31 Best Educational Toys for Toddlers, Preschoolers and Big Kids
Parents, kids and Good Housekeeping Institute pros agree these learning toys are the most fun!
On some level, all kids' toys are educational. Whether it gets them into pretend play, encourages turn-taking and sharing or fosters a sense of empathy, kids are always learning through playing, even if they're not working on academic subjects like math or reading. But we all feel better about letting a whole bunch of toys in the house if there is some sort of overt educational value. Then again, there's zero value in a toy that kids won't play with, so toys have to be fun, too.
To find toys that strike the right balance, the Good Housekeeping Institute Little Lab tests toys throughout the year. For parents, they look for quality of construction, ease of use and frustration level. For kids, they make sure that the toys are fun (the most important factor), and something kids return to and are engaged with for long periods of time. They're mostly geared for little ones but there are a few selections for older kids to keep in mind for the future (or for older siblings). If these aren't enough, you can also check the Good Housekeeping Institute's age-by-age guide to toys and gifts for more recommendations, including STEM toys, sensory toys, family board games, and gifts for 1-year-olds and 2-year-olds (including gifts for toddlers and even stocking stuffers for toddlers!) all the way up to gifts for teens.
These are the the best educational toys for toddlers, preschoolers and elementary school students in 2022:
Learning Resources Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog
This cute hedgehog helps with fine motor coordination, since kids have to put the colorful spikes in the holes at different angles. It's also great for counting and color recognition. Parents loved that the quills easily store inside the back so you won't lose pieces! And if the kids become Spike fans, there's now a whole line of Spike toys, including a fidget toy, a sensory playset, a rainbow stacker and a puzzle. Ages 18 months+
RELATED: The Best Sensory Toys for Exploring Different Textures, Sights, and Sounds
Peaceable Kingdom Button, Button, Belly Button Game
Kids learn same vs. different, matching, colors and turn-taking when they play this board game, which challenges players to match their cards to the buttons or bears on the board. Good Housekeeping's testers requested this one over and over again. Ages 2+
RELATED: The Best Board Games for Kids, According to Parents and Experts
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Piggy Bank
Kids open the piggy bank to remove the colorful, numbered coins. The toy can play more than 40 fun songs, tunes and phrases to interact with your child. In the baby stages, kids use it to practice their fine motor coordination skills while putting the coins into the bank. As they get older, they can use it to learn counting and adding. Ages 6 months+
RELATED: The Best STEM Toys for Kids, According to the GH Institute
Let your imagination run wild with this open-ended playset. After constructing with colorful Lego building elements (bricks, sensors, motors, etc.), kids can layer on drag and drop coding based on the popular Scratch platform to create endless unique configurations, or use one of the 40+ guided lessons to learn more about the basics. As they develop their coding knowledge, they can explore text-based Python coding. While testing, we saw first-hand how early exposure to engineering and physics can help kids get excited about STEM. These products are a fun way for kids to learn through play, and help reinforce skills like experimentation and problem-solving. Ages 10+
Mega Mega Bloks Big Building Bag
This classic 80-piece building set includes blocks of different shapes and colors for kids to construct whatever their minds' dream up. Testers whipped up everything from towers and trains to castles and animals. This set is great for helping to develop gross motor skills and promotes open-ended creativity. Plus, you can easily store pieces in the travel-friendly bag when playtime is over. Ages 1+
Educational Insights Design & Drill Creative Workshop
This construction kit helps foster STEM learning as budding builders learn about different drill bits (Phillips, socket and flathead) for their motorized drill to use on their colorful bolts. The toy also includes a screwdriver and combination wrench to help complete the activity cards or create their own designs. For younger ones, the Design & Drill Bolt Buddies adds in colorful characters and playsets. Ages 3+
The Learning Journey Count and Learn Cookie Jar
Kids learn to recognize numbers and count to ten with this electronic cookie jar. They practice fine motor skills to insert the cookie and when they do, the jar says the number that's on the cookie, so the number-learning is reinforced. Ages 2+
Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope
