My favourite present & ideas for your child & adolescent ADHDers this Christmas.

Please know that I do NOT get any commissions for recommending any of these ideas to you. I am hoping just to help you find something your ADHDer will love!

(Chloe Hayden describes glimmers as the opposite of a trigger, small moments (or in this case things) that sparks joy)

Neurodivergent brains thrive on interest! This gives our brains a huge ‘dopamine’ hit, making us feel happy and regulated. We can hyperfocus on things when we find them interesting, sometimes losing hours doing one thing (yes, us ADHDers are able to sustain attention very well when we are interested in the thing in front of us!)

This is going to be very different for every child or adolescent. Instead of buying the newest, or the most popular toy or game, think about what THEY love. What gives them a glimmer?

My son (14) loves gaming, so a new gaming mouse, a light up keyboard or even a gift voucher to the playstation store would give him glimmers.

My daughter (11) adores making clay bead bracelets, so packs of different colours of bracelets, string, charms and anything clay bead related will keep her happy and busy for weeks!

My youngest daughter (10) delights in anything crochet related, so crochet hooks, wool, crochet patterns, more wool and even something like glow in the dark wool (yes I discovered that is a thing) will make her eyes sparkle and get her glimmer on.

What gives your child glimmers?
Think glimmer, interest or strength and then get creative.

Is it Minecraft? You could get them a gift voucher for the Minecraft store. If you don’t want to encourage more screen time how about a Minecraft lego set or a new Minecraft light. When my son and I went to JB-HI FI the other day, they had these awesome Minecraft magnets that you can make scenes with on the fridge. Spotlight has some paint your own mobs or you could get them the The Minecraft Ideas book and get those creative Minecraft muscles flexing!

Is is dinosaurs? You could get them a cool dinosaur light for their room, a paint your own dinosaur kit or even a dinosaur sensory kit! There are these awesome little dinosaur cars you could race together, a dinosaur puzzle or the ravenous raptors game to keep the whole family entertained!

Something you need could be quite boring for an ADHDer. Our brains always prioritise interest over importance, so a new backpack, new undies or socks (unless they are really into those things might not be the best gift.)

But you know what ADHDers DO need? We need to move! Moving helps us learn, to engage and it helps with our mood, attention and gets our brains activated! Just like every ADHDer is different, we all like moving our bodies in different ways too.

I can’t tell you what I have for my children yet – as they may end up reading this before Christmas! (Shhhhh) Maybe a Tree Tops adventure, monkey bars or a season pass to your local swimming pool. But it could also be something little that your body needs like a fidget toy, a weighted blanket or a balance board.

What does your child’s body need?
Are they always on the lounge or their bed bouncing around or climbing the walls?
(Funny story! My son’s paediatric used to ask us every appointment how we know that his medication is still working. My answer was always “He goes up when it runs down.” It was true (and actually now I think about it, it’s still true!) He would climb up door frames, climb onto the roof (which was sooo scary!) and scale fences! A bit of a tangent there – just remembered that!)

Well, why not try a trampoline, a swing set, a jump ball or monkey bars.

Do they love to rock back and forward?
Well why not try a swing set, or even an indoor swing, a rocking horse (or toy) or a see-saw.

Do they love running up and back outside on even in the hallway? How about getting them a soccer ball to kick or a pair of roller skates.

You could also get them a membership or a one off experience voucher too!
A membership to a trampoline park, rock climbing centre or local swimming pool. You could even get them a membership to a gym for older children and teens so they can get their energy out in a fun and healthy way!

Just be careful – if you do a membership to somewhere, there could be a little bit of disappointment on Christmas day as they can’t use it straight away. (Us ADHDers find it really hard to delay gratification, so it can be a bit tricky waiting until the place is open again!)

Maybe you could also get them something they can use or play with, until they get to use the membership!

YES – board games can be really boring for ADHDers to engage in (see what I did there Board – boring hehe), as they don’t tend to be fast paced (to keep up with our awesome active minds! ) and can become repetitive if you play them over and over.

They definetly can’t compare with online gaming pace and quick wins, but in the last few years, board game designers (a little shout out for Exploding Kittens here because they seem to really get the ADHD brain!) have taken this into account and there are some AWESOME board games and card games that are faced paced and so much fun to play together as a family.

