Gift Guide for Kids in College and Middle School, Suggested by My Daughters

One of the great joys of life is giving people gifts that they want and need—and a big happiness stumbling block is not having any good ideas for what such a gift might be.

I decided to ask my daughters what they'd suggest, for people wanting to buy gifts for children their age.

My older daughter Eliza is a sophomore in college. She suggests:

• temporary tattoos (such as these)
• fun flip-flops for the shower
• Command hooks of various kinds
• twinkle lights
• nice pens
• a smart speaker
• soft blanket
• fun keychain
• bean bag or inflatable chair (I have to admit, I had no idea what an "inflatable chair" was, but Eliza explained that it's something like this.)
• a fun collapsible umbrella
• gift card to Starbucks or food places

My younger daughter Eleanor is in middle school. She made the point that this is a tough age for gift-giving, because kids are too old for toys but too young for many items that adults would enjoy.

She suggests:

• fun socks—ankle length
• shirts from Brandy Melville
• Mochi toys
• pencil case
• face masks
• Polaroid camera and film
• body products, like lotion or shampoo

If you're looking for unexpected, delightful gifts for recipients of any age, check out the MoMa Gift Store.

What are your suggestions for good gifts for these ages?

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Gretchen Rubin is the author of The Four Tendencies, her most recent New York Times bestseller about the groundbreaking analysis that reveals the one simple question that will transform what you do at home, at work, and in life. She has also written three other bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project, and Happier at Home. She writes about happiness and habit-formation at gretchenrubin.com. Follow her here on LinkedIn by clicking the yellow FOLLOW button, on Twitter, @gretchenrubin, on Facebook, facebook.com/ GretchenRubin, and listen to her popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin.