The teen years…no doubt a time of your children’s lives that you have been warned about since they were barely newborns. I hope now that you are here, you are realizing all that fear-mongering was overblown. Just like any stage of life, there are joys and there are challenges!
I’m excited to help you turn the challenge of gift-giving to your precious teenagers into a joy. It can be intimidating to buy gifts for this age, when kids have established preferences and often their own money to buy what they like. But a special gift from a special person still carries a lot of magic!
Teens are inundated with high-intensity input from all directions. This Gifts for Outdoor Teens guide has 25 ideas (hey-o!) of varying prices to help them slow down and foster connection with the outdoors, with friends, and with you.
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For Wintry Adventures
Teens are just like toddlers–they don’t want to admit that they are cold! However, we parents know that those long days spent on the ski slopes or out enjoying a wintery campfire will be so much more fun if they can stay warm and dry.
Akova Elevated Ultra Insulated Jacket
This jacket is perfect for a full day of outdoor adventuring! It is great under Akova’s hardshell jackets if you need a little extra protection from the elements, but also is a cozy single outer layer for regular outdoor occasions like a Friday night football game. My daughter took this jacket as her puffy layer while we hiked the Appalachian Trail, and it was perfect!
Title Nine Crash Bomber Jacket
Another great jacket, this one with a specifically feminine design from this awesome women-owned business! I love my Title Nine gear for its style and durability, and the crash bomber is perfect for chilly early morning runs like the ones my teenage daughters do while I drink tea inside. 😉
Aurora Heat Hand Warmers
I love that these hand warmers are reusable real silky soft beaver fur, working with your teen’s own body heat to keep their fingers warm! Not only are they practical, but they also help encourage sustainable habits for your kids, as well as opening the door to talk about meaningful indigenous traditions.
Cool But Not Chilly
Chip off a little more of that winter chill with these warming accessories. Bonus: they can reflect your teen’s winning personality!
Tough Cutie Socks
Socks for Christmas is one of those enduring holiday traditions. Why break the pattern now? Tough Cutie socks are really fun for teenage girls, reminding them of how great they are right there on the toe line. They are merino wool, which is both comfortable and long-lasting.
Merino Wool Gloves
These gloves are warm enough for your teen to wear while scraping ice off their windshield (how are they driving already?!?!?), and thin enough to act as liners under heavier gloves or mittens for days spent on the ski slopes.
Buff Multifunctional Neckwear
It’s a head warmer, a neck warmer, a sweatband, a neck cooler, an ear warmer, a dish drier…basically, if your teen enjoys any kind of outdoor activity, they need one of these! My teens used them constantly on our Appalachian Trail thru hike. It was extra fun that ours had AT maps on them, and Buff makes all sorts of other designs too, including ones with National Park themes.
Relax and Slow Down
My teens are constantly on the go. There is always something to do, and if there isn’t, there are texts and emails and YouTube shorts to fill any empty space. Give the gift of relaxation to your growing young person who could likely use some truly peaceful time! And you can maybe borrow when they are busy.
ENO Travelnest Hammock
Hammocks just draw kids in. When they were younger, they wanted to swing wildly, but put a teen in one and they might actually just fall asleep. This is a great reliable brand and comes equipped with straps, ready to put right between some trees!
Leather Nature Journal
Your teen can use some of that hammock time to sketch or journal! I love this one because the inserts are removeable and replaceable, so they can take just the insert if needed, and can get a refill when full and keep using the beautiful cover.
Not Without Peril
My older kids spotted this book on a bookshelf in a hiker hostel and were immediately drawn to it. It takes a look at dozens of tragedies and dramatic rescues in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I’m not sure why these stories are so fascinating, but I comfort myself that my teens are learning from others’ mistakes so hopefully they won’t make the same ones!
Artsy, Crafty, and Hygge-y
Being outdoorsy doesn’t have to mean always being outside. It can also mean working in tune with nature and letting your teen use some of those colder darker days to cozy inside and enjoy simple pleasures. Encourage that restorative winter season with these outdoor-themed indoor activites!
Mandala Rock Painting
My teens all enjoy rock painting. Yes, of course the art-inclined ones do, but even the one who says he “can’t do art” finds it soothing and forgiving as a medium. These patterns are beautiful and relaxing to create, perfect for a restful indoor weekend.
Wood Burning Pen
My kids first tried this with my mom, and enjoyed it so much that they opted to give them as gifts to a few friends! You know it’s fun for teens if they are suggesting it as a purchase for their own peers. It’s easy to etch designs in tree branch cookies and let your teens turn yard scraps into works of art.
Subpar Parks Jigsaw Puzzle
A puzzle that includes ridiculously bad reviews of some of the greatest places in America? Yes please! Have some fun laughing with your teen while you work on this fun puzzle. Maybe also dream of which of our actually wonderful national parks you would enjoy visiting together.
National Parks Patches
Your teen can start building a collection of national parks patches with these iron-on designs! Add them to a backpack (hint–there’s one below), a jean jacket, or wall banner. You may also have to give your kids a quick tutorial on how to use an iron, I know I would!
