It is that time of the year again and I am looking for gift ideas for a 9 year old girl.
She doesn't have everything she wants but pretty much everything she needs.
She enjoys horse riding and has the necessary equipment. (Please don't suggest buying her a horse!!)
She does 1 - 2 circus lessons per week (here is the link if you are wondering what this is - http://www.lelastiquecitrique.ch/).
She has a dog which she sort of looks after and says she wants a rabbit now. We are not keen on this idea because it just means another thing for us to look after or find a home when we go on holidays.
She has a Nintendo DS which she used a lot in the beginning but not so much now...we use it more for our brain training! She did mention getting a Wii but we think it might end just be like the DS and even if it does get used a lot we don't want her to become addicted to it. Are there good educational games for the Wii besides Mario Supercart etc?
This will be her third season skiing and she enjoys it. I had thought about getting her skis but she is still growing and it is so easy and cheap to get all the equipment rented for the season that it doesn't seem worthwhile. And she doesn't have siblings to pass them onto.
So as you can see, I seem to have explained my way out of most gift ideas.
Thanks for your help.

Does she have any other hobbies? At that age, my daughter loved Polly Pockets which she and her friends loved to trade them and play with them. Pollys come with tonnes of accessories, so you can really put a smashing present together with that.
You could also get some cool looking ski clothes, and if she likes to read, then there are lot of gift sets available. If she likes to draw, there are also special drawing kits around.

Hope this helps.

She is not much into dolls (barbie, pretty polly, etc) and very girlie things.
She is quite outdoorsy and sporty.
She loves to read and books are a part of her regular routine.
Funky ski clothes were part of last year's loot and it still fits her so can't go there this year. If she continues to enjoy skiing next year she'll probably get some new gear.
I am looking for the one idea that she wouldn't expect or that will be a special gift.
Thanks again for your help and time.

Although my girls are younger, we do a special 'voucher' book for the eldest for Christmas.

We think about 5 - 10 things that she would enjoy doing throughout the year, and design a special 'voucher' for each one (she is only young so we use a lot of related pictures, but for a 9 year old you could probably just use fancy text).

For example we include a voucher for; an afternoon of baking (her choice of food), a trip to the zoo, a shopping expedition to the local chocolate factory, an afternoon swimming at the Alpamare with the parent of her choice, a trip in a chairlift up a a mountain and lunch in a cafe, getting to spend the entire day in pajamas, etc. Basically the vouchers can be for anything you like that may interest your daughter.

You print them out and staple them together into a book. We then set aside certain days (one a month, every second Sunday, etc), and on that day she gets to choose a voucher and we go along with her choice.

This is a very clever idea!!!

Absolutely brilliant...so which days are you available to come and do activities with my daughter so I can put the dates on the vouchers?