20 Best Educational Toys for Kids
Updated 27 July 2020
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Author
Daniel is our primary content producer here at TheToyZone. He is a big kid at heart and a self confessed geek. His mission is to find toys that kids will treasure, researching and writing about toys he wants to play with himself.
Educating kids while they're outside of the classroom isn‘t always easy, but learning can also be lots of fun, with the right toys. The best educational toys should challenge the kid and support their educational development, while also providing hours of fun. The problem is, with so many toys on the market, choosing the right one can be a baffling experience.
So to help, we put in the research and have come up with this list of the 20 best educational toys for kids in 2020. Our list includes toys for boys and girls, ranging from toddlers to six-year-olds that are all suitable for travel. We only bring you toys that are tried, tested, and loved by real parents. All fake reviews have been weeded out.
1My Encyclopedia of Very Important Things: For Little Learners Who Want to Know Everything (My Very Important Encyclopedias)
This book is designed to provide children a beautiful way of learning about various things that have been found in encyclopedias. It can be purchased with a hardcover and it is part of a series. It contains hundreds of different exciting facts that will increase their overall learning.
What we love
- The book has a total of 224 pages
- It contains beautiful illustrations
What We Don't Like That Much
- It is apart of a series, but all other books are sold separately
2Melissa & Doug Abacus - Classic Wooden Educational Counting Toy With 100 Beads
This abacus is made from high-quality wood and it uses bright colors for the different bead lines. It is designed to look like a classic abacus and it can be used to help children with their counting and various other math skills.
What we love
- The abacus contains 100 beads in total
- It comes with a 100% happiness guarantee
What We Don't Like That Much
- The beads can be difficult to slide at first
3Snap Circuits Classic SC-300 Electronics Exploration Kit | Over 300 Projects | Full Color Project Manual | Snap Circuits Parts | STEM Educational Toy for Kids 8+ 2.3 x 13.6 x 19.3 inches
This exploration kit is designed to teach kids the basics about circuits and how they work. It makes learning all about electronics fun and will allow them to build over 300 different projects.
What we love
- The kit includes over 60 electronic parts
- It doesn't require any sort of soldering or tools
What We Don't Like That Much
- You must be careful with the snap points to be able to continue to use the kit
4ALEX Toys Explorer Magic Science for Wizards Only Kids Science Kit, A247
This kit contains a total of 11 magical activities that can teach kids different things about magic and science. It includes everything that is needed for the activities, including tubes and the materials to create a magical wand.
What we love
- Very giftable
- It mixes the fun of wizardry and science
What We Don't Like That Much
- This set should always be used with adult supervision
5Learning Resources MathLink Cubes, Back to School Activities, Homeschool, Classroom Games for Teachers, Educational Counting Toy, Math Cubes, Linking Cubes, Early Math Skills, Math Manipulatives, Set of 100 Cubes, STEM toys, Ages 5+
This set of cubes is designed to help kids with their math and it comes with 100 cubes that can all be connected. The cubes also have different colors and shapes to help with shape and color recognition.
What we love
- The cubes are easily connected
- It helps to support several math skills
What We Don't Like That Much
- The cubes can be difficult to snap together for smaller children
6Carson Dellosa Basic Spanish Bingo Game—Learning Board Game with 50 Spanish Words with Photos, 36 Game Boards and Bingo Chips for 3-36 Players, Ages 4 and Up
This game is designed to combine the traditional game of BINGO with learning the Spanish language. The pieces have pictures of the words and they are accompanied by their Spanish spelling.
What we love
- The game comes with 36 game cards, bingo chips, and a guide in English and Spanish
- It teaches 50 different Spanish words
What We Don't Like That Much
- It requires at least three people for best results
7K’NEX – 35 Model Building Set – 480 Pieces – For Ages 7+ Construction Education Toy (Amazon Exclusive)
This building set is designed to teach kids how to build different models and it is designed to help improve their imagination. It gives them the capability of building vehicles and different structures that have real moving parts.
What we love
- The kit comes with 480 building pieces
- It can build various vehicles and structures
What We Don't Like That Much
- The included booklet can be difficult to follow
84M 5557 Crystal Growing Science Experimental Kit - 7 Crystal Science Experiments with Display Cases - Easy DIY STEM Toy Lab Experiment Specimens, Educational Gift for Kids, Teens, Boys & Girls
This kit is designed to teach kids how crystals grow naturally and it comes with everything they need to complete the experiment. It has enough materials for seven experiments and it was designed to increase kids' interest in geology.
What we love
- It is designed to challenge kids' imaginations
- It comes with a special display case for the crystals after conducting the experiment
What We Don't Like That Much
- It can be difficult to find replacement materials for the experiments
9ThinkFun Gravity Maze Marble Run Brain Game and STEM Toy for Boys and Girls Age 8 and Up – Toy of the Year Award Winner
This brain game is made from high-quality components and is designed to assist kids in completing higher-thinking brain mazes. The cubes have different colors that allow them to make the maze look different each time.
