20 Best Gifts for 9-Year-Old Boys, Including Useful Toys and Unusual Ideas
Building sets, STEM toys, cool sports gear and more!
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When it comes time to find gifts for 9-year-olds, they're in a sweet spot. Gifts for kids this age are just so cool, and they're finally old enough to appreciate all the bells and whistles. There are cars that can drive up walls, kits that use virtual reality goggles and puzzles and brain-teasers aimed right at their growing minds.
Still, there's a daunting amount of options, and you want to buy something that's of high quality, safe to play with and that kids like and will come back to again and again. That's where the Good Housekeeping Institute comes in. It evaluates toys all year long, first with experts who look at the construction, then with actual kids who assess the fun factor. (The best of the best become Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award winners.) The kids tell the Good Housekeeping Institute what's hot, what they liked and what they gave up on after five minutes.
To their picks, we added in some best-sellers and editors' selects to come up with the best toys and gifts for 9-year-old boys in 2025.
Launch the ball out one side of the U-shaped tube. Catch it on the other. So simple, and yet so satisfying. Kids might get so into it, they won't even notice that they're working on their motor coordination. Ages 9+
He can build these two Aston Martin models and drive them around his room or keep the Speed Champions on display on his bookshelf. The GH Seal-holding LEGO set comes with two minifigures and stickers that add Authentic Aston details. And if Mom or Dad are car model collectors, you may want to take the Safety Car and AMR23 around the track too. Ages 9+
Air Hogs Zero Gravity Light-Guided Wall Racer
Any remote-controlled car can tear down the sidewalk, but this one can actually drive up walls and even onto the ceiling! Point the laser anywhere and the car will follow, even if it seems to defy gravity. Ages 4+
Star Wars Force N Telling Vader
Vader gets a bad rap, but maybe he had some good insights? He won't be ignored this time: Ask this Sith a yes-or-no question and he'll predict the future. It comes with 40 distinct responses, and its eyes are also animated when he delivers the answer. Good Housekeeping Institute testers loved his design. Ages 4+
Traditional piggy banks aren't an option at this age because they just aren't "cool." But an electronic version, that can hold all of their money and keep it safe with a special code, will do the trick to help teach them about the importance of money. No age recommendation given
'Lucky Scramble' Graphic Novel
This graphic novel won a Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Award because testers were enthralled by the story of a kid who has to get over his own self-doubts as he enters cubing competitions. “I had no idea that there were five sizes of cubes,” said a 12-year-old tester. You can always get them a Rubik's Cube of their own to go with it. Ages 8–12
It's hard to describe what a ZipString is, but when we broke it out during the Good Housekeeping Institute in-Lab testing, kids lined up to take a turn. The long piece of glow-in-the-dark string wafts out into a rigid loop, and then kids can try to learn to do tricks with it. "I was very satisfied how smoothly the string flies out of the gears," said one 9-year-old tester. "It's easy to learn new tricks and easy to use — makes me feel confident playing with it." Ages 8+
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GraviTrax sets are famous for building mind-bending marble runs with lots of tricks and features. Kids use their STEM skills to engineer the courses and account for the effects of gravity. Once you get them rolling, you can also get expansion sets that let them add in things like marble bridges and zip lines. Ages 8+
This is a sweet way to learn some kitchen chemistry — literally. It comes with all the tools and equipment kids need to make their own ice cream and sorbet, along with instructions that teach them about how ice crystals form or how butterfat and air work together to make things creamy. Ages 5+
Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Electronics Exploration Kit
There's no soldering needed for this electronics kit, which has pieces that just snap together to make anything from a musical doorbell to a voice-controlled lamp. There are enough parts and pieces to make 100 projects, but the UFO was a clear favorite of the Good Housekeeping Institute kid testers. Ages 8+
How good is their memory? How fast are their fingers? This game tests both recall and reflexes in one, fun package. The game lights up a series of colored lights, and players have to try to repeat the sequence. One Good Housekeeping Institute parent tester loved how it encouraged her kids to do independent play. Ages 7+
Bill Nye's VR Science Kit
The classic science kit moves to the 21st century with this STEM set, which has augmented reality capabilities. Step-by-step instructional videos, narrated by science celeb Bill Nye, and on-page pictures come to life when you use it in conjunction with a phone or tablet; the kit comes with enough material to make 30 projects (though some household items are required). Ages 8+
This UFO-shaped drone certainly looks cool, with LED lights illuminating it as it flies. But operating it is even cooler because you don't need a remote control — you just use your hands. It also projects lights onto the ceiling. Ages 8+
True, it's a game of skill — but the real talent is trying to stifle your laughter as you fling your fowl toward the target. Be warned: The chickens bounce and roll, making hitting the bullseye more of a challenge than you may think! Ages 6+
We've come a long way since bean bag chairs were just blobs that just sat there on the floor. He'll love lounging in this one, which comes with a back and arms, plus a handle so he can drag it around his room. Best yet: It even has a drink holder and a pocket where he can stash his books or devices! It also comes in a few different colors. No age recommendation given
With this robot the size of a ping pong ball, kids can play games, learn to code and drive around your house. He can also use the Sphero app and the included cones and bowling pins to build an obstacle course for his robot. There's also the option to purchase the Sphero Mini Activity Kit, which comes with a 28-piece construction set in addition to the robot. They come in a variety of different colors, but the shells are all interchangeable, so you can purchase new shell colors separately. Ages 8+
He'll be able to practice his touchdown passes long after sundown with this football, which uses two LED lights to stay illuminated. Just tap the football to watch it glow, and the lights shut off automatically when not in use. You can also get him a soccer ball, volleyball or a basketball, among others. Ages 3+
PowerUp Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplanes Conversion Kit
Regular paper airplanes might be fun to make, but kids can take it to the next level with this kit, which makes paper planes fly by using an app-controlled device. It's easy for kids to build and connect via Bluetooth, and you can get the regular design or one that looks like a dragon. It'll help promote STEM learning by teaching your 9-year-old the basics of flight, lift and aerodynamics. Ages 8+
Pokémon TCG: Battle Academy
If your 9-year-old is a Pokémon card collector and wants to learn how to play the game, this board game is the best trainer. It walks players through the first few turns until they get the hang of it, then gives them three decks to use and test out their new strategies. Ages 6+
Good Housekeeping Kids Cook!
Once the Good Housekeeping Institute experts are done with your little chefs, they'll be whipping up dishes like beef and mushroom burgers, meatball-mozzarella pizza and pretzel bites all on their own. There are 100 recipes to try, each vetted by the experts in Good Housekeeping's test kitchens. Ages 6 – 10
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.
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