The Best STEM Toys and Gifts for Kids
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Are you shopping for the best STEM toys and gifts for your kids this holiday season? Here, you’ll find what’s new and recommended for 2025, as well as the best classic STEM gift ideas for kids.
Discover robots, building blocks, science kits, circuitry, math games, and more.
This is the best list of science, technology, engineering, and math toys and gifts curated by a teacher for parents who want double-duty gifts that are both fun and educational. Use the indicated age recommendation to help you in your shopping.
Go here for the entire 2025 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR KIDS.
2025 STEM Toys and Gifts for Kids
From the newest STEM toys for kids to hit the market to the favorite classics, these amazing educational gifts and toys will give children a big value with both fun and learning.
Melissa & Doug Blockables
ages 1+
Stackable solid wood building blocks that can also easily snap together to create fun farm animals and equipment.
Fill & Spill Piñata
ages 1.5+
Build hand strength, coordination, and other fine motor skills as you count candies and put them inside the piñata.
MEGA BLOKS Toddler Blocks Toys Set
ages 1+
This portable activity table includes 28 big building blocks and 1 rolling car.
Design & Drill Robot Workshop
ages 3+
Mix and match 70 pieces to build your own robot. Assemble it with your own drill!
Hello, I’m an Axolotl written and illustrated by Haley and John Rocco
ages 4+
This series is exceptional– a must own, must read, must share with young readers!
Magformers
ages 3+
Budding engineers will love using these 26 magnetic geometric shapes. 18 squares, and 8 triangles!
Intro to Tools & Building
ages 3+
Learn how to use a hammer, screwdriver, and wrench, and the basic engineering principles behind how these tools work. This set develops fine motor skills, visual-spatial skills, and reasoning.
Construction Site Folding Sandbox Playset
ages 3+
Open up the Construction Site to reveal a contained play space! When you’re finished playing, the sandbox easily folds up and fits everything inside for storage or portable play! Wheel the dump truck around the site and use the truck’s 3-brick mold in the back to build brick walls.
Math Path Monster
ages 6+
Use your arithmetic skills (addition and subtraction) to escape the monster!
You Are a Garter Snake! written by Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Jay FleckÂ
I love this second person verby preschool animal nonfiction series because it teaches kids about animals and gets them moving! Garter snakes do things like bend, shed, strike, swallow, wriggle, squeeze, and slumber and asks kid readers to do the same motions. Fun, right?
Silly Science Sorting Set
ages 3+
Count, sort, and match the gems in this science activity set that includes tweezers to help increase hand strength and fine motor skills.
The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish: What Magic Lies Beneath? by Chloe Savage
ages 4 – 8
Informative and funny, this picture book belongs on your bookshelves because your readers will love every bit of it. Dr. Morley and her crew search for the elusive Arctic Jellyfish. This is a delightful hide-and-seek romp in the Arctic with a playful jellyfish as the special star.
MAGNA TILES Builder XL Construction Set
ages 3+
This kit includes a crane, a dump truck, a plow, two truck cabs, 2 figures, and lots of magnetic pieces to build with. How fun is this?
Cool Animals Sticker Activity Book by National Geographic Kids
ages 4 – 8
WOW! National Geographic never disappoints. This book is filled with 1,000 stickers of animals, puzzles, games, spelling, patterns, drawing ideas, and much more. Highly recommended.
***If you like this book, check out Ponies & Horses and Dogs.
Elmer’s Color Slime Kit
ages 5+
This kit contains all the ingredients you need to make colorful slime– and who doesn’t want to do that?
Supermoms! by Heather Lang and Jamie Harper, illustrated by Jamie Harper
ages 4 – 8
Did you know animals are moms, too? And they make safe, comfy homes like the groundhogs and red-knobbed hornbill. They’re creative with transportation — just look at a wolf spider mom carrying her spiderlings on her back or an American alligator carrying her hatchlings in her mouth. Fascinating facts about animal supermoms are paired with engaging comic-style illustrations.
Gravity Drop
ages 8+
Build a marble maze with wooden balls using LEGO Technic elements and chipboard. This kit includes directions for two tower builds and 5 extra projects.
KLUTZ Gemstone & Dig Kit
ages 7+
Use the chisel and hammer to find 12 birthstones and 18 more rocks. This kit includes a 32-page book of information and ideas!
LEGO Friends Heartlake City Community Center
ages 9+
Build this colorful community center to use with the included 6 mini-dolls and accessories like a sewing machine, gaming accessories, and gardening accessories. This will provide hours of building and playing!