The favourites in our house are:
Happy Salmon – This is such a fun game, that can turn loud and frantic pretty quickly. If you have anyone with quieter sound preferences I definetly recommend adding earplugs to the shopping list!

It is for 3-8 players (and in our opinion the more people that play the more awesome it becomes). The idea is that you have a stack of cards and have to shout out their card while an action and try and find someone who has the matching card and action. The first person to get rid of all their cards first is the winner.

Throw Throw Burrito / Throw Throw Avocado by Exploding Kittens – These games are so much fun! You have to collect a set of cards before anyone else, but you have to be careful, because there is a lot of ‘encouragement’ to throw them at each other! They are a pretty soft, spongy sort of material so it doesn’t hurt – too much. This one should be played with caution with kids though – my son got a little bit too excited with this one and my daughter ended up in tears. But as long as you are pretty resilient and are evenly matched with your opponent this game is awesome.

This is a tricky one and my opinion may not be very popular here, but for me, I really struggled with getting clothes as an ADHDer child. That is, unless they were something which aligned with my areas of interest or accessories!

So, if you are going to buy the important things (like undies or socks), try and find ones that reflect their interests (Kmart have some really cool Pokemon, Spider-Man, Mickey or Minnie Mouse, Minecraft, Paw Patrol, Frozen, Gabby’s dollhouse, Barbie, The Grinch, Doritos, The Simpsons and Disney Princess socks and undies!)

T-shirts or jewellery that have their favourite things on them can be really good too! There are so many great T-shirts and little jewellery items at cheaper places like Kmart, Target and Big W that will have something that your ADHDer is into. For your older children check out Zing Pop Culture. If your tween or teen is into Pokemon, Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pop! Vinyls or squishmallows this shop is for you. They have T-shirts, bags, jewellery, trackpants, shoes, hats, wallets and even PJs!

Anything that is an accessory can be a winner here – Hair clips, bands, claw clips, headbands, shower caps, hair towels, make up, nail polishes, skin care, lip gloss, bath bombs, body mist, jewellery, handbags, pack packs, eye masks and bath sets. The list is endless!

Lots of ADHDers really don’t love reading. It is true that ADHDers often have co-occuring reading challenges, or language difficulties that can make reading something we really don’t want to do. But even without language or reading difficulties, if the book isn’t interesting or grabbing our attention every step of the way, then it’s really easy for our minds to wander.

I really don’t like reading. I don’t have language or reading difficulties, but I can’t keep my mind focussed on anything for too long. It frustrates me so much when I start reading then my mind is actively wandering and thinking, but I have “read” 4 pages and then have to go back and re-read. I end up getting through a few chapters and then get really bored, having no idea what I have actually read!

But, being a speech pathologist, I understand the importance of reading for learning! We learn so much from reading, including new vocabulary and sentence structures and lots of important information – so fostering a love of reading is important.

BUT! This doesn’t have to be long, chapter books with lots of words! Luckily for our kids these days, there are so many awesome types of books to get them. My kids love comic books, graphic novels and magazines that align with their interests. Wings of Fire and The Baby Sitters Little Sisters graphic novels are favourites at our place. We also love magazines that align with their interests (crochet magazines for my youngest are winners. She has dyslexia, but will sit and read for ages if it’s related to crochet!) But don’t get stuck in the idea that reading only has to be books, novels and magazines.

Audio books are brilliant, and listening to books can grab your attention more than you reading them (particularly if the narrator uses their voice well!) Your child will still learn fantastic new vocabulary, sentence structure and lots of information from listening to books. They can also be really useful for night time listening too. Maybe a subscription for Audible for Christmas might be what your little person would love.

Don’t forget instruction manuals! What about a step by step guide to building something or how to make candles, or earrings, or paper planes, or even how to cook something. Exposure to the printed or spoken word can have such great benefits for our ADHDers!

I hope this helps you find something your little ADHDer will love for Christmas! Let us know what you bought, or if you have any ideas for our ADHDers this Christmas too!


Have a Wonderful Christmas and start to 2024 xxx

Photos by Isaac Martin, David-Olivier Gascon, Laura Alvarez, Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash & by ADHD Done Differently on Canva.