Kids can insert the slides to see beautiful, up-close images of wildlife. Then the voice of Bindi Irwin explains what they're looking at, so kids can learn science even if they don't know how to read yet. Ages 4+
Magna-Tiles Magna-Tiles 32-Piece Clear Colors Set
Offering endless hours of fun, Magna-Tiles are a creative way to introduce educational topics like shapes, colors, engineering, principles of magnets, symmetry and more. They're also great for helping develop fine motor skills. Various sets are available with different piece counts and color options (think clear or glow-in-the-dark). Ages 3+
This set includes three wooden peg puzzles designed for tiny fingers and helps develop fine motor and hand-eye skills. The 10-piece number set has illustrations of each numeral, the 26-piece alphabet set has illustrations of words starting with the letter it corresponds to, and the fish puzzle has the name of the color for each. Ages 2+
Shifu Orboot Augmented Reality Interactive Globe
The best-selling globe on Amazon, this interactive world map pairs with an app that will let kids focus in on any region that interests them and learn more. There are more than 1,000 world facts loaded up in the app for them to explore. Ages 4+
Step2 Great Creations Art Center
This art center has it all: an art desk station with built-in storage, as well as a double-sided easel that has one side chalkboard, and the other a large whiteboard. Ample storage areas allow for crayons, markers, Play-doh, paint and more to be readily accessible and organized. Bonus: Three kids can easily create at once! Ages 3+
HABA Symphony Croc Music Band Set
This cute croc includes a drum with two mallets, a xylophone, a guiro wooden block (played by rubbing stick along notches on snout) and a bell. Multiple kids can play at once to help foster a sense of rhythm while developing motor skills. Ages 2+
LeapFrog LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set
Compatible with any magnetic surface, this set features interactive alphabet tiles. Placing a letter on the bus window enables your kids to hear the letter and related words. Plus, it includes fun, kid-friendly songs like the "Alphabet Song" and "Wheels on the Bus." Ages 2+
Melissa & Doug Learn-to-Play Piano
Have a budding Mozart? With 25 keys spanning two octaves, kids can experiment with high and low notes as well as loud and soft sounds. It includes a color-coded songbook that's great for older kids to use to play real songs. It comes in blue, pink and multi-colors. Ages 3+
Learning Resources Learning Resources Coding Critters
Kids can get into the basics of coding without using a screen. The 22-piece set comes with coding challenges that do things like help the bunny find its carrot or pull the cart. A storybook walks kids through the challenges. In addition, there's a "play mode" where kids can use the pieces for imaginative free play. Different animals are available, including a dog, cat and dinosaur. This year, they've added MagiCoders, which come in the form of a unicorn or a dragon. Ages 4+
ThinkFun Roller Coaster Challenge
This is both a building toy and a board game all rolled up into one. Players pick a challenge card that asks kids to use certain pieces to build their roller coaster track. If they can use them to build one, and then have the car ride from start to finish with no disasters, they win! It helps them develop engineering and logic skills at the same time. Ages 6+
Good Housekeeping Good Housekeeping Amazing Science
Kids get to play the role of at-home scientist, going from room to room and looking into the science behind phenomena like why bathroom mirrors get foggy or how to de-stink shoes. There are more than 80 hands-on experiments for them to try, using items that are commonly found around the house. Ages 7+
hand2mind Numberblocks MathLink Cubes
If you know little fans of Numberblocks on Netflix, they'll love this counting set, a 2021 Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award winner. Kids can build their favorite characters from the show with the linking cubes, practicing counting in the process and also play with the math-based, wipe-clean activity cards included in the set. Ages 3+
This desk is basically a command center, loaded with parts that let them practice time-telling, track the weather and the days of the week or learn about the alphabet, numbers, counting, music, shapes, colors, the human body. But the true stand-out feature is the light-up projector, which lets kids trace numbers and letters with a stylus on a built-in interactive writing pad. Flip it over and there's also a chalkboard and easel. Ages 2+
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
Rachel Rothman was the chief technologist and executive technical director of the Good Housekeeping Institute for over 15 years, overseeing testing methodology, implementation and reporting for all GH Labs. She also managed GH's research division and the analysis of applicants for the GH Seal and all other testing emblems.
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