LEGO Creator Panda/Orca
ages 8+
Make a panda toy with its cub, an orca figure with its calf, and a penguin toy with its chick with the LEGO blocks in this kit!
LEGO DREAMzzz Zoey’s Cat Motorcycle Bike Toy
ages 7+
Build a motorcycle and let your 2 minifigures ride it!
LEGO Friends Beach Resort
ages 8+
Build a beach resort, water slide, snack stand, and more with Nova, her dad, sister, Liann, Aron, resort manager Mischa, plus super-cute dolphin and turtle figures.
Animal BFFs by Sophie Corrigan
ages 8+
The writing is engaging, and the information about unusual animals who live together is interesting. I particularly love the funny dialogue bubbles of conversation between animal duos that you haven’t ever heard about — like warthogs and banded mongooses or ruby-throated hummingbirds and spiders– and why they’re paired up.
LEGO Ferrari
ages 9+
Build your own legendary Technic Ferrari FXX K with authentic details and working mechanical features. Isn’t this cool?
LEGO Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer
ages 10+
Build a brick version of the Imperial Star Destroyer that comes with 7 minifigures. The starship includes a carry handle, 2 shooters, and a lift-off top panel!
PlayStation 5
Tons of games are available on this popular gaming system! Some of the more popular games on this platform include Miles Morales, Madden 25, NBA 2K25, Ratchet & Clank, and more!
LEGO Dragon
ages 10+
Build a dragon model out of 1,171 pieces!
LEGO Plum Blossom Flower Decor
ages 18+
How beautiful is this plant? With over 10,000 bricks, experienced builders will love building this flower.
Design & Drill Flower Power Studio
ages 3+
How fun is this kid-friendly drill, plates, and bolts? Match the included designs or create your pictures, patterns, and shapes.
Design & Drill Bolt Buddies Barn
ages 3+
Use a kid-safe toy drill to build a farm with crops, fences, and animal friends.
eeBoo Making Change Game
ages 5+
50 cards, paper money and coins will help kids learn to subtract and make change.
Uncle Milton Moon In My Room
ages 4+
Watch the moon’s lunar phases that you can change with a remote control.
Magna Tiles Forest Animals
ages 3+
Get four forest animals and 25 pieces to build forest settings. Use this set independently or with your other Magna Tile sets.
What’s Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? and Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies by Rachel Ignotofsky
ages 4 – 8
Just wait until you see the gorgeous illustrations throughout this book. I could frame them all! Learn all about moths and butterflies, starting with their differences, their life stages, their metamorphosis, their anatomy, and more interesting information about their diet, mating, and spreading pollen. Kids will love reading about these important insects. Perfect for primary-grade classrooms and homes.
GeoSafari Ant Factory
ages 5+
Don’t worry–this is escape-proof habitat. Set up the ant factory to learn about habitats, feeding, and behavior. (Please use the ants you can order in the mail — it will be a disaster if you don’t.)
Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers 40+ Things to Invent, Draw, and Make by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts ages
ages 5 – 10
This is an excellent, engaging activity book based on the fantastic STEM Rosie Revere, Engineer picture book. Colorful illustrations and a cool layout will entice readers to try, fail, and learn. Discover more about simple machines, build a marble run, solve engineering challenges, design a stuffed animal carrier for your bike, learn about inventors who failed a lot, and so much more.
Dead Ends! Flukes, Flops and Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels written by Lindsey Fitzharris and Adrian Teal, illustrated by Adrian Teal
Ages 8+
This isn’t the first book about wacky, ill-informed medical practices from history, but this one stands out with its captivating writing, funny illustrations, and a focus on the failures that led to scientific breakthroughs.
Fandex Kids Bugs
ages 8+
The brightly illustrated cards fan out, and each one of the 35 bugs has a uniquely shaped top. Pick one and read the information, including what their bite is like and other information from nature.
National Geographic 15 Geodes
ages 8+
Discover your crystal treasures when you crack open the geodes wearing the included goggles.
Make a Pie!
ages 5+
This eeBoo game introduces kids to fractions with pie and play– and helps reinforce halves, thirds, fourths, eighths, and sixteenths.
Lego Downtown Fire Brigade
ages 6+
Children can act as firemen with this extra fun LEGO set, which comes with a working light, a swivel ladder, a cool helicopter, plus much more!
LeapFrog Magic Adventure Globe
ages 4+
This is an interactive globe. Tap on it with the stylus to learn about places, cultures, languages, animals, and more.
3 in 1 Exotic Parrot to Frog to Fish
ages 7+
You get a lot of bang for your buck with these 3 in 1 sets! Build the parrot then rebuild it as a fish or a frog!
