Take the hard work out of gift-giving this Christmas with our best STEM gifts for kids gift guide. You’ll find plenty of inspiration and ideas whatever your budget. Looking for more ideas? Check out our Toy and Gift Guides page for more inspiration.
This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and go on to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Please read my disclosure policy for more details.
Choosing Toys for Kids
In a world where there are so many options it can be difficult to know which toys to invest in! Here are 5 principles that I try to stick to when choosing toys for my own children.
What toys should I Choose for my Kids?
- Toys that are open-ended– these are toys that can be used in a variety of ways and leave room for imagination;
- Toys that grow with your child– This is about avoiding the latest ‘toy fad’ but choosing toys they’ll come back to again and again;
- Toys that are varied– Give your kids a broad range of toys so that they build a variety of skills and interests;
- Toys that have purpose– Think about the purpose behind a toy. How will it benefit my child to own it?
- Toys that last– Choose good quality toys that will stand the test of time.
You can read more about these principles and how they guide our toy choices in my post Which Toys should I be Choosing for My Kids?
A word on the Gift Guides…
These guides are meant to inspire, rather than be a list of everything your child must have! Many of these toys and books we own ourselves, or are made by brands we trust and love, but there’s a few new toys that I’ve come across that I’m excited to share with you too.
The Best STEM gifts for Kids
Great Construction Toys
One of the best toys we own, and loved by kids of all ages, are our Magnetic Tiles. I’ve written an in-depth post about why I think they are so brilliant. I’ve also reviewed two leading brands. You can read my review here.
My kids love Squigz for building with and sticking to lots of different surfaces. You can buy various add-on packs with different shaped Squigz for even more building fun.
The Gears, Gears, Gears range from Learning Resources is great for problem solving and a popular choice for kids.
Science Kits & Equipment
Buying some science equipment and teeming it with a book of experiments is a great gift idea. Alternatively you could buy the the Learning Resources Science Lab set that comes with everything you need, plus lots of experiments to try out.
Tech Will Save Us
Tech Will Save Us do a brilliant range of STEM kits. Our favourite has got to be the Electro Dough Kit. Such a clever idea! They also have some kits designed for bigger kids too, which you can find on Amazon.
Earl the Coding Robot
We love E.a.R.L, our coding robot from Hope Education and he gets a lot of attention from my kids! You can program E.a.R.L to follow a series of instructions that include movement, lights and sound. He’s also compatible with scratch, the coding program that most schools use.
Alongside E.a.R.L you can also buy a series of play mats especially designed to work with this floor robot.
Brilliant STEM books
There are many non-fiction STEM books on the market but it’s harder to find fiction ones that inspire an interest in STEM. We love Ada Twist, Scientist and all the other books in the series.
Thank you for reading! If you have found this guide useful please share it with your friends and family on social media. Thanks!