What we love
- It comes with an easy to follow instruction manual
- It comes with 60 challenges that kids can complete ranging from easy to hard
What We Don't Like That Much
- It only comes with three marbles
10Skillmatics Educational Game: Brain Games | Reusable Activity Mats with Dry Erase Marker | Gifts, Travel Toy & Learning Tools for Ages 6 and Up
This kit provides several brain games that kids can enjoy for hours, which makes it one of the best educational toys. Each game is designed to help kids improve in social communication, observation, concentration, and problem solving.
What we love
- The kit comes with six double-sided activity mats
- The 12 activities are repeatable
What We Don't Like That Much
- The dry erase marker pen will have to be replaced
11Uncle Milton Moon In My Room
This moon figure is designed to teach kids about the moon and its different phases. It lights up with a soft glow and provides exquisite detail of what the moon's surface looks like and can be controlled by a remote.
What we love
- It has an audio tour that can be downloaded
- It comes with a learning poster about the moon
What We Don't Like That Much
- It requires four AA batteries and two AAA batteries, but they are not included
12Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope Featuring Bindi Irwin: Microscope for Kids, STEM & Science Toy, Interactive Learning, Ages 3+
With this microscope, kids can learn about different organisms. It has a talking feature that walks them through the different slides and what they are looking at. Plus, it comes with different slides that cover plants and animal life forms.
What we love
- The audio can be heard in French, English, Spanish, and German
- It comes with over 100 facts and questions to help expand a child's knowledge
What We Don't Like That Much
- It needs three AAA batteries to function, but they are not included
13BEST LEARNING i-Poster My USA Interactive Map - Educational Talking Toy for Kids of Ages 5 to 12 Years
This is an interactive map that is designed specifically to assist kids in learning unique things about North America and the states that make up the United States. It uses three AAA batteries for the interactive components.
What we love
- The map is brightly illustrated
- It contains over 500 facts about all of the states
What We Don't Like That Much
- Although it includes batteries, they are demo ones and will need replacing
14LeapFrog LeapPad Ultimate Ready for School Tablet, (Frustration Free Packaging), Green
This LeapFrog tablet is designed to provide kids with various games and learning activities in the form of technology. It includes $100 worth of school readiness apps to help further a kids’ education.
What we love
- It uses a kid-friendly web browser
- It has a 7" shatter-safe screen
What We Don't Like That Much
- The lithium-ion battery it requires can be difficult to replace
15Baby Einstein and Hape Magic Touch Piano Wooden Musical Toddler Toy, Age 6 Months and Up
This wooden piano is made from high-quality material and it comes with three different sheets of music, which contain six songs. It is designed to be easy to wipe down and keep clean of germs.
What we love
- It has a place to put the sheets of music while it is being played
- It doesn't have actual buttons that could be broken
What We Don't Like That Much
- It requires two AA batteries, but it only comes with demo batteries
16Coogam Wooden Blocks Puzzle Brain Teasers Toy Tangram Jigsaw Intelligence Colorful 3D Russian Blocks Game STEM Montessori Educational Gift for Kids (40 Pcs)
This puzzle game is designed to be played like the traditional electronic game Tetris. It provides various brain teasers for children to work through. The game board and pieces are all made from high-quality wood.
What we love
- This set includes 40 colorful game pieces
- It is designed to promote problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination
What We Don't Like That Much
- It could use some sort of storage container to make it easier for travel
17ODDODDY Educational Wooden Toys for Girls Boys Kids Children Toddlers Magnetic Drawing Board Puzzles Games Learning for Age 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Year Old Gift Idea Birthday Halloween Christmas (kids2)
This magnetic drawing board is designed to promote children's imagination through drawing and creativity. The box has a removable lid that acts as a whiteboard and it contains various pieces that all have magnets.
What we love
- The box is made from high-quality wood
- The set includes 90 pieces of magnetic pads with different nature themes
What We Don't Like That Much
- It only comes with one black dry erase marker
18Fisher-Price Code 'n Learn Kinderbot, Multicolor, Standard (FXG15)
The Kinderbot is designed as an interesting way for children to learn and explore the world of robotics and coding. The Kinderbot is made from quality materials and it contains different color schemes to make it look more interesting.
What we love
- The kit includes four simple machine accessories
- It has a "secret code" booklet that unlocks hidden features
What We Don't Like That Much
- It goes through batteries fast, which means you will need a large supply on hand
19Little Experimenter Globe for Kids: 3-in-1 World Globe with Stand - Illuminated Star Map and Built-in Projector, 8”
This globe is designed to teach kids things about geography, but it also comes with a built-in projector that can teach them about constellations as well. Plus, it can be used as a nightlight.
What we love
- It comes with a satisfaction guarantee
- It has a desk sturdy base to keep it from turning over
What We Don't Like That Much
- It doesn't come with the three AAA batteries that it requires to run
20BOHS Literacy Wiz Fun Game - Lower Case Sight Words - 60 Flash Cards - Preschool Language Learning Educational Toys
This is one of the best educational toys because it presents an interesting way for kids to learn how to spell different sight words. It comes with a base, 60 cards, and 52 letter tiles.
What we love
- The 60 cards are illustrated with a corresponding picture to the word
- Each card is double sided for a total of 120 words
What We Don't Like That Much
- It can be hard to find replacement letter tiles if they are lost