Plasma Ball
Learn about electricity, matter, and energy!
Amazing Plants of the World by Stepanka Sekaninova, illustrated by Zuzana Dreadka Kruta
ages 8+
Narrated by an enthusiastic, quirky gardener, read about weird plants that stink, look peculiar, eat meat, mimic other things, and many more such oddities. The illustrations are accompanied by a lively description that gives pertinent facts while engaging readers with the gardener’s strong voice.
Shashibo Shape-Shifting Box
ages 8+
Magnetic puzzle box for sensory stimulation, relaxation, and imagination.
Switch Lite
ages 6+
This handheld version of the Nintendo Switch is the perfect gift when it comes to price and size for any kid looking for an awesome game console!
Human Body Learning Lab: Take an Inside Tour of How Your Anatomy Works by Betty Choi, M.D.
ages 8+
Colorful pages with kid-friendly writing, illustrations, diagrams, labels, photos, and more add up to my new favorite book on the human body. Start reading about the body’s cellular building blocks and keep reading about subjects like the circulatory system, respiratory system, nervous system, the five senses, the reproductive system, and more. Written by pediatrician Dr. Betty Choi, you’ll learn about different systems of the body and then do fun activities to reinforce the knowledge.
Wild Outside Around the World with Survivorman by Les Stroud illustrations by Andres P. Barr
ages 9+
Les Stroud recounts exciting personal adventure stories of exploration and survival in all sorts of places around the world. Fascinating stories are accompanied by photos, illustrations, maps, and informational insets. I couldn’t put this book down and HIGHLY recommend it.
How Do Meerkats Order Pizza? by Brooke Barker
You’ll love this graphic engaging and informative book about scientists who specialize in specific areas of study — including meerkats studied by Dr. Marta Manser and also Japanese macaques and bonobos studied by Dr. Cecile Sarabian, and lizards studied by Dr. Earyn McGee. The book is illustrated in comics with dialogue bubbles and handwritten text. It’s amazingly dense with factual information but remains easy to read, interesting, and appealing to the eye.
The Deep! Wild Life at the Ocean’s Darkest Depths by Lindsey Leigh
ages 8 – 12
What an engaging dive into the ocean! Read about the ocean layers and the cool creatures who live in each ocean zone. The unique handwritten font instead of a traditional font gives the feeling of waves and playfulness. Cartoon illustrations show interesting creatures like the barreleye fish, the prambug, the hagfish, and the tripod fish. And the dialogue bubbles of conversational creatures only add to the genius of this eye-catching book. I predict this will be very popular with middle grade readers!
Snap Circuits Mechanical Coding Robot
ages 10+
Learn to code a robot that can lift, throw, kick, draw, and more by snapping the coding buttons onto the coding wheel!
LEGO Speed Champions Porsche
ages 9+
Build a replica Porsche car! With a low hood, cockpit, rear wing and fin, this will be a cool car to build.
Lego Star Wars: The Mandalorian The Razor Crest
ages 10+
Any kid who’s into Star Wars will be full of excitement when they get a chance to step into the role of The Mandalorian and build their very own action-packed spaceship!
More Favorite STEM Toys and Gifts for Kids
Classic STEM gifts like these continue to impress parents and kids alike with their educational value and high-interest, fun factor!
Design & Drill Bolt Buddies
ages 3+
Build your own airplane with your drill– complete with a spinning propeller.
Q-Bitz Jr
Ages 3+
With this math-focused STEM game, kids use the cubes to match the patterns on the cards and develop visual-spatial skills, pattern identification, problem-solving, and hand-eye coordination.
Super Sorting Pie
ages 3+
Even though it’s meant for young learners, my kids played with this toy until they were late elementary school! It’s great for math concepts like patterns, sorting, and numbers, and makes for lots of fun if you open up a pretend restaurant, too.
GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope
ages 4+
Investigate things close up with a talking microscope that teaches children using 60 different images and several different modes.
Hape Super Spiral Quadrilla
ages 4+
Build marble runs with a cool building block set that gives kids the opportunity to engineer and play for hours on end.
Brain Flakes Interlocking Plastic Disc Set
ages 5+
Create interesting designs with over 500 interlocking discs!
Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards
ages 3+
These pattern boards are a perfect way for any child to learn problem-solving and color recognition while having a lot of fun playing a hands-on, creative game!
BRIO Builder STEM Set
ages 3+
Get your young engineer building with 136 building pieces including nuts, bolts, a hammer, a screwdriver and more.
Mini Motor Math Activity Set
ages 4+
Count, add, subtract, pattern, and more using mini rubber cars and numbered tracks. Not only does this hands-on game practice math skills, but it also reinforces fine motor movements and hand-eye coordination.
