Here’s another gift guide to help with some ideas for all those cute little kids in your life. This holiday gift guide focuses on educational toys and games for kids in the elementary grades.
Be sure to check out all our gift guides for kids!
I just love toys that make learning fun! We have quite a few here at home that I’m excited to share with you, as well as a few I’d love to get in the future. This toy gift guide is full of learning toys and games and focuses on kids in the elementary grades.
I didn’t assign specific age ranges to the toys because each child is different. It’s really important to focus on your children’s interests, despite their ages, in order to find things to inspire them. I did, however, put the toys in order from ones younger children may like to those older children will enjoy, although many really could be enjoyed by such a wide range of ages. (This post contains affiliate links.)
Gift Guide for Kids: 20+ Learning Toys and Games
1. Melissa & Doug Shape Sequencing and Sorting Set: This toy provides such a fun, hands-on way to practice early math skills like colors, shapes, and sequencing. And it’s also fun for just open-ended play!
2. ABC Puzzle: We’ve had this wooden ABC puzzle ever since Lucy was 1. Playing this with her all the time is one of the main ways she learned her letters and sounds. And now it’s being used by my 2 year old, Theo. So fun going through the same experience with him. I absolutely LOVE that it has both upper and lowercase letters.
3. Inchimals: Here’s another super fun and hands-on way for children to explore math concepts. With this activity, they’ll get practice with measuring, adding, subtracting, and even balancing equations!
4. Letter Stamps: Whenever I look for toys for the kids having to do with letters, I always make sure both upper and lowercase letters are included. This stamp set has both sets of letters and provides a fun way to explore letter sounds and writing through art! Lucy uses this set often to create her own books at home!
5. Hape Eco Greenhouse: Lucy received this greenhouse as a gift a few years ago. It’s allowed us to plant seeds and make our own littler gardens right inside! We often have it next to our nature table for the kids to easily explore. Next up, we’re planing milkweed seeds!
6. Kiwi Crate: This is one of our favorite things ever, and we even often purchase Kiwi Crates as birthday gifts! This particular box contains two activities for creating musical instruments. The directions are kid-friendly which I just love. What a fun way to combine learning, art, science, and creativity! (They also offer monthly subscriptions so you can get new activities sent right to your door. We’ve been receiving these for over a year and love them!)
7. Butterfly Garden: This is the exact butterfly garden I used in my Kindergarten classroom. Kids love observing caterpillars turn into a butterflies. Such a great hands-on learning experience!
8. Eeboo Life on Earth Matching Game: We have so many games by Eeboo because they are simply beautiful and are fabulous quality. This memory game is full of colorful, beautiful illustrations and is very sturdy!
9. Magnetic Learning Calendar: Lucy has this exact calendar hanging in her room. It’s been a really fun way for her to practice calendar skills, and she often uses it to play school!
10. Hullabaloo: This is one of our favorite games and is perfect for the whole family. It’s a great way to practice gross motor skills while learning shapes and colors!
11. Obstacles: Here’s another game by Eeboo that we just love! It’s a fun, cooperative game that encourages teamwork and problem solving!
12. Hundred Board: I bought this wooden hundred board for Lucy a few years ago, and it has been one of our favorite purchases! Lucy and Theo both love to play with it, but in different ways. For Theo, my 2 year old, it’s been a great way to just make rows of squares or identify simple numbers. Lucy has used it over the years for number recognition, pattern discovery, and counting. I highly highly recommend this! (Here’s a post with more details on how we use our hundred board at home.) This often sells out, but it’s worth it to keep checking back so you can snag one as soon as they get restocked.
13. Marble Run: Oh, how we love our marble run! This has provided hours and hours of creative play with both my kids (and adults). It’s the perfect toy for problem solving!
14. Goldie Blox: This is a really cool way to introduce children to engineering! It comes with a little story and accompanying pieces to try to solve various problems. Lucy and I worked on this activity together about a year ago, and it’s still played with often!
15. Globe: It seems like every child should have access to a globe. I remember my little brother memorizing countries based on colors when he was just a toddler. And Lucy is always curious about where places are located and how far away they are.
16. Fairy Lock & Key Diary: This is Lucy’s first diary. What I just love about it is even though she’s still much too young to write long entries about her day, she uses it more like a journal. She draws pictures of things and she writes words and diagrams. There’s just something special about having your own diary!
17. Be Amazing Toys Big Bag of Science: These science kits are so much fun! We love all kinds of science, and there’s just something kind of extra special about getting your own bag full of science materials and experiments!
18. Snap Circuits: This toy has won tons of awards, and it’s easy to see why! With this kit children can build all kinds of electronics like doorbells or simply make a lightbulb light up. Such a fun way to allow your child to safely explore electricity in a fun way!
19. Set the Family Game of Visual Perception: This is a great family card game! Perfect for learning to look at things critically and practice increasing your memory!
20. Settlers of Catan Junior: My husband and I are huge Settlers of Catan fans! I’m so excited that they have this strategy game available in a junior version. We can’t wait to introduce this to Lucy!
21. No Stress Chess: If your child is interested in learning chess, this would be a great gift! A no-stress way to learn how each piece moves and the rules of the game!