Looking for the perfect children’s gift? Educational toys for kids are not only excellent for their learning and development, but super fun, too! Here’s our pick of 17 of the best educational toys for kids they’re sure to love.
LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope, £79.99
The new Magic Adventures Microscope from leading educational toy brand LeapFrog, offers children the chance to make new discoveries and explore the microscopic environment around them.
The real microscope encourages mini scientists and budding explorers to discover tiny worlds and learn about the human body, minerals, flowers, food and animals through its 4″ LCD viewing screen and stunning BBC content on nine double-sided Smart Slides that activate over 240 amazing BBC videos and images!
Suitable for: 5+ years
Learning with EZ Baby Sensory Flash Cards, £14.99
These black-and-white visual stimulation flashcards are perfect for helping your baby focus their attention and improve brain development. These cards can be used to entertain your baby, develop neck strength and eye muscles as well as develop their focus and concentration.
The set includes 10 double-sided highly visually stimulating cards with beautiful illustrations that are diverse and representative of African culture.
Suitable for: 0-12 months
Water Babies Swim Balls, £14
These Swim Balls by Water Babies float on the water and come in four different designs featuring fun Water Babies characters. Reaching out and pushing the balls underwater helps develop hand-eye coordination and encourages little ones to start the front crawl arm movement!
Suitable for: 0-5 years
Tender Leaf Toys Bear Colours Clock, £23
This Bear Colours Clock is great for helping kids’ learn colours, numbers and time. It’s a versatile learning toy, which can be used in a number of ways.
Hang it on the wall and use it to help teach children about time, with the independently moving hands. Alternatively, place it on the table, remove the tiles and ask little ones to put them back in the correct number and colour order!
Suitable for: 3+ years
Learning Resources Big Feelings Pineapple, £10.25
Help children explore and learn about emotions and expressions using this tropical friend’s changeable mouths, eyes, eyebrows, and hands. It’s a fun, hands-on way to help children learn to recognise expressions and emotions in themselves and others. Set includes a guide with tips for introducing social emotional learning (SEL).
Suitable for: 3 years +
Buy now from Learning Resources
VTech Touch & Teach Tablet, £25
Have fun while you discover and learn with the VTech Baby Touch & Teach Tablet. This tablet has nine bright, light-up buttons. Press on the animal buttons to learn about animals and hear the fun sounds they make! Plus, little ones can press the ABC button to learn their ABC’s through a happy sing-along song!
Suitable for: 12-3 years
Buy now from Early Learning Centre
The Yoto Player, £79.99
The Yoto Player is more than a game – it’s a speaker! Offering an endless range of stories, songs, sounds and educational activities, there’s no camera, microphone or ads, so you can control exactly what your kids interact with.
Its clever card system works like a contactless card, containing links to content that offer everything from learning about visionary women around the world to learning words in different languages and word building using letters and sounds, with a whole range of options available. It’s suitable for babies all the way up to 12 years old.
Suitable for: 3 months-12 years
Orchard Toys Shopping List Game, £8
Are there any kids who don’t love playing supermarkets?! This lotto-like educational game for kids holds children’s attention using uses quick and simple play, helping to develop their matching skills as they turn over cards and work out if the images match.
This is perfect for kids between the ages of 3 and 7; older children can use strategy and their memory skills by remembering where their cards have been placed.
Suitable for: 3-7 years
This puzzle – crafted from sustainably sourced wood – is designed specifically for little hands to help with children’s memory development as they memorise the sequences, colours, and positions of the pieces, great for either independent learning or playing with the family. Plus, it comes in Jaques of London’s gorgeous signature packaging, making for the perfect gift.
Suitable for: 4 years+
Janod Set of 4 Dinosaur Puzzles, £11.99
Help develop your child’s problem-solving skills with these fun dinosaur-themed puzzles in progressive difficulty, great for children aged 3 and above. The puzzles come in options of 6,9, 12 and 16 pieces, perfect for challenging your child as they get older.
Suitable for: 3 years+
Learning with EZ Alphabet Flashcards, £14.99
These Alphabet Flashcards by Learning with Ez are a fantastic resource to support children in letter recognition and learning the alphabet, and come in an organic cotton bag for storage. The set includes 26 double sided full colour alphabet cards, upper and lower case, featuring beautiful diverse illustrations that are representative of Black children.
Suitable for: 1-4 years
Mori Kids Concept Neo Bead Frame, £37.90
This wooden activity frame is perfect for helping with hand-eye coordination for babies from the age of 12 months. Made from solid sustainable wood, this educational toy – which features an adorable bird and a mudskipper animal shapes – will be a keepsake for years to come. Plus, its gorgeous muted pastel colour will look stylish in your playroom.
Suitable for: 12 months+
In the Book Personalised Encyclopedia – Just For Kids, from £19.99
This personalised kids’ encyclopedia is a wonderful educational toy and gift for young children who are inquisitive about the world. With hand-drawn artwork, this encyclopedia covers a wide range of topics in a book any child will love learning from, with the chance to explore the letters together for both a fun and educational experience.
It also makes for the perfect gift, with the option to add a special message, an image to the back and a luxury gift box.
Suitable for: 3 years+
My 1st Years Personalised Wooden Farmhouse Shape Sorter, £28.80
Budding zookeepers will love this interactive farmhouse shape sorter set, made from solid wood. With its bright colours, textures and shapes, it helps children develop their fine motor and cognitive skills as they learn about the nine different animals. Plus, the option to personalise the roof of the house makes it an excellent gift option this Christmas.
Suitable for: 12 months+
Jaques of London Wooden Shape Sorter, £12.99
A wooden shape sorter is a classic Christmas gift, and this Jaques version helps to develop childrens’ motor skills as it needs precise hand movements. Ideal for children over 1, this 100% FSC approved wood sorter helps kids recognise shapes, sizes and patterns while matching the shapes to the correct slot, while the vivid hues help your little ones to develop colour recognition.
Suitable for: 12 months+
Bright Minds Logiblocs Smart Circuit, £14.99
This Bright Minds Smart Circuit is a fantastic educational toy to help your little one become interested in basic coding and cause and affect logic, with chunky blocks that are easy to assemble. There are over 10 projects for your child to work on, based on electronic blocks called Logiblocs that create rain, moisture and metal detectors.
Suitable for: 4 years+
Janod Bath Explorers Map, £12.99
Make bath time fun – and a learning experience! This Janod Bath Explorers Map will delight your minis as they fit the pieces together and you help them learn about the people and animals found in each continent.
Suitable for: 3 years+
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