23 Best STEM Toys That Kids Find Cool and Parents Find Educational

Toddlers place “ingredients” on the pole and watch them spin down, learning sequencing to get the sandwich made right. Each of the five rings have removable puzzle pieces in their centers for an added challenge, while the rings themselves can be used to play a game of ring toss.

Parents of kid testers liked that this opened up discussions of shapes and colors. "Not only was my 2-year-old assembling it, but she was also counting,” a parent said. Ages 12 months+

Toddlers can learn colors, numbers and shape-sorting all while practicing gross motor skills — like pushing and pulling — with this wagon. There are activities on all four sides. One parent said her 2-year-old would spend 20 minutes at a time with this toy. “She loved how interactive it was,” she said. Requires 2 AA batteries; ages 12 to 36 months

Kids can dream up their own creations with these magnetic tiles that make construction (and deconstruction) a breeze. They're a great introduction to educational topics including shapes, principles of magnets, symmetry and spacial reasoning. If you're ready to teach your kid what makes an equilateral, right or isosceles triangle, here's your chance! (Feel free to Google it.) We love that this STEM toy is equally appropriate for a 3-year-old, a 5-year-old and for older kids. Ages 3+

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These foam blocks come in shapes other than your traditional squares and triangles, and magnets keep them together. Because they're made of foam, they can also be used as bath toys. “My kids love mixing the different shapes into robots and bridges, then adding their cars — it’s been so fun," one parent tester said. Ages 3+

This brings math into the spotlight and delights fans of Netflix's Numberblocks. Helping your preschooler grasp number sense — the intuitive knowledge that two is half of four, for instance — is made easier with the tactile pieces. To add, sit Numberblock 2 on top of Numberblock 3 and see if it matches up with Numberblock 5, and so on!

Play with your kid, or let them use the activity cards and wipe-clean boards for math-based puzzles and activities. Parent testers were amazed by how much math their kids absorbed while using this STEM kit. Ages 3+

"My son created a little world with his imagination and was proud of himself," a tester parent told us of this marble run jungle-themed play set. Kids create their own maze for a marble to roll through but can stop to act out scenarios with the animal characters, too.

As Lab pros and parents, we appreciated how pretty this 100-piece set is. You just might leave it sitting out in the living room! Ages 3 to 7

STEM with a sensory twist, this kit comes with a wind tunnel with a kid-safe fan. They can use the included pom poms, arm-waving person, pinwheels and more to experiment with how wind can make things spin and fly. Batteries included; ages 3+

Featuring the voice of Bindi Irwin, this microscope lets kids slip in any of the 60 colorful preloaded slides to learn more than 100 facts about animals, plants and humans. It lets them feel like a scientist while they learn encyclopedia facts! There's even a quiz mode, too. The microscope works in English, Spanish, French or German, and if they like the look and feel of it there's a talking telescope as well. Ages 4+

The LEGO Bluey line is among our most anticipated toys of 2025. This set includes simple instructions to challenge a 4-year-old to their first post-Duplo, real-Lego build. Following the sequence and mastering the construction challenge is a reward in itself, but then kids also end up with a great Bluey playhouse and the entire Heeler family in minifigure form, ready for imaginative play. Ages 4+

Kids as young as 4 can learn screen-free coding and get the critter to do things like fetch or play hide-and-seek. There's also an interactive mode where kids can just play and take care of their pets without coding. This comes with a big and little doggie, and there's also a set with a dragon who chases a ball. Ages 4+

Budding engineers use magnetic pieces to build a one-of-a-kind exploring vehicle with this set, mastering engineering concepts as they learn the construction of each moving vehicle. It comes with how-tos for four designs, but kids in our testing preferred dreaming up their own creations. Ages 5+

If Ada Twist, Scientist has them all fired up to make their own hypotheses and design their own experiments, this book can help. It'll give them ideas for more than 40 activities, from tracking the phases of the moon to watching decomposition at work. Ages 5+

This game transforms kids into roller coaster engineers. Players design a 3D adventure ride with real loops and drops based on the challenge card they draw. Then, they send the car speeding down and hope for success. The set comes with 40 challenge cards ranging from beginner to expert, and while it's meant to be a single player game, it can also be fun to work in teams to solve the challenges. Ages 6+

It's STEM meets beauty: With this kit, kids take on the role of a chemist for a bath and body products company, exploring ideas like pH levels and the biology of skin. Our testers loved making their own bath bombs. Ages 6+

Budding elementary-age scientists will thrill to the 83 hands-on experiments included here, which are led by the scientists from the Good Housekeeping Institute. The book goes from room to room through a home and explains the scientific concepts behind the phenomena you might find there, like why bathroom mirrors get foggy or what makes sweaty sneakers stink. Ages 7+

Mini chemists can perform 16 experiments with this science kit — more with the addition of some household items — learning about chemistry while erupting volcanos and making tiny tornados. The instructions are easy for adults to guide kids through the activities. Note: It can get messy fast, so be prepared. Ages 7+

Combine a marble run with a series of engineering challenges and you get this game. It makes players flex their building, spatial reasoning and critical thinking muscles to solve the 60 challenges. Or, they can just free play and build cool tracks for the three included marbles. Ages 8+

Kids get safe hands-on experience with electricity and circuitry using this brand's kits. This new one focuses on projects that launch things in the air — and our Lab pros trying it learned right alongside the kids, launching a flying saucer up to the ceiling.

“Entry-level snap circuits generally focus on lights and buzzers, so it was cool that this one had a spinning motor," said a parent who tested this at home with their child. Ages 8+

Good Housekeeping Institute book testers loved using the instructions and pieces in this kit to make gravity-powered contraptions, like chain-reaction machines, fortune tellers and labyrinths. Testers also found the directions to be clear. “The visuals in the book were accurate, and it was easy to determine where each piece went,” one said. Ages 8–12

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Kids can learn about geology and minerals in an extremely hands-on way with this kit, which lets kids break apart 10 colorful geodes and examine the crystals inside. It comes with safety goggles, a magnifying glass and a learning guide so they can really get a good look. Ages 8+