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In a world with unexpected lockdowns and periods of quarantine, it is more important than ever to know the best ways to keep your kids occupied at home. Engineering toys are STEM related toys that allow children to explore their natural sense of creativity and support their cognitive development, all while having fun!
This paper from the University of Pennsylvania explains that the more exploration can be nurtured in a personalized way for a child, the better their understanding of the physical world and curiosity for the unknown.
In this article, we will suggest our favorite engineering/STEM toys that are sure to spark your child’s curiosity while keeping them occupied and learning for hours!
Safety is always the first priority of any parent buying a gift for their child, as it should be. The biggest thing that parents need to be aware of is the little parts that can become choking hazards for toddlers. It is also important to make sure to inspect toys to check for any defects that result in sharp edges that could harm your child.
Summary: What better way to get your child excited about chemistry than to bring a little chemistry laboratory to them? With an easy to read instruction book and 50 colorful and fun experiments, this set will help your child understand the basics of the properties and behavior of matter and materials. Take it from a chemical engineer, this is a good one.
Summary: A gravity powered car, or a boxing robot? These are some of the cool things that your little engineer will get the chance to build with this great gift. With 78 pages of colorful instructions, this is the perfect gift to get your child familiar with basic engineering principles such as gears, static and dynamic loading, fulcrums, and much more. Oh, and we know the age is specified at 8+, but we know kids from ages 4+ that had a blast with this gift!
Summary: Did you know that the archimedes screw, although invented in 250 BC, still has applications as a positive displacement pump today? What better way to introduce your child to the inner workings of a simple pump than through this gift?
Summary: Think about this. Your child is all grown up and you get the news that she has successfully performed a novel orthopedic surgery. She goes on-air and attributes her success to her humble beginnings with her human anatomy play set that her parents got her when she was a child. Admit it, that would be a killer story!
Summary: This geometric stacker is the perfect gift for your toddler to help them explore their creative side in a hands-on way, and get familiar with colors and shapes. We at the engineers perspective personally love Melissa & Doug toys, and really believe that this gift comes with hours of fun and learning for you little one.
Summary: Pairing traditional STEM disciplines with an understanding of finance and business is a golden combination. This cute little LCD calculator and cash register will help your little ones feel like they are working at their favourite restaurants, while instilling in them critical math and money skills.
Summary: You may be asking yourself what a terrarium kit is? It is essentially a mini garden in a transparent container, and a perfect gift for your little aspiring botanist. This STEM authenticated gift is sure to excite your child as they get the freedom to build their own unique base layer, then watch their garden grow. Did we mention it comes with LED lights that glow in the dark?
Summary: Most adults don’t even know how circuits work, so how impressive would it be if your child is able to understand the basics of electricity and circuit design? This beginners set is a safe and fun way to introduce your child to these engineering concepts, and build up to 20 projects with an easy to follow, colourful manual.
Summary: What’s your child’s favourite dinosaur? A Triceratops? Velociraptor? Oh we know, it’s the Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Well, all these dinosaurs and more are a part of this beautiful kit that will not only teach your child about dinosaurs using a colored educational manual, but how to use simple hand tools to build them. Note that this toy will require additional AA batteries for the little drill that is provided (don’t worry, it’s super safe for kids).
Summary: This is one of our personal favourite choices to introduce your child to one of the most important laboratory tools used in many STEM disciplines. With a 5X magnification, preschoolers can comfortably view plants, animals and any household items. There are also 20 prepared slides with over 100 questions and facts that can be used in 2 play modes: Fact mode or Quiz mode.
Summary: This is an excellent introduction to basic coding for kids from 5 years old up to 12. Simply connect your computer or tablet to the program described, and allow your child’s creativity to run wild as they code a simple program that will tell the robot what to draw. Once the code has been tested with the simple drag and drop interface, the robot will create the drawing!
Summary: Remember, engineering is all about efficiently generating solutions to problems.
This simple but fun filled game allows your little engineer to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills while advancing through 250+ puzzles in 5 different games. Simply download the free app on your device, attach to the play pad, and start playing!
Summary: Connect to the free app, and watch your child explore the world with over 400 highlights and 1000 amazing facts across 6 unique categories. WIth mysteries, quizzes, and rewards, this STEM toy is sure to keep your child engaged while testing and growing their aptitude in geography.
Summary: Ah the Eiffel Tower. A wondrous feat of complex civil and mechanical engineering. If only there was a way to recreate it…
Your little engineer will be ecstatic to be able to build not only the Eiffel tower, but the sydney bridge with this STEM award winning set. With a clear colorful instruction manual, this gift is so much fun while giving kids a basic understanding of component interaction and structures.
There are numerous toys out there for little engineers to play with. One way to encourage your child’s love of engineering is by exposing them to a variety of toys that will spark their imagination and creativity. By choosing a few of these great toys, not only can you help them develop a passion for building, but you will also be encouraging critical thinking skills as they design and create new things.
We hope these toys have given you some ideas for the kids on your shopping list. If there are any other engineering toys that you feel deserve a mention, let us know in the comments below.
A STEM toy is a children’s toy that is designed with the intention of helping the child understand critical principles from science, technology, engineering or medicine. Some examples would be a children’s chemistry set, basic circuit games, or an anatomy play set.
One of the major benefits of STEM toys is their focus on divergent thinking. This means that children have the opportunity to be creative in finding multiple solutions to the problems they are facing, which is a critical skill in engineering. Furthermore, the focus on hands on building helps develop hand-eye coordination and other spatial skills. But most importantly, the kids are being exposed to the basics of STEM concepts and principles which will help them get excited about what they enjoy and want to pursue as they get older.
There are large ranges of prices when it comes to STEM toys. Many newer toys connect to apps, and have fancy hardware that propose to accelerate learning and cognitive development in kids. Although the research on this is divided, one fact that remains is that you don’t need fancy toys to teach children simple STEM principles.
And that is why we have compiled this list for you!
3 Responses
I am parent of inquisitive child. He is running, jumping, curious about spacecraft, cars, animals, many things. He will become engineer with these toys. Thank you.
Hello theengineersperspectives.com administrator, Your posts are always thought-provoking and inspiring.
Toys R Lagos Learning Center (TLC) provides learning and tools for teachers to help children using STEM toys and kids learning apps. Building Children For Christ LUKE 1:37
In Lagos Nigeria, there are different types of STEM toys for kids of all ages.
For more information explore our website at https://www.toysrlagos.com
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Whatsapp Call :09130432249.