• Celebrate a sweet sixteen birthday with great pomp and show.gift image by Kir from Fotolia.com
  
  Thinking of a thoughtful and meaningful gift for a sweet sixteen birthday is sometimes a challenging and time-consuming task, especially for the "uncool" parent or adult. The preferences of 16-year-old teenagers are often fickle and tend to adapt to changing fads. With a little thoughtful planning, you can pick a sweet sixteen gift that will please even the most fickle recipient.
  
  

Sweet Sixteen Survival Kit

• Create a sweet sixteen survival kit to usher the celebrant into her sixteenth year. Pick sixteen things the teenager enjoys and include them in the box. You can choose items like make-up, perfume, incense, and bedroom decorations for a young lady, or cologne, video games, boxer shorts, and socks for a young man. Also include items that help the celebrant accomplish a hobby she enjoys, or achieve a personal goal, such as a new game controller, bicycle helmet, running shoes, or book that helps her prepare for academic tests. Decorate the box with pictures of the celebrant, and images of her favorite things.
  
  

Magical Money Tree

• Excite a special 16-year-old with a magical money tree. Find a sturdy tree branch with several twigs and remove its real leaves. Paint the branch in clear glue and then sprinkle confetti shaped like the number 16 all over it. Then tape sixteen bills in a variety of denominations to the twigs. Decorate the entire "tree" with costume jewels, organza bows, and small, glittery ornaments. Place the tree in an ornate flowerpot with actual soil, and put sixteen birthday cake candles around the base of the tree. Present the tree to your teen on the morning of his sixteenth birthday. Remember to tell him the magic money tree's legend: its "leaves" only sprout once during the tree's lifetime.
  
  

Gifts for the New Driver

• Because soon-to-be 16-year-old teenagers eagerly await their driving privileges, driver's education classes are a practical sixteenth birthday present. Help your teen learn and practice safe driving skills by paying for additional courses with a driving instructor. A newly licensed 16-year-old will certainly appreciate a pre-paid gas card for filling up her car or the family vehicle. If your budget allows, buy your teen a new car for her sixteenth birthday gift. Choose a car suitable and appropriate for a new driver. Gift your 16-year-old with a compact car that is easy to parallel park, gas-efficient and, perhaps most importantly, equipped with a comprehensive set of safety features.
  
  

Books

• The passage from young adulthood to the age of majority is sometimes challenging. Lifestyle books that offer advice about surviving the teen years are ideal gifts for insightful 16-year-olds. Humorous books about being 16 years old, like "Super 16" by Jax Abbott, Dorchester Publishing, or books with anecdotal essays about family life and teenage relationships, such as "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning" by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, that combine both humor and practical advice, will make the recipient laugh while also equipping him with useful life skills.