Since I teach STE(A)M enrichment classes for kids, I often get asked “what are the best science, technology and engineering toys for kids?” Here is my STEM Gift Guide for 2022 with great ideas from marble runs to building toys, pulleys to tools, electronics and robots, sensory play, games, books and experiences. All have been play-tested in my class by over 200 kids, boys and girls, science-minded and not, age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Marble Runs 

I absolutely LOVE marble runs or ball runs, or marble mazes, whatever you want to call them – those things where you line up the tracks in a wide variety of ways and run a ball down them, then adjust the tracks and run it again to get the longest run, fastest run, most dramatic run, or whatever. These are one of the best possible engineering toys for learning the tinkering mentality, while also learning about gravity and inclined planes. I have instructions for how to build your own with PVC pipes plus ideas for simpler ways to build DIY marble runs here.

For commercial items, one of my favorite sets is the Tumble Trax. (Watch a video of it here.) You could use it on a refrigerator or other metal surface. We use an oil drip pan for this and other magnet play. There’s tons and tons of plastic pipe style marble runs on Amazon. Just search for marble run.  If you prefer wood toys, check out Hape Marble Runs.

Building Toys 

There are so many fabulous building tools to choose from. I am  blessed to have access to many options at my teaching sites and in my home stash. We use Tinker Toys when we study levers, we use gears on wheel week,  K’nex for Simple Machines, Keva blocks on towers week, translucent blocks and  Magna-Tiles when we study light and shadows (note, Playmags are much cheaper than Magna-Tiles, but I haven’t had a chance to compare quality), Lincoln Logs on House week, and Zoob on Skeleton week, and probably others I’m forgetting!

We also use lots of other things to build with – just get creative: plastic Solo cups, plastic shot glasses, straws and pipe cleaners, toilet paper tubes and cardboard, gum drops and toothpicks, raw spaghetti and marshmallows, sugar cubes, cereal boxes, PVC pipes, rolled up newspapers, binder clips and craft sticks and more. (Check out our Building Structures lesson plan.) And, of course, classic wood blocks

But if I had to choose only one building toy, it would be Lego / Duplo hands down. It’s the most versatile, high quality, modular building set there is.  For a gift for a 3 – 4 year old, you can never go wrong with a basic Duplo set. For a 5 – 6 year old, choose basic Legos.

They say that “the more active the toy, the more passive the child.” Electronic toys with lots of bells and whistles are active. Blocks are a passive toy which build creativity and engagement in an active child. (Learn more.)

Pulleys

Having a set of basic pulleys enables lots of fun science play (learn about Pulleys here) – you can buy them from a hardware store or sporting goods store, or you can rig your own from an empty spool. In class, we use use utility pulleys like these, or these Rocari pulleys, with 1/4 or 3/8 inch nylon rope. You’ll need 20 – 25 feet of rope for a fixed pulley system, more if you want to do more complicated pulley set-ups.

Tools

For a 3 – 4 year old, I LOVE the play tools from Black and Decker. We’ve used their toy hammers to hammer golf tees into styrofoam blocks, pumpkins, and the foam insulation we use for our Build a House project. For 5 – 6 year olds, consider buying real tools – a small hammer, a hand drill, sand paper, screwdrivers, and wrenches, and give them real scrap materials to work with. (See if there’s an Adventure Playground in your area!)

If you spend a lot of time cooking, get them real kitchen tools that they can use. If you garden, get gardening tools… whatever you do, they want to join in, so make it possible for them to do so by having kid-size, kid-safe, useful tools.

Science Toys and Tools

Also, be sure to get them the core science tools: a magnifying glass, binoculars, and a bug catcher. For more recommendations for microscopes, safety goggles, lab coats for dress-up and other science tools, read my What is a Scientist post.

Electronics and Robots

For elementary age kids, ages 5+, for learning about electric circuits, the best balance of affordable price and quality toy is a classic set of Snap Circuits. (Or check out Snap Circuit Light that allows you to connect any MP3 player to enjoy a music and a light show.) Read my review of Snap Circuits here, which compares them with littleBits. For 2 – 3 year olds, check out Start-Up Circuits. (I haven’t had the chance to test it yet.)

I reviewed several robots in 2017, on my own quest for a good present for a 6 year old. The family favorite for initial fun was Sphero, but my favorite for long-term learning was the Code and Go Robot Mouse. I’m intrigued by the Sphero Indi, but have not yet played with one.

