Teen girls still love getting stuffed animals for Christmas. However, they aren't interested in something too babyish. Girls between the ages of 8 and 12 like stuffed animals that are a little more high tech and sophisticated. The following suggestions can help you navigate the tricky terrain of buying stuffed toys for young ladies in the teen age group.

A large number of major malls across the country have a Build-A-Bear Workshop where you can take your teen girl and let her custom design her very own stuffed animal. A gift certificate and a promise to take her on a date to build the ultimate teddy bear is a present that's sure to please. Let her work the mouse and click the keys as she picks out her own stuffed animal on the Build-A-Bear website. She will never forget the fun time she had making her furry creation.

Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with a computer code that allows the owner to register their pet on the Webkinz website. This site offers teens the chance to interact with their stuffed friends in a virtual realm. They can pick a name and gender for the pet and then spend time on-line taking care of it and play games on the site with children all over the world. This is the ultimate mesh of traditional stuffed toy and technology age gadget. The stuffed animal itself has an electronic meter on it that tells your teen if it is happy or sad, so it could arguably be a good predecessor for the responsibility of a real pet.

Unusual animals. Larger than life teddy bears are a big hit with young girls. They also still like old fashioned stuffed cats, dogs, and bears, especially if they come with accessories such as perfume or lotion. Girls this age love purses in the shape of stuffed animals. Many teen girls love craft projects or are in the process of learning how to sew. A great gift would be to order the traditional red heeled "sock monkey" socks and gather all the items needed for her to construct her own sock stuffed animal.

Teens often struggle with wanting to be grown up while they still see the world from the eyes of a young child. Many girls this age don't want to admit that they still are into stuffed animals. By making your stuffed toy gift creative, personal, and cool, you give your teen permission to enjoy being a little girl just a little while longer and that is a precious gift indeed.