STEM toys are fun and educational. They allow children to explore their creativity and imagination. They also encourage them to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
STEM (or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) jobs are expected to dominate the world in the coming years.
Our job as parents is to prepare our children for the future. We know that people who have STEM qualifications are already in high demand.
The best STEM toys for kids are those that have a variety of features, such as buttons, levers, gears, switches, wheels, and more. These toys help teach your child about the world around him or her.
They should also get your kiddo to start using some of the basic skills that could eventually lead them to uncover their talent in a STEM field.
If you're interested in introducing your little ones to the worlds of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, what better way to do so than with toys that are STEM themed!
Any list of STEM toys that start with the letter L wouldn't be right without starting with one of the most famous toy brands in the world: LEGO!
This LEGO Technic Heavy Duty Tow Truck will keep your kids entertained for hours on end. It has a huge amount of features and functions and is ideal for an introduction to engineering concepts for those kiddos who love mechanical toys.
This particular model has pneumatic pump functions including a lifting crane boom, extending crane boom, and a lifting axle that pulls down extra wheels for uneven loads.
Owing to some complex parts and assembly, the LEGO Technic Heavy Duty Tow Truck has been designed with kids aged 11+ in mind.
The Little Genius Starter Kit for iPad has been designed from the ground up to get your little ones excited about math.
This award-winning kit is intended for use by children ages 3 to 5 years. It merges tactile exploration and digital gameplay in a way that is truly unique.
But what kind of skills can you expect your kids to learn from the Little Genius Starter Kit? Well, each of the games included in the kit has been engineered to develop skills like number recognition, and shapes in the math based games.
There are also reading based games that develop letter formation, pre-reading, and phonics skills.
You can also expect your little ones to develop their general life skills like attention to detail, fine-motor skills, imagination, critical thinking, and many more!
Next up we have the Pretend and Play Calculator/Cash Register from Learning Resources.
It's no secret that money and more importantly, managing money, is one of the best life skills we as parents can pass on to our children.
This fun and enjoyable cash register has been designed for kids aged 36 months to 5 years. It encourages kids to develop math and money skills with 30 actual size pretend bills and 40 plastic coins, and a pretend credit card.
The Pretend and Play Calculator/Cash Register, we feel, is best used in conjunction with other playtime setups.
The display and buttons are oversized, making it easy for younger children to see and understand.
The Learning Clock by Best Learning is a multi-award winning interactive talking toy clock designed to get your little ones engaged in learning to tell the time.
Being able to tell the time is an essential life skill, one which Best Learning has made easy with this toy clock!
You should also expect your kiddos to learn other skills like logical thinking, concentration, memory, and motor functions.
It has a ton of features including a Quiz Mode to keep your little ones engaged and a Sleep Mode with a night light and calming music.
Our fifth entry on this list is another offering from Best Learning. This award-winning interactive toy engages and stimulates your child's curiosity with essential sounds, sights, songs and much more.
Each side of the Learning Cube is designed with a different function in mind. There are six sides in total with themes like learning the alphabet, numbers, colors, animal sounds, and music.
This one is sure to keep your toddlers entertained for hours on end. It's been designed for babies, early learners, and toddlers ages 6 months, to 3 years old.
We're not going to lie: We love robots here at spiraltoys.com, so when we saw the LYiUP Solar powered robot STEM kit, we were immediately intrigued.
This robot is completely solar-powered, meaning there are no batteries required. It comes as a 12 in 1 kit, meaning that your kids can build any one of the 12 unique robots.
They vary in difficulty levels, which makes the process of building a robot more challenging.
The Learning Laces Skill Boards from Learning Resources gives kids a hands-on introduction to the concepts of letters, numbers, and shapes. The set comes with three very durable lacing cards, meaning that they'll withstand tough love from little hands.
The three lacing cards are also packed to the brim with lacing activities, from shapes in a colorful street scene, to new letter skills in a car, boat, and plane, they should be entertained for hours!
The Learning Laces Skill Boards have been designed for children ages 3 to 6 to help them develop their fine motor skills.
Learning Bug's Interactive ABC & 123 talking posters are a great way to introduce your toddler to the basics of reading and counting.