Sensory Play 

For preschool age 3 – 4 year olds, I would focus a lot on sensory play: Water toys, like water wheels, scoops, pumps. Sensory bins – a big plastic tub full of rice, or beans, or popcorn kernels or sand that kids can pour, scoop, dig, and bury things under plus fun tools to use with the materials (learn about our conveyor belt and grain auger in this post on Specialty Toys We Use in our STEM class). Check out The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Tables, and  The Ultimate Guide to Water Tables.

Play-dough is fabulous for developing small motor skills and hand strength. I make all my own play-dough. It’s easy and cheap to do, and is a better more elastic quality than commercial play-doh. Here’s the recipe.  Play-dough can be combined with so many kinds of tools: pizza cutter, garlic press, rolling pins, cookie cutters and more.

Also, be sure they have musical instruments to play with, especially rhythm instruments. (Learn more about how music helps kids learn STEM.)

Board Games and Activity Sets

For sheer board game joy, I have a variety of favorite games, which I’ll write about someday. For now, here are some board games and learning games which are fun tie-ins to a full lesson plan on a STEM topic. So, here’s the games plus links to the related lesson plan on that topic:

• Towers – Rhino Hero and Jenga
• Contraptions – Roller Coaster Challenge and Mouse Trap
• Robots – Robot Turtles.
• Electricity – Operation
• Simple Machines – Simple Machines DUPLO and Learning Resources Simple Machines
• Light and Shadow – Laser Maze
• Chemistry – Dr. Eureka
• Sink and Float – Battleship

All those are fun for 5 – 6 year olds. And Elefun, which we use in Wind and Flight week, is great for 3 year olds.

Books

Here’s where to find my most recommended Books about Inventors and Makers and here are lists of all the books we use in our classes: 100 books on Engineering and Simple Machines, 100 books on science and 100 books on biology.

I rarely buy books, but we do check out over 400 books a year from our local library! If you give a book to a child, consider also giving the parent a list of other great books that they could check out at their local library. (And make sure they know about library story time!)

Experiences

I don’t really buy a lot of toys for my own kids. (Read my thoughts on “how many toys are enough” for recommendations on how to choose the toys you DO buy.)  I generally prefer experiences – times where we get the opportunity to learn and explore together.

Museums and Zoos

We’ve spent countless fabulous hours at children’s museums and science museums. (Just click on Destination category in the sidebar on your right on a desktop or at the bottom on a mobile device. You’ll find my reviews of great museums in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona) Here are tools to find options near you, or near where you’re traveling to: science museums – Association of Science-Technology Centers, Association of Children’s Museums, Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Consider purchasing a membership to the one nearest your home (or near the home of your gift recipient). It means the barrier to visiting often is low. If we had to pay full price every time we went to the zoo, we might go only a few times a year. But when we buy a membership, I want to go at least three times to earn back the membership, but we end up going way more than that… sometimes dropping in on a whim just for a short 1 hour visit. Also, the associations listed above have partner programs, where you get discounted admission on other facilities around the country when you travel. On one road trip, we went to three children’s museums and two zoos, all at a discount!

Many parks also have great science-based presentations. Check out the Junior Ranger program and other programs from the National Parks, plus look into your local parks departments. Plan a visit soon.

The Great Outdoors

There’s so much science to be learned just by playing outside or as you walk to school. Here’s a long post, compiling all the benefits of letting your kids play outside. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, here’s a guide to learning about native plants. Here’s a guide to Staying Connected to the Outdoors During Coronavirus.

Science and Engineering with Found Materials

Read my post on “the cardboard and plastic lid aesthetic” for my thoughts on the benefits of using simple free materials in your experiments. And this entire blog is filled with ideas for hands-on, easy, cheap science, technology, engineering, and math activities you can use with materials you already own! For more ideas, check out any of these books (links take you to my book reviews): Tinkerlab, Curious Kid’s Science Book, Big Science for Little People, 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments, or the other ideas listed on my Resources page.

More Resources

You might also enjoy my posts on Teaching Math Skills, Music and STEM Learning, and Teaching Science Skills. And check out Purdue’s Engineering Gift Guide which is the best STEM Gift Guide I know of. Here’s their 2022 Guide, Archives from previous years.

Note: This page includes Amazon Affiliate links. If you click on those and then purchase anything on Amazon, I get a small portion of the proceeds, which I use to support my work on this blog. It doesn’t cost you any extra if you use these links. I also included links to lots of my other posts, in case you’re interested in learning more about how to teach STE(A)M concepts to kids with fun, easy, cheap activities.