Best Educational Toys for Christmas — My Top Picks for Early Learning

The time for Christmas shopping has come again! Now comes the challenge of buying our children fun, educational toys for Christmas. Toys that they will play with more than once. Toys that stimulate their imagination and create learning opportunities while having fun at the same time. This can be a challenge for any parent, so I have compiled a list of my all-time favourite toys that stand the test of time. Good luck with your shopping!

Best Toys for 2–3 year olds

Mosaic Pegboard

This is a really fun and versatile toy designed for preschoolers. My daughter played with it for hours when she was 3 years old, as there is enough variety of pictures to keep them stimulated and engaged. Children can develop their cognitive abilities by recognizing different shapes and placing round and geometric buttons into the pictures. By putting matching buttons into the picture, they can not only practice accuracy, but also improve hand-eye coordination. This set comes with: 35 color buttons, 12 color pictures and 1 storage tray, thick color buttons for easy handling of small hands, easy to push into the mosaic board, the picture is very interesting and colorful.

Magnetic Fishing Game

This style of magnetic fishing games has been around for a while and is a classic game for young children. I really like this version of it because it is made from quality wood and uses vibrant colours and has great graphics. Catching the fish helps to teach fine motor skills and concentration. Playing with a partner encourages sharing and taking turns, so this is a great first game for your child. This set includes magnetic fish toys, magnetic rods and a cute storage box. You will have hours of fun playing together as a family so this is a great choice of educational toys for Christmas!

Wooden Magnetic Board Puzzle

There is so much you can do with this toy! One side of the board is a magnetic whiteboard where you can use the 100 magnetic pieces provided of animals, insects, trees and other shapes to create stories. My daughter loves creating scenes with the magnetic pieces and creating oral stories to accompany. The other side is a black board that where your child can draw pictures with the colourful chalks and eraser provided.  This multi-purpose toy really encourages creativity and open-ended thinking which will grow with your child. Included in the package is: a wooden storage box, 3 chalks, 1idea book, 1reversible lid for magnets or drawing, blackboard eraser, 100 magnetic pieces.

Best Toys for 4–5 year olds

Marble Run

I love this toy! This toys ticks so many learning targets and is fun at the same time! It encourages children’ imaginations and improves problem solving skills. There are many differently shaped attachments and various ways of building the run.  Putting together a run that works uses children’s fine motor skills as well as logical and sequential thinking. This is the gift that keeps on giving because there are infinite possibilities for constructing a run, from the simple to the complex. What I really like about this version, is that the tubes are translucent, so you can see the marble as it goes from top to bottom. The pieces are also longer and thicker than other products I’ve seen so you can build a towering marble run!

Magnetic Building Blocks

These magnetic tiles are another great way of promoting creative experimentation and mathematical thinking. By experimenting with different methods of construction, children are improving their sensory skills and engaging their curiosity and imagination. Included in this set are 100 magnetic tiles that can be used to build many different objects. My daughter liked to experiment with the different shaped tiles to create castles and houses. The blocks are multi-coloured, are light in weight and without sharp edges. They are made with durable non-toxic plastic materials, so they are completely safe for your children. It is great to see what our children can create when given the opportunity.

Imagination Magnetic Shapes 

These colourful magnetic tiles use geometric shapes which can lie side-by-side to make up a larger, complete picture. Children can also use their imagination to create their own designs using different combinations of shapes. There are cards with suggested shapes that children can try to copy. Solving block puzzles and these types of brain teasers are important activities to teach kids problem solving skills. I love this set because it encourages hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and most importantly – visual perception skills. There are 42 brightly-colored wooden magnetic blocks which can be arranged on the board to replicate any of the 50 full-color puzzles, such as animals, faces, vehicles, flowers, structures and more! Children will love creating their own unique shapes as well. 

Best Toys for 6–7 year olds

Jack and the Beanstalk Game

In this simple game, children can pick cards and construct beanstalks leading towards their castle. They will be counting bean pods to practice simple computation and they will be using their critical thinking skills in order to build their beanstalk. The game is suitable for multiple players and promotes sharing and turn taking. This game comes with: 6 Jack’s Home(game board), 1 Turntable, 6 Castle Cards and 24 Beanstalk cards.

Kite Making Kit

Kids are fascinated by kites and this kit is perfect for first time kite flyers as it comes with easy to assemble pieces and because it is so lightweight, it is easy to launch, even in very light winds. The design is colourful and eye-catching and it is a rather large size kite, so it is great fun to watch it launch and fly. There are so many skills learnt from this kit, from following assembly instructions to developing strength and coordination when learning how to launch and control it. The best bit about this particular kite is that it is foldable, so it is easy to store away. A kite bag is also provided so it is easy to carry and transport.

What Am I?

The concept of this game is perfect for family fun and lots of laughs. Having a picture strapped to your head will get the laughs started and children will soon catch on to the strategies of appropriate asking and guessing. This rapid speed game is ideal for encouraging quick thinking and deductive reasoning. Children will learn to make quick connections and ask questions that lead to the right answer.  My daughter made great improvements as she learnt how to ask questions and also how to give little hints. After a few tries she was hooked, and so was I!

Top Tips for Choosing the Best Educational Toys for Christmas

Choosing the right educational toys for Christmas is a tricky task. Remember that educational does not have to mean boring! When it comes to choosing appropriate toys, remember to look for:

• Toys that can be used in different ways, these will keep your child’s attention longer because of the variety.
• Try to find toys that will grow with your child, these will have different difficulty levels or varying options of how to play as your child gets older.
• Children love to explore and experiment so try to select toys that encourage exploring, experimenting and problem-solving.
• Look for toys focus on your child’s imagination, these kind of open-ended activities will engage your child’s creativity.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun with your child, engage with them and enjoy these toys, games and activities together. There is no greater way to bond than by having fun together.