As a mother to two toddlers, I am constantly searching for the best educational toys. This year, we plan to purchase toys that we know will be fun for our daughters, but will also help them develop in various areas.
Aside from the gifts we purchase having an educational aspect to them, we also want them to be budget friendly. All the toys listed here are under $25! (Under $25 at the time of us creating this post. Prices do change on us pretty frequently!)
Here’s a look at our top picks for educational toys that would make great gifts for the Holidays in 2020!
Shape Sorting Clock
This simple toy has so many educational aspects to it: number identification, shape matching as well as introduction to telling time. You can check the price for this on both Amazon and a similar version at Target.
Wooden Stacking Mat Set + Puzzles
This toy is a great way for preschoolers to get an hands-on experience with simple addition and subtraction problems. They are able to create their own math problems and use the wooden stacking rings to work out the solution. This toy also comes with a set of 5 puzzles that incorporate the rings as well. Available here on Amazon.
Wooden Hexagon Tangram Puzzle
This brain teaser is perfect for preschool-kindergarten ages. The toy comes with 60 puzzles in 5 different levels to challenge your kiddo. We ordered this one early for Emmy because we knew she would love it and didn’t want it to sell our. You can check availability here.
Wooden Geoboard
This is another brain teaser style toy that we have also already ordered for Emmy (age 4.5). This one seems a bit more challenging that the last because it also challenges fine motor skills along with critical thinking. This toy also comes with 30 challenge cards. Check availability here.
STEM Construction Kit
This construction set (which has a 100 piece or 163 piece option), gives your childless endless opportunities to use their creativity and critical thinking skills to build just about anything! This set does come with an instruction manual that helps them build 40+ designs to get your child started, but after that they can design and build on their own. It also comes with a storage kit. Available here.
Magnetic Alphabet Tracing Board
This double-sided board has both upper case and lower case letters for your preschoolers to trace. As they run their magnetic pen over the letter, the small metal balls pop up. This activity is great for handwriting skill and letter recognition. I love that it has the directional arrows on each letter as well. Check availability here.
Bug Catching Kit
This is a great toy to encourage your toddler to get out and explore! My preschoolers isn’t into bugs, but she loves to use her little tweezers and bag to collect “cool things”, as she calls them. She looks for interesting rocks, acorns, or leaves and adds them to her collection containers. Don’t even get me started on the binoculars…they are pretty much her most prized possession! You can check availability for the Bug Catching Kit here.
Butterfly Farm: Grow Your Own Butterflies
In early April we did our very first butterfly farm and it was a huge hit. I’ve got an entire highlight on my Instagram to show you just how cool this process is. The farm comes with caterpillars in a small container that also has food in it. Over the first few days that you have the caterpillars they grow…ALOT! They eventually make their way to there top of the container and make a cocoon. From there, you transfer them to the net where they become butterflies! We released them after a few days. To this day, any time Emmy sees a monarch butterfly, she thinks its one “she grew”! It’s a wonderful activity to experience the transformation process first hand. You can grab your own butterfly farm kit here.
Ant Farm
If your preschooler is more into bugs than butterflies, an Ant Farm would be a great gift! This gives them a underground look at how ants build their tunnels. Amazon even has some great books on the science of ants to enhance this activity. Grab your own ant farm kit here!
This is another great brain teaser! This Wooden Puzzle activity comes with 18 double sided puzzle cards as well as a minute timer. I love that all of the pieces to this activity easily store in the back of the puzzle board. Check availability here.
Skillmatics offers a large selection of write and wipe activity mats for preschoolers. These cover subjects such as reading and comprehension, logical reasoning, and writing . You can check out all the options they have here.
There are so many educational aspects with this Lock and Key activity! It’s a great fine motor activity that also helps with letter recognition (the keys are lower case and the locks are upper case), as well as letter sounds. Check availability here.
Zingo is a great educational game that the whole family can play together! This helps with letter recognition and counting skills. You can check availability here.
This is a great activity for preschoolers who are learning to read. It comes with 30 double-sided cards. You have the option of leaving the cards to show the letters, or you can cover them up for those who are more advanced with their spelling. More details on how to play the game here.
Charades for Kids
I cannot begin to tell you how much laughter this game has brought my family! Both my toddler and preschooler love it! The cards have photos on them instead of words (like brushing your teeth, playing guitar, ballerina) and the kids act them out while the parents guess (at least thats how we play!). It has also really helped with the concept of taking turns with my toddler. Available here on Amazon.
