The way big nations across the world are laying focus on early STEM education clearly indicates the prominence and influence of STEM on upcoming future. It has become imperative for parents and teachers to focus on building the STEM skill set right from early years.
The task at hand is massive and you cannot rest all your hopes on the education system to nurture STEM acumen.
We are not saying you have to be a STEM whiz yourself and do all sorts of STEM activities at home!
But what we are implying is that you can definitely creep in STEM into your children’s play routine. Add some STEM Toys to their collection and let them do the work for you.
Here’s the Monster List of Best STEM Toys for Kids…
There are a plethora of STEM toys in the market nowadays. Don’t add them all to your child’s play pen!
Rather be mindful and select a few from each category to reap maximum joy and benefits:
Science Toys for Kids
1. Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. My First Microscope
This chunky, sturdy microscope will enlarge your child’s world and help them discover hidden treasures. Let them explore the structure rocks, leaves, household items and make their own interesting observations.
Perfect for ages 3 and above.
2. Science Can Critter Case Bug Catcher for Kids
Excite your kids and enhance their observation skills with this bug viewer. Perfect to study bugs and critters, this bug viewer come with a removable built in magnifier.
This is one of the best STEM toys at this price that your kids will continue to enjoy for long. Recommended for ages 3 and above.
3. SmartLab Toys Squishy Human Body
Help your young doctor learn and understand anatomy with this super learning aid. Comes with removable organs and information cards to sate your child’s curiosity around his body.
Recommended for ages 8 years and above.
Related: Check out Best Toys for Kids for Every Age.
4. Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Telescope
This telescope is perfect for young explorers who are ready to embark on their journey to space. It comes with NASA pictures to delight curious minds and drive their interest in space from the comfort of indoors.
Perfect for ages 4+.
5. Learning Resources STEM Force & Motion Activity Set
Boost problem solving skills with this fun Force and Motion Activity set. This cool science set allows young minds to explore the Newton’s law of motion and learn some hands-on lessons on FORCE. Your car lover is absolutely going to adore it.
Certainly one of the best educational toys for kids, this one is apt for ages 5 years and above.
6. Glow-in-the-Dark Lab (SmartLAB)
Get ready for chemistry blast with this Glow-in-the-Dark lab kit. Packed with 20 experiments, this kit will leave your child curious and hungry for more science fun.
7. Learning Resources Primary Science Deluxe Lab Set
Every little scientist needs this one. A science lab kit is a must for your home science lab! This kit comes with 45 parts and almost all your science lab essentials.
Recommended for ages 3+, this is great educational toy to build science acumen and hone fine motor skills.
8. Lauri – Fun with Magnets
Magnets spell FUN! No science toy list can be complete without this magnet kit. It’s 14 magnet experiments are sure to excite and inspire your kids.
One of the most playful and best STEM toys, this one is apt for ages 4 and above.
9. Thames & Kosmos Kids First Botany – Experimental Greenhouse Kit
What could be a better science lesson than watching the entire Plant life cycle in front of your own eyes. This wonderful greenhouse kit makes for a great gift and let young botanists experiment with plants.
Just the right way nurture the love for gardening. Ages 5-7 years.
10. National Geographic Mega Crystal Growing Lab
This STEM chemistry kit is a fun way to learn about crystal formation. This kit comes with 6 colour crystals and 2 silicone growing chambers make growing crystals really easy.
It also includes a light-up display to show off your grown crystals to friends and family.A must have science kit for ages 8+.
11. Thames & Kosmos Ooze Labs
This STEM kit is just what budding chemists need to experiment with bath and body products!
From learning about acids, bases, pH levels, and the biology of skin to creating your very own soaps and bath bombs – Ooze Labs packs in everything to delight curious learners.
Perfect science kit for ages 6 and above.
12. Fat Brain Toys Puppy School
One of the best STEM toys in its league, Fat Brain Puppy school is a must buy for your pet lover. It has everything needed to teach your four-legged best friend basic obedience and put it’s intelligence to the test!
Ages 6 and above.
Technology Toys for Kids
13. Learning Resources Botley The Coding Robot
Combine robotics and coding lessons with this awe-inspiring STEM toy. It helps children grasp how robotics and coding is interrelated through a programmable bot.
