what do 8 yo girls like nowadays?

[marcemc]

My son has 2 birthdays coming up, both for girls.

What are 8 yo girls into right now? Barbies? Pet shop? Strawberry Shortcake?

Toys have change a lot since I was 8......

All ideas welcome, thanks in advance!

 

[reenie1]

We went to a birthday party for an 8 year old girl this week and got her some Smencils (scented colored pencils) and a Cats Cradle book - she loved both gifts!

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd7 and dd9 are done with everything you came up with. They like Justic gc's, Target gc's, ds games, crafts, cute body lotion, wash, nailpolish, etc.

 

[kohlby]

I usually do art supplies if I don't know what they're into. Things like the make your own jewlery kits are pretty popular. Strawberry Shortcake is seen as babyish by many 8 year old girls - yet they will enjoy playing with them if a younger child has them in most cases! Littlest Pet Shop is also seen as babyish in some groups. That's not to say they won't like it - just that they would like it more in secret. The 8 year old girls I know want to think they're 12, but still act like they're 8 for the most part! Ask the parents for ideas.

 

[Jeniferdwn]

My 8yr old girl would rather have gift cards than anything else! She loves Justice, Claires, book stores, target, walmart, and even like McDonalds. She loves to read. And of course, I second the suggestions for lip gloss, fingernail polish, smencils. Oh and journals, notebooks, markers, pens pencils and pocketbooks!

 

[kelleyrn2000]

I have 7 and 9 year old dds.
They do play with Littlest Pet Shops, but no barbies or Polly Pockets. Some girls this age might think LPS are too babyish though.
They like the American Girl doll stuff (clothes, gift cards, etc)
Justice is their favorite place to shop (clothes, nail polish, pajamas, journals)
They are both into crafts, especially the 7 year old.
They both like DS games, movies, Wii games, Club Penguin stuff, and Toys r Us gift cards.
I agree with the ideas like journals, cute pens/pencils, etc. Sadly this is the age where lots of girls are outgrowing playing with all the little girl toys, which makes me sad!!

 

[tricia]

I have 2 boys, so I also have this issue when they are invited to a girls party. My goto gift is usually a trip to the movie store to pick up all the necessaties for a movie night. They have the popcorn that pops in it's own movie style box, I put in a gift card, and some snacks and wrap the whole thing in cellophane, with a big pink bow.

 

[tmarquez]

My DD is 7, but this is exactly what her and her friends would want.

My 8yr old girl would rather have gift cards than anything else! She loves Justice, Claires, book stores, target, walmart, and even like McDonalds. She loves to read. And of course, I second the suggestions for lip gloss, fingernail polish, smencils. Oh and journals, notebooks, markers, pens pencils and pocketbooks!

 

[Donaldswife]

My DD is 8, and she likes to play her DS, she loves her American Girls dolls, still loves all her Barbie toys, likes things like scented lotions, scented pencils, and has just started a fascination with the squinkies (they are hard to find in our area though!) At this age all the girls are starting to get into clothes, nailpolish and make up.

Strawberry shortcake is definitely too babyish for 8 year olds now. Oh how long for the days when I was 8 and all us girls just wanted Cabbage Patch Dolls!

 

[Jeniferdwn]

And don't forget Bath and Body Works! Another favorite store to shop at!

 

[princessmom29]

My DD is turning 7 this year, and her friends are pretty much over toys. They want DS games, Cool art supplies (anything with glitter sequins ect), or some kind of gift card.

 

[Denine]

I guess it is a bit different when the child is home schooled and doesn't have the influence of other kids.

My DD will be 8 tomorrow and LOVES her LPS stuff. She also loves AG stuff. She is getting a DS for her birthday, so we also got her games. She LOVES books, the more the better. She is not really into nail polish or any of that stuff. She likes clothes, but has no interest in picking them out herself with a GC.

 

[VagueFury]

It depends on the kids. My DD11 loves LPS and Pokemon and so do all her friends. My DD7 likes LPS and Silly Bands. Anything collectable is really big around here.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

My almost-8 year old is asking for Strawberry Shortcake and Monster High stuff for her birthday. The Strawberry Shortcake surprised me - I thought she had outgrown that. I even threw away a Strawberry Shortcake doll a couple of weeks ago and she hasn't noticed.

 

[Tiger926]

You really need to know the kids. I laugh when I read stuff on here about toys being babyish - kids get those ideas from parents. How can the above poster make a blanket statement that Strawberry Shortcake is too babyish for all 8 year old girls? In our house, toys are acceptable, and are appropriate to play with.

I would also never buy Bath and Body Works stuff either - we have serious allergies, so we can't use that stuff around here. I would never even think of taking a 7 year old into a bath store. Our kids use the products that we purchase for them - I don't really know any 7 or 8 year olds who pick out their own lotions and soaps? Kids that age shouldn't be using perfume either - way too many allergies and asthma to worry about.

I buy mall gift cards, or bookstore gift cards, Tiger

 

[Leajess99]

My 7 1/2 year old loves books more than anything. Her second choice though is Littlest Pet Shop. She was playing with them the other night for the first time in ages.

I will admit I have a somewhat different child. She really likes homework, learning things, science kits, etc

 

[Leajess99]

I usually do art supplies if I don't know what they're into. Things like the make your own jewlery kits are pretty popular. Strawberry Shortcake is seen as babyish by many 8 year old girls - yet they will enjoy playing with them if a younger child has them in most cases! Littlest Pet Shop is also seen as babyish in some groups. That's not to say they won't like it - just that they would like it more in secret. The 8 year old girls I know want to think they're 12, but still act like they're 8 for the most part! Ask the parents for ideas.

There are some cute messenger bags that are color it yourself. The little girl whose birthday party we went to got a couple of them (different ones) and she loved them. The other girls wanted them as well.

 

[jodi526]

My 8 year old is also very into reading books. She sometimes reads 4 or 5 at a time! She also loves drawing and anything crafty. Another thing she really enjoys are webkinz.

 

[marcemc]

Thank you so much for all your ideas.

I can not believe how dated some of my ideas were. I mean, I played with barbies up until 6th grade, but that was some years ago....

 

[Christinarella]

Thank you so much for all your ideas.

I can not believe how dated some of my ideas were. I mean, I played with barbies up until 6th grade, but that was some years ago....

I know! I played with Barbies for that long too, and still received the Holiday Barbie as a Christmas gift for years after that. When I was working at my DS8's school on Monday, I overheard some of his girl classmates playing a game of "I would rather..." One girl's statement was that she would rather scrub toilets with her hair than play with Barbies.