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The Perfect Gift
Shopping for Your Adolescent Grandchild
By Sue Marquette Poremba
Encourage Health and Fitness
If you don't want your grandchild to spend any more time playing sedentary video games, consider a gift to get her up and moving. Merilee Kern, representing the Healthy Kids Catalog, says you can combine fitness with video play with one of the popular dance games that are part video game, part aerobic workout and extremely popular with teenagers. Other popular gifts to promote fitness are trampolines, cook books, skateboards and sports gear. "Jump ropes have come a long way, and there are many different styles out there," Kern says.
Fashion Trends
Most teenage girls love keeping up with the latest styles. Brittany Fisher of THINKHER.com says anything embellished with crystals is a hot item for adolescents. Handbags are also a popular item this year. Girls either like them very small, just the right size for a cell phone and some money, or very large to carry every possible necessity. 
Grandparents will also be happy to learn that girls' clothing is becoming more modest again. T-shirts with retro logos (old bands, products popular when their parents were kids) or funny sayings are very popular. The new trend is for T-shirts to be longer and hanging down past the belt. Cute pajamas for sleepovers are also popular.
Silsby says a popular fashion-focused, electronic gift for adolescent girls is a digital make over. Software allows the girls to scan in photos into the computer and experiment with different looks.