I purchased one of these “Knifty Knitters”:http://www.creativexpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=cx&Category_Code=gc-kniftyknitter for my 11yo, who loves it and is very good at it. And then the 14yo (who has been enjoying lap looming picked one up, but that led her to try _real_ knitting again and she was able to get the hang of it this time! She’s knitting and purling like a whiz!
And even cooler, on top of this, the 6yo picked up one and found it fun and easy, as well! I highly recommend the set (and some extra hooks, as crochet hooks just don’t do it), for any person/family that has not had the time for something like knitting and wants to try it out (very quick and easy), kids that you want to be creative, even if it’s while they are watching T.V. (but I’ve found they’ll all sit around and “chat” with me doing this kind of thing – great family time, since it’s not JUST a girl-thang, but can be girl time), or for someone who can’t physically do knitting/crochet/etc.