The holidays are just around the corner, and as a parent, caregiver, or someone competing for the “Best Aunt Alive” award, you want to ensure that the games and toys you provide for your toddlers are fun and impact their overall development of literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills.
Children learn best through interactive, hands-on play, and each of these items encourages young learners to do just that. Here’s our Collab Kid Top 5 List of Must-Get STEAM Toys for Early Education.
Teaching coding to young kids without screens is challenging, but QUBS makes it fun and hands-on. Their beechwood blocks are designed to look like buildings, and each has symbols for commands like turn, stop, or repeat. Kids place a magnetic top on a red car, which then drives and follows the commands using RFID technology. QUBS lets children learn coding basics through play, enhancing critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
The return on investment with Magna-Tiles is incredible. These translucent tiles magnetically snap together, forming both 2D and 3D shapes, and they grow with your child’s creativity. Young kids start by making houses and simple shapes, while older kids can build entire villages for their toys. We love them so much that you can find them on our Collab-Lab!
Crayola’s Color Chemistry Set takes creativity and science to a new level! It includes everything you need for 16 vibrant experiments right out of the box and up to 50 more using everyday household items. Kids can enjoy hands-on activities like erupting volcanoes and colorful quicksand. It’s a brilliant way to blend color and chemistry, making STEM fun and accessible for young scientists.
Collab Kids in our Centers of Excellence child care centers love this moldable sand, which they can use to build miniature landscapes, castles, and more! It has the texture of wet sand but never dries out, making it perfect for endless molding and shaping. Available in various colors, it clumps easily without sticking to hands or surfaces, though a play tray or table is ideal to keep clean-up quick and easy.
With this language-learning wand, kids ages three and up can explore Spanish, French, or Mandarin in a fun, interactive way. The wand pairs with booklets covering essentials like numbers, letters, and basic phrases. Just tap the wand on a word, and it reads the translation in both English and the selected language. It’s an engaging, hands-on tool to make learning a new language feel like magic!
These top picks for educational games and toys are perfect for helping preschoolers explore, learn, and grow during the holiday season (and beyond). When choosing gifts, consider those that encourage curiosity, promote creativity, are play-based, hands-on, and support early development.
As always, we’re here to help!
Happy Holidays!
