20 Educational Gifts Kids Will Actually Want to Play With

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Buying educational gifts for children may seem like an easy task — after all, we were once kids centuries ago — however, advanced technology and innovative toys have made this task a challenge. Even the cool aunts and fun uncles are struggling to find the right gift for younger family members and the growing list of friends’ kids. Add the desire to buy the best educational gift for younger children and you’re faced with thousands of options among building blocks, STEM toys, crafts, and a plethora of books. Of course, not every child is the same, but they’ll still want something entertaining, even if they can’t fully comprehend the gift.

But why should you find a gift with a teaching spin to it? To turn your kid into a genius who gets a full-ride scholarship to college, of course. In all seriousness, these types of toys have benefits that go far beyond intelligence in school and can help your favorite tiny human excel in all areas of life.

"Educational gifts can promote learning, creativity, problem-solving, language development, and critical thinking in a fun way,” shared Special Education Teacher Tanicha Miranda. She explained that gifting a toy, book, or craft item to a young child can help stimulate their curiosity and contribute to their cognitive development.

While you can’t go wrong with a colorful toy that plays some form of sound, if you’re here, then you’re probably looking for something more specific to help a child's development. Below, we’re laying out the 20 best educational gifts for young children, recommended by child caregivers and educators, and broken down by age groups.

For 1 to 2-Year-Olds

Cause-And-Effect Pop-Up Toy

The best educational gifts for infants are colorful ones with simple interactive features. This music-free pop-up toy gives parents a break from the twinkling sounds of kids' toys while the little one enjoys the cause-and-effect buttons and animals. As your baby turns and pushes the buttons they’ll learn the “trick” to unlocking the pop-up animals through patterns and muscle memory.

MORE: The 9 Best Robot Toys for Fun and Learning in 2023

Discovering Music Activity Table

Baby Einstein is known for having some of the best educational gifts, and they’re winning again with this interactive music activity table. This toy is adjustable to stand with the included legs or lay flat on the couch, bed, or floor for on-the-go fun. The little one can push buttons to play piano, drum, guitar, and French horn sounds while learning numbers and colors. Oh, and you can switch between English, Spanish, and French for some trilingual learning.

'A Touch and Feel Book' by Little Hippo Books

Help make storytime more involved with this picture book that introduces your children to animals with interactive pages. The illustrations of Anna Jones are brought to life with patches of textiles to represent a fluffy koala, a scaly lizard, a smooth dolphin, and more. Babies ages 1 and 2 will be excited to get their little fingers on the textures to discover new materials and animals.

Wooden Shape Sorter Toy

This shape sorter is made from high-quality plastic for more durability against little hands that like to throw, bite, and smush. As infants start to walk and move on their own, this toy will be great for hours of fun, whether they want to play with the blocks, the truck, or the construction worker inside.

One shopper gushed about the family fun this toy brought that engaged all members to learn how to share and play together. “This toy kept the 1-year-old granddaughter busy for at least an hour. She played by herself for a bit, then started handing the pieces to Grandpa then taking them back and placing them in the truck.”

Kids Bluetooth Speaker

Yes, you can always play your infant an audiobook from your phone, but there’s always the risk of damaging your device or a random ad ruining the story. Instead, gift this Bluetooth speaker that’s designed specifically for children with kid-safe stories, no camera, no mics, and no ads. Parent of two and content creator Caitlyn Plaskett recommends this kid's Bluetooth speaker which she says, “[is] a really cool story reader that’s essentially podcasts for kids.” The best part? This speaker can grow with your child and tell stories for different age groups.

For 3 to 4-Year-Olds

Magnetic Tiles

Plaskett (and her little one) prefer magnetic tiles over other building toys for endless construction and design time. These magnetic toys are available in large sizes with smooth sides and mouth-safe plastic, making them an ideal educational gift for small children and families with young kids of varying ages.

'The Turtle's Cracked Shell: An Mbekwu Story' by Ada Ari

Storyteller, Ada Adri, brings to life diverse stories in her children’s book designed to teach African folktales and centuries-long lessons to a young audience. In this retelling of a traditional Nigerian tale, your little one will learn about the social and emotional importance of sharing and kindness through a friendly turtle. The whimsical and colorful illustrations introduce young audiences to different cultures with bonus educational information about the story's country of origin, and stickers.

Talking Flash Card Reader

Flash cards can be fun, especially when a colorful device and talking cards are involved. This flash card reader allows developing minds to practice new words as the handheld device reads the card to the child.

Plaskett shares that talking flash card readers are useful in increasing her child’s motor skills every time a new card is inserted. “We really love it because it helped our son learn some words that weren’t in our daily vocabulary and entertained him continuously,” she said.

Wacky Waterworks Pipes Bath Toy

Remember, not all educational gifts for children will explicitly seem like a learning toy. Sometimes, the best ones challenge a child’s creativity and life skills. This pipe bath toy makes getting clean more fun with knobs, tubes, and spinning features that allow multiple combinations of play. When rotated in the right way, the spout portion allows water to flow through so you can teach your young ones how to wash themselves with this interactive toy.

