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Great Gifts for Active Outdoorsy Teens & Pre-Teens

When your kids grow out of toys, it becomes harder to think of gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Here are some gift ideas that have been big hits at our house with our active outdoorsy teens and pre-teens.

Personalized Water Bottles

Everyone loves having a good water bottle. Find one in a great color and personalize it with a few cool stickers. You can find stickers for any hobby/passion on etsy.com. (Plan to spend about $20.)

Spike Ball

spikeball

This is a great game that is easy to store and haul around. It’s a favorite lawn game at our house, especially with teens and adults. (Spike Ball sets cost $40.)

Dodge Balls

A good set of foam dodge balls can be used for countless games and activities. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll pull them out. It’s a great thing to have as a youth group leader for when an activity gets cancelled at the last minute. (These cost about $50.)

Giant Sling Shot

We’ve used this giant sling shot so many times. It shoots water balloons, dodge balls, stuffed animals, potatoes, and mini pumpkins. (At least, those are the things we have shot with it.) We’ve used it for surprise birthday attacks on friends, at school carnivals, and to shoot vegetables at targets across a field. Buy two if you want to have battles or competitions with teams. (Plan to spend around $20.)

Nerf Guns

These babies are synonymous with classic fun. A Nerf battle never fails to delight the kids at our house. Everyone builds their bases/forts and the war begins. Teenagers seem to love Nerf play every bit as much as little kids. (Prices vary from $10-50.)

Hammocks

We put two fence posts in our yard near a big tree so our kids can hook their hammocks up whenever they like. So many books have been read in these hammocks! They’re also just really fun to play in. Our kids have figured out how to do all kinds of tricks twisting and turning inside. (You can find hammocks for $15-30.)

Frisbee Golf

frisbee golf

If you have a frisbee golf course near your house, you might want to try this fun leisurely sport. It’s more challenging than it looks but it’s accessible to all ages and physical fitness levels. (The set pictured above costs $20.)

Longboards

After you watch “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” you’ll know why you need one of these. Most people think they are easier to ride than classic skateboards. (These vary a lot in price, starting at $55.)

Double Dutch Jump Ropes

These are fun to take with you to any gathering. You’ll be surprised how many people have jump rope skills and how much fun it is to watch. Make sure you buy two ropes. We like the 16 ft length. ( Our set cost $24.)

Tandem Bike

We found a used tandem bike for $200. It was money well-spent. Seriously, we all love riding it. It’s just impossible to feel sad while riding on a bicycle built for two.

Pickleball Equipment

Pickleball Paddles

If you haven’t tried pickleball yet, what are you waiting for? Pickleball courts are popping up all over the country. It’s a sport where grandma, dad, and little sister can all compete. It’s really fun. You can learn how to play in a few minutes by watching tutorials on YouTube. (You can get a set of two paddles for $20 or four for $40.)

Indoor Hammock Swing

Hammock Swing gift for teens Hammock Swing- Great gift for teens and kids

Our cousins have this swing hanging from the ceiling in their toy room. You can do all kinds of cool twists and turns and dream of being an aerialist or acrobat one day. It would be a fun addition to a teenager’s bedroom. Very cool. (These start at $40 online but you can get really fancy ones for much more. Our cousins have a heavy duty version from funandfunction.com called the raindrop swing. It cost $300 but it will last forever!)

Sleds/Tubes

Tube

A tractor tube is really fun for sledding and floating. The bigger the tube, the more people you can fit on it! (I can’t put a price on this. It all depends on where you buy them.)

Wearable Blankets

My teens love these wearable blankets. There are several brands. Two of my kids have the Comfy. Our cousins have the Huggle. They wear them almost every day. (You can find these for $25-40.) After a day of active fun, it’s always good to come home and get comfy!

Card & Board Games

Check out our favorite card and board games.

Teacher or Grandma Gift: “We love you all the time!” Clocks

Love You All the Time Clock

I’ve made at least eight of these clocks for teachers and grandmas. It’s a fun personalized gift for Teacher Appreciation Week, the last day of school, or Christmas.