Check out more Coding Toys for Kids, here!
14. Kano Computer Kit
Does your child fancy building his/her own machines? Kano Computer kit lets children build their own portable computers. It is pricey but worth for little engineers in making.
15. LittleBits Rule Your Room Kit
This awesome coding toy for kids allows your child to learn about power sources and how to control electrical input and output. Suitable for children eight years and above, this kit is great for teaching problem solving and tinkering.
16. Playz My First Coding & Computer Science Kit
This is an exciting kit to learn coding, binary ASCII codes, create pixel pictures and algorithms. Perfect for a coding freak kid who is just learning to grasp the concepts.
It is suitable for age 6 years and above.
17. Thinkfun Laser Maze
Let your tech geek challenge herself over this beam bending and laser shooting game. An award winning game, this game will open your child’s mind to understand how reflectors, splitters and mirrors work.
Ages eight years and above.
18. Hexbug Nano Zipline Starter Set
Welcome microbes with Hexbug. This set from Hexbug includes a zip line to add thrill to the game. Different combinations keep the interest alive and promote creative thinking.
19. GeoSmart Moon Lander
This is a must have for all children! It is perfect mix of magnetic tiles with electronic components to create a moon lander.
20. Robot Turtles
Planning to teach some basic programming skills to your little one but wondering how? Robot turtles is a game for you!
This board game is great at teaching young kids programming skills, critical thinking and laying the basics of coding for kids.
Ages 4 years and above.
21. Snap Circuits Classic SC-300 Electronics Exploration Kit
If your kid loves taking gadgets apart and figuring out the components, Snap Circuits is the STEM toy she must have.
Perfect for young children (8+ years) who are trying to learn about electricity and the technology used in appliances.
Engineering Games for Kids
22. Joinks
Joinks is an excellent educational toy that will let your little artist build to her heart’s content.
One of best designed & open-ended Fat Brain toys, Joinks comes with 37 dowels in 3 sizes, 39 connectors in 6 colors and styles ranging from end pieces to 1 connecting prong to 5 connecting prongs to make construction seriously fun.
23. Magna Tiles
Magna tiles are perfect for your little engineer (three years and above) who is ready to build and experiment with his structures.
This open-ended educational game for kids will surely get your little one constructive while building beautiful structures and help them experiment with spatial reasoning.
Ages 3+.
24. Thinkfun Roller Coaster Challenge
Got an older kid who wants to look beyond blocks and challenge his mind? Roller Coaster challenge is just the perfect game.
It comes with 40 challenge cards to develop engineering and problem solving skills. Recommended for ages 8 years and above.
25. Lego Classic Creative Brick
Suitable for children four years old and up, this is a must have engineering toy for all kids. It allows your children to give form to their imaginations by coupling them with hands-on engineering.
26. Zephyr Mechanix
Want to give a real feel of metals, screws and construction to your kid? Then mechanix is the toy you are looking for. Adapted to suit various age brackets, pick a kit that suits your child’s age and interests.
27. Kangokids Design and Drill Set
Nothing is more exciting to a three year old than his own power drilling machine. This toy aims at building creativity while sparking interest in engineering fields from a young age.
28. Learning Resources Gears! Wreckergears
Suited for children four years plus, this toy is all about gears and how they work. Your kiddo will need to scratch her mind to build wrecking machines, using gears of course!
29. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Glowing Marble Run
This is a complete engineering cum mechanical toy that will set your child’s creativity free. This 321 piece set will surely keep your children busy figuring out pathways for marble.
30. Melissa & Doug Wooden Construction Building Set
This wooden construction toy is perfect for children four years and above. It includes nuts, bolts, drilled bars to help kids create and give life to their imagination.
31. Hape Dynamo Kid’s Wooden Domino Set
This award winning engineering toy for kids is great recommendation for all kids who love construction and dominos. It takes fun to the next level by clubbing domino effect with chain reaction. It is apt for the kids three and above.
32. Smartivity Mechanical Xylofun Music Machine
Perfect for kids eight years and above, this DIY mechanical toy is amazing fun for curious kids. Build your xylophone by following easy to understand instructions and learn basic principles of engineering.
