Teaching pre-teens and teens about growth mindset is essential. Adolescent girls with a growth mindset are more confident, resilient, persistent, and willing to attack difficult challenges and learn from mistakes. While there are many ways to instill a growth mindset, giving uplifting gifts to secondary school girls is one of the most fun. Below, we have compiled a list of 17 gifts for secondary school girls.
Empowering Gifts for Secondary School Girls
These 15 items make brain-building, confidence-boosting gifts for secondary school girls. From inspiring books and journals, to opportunities to develop her hobbies and interests, these unique gifts will certainly motivate and empower secondary school girls.
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1. Musical Instrument
If your child is musically talented, consider gifting an instrument. Finding and developing a passion is an excellent confidence boost and it gives children a real-world lesson in growth mindset. Plus, creative pursuits reduce anxiety, depression, and stress while increasing positivity. For a unique instrument choice, try a ukulele, harmonica, or harp.
2. Big Life Journal for Tweens and Teens
The Big Life Journal for Tweens and Teens is a science-based, beautifully designed tool for developing resilience and a growth mindset. It empowers teens to set goals, overcome challenges, transform negative self-talk, and realize the power of a growth mindset. Packed with engaging activities and colorful images, it’s a fun way to help secondary school girls grow into confident resilient young women.
3. Ultimate Coding Kit
The Ultimate Coding Kit is perfect for young girls interested in STEM. It includes instructions, materials, and coding software for 110 cool coding projects. With “bug hunts,” code “challenges,” and exciting projects like a four-note piano, LCD screen Magic 8 Ball, and LED lights that respond to sound, this kit makes learning to code engaging and fun.
4. You Are a Girl Who Can Do Anything
You Are a Girl Who Can Do Anything: A Very Special Book to Cheer You On and Help You Achieve Greatness reminds girls to believe in themselves and boldly follow their dreams. With uplifting words and whimsical illustrations, it casts young girls as the heroines of their life stories. Readers are inspired to be great, be themselves, and achieve anything in a world of possibilities.
5. Be Mindful Card Deck for Teens The Be Mindful Card Deck for Teens includes three types of cards: Pay Attention With Senses (PAWS); Self-Compassion, Self-Acceptance, Self-Respect, Self-Esteem (SelfCARE), and Always Consider Other Responses Now (ACORN). The cards are an excellent introduction to mindfulness and focus on creating positive relationships, getting unstuck from negative thinking, and being present. They also make great conversation starters you can use with your tween or teen!
6. You Matter! Subscription Box
Give the gift of a monthly You Matter! subscription box to promote self-esteem and positive thinking. The box was developed by a school counselor to encourage and uplift students with therapeutic activities, self-care, and other items to help young people cope with everyday pressure.
7. Tie-Dye Kit
Another cool gift for secondary school girls is a tie-dye kit. Young girls with an interest in art, fashion, or messy fun will love the chance to dye their own shirts, socks, pillowcases, or other accessories. Many tie-dye kits use non-toxic materials and some include instructional videos perfect for beginners.
8. The Confidence Code for Girls
The Confidence Code for Girls is a series of books designed to help middle-grade girls become bold, brave, and fearless enough to follow their dreams and reach their goals. Filled with graphic comic strips, challenges, lists and quizzes, and stories about real girls, each book inspires tween girls to embrace challenges and mistakes and live as their authentic selves. These empowering entertaining books make a thoughtful and heartfelt gift for tween girls.
9. Beginner Camera
Spark or deepen an interest in photography with a beginner camera. Photography is a creative way that can foster self-esteem and the development of new skills. Plus, young girls will love displaying their photos and sharing them with others. Owning a camera can lead to all kinds of exciting projects and opportunities, making it one of the best gifts for secondary school girls.
10. Dixit
Dixit is an award-winning storytelling game that taps into players’ creativity and imagination. In each round, a player chooses a card from their hand and makes up a sentence inspired by the card’s illustration. Other players select cards from their own hands they think match the sentence. Cards are placed facedown and reshuffled and players then vote for the card that best matches the narrator’s story. The player whose card is selected earns points. This imaginative game includes 84 gorgeously illustrated cards and is best played with 3-6 players.
11. A Strong Girl’s Guide to Being
A Strong Girls’ Guide to Being: Exercises and Inspiration for Becoming a Braver, Kinder, Healthier You is part workbook, part journal. It’s an excellent guide for helping young girls become more confident as they navigate the trials and tribulations of secondary school, high school, and life in general. It features inspiring quotes, short biographies, and simple reflective exercises. Exercises include noticing joyful moments throughout the day, practicing kind acts, unplugging from technology, and much more.
12. Calligraphy Set
Girls who love art will enjoy a calligraphy set for beginners. These kits often include calligraphy pens, nibs, colorful ink, and paper or art pages. Calligraphy takes a bit of time to master, teaching young girls they can do difficult things with practice. As her beautiful hand-lettering skills blossom so will her confidence.
13. 3-D Puzzle Globe
Geography and problem solving intertwine with this 540-piece 3-D Puzzle Globe. This challenging puzzle includes hinged and curved pieces that interlock, ultimately creating a 9-inch model of the Earth. After building, it makes an excellent desk display or room decoration.
14. A Year of Lessons
Give the gift of a meaningful learning experience by purchasing a year’s worth of lessons in an activity your teen or tween is interested in. This might include art, singing, a musical instrument, photography, horseback riding, or gymnastics. If your tween’s interests are unique, get creative with a membership to a rock climbing club or a local zoo or aquarium. Sometimes experiences truly make the best gifts for secondary school girls!
15. Teen Trailblazers: 30 Fearless Girls Who Changed the World Before They Were 20
The trailblazing young girl in your life will love Teen Trailblazers, which tells the true stories of young women who made a big difference. It features original illustrations, engaging sidebars and quotes, and the empowering stories of 30 young women who changed the world. From inventors to activists to painters and politicians, these stories give young girls proof their choices and voices matter.
If you liked this list of cool gifts for secondary school girls, you might also enjoy our lists of gifts for tweens and gifts for kids.