Your little one will enjoy listening to its animated voice while playing along with the simple game. The bright colors and cheerful illustrations make it fun for both you and your kid to play together.
The interactive poster has four educational modes including Alphabet, Numbers, Songs, and Quiz. The alphabet and numbers mode includes letters A to Z and numbers 1 to 10.
Our number ten is another entry from legendary toy makers, LEGO! Suitable for both boys and girls aged 12 and over, this LEGO Space Shuttle set should keep them entertained for hours!
The set includes 2 mini figures, the space shuttle, a heli drone, and a storage drone.
We're not lying when we say that this one kept us busy for a solid hour. As with all things LEGO related, the only limit is the imagination!
Thankfully, imagination and creativity is something that children have in abundance.
If you want to add some color to your kid's toys, then these Learning cubes may be perfect for you. These colorful blocks are designed to help your little ones practice counting, shape identification, and sorting.
Each cube contains eight different colored pieces, so your child can learn about colors and count by placing each piece into the correct spot on the block.
The cubes come with an easy-to-follow guidebook that helps teach your child how to identify shapes and sort objects.
If you've got a budding scientist in the family, they'll absolutely love this Primary Science Lab Set from Learning Resources.
There are a number of skills that your little ones can develop with this set, including problem-solving, sequential thought, math concepts, and observations.
This set has been designed for tactile and visual learners aged 3 to 7 years and includes everything they'll need to start making science experiments.
Science experiments can be incredibly fun, but they are not known for being child-friendly. However, this science lab set is, so what better way to get the children engaged with science?
The Learning Journey Code And Learn Ladybug introduces your kiddos to very basic programming.
By using the coding card deck and the colored grid, they can program the lovely remote-control ladybug to reach her destination!
This toy is a fantastic way to get your children thinking about coding concepts like programming and computer skills.
It is also great for teaching them spatial awareness and problem-solving. The Learning Journey Code And Learn Ladybug is a certified STEM educational toy, and is suitable for children ages 5+.
The Learning Journey Code And Learn Ladybug introduces your kiddos to very basic programming.
By using the coding card deck and the colored grid, they can program the lovely remote-control ladybug to reach her destination!
This toy is a fantastic way to get your children thinking about coding concepts like programming and computer skills.
It is also great for teaching them spatial awareness and problem-solving. The Learning Journey Code And Learn Ladybug is a certified STEM educational toy, and is suitable for children ages 5+.
The Landzo Quincy Drawing Robot is designed for use by preschool and kindergarten aged children to help them learn the basics of literacy, math, spelling and much more!
There are a total of 24 cards included in the Drawing Robot set, all of which serve a different function. They can also be used in conjunction with each other to improve your child's math, spelling, and drawing skills in a fun and innovative way.
This robot is outstanding because it allows you to teach things that aren’t that interesting in a fun and engaging way. With 24 cards included, there are lots to keep the children busy.
Last but by no means least on our list we have the LEGO Chain Reactions STEM activity kit.
The LEGO Chain Reactions kit is a fun, safe, and educational game where you build a chain reaction by connecting LEGO bricks together. Each brick represents a chemical element, and as you connect more elements together, the reactions become more complex.
Developed by Pat Murphy and the Scientists of Klutz Labs, this is a fantastic toy for teaching inquisitive minds about the basic principles of motion.
The set includes over 30 essential LEGO elements to keep them busy and learning for hours at a time.
Conclusion
Giving your children the best start in life means that they'll need STEM related skills in order to excel at school and beyond.
STEM subjects are only going to increase in popularity and demand as technology improves and the job market expands.
All the toys and games on this list are designed to improve these STEM related skills, some at a fundamental level and others at a more advanced level.
We hope that these 16 best STEM toys will inspire you to find some new ways to introduce your kids to STEM subjects.
Hi, my name is Elena Jones, and my full-time job is a teacher. Through teaching, I have discovered that children learn in many different ways, and have seen the positive impact both STEM and Montessori toys have on children.
Through this site I hope to educate parents and adults about these toys, providing them with useful information on how they can be used, and provide some in depth reviews of different toys to consider too.