Educational Insights Design and Drill Space Circuits
ages 5+
We highly recommend this STEM gift for kids. (Even my husband loves this toy! And he’s well above the recommended age range.) Mini engineers get to complete 20 space-themed missions by creating circuits. With over 50 pieces, kids learn engineering and problem-solving skills as they learn to light, spin simple motors, add momentary buttons and switches, and more.
Pigeon Math by Asia Citro, illustrated by Richard Watson
ages 4+
Hilarious! Addition and subtraction never felt so fun!! An increasingly exasperated narrator TRYING to tell the story about ten pigeons, can’t quite do it because the birds come and go, plus there’s a cat, and well, it makes for some great silliness and inviting math opportunities. Use the pictures to help answer the math equations. Visual support, goofy humor, and plenty of kid-appeal make this a 100% must-own, must-read STEM picture book.
Except Antarctica! by Todd Sturgell
ages 4+
A stoic narrator shares information about turtles until…the turtle, who doesn’t live in Antarctica, sets off for Antarctica, making the narrator very irked. Soon, the turtle is joined by other animals who are also NOT found in Antarctica. Hilarity ensues with an increasingly exasperated narrator who does not want any traveling companions, including a dung beetle, owl, snake, bee, mouse, and frog. Several pages of back matter explain more information about each animal and the continent of Antarctica.
Ooze Labs Chemistry Station Science Experiment Kit
ages 6+
This educational chemistry set is perfect for children who love doing their own experiments and want to create something colorful, slimy, or fizzy in their very own lab!
Design & Drill Bolt Buddies Police Motorcycle
ages 3+
Use a real drill to build a police motorcycle and sidecar. Then play with your police dog and police person. Great for fine motor skills and imaginative play.
Mars: Earthlings Welcome by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by Stevie Lewis
ages 4+
Mars is a planet with a big personality. In first-person narration, Mars shares all its many features that are much better than Earth. Like two moons and 37 more minutes in a day! It’s funny, entertaining, and very informative.
LEGO Brick Box
ages 4+
This is a must-own STEM gift for all kids. You’ll get 790 pieces of LEGOS from which you can build and create using your own imagination.
Gears, Gears, Gears Robot Factory
Ages 4 – 7
My kids and their friends love this gears kit SO MUCH. Parents, you’ll love to see how the gears inspire creativity through building and engineering. See my full review here. This is one of my favorite STEM toys to give kids!
Hape’s Stacking Music Set
Ages 4 – 15
Sing along with this musical marble run! It includes xylophone keys built into different pieces so you can make music as the marbles roll down the raceways.
Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects: Build Invent Create Discover by Jack Challoner
ages 6+
This STEM book stands out from the crowd because it’s so beautifully designed and written. Yes, we’ve seen lemon batteries in a ton of other books, but I really like the way this book presents the information so that a kid could pick up the book and do the experiment themselves as well as learn the science behind the project. A great choice.
Clumsy Thief
ages 8+
We play this fun and funny math game all the time. Add this STEM game to your family game night for giggles and math practice. You won’t regret it!
Dr. Eureka!
ages 8+
My kids love this STEM game so much. Try to solve the formula on each challenge card using your 3 test tubes using the 6 colored balls. But, don’t touch the balls with your hands or you’ll be out! The first one done wins the card; the first person to get five cards wins. Read my full review here.
Gravitrax Starter Set Marble Run
ages 8+
Power marbles with gravity in this hands-on educational and science STEM set with 24 problem-solving building exercises.
Lego Chain Reactions Science & Building Kit
ages 8+
Build up to 10 different awesome moving machines with this awesome STEM kit that comes with over 30 separate LEGO elements to create and design with!
Gravity Maze
ages 8+
Get your kids hooked on an engaging game requiring problem-solving, thinking, and visual-spatial strategy! The goal of the 1-player Gravity Maze game is to figure out how to build a working marble run using the colored translucent plastic towers. We love and highly recommend this game!
LEGO Flower Bouquet
ages 18+
My daughter got this for her birthday, and it looks so cool in real life! It’s a great gift for teens!
Audio Gaming Chair
We first saw these chairs at our neighbor’s house– they are pretty cool, right? Listen to music, watch TV, read, play video games, or just relax. It’s got 4 speakers plus wireless receivers and transmitters and is compatible with most gaming devices.
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So many great ideas! I’m getting a head start on my Christmas shopping for my nieces and nephews!
I bet they love their Auntie Jill!
We never knew that there was something like an Audio Gaming Chair. Thanks for letting us know.