Favorite children's toys

April 06, 2020

If you’re holed up at home with your kids due to the
coronavirus outbreak, you may be suddenly, painfully aware of just how underappreciated teachers are. If you’re struggling to come up with activities, STEM toys—which help kids build skills in science, technology, engineering, and math—can be a helpful bridge between educational exploration and playtime. We’ve spent hundreds of hours testing everything from robotics kits to electronics sets, and we have a few favorites to share.

A STEM toy can be as simple as a set of building blocks or as complex as a programmable robot. But beyond their educational value, what sets STEM toys apart is their potential for open-ended, creative, child-driven play. Learning experts say (and many parents on our staff agree) that kids tend to engage with these kinds of toys longer and more independently than with one-trick toys offering only flashy lights or sounds. We think these toys and kits are fun for adults, too, whether you’re focusing on spending time with your child on a project or just looking for some diversion for yourself.

You can find many more recommendations in our guides to our favorite STEM toys, the best robotics kits, and electronics kits for beginners, as well as in our gift guides for kids ages 1 through 10. If you have additional STEM-toy ideas that your kids love, share them in our comments section below.

Here are a few of our favorites.

A big box of building bits

A big box of building pieces can be an exercise in either directed or open-ended play. Themed Lego sets capitalize on kids’ existing interests, whether dinosaurs, cats, or a favorite movie, and provide the structure and scaffolding of step-by-step instructions. For preschoolers, you can’t go wrong with a big set of wooden building blocks or Magna-Tiles, flat magnetic play pieces that snap into 3D shapes, combining the snap-together magic of magnets with open-ended construction. (They’re great for fridge art or for items you can hang in front of a window like stained glass.) Zoob sets offer jointed pieces that kids can connect to build curvy, moveable creations. Gears Gears Gears is a big box of colored gears that snap together with axles and extenders. The trick is figuring out how to align the gears so they’ll all turn in unison and not get jammed up.

A robotics kit with Lego cred

Robotics kits combine building with coding in an approachable way. We especially like Lego Boost, which includes instructions for five different robots shaped like cats, guitars, and humanoids. It’s best for kids ages 7 to 12, who might find the familiarly shaped Lego pieces easy to work with. We also like the instructional app, which animates each step of the build process and lays out the basics of coding in an accessible way for beginners. For a simpler introduction to robots, we’re fans of this cute, inexpensive crab-like robot, which can skitter across a table and uses sensors to avoid falling off the edge.

An electronics kit that buzzes and whirrs

SmartLab Smart Circuits is our favorite electronics kit because its instruction booklet is actually an activity-packed curriculum. Kids ages 8 and up learn the basics of electric currents, light waves, and more by building little contraptions that beep and flash. In the booklet are 50 different projects, all clearly laid out. We also like the Elenco Snap Circuits Jr. kit, which is compatible with dozens of other Snap Circuits sets and includes projects like building a motor to power a fan or making a water sensor.

A sewing machine for budding designers

Some educators promote the concept of STEAM, which adds art and design to the STEM mix. Engineering and mathematics concepts go hand in hand with craft skills like sewing, which requires kids to count, measure, and combine different shapes to create a project. Preteens can likely learn to use our favorite beginner sewing machine with some adult help or an online class (tutorials are readily available on YouTube and craft blogs). Both kids and adults can start with simple projects like bags and pillows.

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