Ask a 12-year-old what they want for the new school year and there's a decent chance the answer is a device their parents threw away. Tamagotchis are back. So are point-and-shoot cameras and corded phones for the bedroom. And this isn't parents pushing nostalgia on their kids — the pull is coming from the kids themselves. Swipe forward for what's in the backpack and the logic behind it.

Tamagotchi Turns 30

Bandai released the egg-shaped digital pet in Japan in November 1996 and in the United States the following May, which makes 2026 its 30th anniversary. The appeal now is that it does one thing. It beeps, you feed it and it has no feed to scroll or notification to dread. For a generation that got a smartphone at nine, a device with a single job is the novelty.

Vintage Photography Gear

Used point-and-shoot film cameras have climbed to prices that startle people. Dealer listings put a serviced Contax T2 at $1,500 to $2,000, with a professional cleaning and calibration running $400 to $500 on its own. A Minolta TC-1 or a Ricoh GR1v lands near $900. Plenty of others stay cheap, though — an Olympus Stylus Epic goes for $250 to $450 and a Canon Sure Shot usually sells for under $150 — so the range runs from pocket change to more than a new flagship smartphone.

Kids Are Ditching Screens

The film camera revival is mostly a Gen Z and young-adult story. What actually shows up on younger kids' lists is screen-free gadgets. The Everymom's back-to-school roundup picks the Camp Snap, a digital camera with no screen at all, and instant cameras from Instax and Polaroid fill the same slot. The draw is the same either way. You point, you shoot and you don't stand there reviewing it.

Minecraft | Since 2009

Backpacks, water bottles and T-shirts all got the gaming treatment this fall, and The Everymom reports that Minecraft is leading the merchandise racks on the strength of its movie. It's worth knowing that the game has been publicly playable since May 2009 and had its full release in November 2011. Some kids are now wearing merch for something their older siblings played first.

Slim Retro Sneakers

Low-profile trainers with slim silhouettes and thin soles are dominating sneaker culture. Marie Claire and Grazia both flag the shift, with the Puma Speedcat and the Adidas SL 72 leading the charge. Baggy and wide-leg jeans came back at the same time, and slim shoes sit better underneath them. The chunky look isn't dead, but it's no longer the default.

College Students Love Matching Sets

In an April survey of more than 350 Gen Z college students, Her Campus found 93 percent naming matching sets one of the year's top trend and younger kids are following the same logic.

Polka Dots and Stripes

Polka dots and bold stripes are the popular patterns, styled with a deliberate early-2000s bend. Jacquemus and Ralph Lauren both ran thick Technicolor stripes. The polka-dot claw clip is a cheap, visible way to wear the trend.

Every One of These Has a Built-In Ending

The through-line isn't really nostalgia, because most of these kids weren't alive for any of it. It's a preference for objects that do one thing and then stop. A Tamagotchi, a roll of film, a phone with a cord — every one of them has a process that starts and ends, which is the one feature a smartphone will never have.