari F40 Supercar Sartain says the Lego Speed Champions series, especially the Ferrari, remains the hottest selling Lego sets for boys of this age. And it’s easy to see why. My 10-year-old son put this model together without any problems, adding it to his growing collection of Lego cars. Anything F1 related is also popular with this group, he says, especially with the new Brad Pitt movie due out this summer. Why Trust Forbes Vetted Forbes Vetted editors and writers produce numerous gift guides throughout the year, and its baby and kids gear team research and write all gifting stories for babies, kids and teens, including this one. The baby and kids gear team is steeped in testing and reviewing children’s products, including toys and gifts, and have nearly 40 years of parenting experience between them, so they’ve seen a lot of kids play with a lot of toys and unwrap a lot of gifts over those decades. The author of this story, Rose Gordon Sala, has covered parenting subjects for more than a decade, with a special interest in toys. She frequently attends industry briefings on toy and product launches and in 2025 attended two of the largest toy trade shows: the international Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg, Germany and the New York City Toy Fair. She’s also the mother to three kids ages 6 to 12. As the deputy editor overseeing the kids and baby gear category, she reviews and tests myriad items, from kids shoes to kids smartwatches. Sala also interviewed multiple experts before pulling together this list of gifts, including Brenna Hicks, a play therapist with 20 years of experience and owner of the Kid Counselor Center, a play therapy center for kids and families in Tampa; Casey Sartain, owner of Tutoring Toy in Salt Lake City; Shannon Collins, marketing and social media director at Tutoring Toy; Kerri Adams and Christina Eromenok, the therapist founders of Love Play Grow. The editor of this story, Esther Carlstone, is an experienced parenting editor and writer, and mother to three children as well. She has personally and professionally tested well over hundreds of toys, including dozens for tweens. What Is Fun For 9-Year-Olds? While they might be asking you for Uggs, lip gloss and a new pair of Jordans, experts assure us that your 9-year-old still very much wants—and needs—to play, in order to further their development. “We know that kids don’t develop abstract reasoning until 12 or 13,” explains Hicks. “So until they cross that threshold into full teenage years, they still experience the world and make sense of the world through their emotions and through their play.” Toys, games, activity and craft kits, sensory and tactile items and sports gear are all good playthings that can be fun for 9-year-olds as they grow. Send me a secure tip. Rose Gordon Sala Editorial Standards Forbes Accolades