Shower With This Soap and You Might Actually Win One Hundred Dollars (2024)

Our top picks for the best gifts for 12-year-olds in 2024:

• The Don't Laugh Challenge: 12-Year-Old Edition, $8 on amazon.com
• The Two Million Dollar Puzzle by MSCHF, $11 on amazon.com
• Educational Insights Kanoodle Extreme Puzzle Game, $12 on amazon.com
• Air Hogs Zero Gravity Laser Race Car, $29 on amazon.com
• MYNT3D Super 3D Pen, $70 on amazon.com
• Sky Viper Vector Stunt Plane, $76 on target.com

While choosing gifts for kids of any age can be hard, buying gifts for tweens has an extra layer of difficulty. That's because they're right in that in-between spot, where they're torn between wanting toys, games and fun things like a kid and asking for tech, clothes and more sophisticated things like a teenager.

The Good Housekeeping Institute knows what gifts will meet them at their level through constant testing and surveying. Lab experts call in toys and other gifts, test them to make sure they're built correctly and safe, and then ship them out to real tweens for feedback — the favorites from testers of every age go on to win Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards.

After hearing from countless tweens, and adding in some trendy editor's picks and best-sellers, a few rose to the top as the best toys and gifts for 12-year-old boys in 2024. Puzzles, games and anything that combine the two are a big hit this year, which is good for those growing tween brains! Looking for more great gifts? Check out our top picks for gifts for 12-year-olds, gifts for 12-year-old girls and gifts for teen boys.

In order to solve the puzzle, they'll have to spin, flip, twist and slide it all around. It'll keep their brains and their hands busy. During our tests for the 2023 Toy Awards, families reported using multiple Spin Flips to do head-to-head battles to see who could solve their it first.

TikTok and other social media sites are buzzing about the #KanoodleChallenge — and, after trying to complete the puzzles in the brainteasing Kanoodle game, it's easy to see why. But tweens can show off their intellectual prowess with Kanoodle Extreme, which offers bigger and better challenges. Cards start players off by making a certain shape, and players have to use their wits to see how the rest of the pieces fit in to complete the puzzle. Ages 8+

When it's time to take notes, this is a pen. But, when it's time to listen to lectures, tweens can take apart, twist and bend, and connect the magnetic shaft into different shapes like a fidget toy. It comes with 14 magnetic rings, 30 steel balls, two stylus heads and a box to keep it all in. Ages 12+

It pays for tweens to use this soap — literally. After using this orange and peach scented bar of soap, they'll find real cash inside. With prizes up to $100, each shower will feel like a mini treasure hunt.

With this kit, they'll be able to design, plan and create their own 3D-printed objects by melting filaments in different colors. The kit comes with a pen (users can adjust the flow of the filament through the pen), a DesignPad to help form neat geometric shapes, and a FreePad to help trace different patterns. You can also get additional filament in different colors.

Lying, cheating, bribing, bluffing? It's just part of the game. In this card game, players are given cards that give them roles like Assassin, Captain and Contessa, and each person has their own ability (like being able to steal from other players or see their cards). Each player must use their skills to their advantage and try to gain absolute power over the others. It's a game designed to be learned quickly and played in 15 minutes, which makes it good to keep around for whenever friends are hanging out. Ages 10+

This is basically a cross between a game of skill and a joke book: Players take turns reading the jokes to each other, and the opponent has to try not to laugh. They'll get to work on their ability and comic timing, but really, in the end, everyone breaks!

Tweens can use the included laser to guide this car across the floor, sure, but it gets even cooler than that — it also drives up walls and even onto the ceiling! Good Housekeeping Institute testers said this had a huge "wow" factor. Ages 8+

He'll never miss a text or social-media post, even in colder weather, when he's wearing these touchscreen gloves. They're soft and warm, too — no wonder they've received nearly 33,000 five-star reviews on Amazon!

If your tween is looking to get started skating, Amazon reviewers say this is the perfect board for beginners that holds up well. Plus, it comes in about two dozen color combos and patterns, so you can find one that suits their style.

Now he can share his tunes wherever he goes. This speaker connects either wirelessly with Bluetooth or through a USB-C, and can operate for 24 hours on a batter charge. It's even waterproof, so he can bring it with him in the shower.

He's spent a lifetime building elaborate LEGO sets — now what? He can share his art with the world with this how-to kit, which gives ideas for cool photographs he can take using his LEGO sets. It comes with props and pieces to help him take his photos to the next level, like a clear posing rod, plus tips and tricks about using different photography techniques.

He can stick this to his phone or other device, and instantly have a few extra pockets for storage. The elastic wallet can hold five cards, has a hidden pocket for cash and has a thin metal plate inside so it's also magnetic. There's even a finger strap, which makes taking selfies easier. (Note: It does not stick to silicone device cases.)

He'll love folding and unfolding this confounding box, revealing all the groovy patterns inside, and then trying to figure out how to get it back into cube form again. According to Shashibo, it can make 70 different configurations (and there's an app that can help with that), but he might just like the feeling of using it as a fidget toy. Ages 8+

He'll be so excited to keep cold drinks in a spot that's his alone. This mini fridge is just big enough to hold six cans, which he'll thrill to have at arm's reach at all times. The retro design also comes in four different colors.

Slammo is great for athletic kids who are ready to try a demanding sport. Players work in teams of two, and each team has three hits to return the ball to the circular net (which is harder than it sounds). The set comes with everything they'll need to get started, including a net, a large ball for beginners, two small balls for experienced players and a carrying case so they can bring it on the go. Ages 8+

If he watches videos on his device for hours, frequently FaceTimes with friends, uses an e-reader more than a paper book or needs to reference his screen while he's doing homework, this plush stand will make it easy by holding his tablet up for him. It has three viewing angles (or folds away when not in use), and also has a pocket to keep charging cords and other helpful items. He can use it to watch his device in bed, on a couch or anywhere he might want to get cozy.

He can add textures, layers and other details — or just correct some mistake — with these markers, which come with a neat trick: two either erase the color or change the color to something else. There are 16 felt pens in total.