33. Teifoc Villa with Garage Construction Set
This STEM engineering toy is a notch above all the construction toys available. It comes with real clay brick and malt based mortar to give children a real experience of constructing a house. Suited for kids six and above.
34. Learning Resources Tumble Trax Magnetic Marble Run
Build marble mazes to your heart’s content with these magnetic blocks from learning resources. Wonderful for boosting creativity, logical and critical thinking skills. Perfect for kids five years and above.
35. Fat Brain Toys PuzzleGears – Globe
Another excellent pick from Fat Brain toys, this DIY globe works at building engineering skills, concentration and obviously fine motor skills.
It’s last cut 567 pieces combine to make a state-of-art globe that engraves continents, oceans, latitudes and even constellations to make it a complete learning and educational toy.
Ages 14+.
Math Toys for Kids
36. Dimple Digits
One of the best fat brain toys for ages 2 and above, Dimple digits is the toy to build early math skills. What’s more, this popping and pushing toy works wonders with fine motor skills and fidgety fingers.
37. Melissa & Doug Abacus Classic Wooden Toy
A wooden abacus is an essential math toy every child needs to build a strong number sense and quantification skills. A great educational aid to early math, an abacus is a must for all kids.
Ages 3+
38. Pretend & Play Teaching Cash Register
This pretend play toys will make math hands-on for your children and help them understand why we need math in everyday life. It combines creativity and math skills for hours of endless math fun.
Fun way to practise math, Cash register is suitable for ages 3 and above.
39. Tangram
This classic shape puzzle is a great math toy for kids four years and above. It builds on spatial reasoning and help children in honing their imaginative skills.
Also check out Spatial Reasoning Activities for Kids!
40. Skillofun Wooden Cubes Pattern Box
This is a great math toy to teach children about patterns. The pattern box comes with wooden cubes and pattern cards to get children started on patterns. It is suitable for kids 3 years and above.
41. Jodo Gyan Shiksha Jodo Cubes
These connecting blocks from Jodo Gyan is a perfect tool to teach counting and math operations to kids. Open ended, these blocks can also be used for construction fun. Highly recommended!
42. Geo-board
Build spatial awareness and creativity skills with a geo-board. Easy to play, geo-board is suitable for children above four years, geo-board is a must have.
43. Spirograph Jr.
Spirograph Jr. is a perfect gift for children who love drawing and creating art. It is a magical tool that clubs math with abstract thinking to create beautiful masterpieces. Suitable for children six years and above!
44. Skola Toys Mosaic Nuts and Bolts
This is perfect amalgamation of math and engineering. Nuts and bolts mosaic works at building pattern sense while enhancing fine motor skills. Perfect for children four years and above.
45. Shumee Building & Stacking Wooden Fraction Blocks for Ages
Now this is a fun construction toy that teaches fractions to kids. Sounds like fun? We bet it is! Apt for age five years and above, this toy will work discreetly at polishing your child’s math acumen.
46. Equate
Make math fun with this board game, which is somewhat like scrabble. But instead of alphabet tiles, you get number and manipulative tiles to make a highest scoring equation. Suitable for older audience – eight years and above.
Check out Math Card Games for cool mental math games to play with kids!
47. ThinkFun Math Dice Junior
Make metal math a breeze with this fun dice game suitable for children six years and above. Easy to play, this game will give your children enough practice with numbers to become natural with math calculations.
Experts Take on STEM Toys
Child development experts have stressed the need for children to play long enough. Now, we do know that children learn best through playing. And what could be better than toys that spark curiosity and creativity?
According to Harvard education expert Tony Wagner, problem solving and critical thinking are the tools 21st- century children would need.
STEM toys fit wonderfully well to hone these skills. While nothing can replace the undivided attention of a caring adult fostering love for STEM, let us be realistic here.
Our busy schedules do not offer us the luxury to engage in regular meaningful play with our children, let alone STEM inspired play!
Having the right tools (STEM toys) can change this equation dramatically. With a handy play guide, parents can turn into guides (to mentor their kids as and when necessary ) while keeping preserving their independence.
Education experts vouch that STEM toys are important tools in fostering creativity and unearthing the hidden scientist.
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