One of our senior editors, Cat Bowen, loves gifting this toy to friends and family with bath-averse kids. She says "it's amazing how motivating it is for even the most bath-shy babies."

Water Doodle Mat

Any parent of a toddler will jump for joy when their child unwraps this educational gift. The large surface mat allows children to draw with magic water pens that will save bedroom walls from being drawn on and clothes getting stained with markers.

Included, they’ll get stencils to trace, a drawing book to copy designs, and three leak-proof pens. One reviewer shared, “ I bought this as one of the Christmas gifts I gave a friend's 3-year-old twins…she brought up the fact that the twins love it, it keeps them occupied, and saves lots of paper!”

For 5 to 8-Year-Olds

Kids Noise Cancelling Headphones

It’s a loud world we live in and if you’re wondering how noise-canceling headphones can be educational, allow Miranda to explain why she recommends these for her students. “Students with stimulation sensitivity can use noise-canceling headphones to help them focus, relax, or concentrate on other activities,” she said.

Children, teenagers, and adults of any age can benefit from this multi-functional gift that makes it easier to focus on the task at hand. These headphones are designed to block out any loud noises while fitting closely on the ears and head.

Pop Beads for Kids Jewelry Making

This DIY craft kit provides hours of endless fun and creativity through making thread-free jewelry. Snap beads can be rearranged in different patterns, shapes, and sizes for infinite personalization possibilities. The assortment of beads, headbands, bracelets, and ring pieces allows your kid to get creative and bring their fashionable ideas to life.

Dig a Dozen Dino Egg Dig Kit

Dinosaur toys are another popular educational gift that children of all ages enjoy. This dinosaur fossil egg kit lets your kid dig for miniature figures and learn about the different animals that used to roam the earth. While this toy can get a bit messy, it’s great for outdoor play or inside (over a protected surface) on rainy days.

Astronaut Starter Kit

If your child is always looking up at the stars or asking about space, bring some science to playtime with this educational gift that has layers of activities. First, they can learn about the planets and their order while they build and paint the solar system with the included pieces. Then, they can pretend to be an astronaut as the rocket flies around the solar system with the included pump and stand. Work on this together or have your child invite over some friends for space-travel fun.

'The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions' by Anna Llenas

Learning how to understand and handle emotions can be a life-long battle, and you can help younger children with this by gifting them a story all about feelings. This children's book by Anna Llenas is entertaining and educational for all ages, but especially helpful with young children as they enter school. Through the use of cartoon monsters and color, your young one will learn about emotions in a simple, friendly way.

For 8 to 10 Year Olds

The Ultimate Grade 3 Math Workbook

School can be difficult for many children, which makes learning at home much more important. If you’re trying to encourage your young one with school subjects, simplify the hard things with the teacher-loved program and workbook system from IXL.

You can sign up for a 30-day trial (like Miranda did with two of her students) or create a membership to move with your child as they go through the different grades. And if you’re goal is to focus on one subject, check out the many workbooks — like this 3rd Grade Math book — to help your child retain what they learn in written format.

Atlantis Escape 3D Path-Building Travel Game

Anyone who plays this escape game will build on their STEM skills while solving Atlantic-themed puzzles. Gift this educational game to your pre-teen and spend quality time together solving the 3D map. Included they’ll find the 3D gameboard and pieces, along with 60 different STEM puzzle challenges to complete. Its compact size makes it easy to travel, and the multi-level challenges provide hours of fun.

'The Care and Keeping of You 1: The Body Book for Younger Girls' by Valorie Schaefer

Medical consultant Cara Natterson, MD worked with American Girl to revamp the famous self-help book that goes through caring for oneself, specifically for girls aged 8 and up. While this book features lessons for girls on how to care for themselves through periods, pimples, and wearing a bra, there are many gender-neutral lessons for all.

Kids Camera Instant Print

Teach your younger sibling or cousins how to capture physical memories with this kid-friendly instant print camera. While you can always gift a Fujifilm Instax, this affordable option is designed for the durability and stickiness of children.

The easy-to-use system allows for more photos to be captured with the included camera tape (not film) that prints in black and white. This is a great starter camera for young children who are curious about their surroundings and want to capture it all.

16 Bit Handheld Games for Kids

When the children in your family start asking for expensive tech toys, gift them this retro-inspired handheld game. This handheld device has over 7,000+ 5-star reviews talking about the game variety, battery life, and product durability.

You Might Also Like

• The Paris Hilton Housewares Collection Brings ‘That’s Hot’ Energy to Your Kitchen

• 16 Best Noise-Canceling Headphones Perfect for Rocking Out in Quiet Bliss

• Beyoncé Uses This $26 Amazon Product for Her Glossy Blonde Hair