Independence Ahead
Teens love to flex their independence! And like it or not, they are almost to adulthood, so it’s for the best if we help them spread their wings a little. The gifts below make those teens-only adventures that much more fun!
Soundcore Portable Speaker
This lightweight and waterproof Bluetooth speaker made the journey up the Appalachian Trail with us, and sometimes playing some tunes was a real morale boost for my teens. Just encourage them to be considerate when playing music in nature, turning it down or pausing when sharing space with others.
Fjallraven Hip Pack
Who here is old enough to remember when only dorky ’90s parents wore fanny packs? Now my teens can’t stop raving about them and how cool they are. Might as well embrace it. At least they swapped out “fanny” for the double-meaning substitute, “hip.”
Icemule Bike Cooler
This cooler is super easy to strap onto handlebars so kids can enjoy cold drinks after biking around with friends for hours. Put a family size bag of chips in a backpack and call it a party!
Kodak Dock Era Photo Printer
When we were teens, we had to wait hours or days to find out if our pics from gallivanting with friends turned out. Now kids can see their photos instantly, but it stays timeless to pick the best ones to hang on their dresser or inside their locker. Their adventure photos print straight from their phone via Bluetooth!
Quality Adventure Gear
When our family was hiking the Appalachian Trail, we often joked about “the” gear that most of the hikers had, but honestly, it is oft-chosen because it works well! Give your teens gifts that are ideal for nearly every outdoor adventure they could dream up.
JetBoil Flash System
This water heating system boils water in less than 2 minutes! The 1-liter size means your teen can make a hot drink and a backpacking meal in no time, or share a few cups of cocoa with friends after sledding. Toss some foldable silicone cups into their stocking to round out this gift!
Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter
If your teen enjoys backpacking, this is the go-to filter on backpacking trails! This full system comes with a sturdy Cnoc bag for gathering water from a creek, river, or pond. Buy one bottle of Smart water, and that becomes their new refillable water bottle–it attaches directly to the filter for nice clean water no matter where they are.
Akova Base Layer Long Sleeve
I love Akova base layers! Five of my kids, both teens and non-teens, have base layer tops, and two of them have this specific top. They are super comfortable, lightweight, and add just the right amount of warmth without overheating. I linked the women’s version here, but if you have a son or a small teen who wears kid sizes, just switch to the men’s or kids sections at the top, you truly can’t go wrong.
Topo Lightweight Backpack
A quality lightweight backpack is always a great gift. Plus, they can add those national parks patches from above to it, as they visit each one or just to keep a dream at their fingertips. This one includes a sleeve for their laptop, but hopefully they’ll be so busy enjoying the outdoors, they won’t even get it out.
Fun with Friends
So many of us have special memories of time spent with friends as teenagers, friends that we often still feel close to even if time and distance have made in-person gatherings rare. Foster those lifelong connections with these gifts chosen particularly for their “hang out” qualities.
Portable Mini Solo Stove
A mini version of their smokeless firepits, this portable stove can be transported to a picnic table or a football stadium parking lot. I love that filling the fuel box (with wood or pellets) will feed a fire for 30-45 minutes, just long enough for smores or hot dogs, but short enough to enjoy in between other adventures.
Owala Water Bottle
If you haven’t heard of this water bottle already from your teens…actually, that just can’t be possible. It is the latest and greatest when it comes to technology on how to drink water, and yes, I’m rolling my eyes just a bit. But my daughter absolutely LOVES her Owala, and it’s a pretty easy and relatively inexpensive way to become a hero. It does seem to be well made, doesn’t leak, and looks great in group photos with friends.
Hatchet
If looking glam while drinking water doesn’t excite your teen, maybe chopping wood does! My son enjoys getting firewood ready, and this hatchet is ideal for chopping up small branches for adding to a campfire or a mini Solo stove. Just make sure they use it on wood that is already dead and on the ground–not only is that good for the trees, it burns much better!
Family Gift
If you’ve got multiple kids, you know sometimes it just works better to go for a big group gift rather than lots of individual ones. If you live in a smaller space, are traveling, or have a family gift tradition, this is for you!
Adventure Board
This board is super versatile for all sorts of fun family adventures! Use it as a raft for lake trips, a sled during the snowy months, and even as a mini backyard slip n slide! Basically all sorts of borderline-dangerous activities that teens love. Let them get creative on ways to use it–it’s sturdy and has a 5 year warranty.
Keep the Magic
I know that the days of sweet little kids waking up at 4am to go check under the Christmas tree may seem distant now that they are just about adult-sized. But that doesn’t mean the gift-giving magic has to go away! Avoid a gift-card Christmas, relish that leisurely Christmas morning, and watch your growing kids thrive as they enjoy outdoor adventures year-round.
Looking for more outdoorsy gift ideas?
Related Posts
Check out these posts for more great gift giving ideas for teens! And make sure to read our other gift guides -so many tested wonderful outdoorsy suggestions from our team, for all members of your family.
- Gifts for Outdoor Teens and Tweens
- Gifts for Outdoorsy Teenagers
- Teens Outdoors Tips
- Cultivating Screen Free Habits in Your Family
- Building Grit in the Outdoors
Gifts for Outdoor Teens 2025
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