Best Fair Trade Christmas Stocking Stuffers for Tween Girls

How do you shop for Christmas gifts for a tween girl? These days, they're not quite child, and not quite adolescent. You don't want to insult a tween with something too childish, yet you don't want to encourage them to grow up too fast. If you're looking for tween Christmas stocking stuffers, or just small gifts for tween girls, why not ditch the whole toy scene and look for some good fair trade stocking stuffers? Fair trade items are produced and sold by means that ensure that producers receive a fair price for their goods and that goods are produced in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Here are some Christmas gifts available from two well-known online shops specializing in fair trade items.

Ten Thousand Villages

Ten Thousand Villages is a member of both the International Fair Trade Association and the Fair Trade Federation, "both of which aim to improve the livelihood of disadvantaged people in developing countries and to change unfair structures of international trade." (Ten Thousand Villages website, "How We Practice Fair Trade"). They have a number of items tagged as stocking stuffers; here are a few that would be great Christmas stocking stuffers for tween girls.

Tween girls are often beginning to think about personal hygiene and beautification - and if they aren't, this is an opportune time to teach them about hygiene! Make it a fragrant experience with handmade soaps from India for $12.

Girls may also enjoy carrying change in a mirrored coin purse from India ($12). If the tween girl in your life is a writer or an artist, she may like the Zig-Zag Stitching Journal from Bangladesh ($12). Finally, if your tween girl is more into sports and games, perhaps she'd like Guatemalan Hackey Sack (only $6).

Ten Thousand Villages products are also available through their brick and mortar stores in various locations, through other fair trade retailers, and at festival sales often held by community groups.


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