To make your own clock, you will need:
Clock (Mine is 12″)
12 photos (Mine are just printed at home on regular paper.)

Colored card stock
Glue stick
Scissors

Here’s the “before photo” of the clock:

Clock

Step 1: Print “We love you all the time!” on colored card stock. You may have to experiment with font sizes to make it fit your clock. You will need a large space between the words for the center (which holds the hands of the clock.)

We love you all the time

Step 2 : Remove the clock from the box. You’ll do this by unscrewing the two screws on the back of the box.

Step 3: Remove the glass from the front of the clock. You’ll do this by taking out all of the screws on the back of the clock.

Then you’ll have to remove the plastic circle that is holding the glass on the clock.

Make sure you save all the screws!

Step 4: Decide how large you want your center circle(s). I used a vase and a bowl to cut out two circles. The center circle will need to fit around the words, so find a bowl that’s larger than your type and still fits in the center of your clock. Paste the circles together with a glue stick. Find the center of the circle with a ruler. Cut a straight line from the edge to the center, then cut a nickel-sized circle in the center.

We love you all the time

Step 5: Cut out your face circles. On a 12″ clock, I found a bug spray can was the perfect size! Trace your circle on card stock to make a template.

cutting circles

Use this template to trace around each face.

Then cut out the faces.

Glue the circles over top the numbers with a glue stick.

Step 6: Wiggle and gently bend your circle (with the words) around the hands of the clock. Then glue it in place by lifting up the edges.

Step 7: Replace the glass and plastic rim to the front of the clock. Drill the screws into the back.

Step 8: Return the clock to the box and re-drill the two screws in the back of the box.

Step 9: Wrap it up and add a card!

Family Bake Sale for Charity

Cinnamon Rolls

Everyone wants to raise kind children who will contribute to their communities in positive ways. Finding ways our kids can give to our community can be a bit tricky. Here’s one of our success stories.

Our elementary school participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay Recess for many years. Students were encouraged to raise money to donate to the ACS for cancer research. Our kids came home from school wanting to help with this cause. Their cousin and aunt were both fighting cancer and they felt passionate about the need to help. We decided we would hold a family bake sale to earn money for the cause. We were able to contribute over $400 every year, for four years by holding a family bake sale. This was a great experience for our little bakers!

Bake Sale Flyer

In order to provide this opportunity for my children to give, I had to make a big commitment myself. I donated four Thursdays in February to the project. I baked all day on Thursdays while the kids were at school. When they came home, the kids sorted, frosted, packaged, and delivered the baked goods. We made loaves of bread two of the weeks in February, cinnamon rolls one week, and dinner rolls one week. Many people placed orders for multiple weeks.

Helpful Hint: One issue we had to resolve was packaging. Our local grocery store helped us solve this problem. They allowed us to purchase donut boxes from the bakery for 10 cents per box. Sometimes they just gave them to us. Later, we found that we could buy them in bulk from Amazon. We used bread bags (found next to the Ziplock bags) for bread and dinner rolls. We wrapped the cinnamon swirl loaves in parchment paper before bagging them.

Bake Sale

This was a great project for our family and helped us honor some wonderful people who have to live with this terrible disease. We love you, Kim and Alec!

If you’d like to try making our famous bread on your own. Here’s our recipe:

Mom’s Basic White Bread

This wonderful recipe makes 6 large loaves. I have found that it is best to mix in two large bowls– so I put half the ingredients in each bowl and knead 3 loaves at a time.

2 TB dry yeast

2 cups warm water

2 TB sugar

¾ cup sugar

3 TB salt

½ cup canola oil

6 cups water

17 cups flour (approximately)

Let the yeast dissolve in the two cups of warm water and two tablespoons of sugar. In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, salt, oil, water, and dissolved yeast. Start adding the flour. Use a spoon to mix in the first 14 cups. Then add more flour as you knead the dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, but still a bit sticky. Cover with a towel and let rise until double in bulk. If you have time, punch it down and let it rise again. (If not– it will still be great!) Shape the loaves and let rise in the pan. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.