Birthday gifts for a nine- to twelve-year-old, the splurge picks.

Point, shoot, and a real photo slides out. The gift that gets a tween looking up and out — I've never seen one not light up.

The backyard game that gets the whole neighborhood off the couch. Folds into a bag for the park and the beach.

Gears, axles, and real mechanisms — the grown-up cousin of regular LEGO. A satisfying, meaty build for a patient builder.

790 pieces, no instructions, pure open building. The baseline every LEGO household should own — it feeds everything else.

An electric scooter with a real motor for a bigger, road-savvy kid. The 'you've earned some independence' gift — helmet non-negotiable.

Magnetic electronic modules that snap into real inventions — a burglar alarm, a fan, a light. Serious maker-kit for a curious mind.

The set the Star Wars kid actually wants, with the minifigs that matter. A satisfying build and a keeper display piece.

A display-worthy set with a real build time — the kind a tween keeps assembled on the shelf. For the LEGO kid leveling up.

A meaty licensed build for the kid deep in the books — the kind that stays assembled on the shelf. A proper afternoon of building.

A real (if starter) telescope that finds the moon's craters on the first clear night. The gift that gets them outside after dark.

A portable turntable for the tween discovering music can be an object you hold. Cooler than a screen, and it starts a whole hobby.