If you've ever watched a kid during playtime, you'll know that they can have fun with almost anything! Children have a wild imagination that can see common household objects transformed into the most incredible storylines.
As well as growing their imagination, playtime can also be a chance to help kids learn. With STEM toys, education and fun are combined.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. These are all subjects that are vital to daily life, and difficult to get kids to engage with.
But STEM toys integrate these concepts with items that encourage kids to play and imagine, as well as think. Kids will start to learn without even realizing it.
The world of exciting STEM toys is always growing, and there is much variety to be found. To demonstrate just how much is available, take a look at our list of the best STEM toys that start with X.
Being perfectly honest, we may have stretched the definition a tiny bit so we can find you only the best X toys. But take a scroll through this list with your child, and see what catches their eye.
Musical instruments are an opportunity for hands-on learning, and this exceptional xylophone toy is ideal for children from a young age.
Small kids will find the bright blocks fun to hit, and will be delighted by the sounds that the toy can produce.
The child safe wooden mallets are easy to hold in tiny hands, and encourage better motor skills.
As the child grows, they can start to think about using the xylophone a little more logically, using the instrument to create songs.
This is a toy that can grow along with them, and foster a love of music from a young age.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Bring your xylophone in, and demonstrate some of the songs you've put together. Show the sounds that each block makes, what happens when you hit the block hard, and when you hit it gently.
This multifunctional doctor's cart includes an x-ray screen that lights up to display three different x-ray images. Kids can learn all about their bones, and what goes on beneath the skin.
There's plenty to play with in this exceptional set, which also features a stethoscope, thermometer, and handy storage cart. And the cart can be pushed around, to deliver medical attention to whatever toy might need it most!
As well as growing an interest in science and the human body, this medical set can relax kids ahead of a visit to the doctor's office.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Take some of your favorite pieces from the set, and demonstrate how you use them on a toy.
Show the skeleton images, and point out where in the body each bone is.
By encouraging kids to think about building and engineering, LEGO kits are a surprisingly great way to introduce even young children to STEM.
This X-Wing Kit is ideal for any kids (and their parents) who are Star Wars fans, but the cool ship is a fun build for anyone with a passion for LEGO.
Aimed at kids aged 9 and up, this is a set that encourages careful thought, without being too difficult. And once it's built, you can have plenty of fun flying the X-Wing through the stars.
Watch out for the spring-loaded shooters, and be prepared for when the wings are in "attack" position!
Ideas For Show And Tell
If you're a Star Wars fan, talk about what the X-Wing is used for in the films.
Talk about how you built the X-Wing, and all the steps you had to go through to put it together.
X marks the spot in this adventure pack from Treasure X, which features 10 fun filled levels of discovery. Search the map, dig through the rock, build your hunter, and find the treasure at the center of it all!
The multiple layers of this adventure pack can introduce kids to archaeology and scientific discoveries, as they quest to follow the clues and find the gold-dipped treasure.
And when they've uncovered the buried treasure, they still have a figurine to play with! Ideal for little adventurer's on a rainy day.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Bring in your treasure hunter and treasure piece, and talk about what you had to do to discover them.
Learn the names of some real life treasure hunters, and what they encountered on their quest for gold.
Deep thinking is encouraged if you want to be the winner in the game of Xiangqi. Often described as Chinese chess, Xiangqi encourages strategic thinking to checkmate and trap your opponent's general.
To win, you have to always be one step ahead. Kids and adults will enjoy playing Xiangqi, and the more you play, the better you can be.
With magnetic tile pieces, this is an excellent travel set, but it's also fun to play around the home.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Teach the class what the different pieces are, and what they can all do on the board. Although they might be familiar with chess, many of your class will never have heard of Xiangqi!
Demonstrate some moves, and talk about how you like to play.
Adding an extra layer of creepy crawlies, this X-ray insect picture card set gives you a glimpse inside a whole range of bugs.
Hold the x-ray cards to the light, and you can see the spooky image of the inside of a bug, and then match it to the outside from the picture pieces.
Identify what bug it is from the teacher's guide, and look it up to learn more about insects. There's a fantastic range of insects included in the pack, so you can learn about what's scuttling around on the other side of the globe!
Lots of kids love weird and wonderful insects, and these cards can encourage a deeper interest.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Use a lightbox to show the x-ray images of the insects.
Bend and stretch the mind with this book of Xtreme Illusions from National Geographic. Full of incredible pictures designed to excite and confuse, this book shows just how easy it can be to trick the brain.
Unraveling the mystery behind the puzzling illusions will encourage kids to think logically, think deeper, and to re-think what their brain is telling them.
The high quality of the images makes them perfect for repeated use, as kids try to evade the trickery that got them last time. This book also encourages interaction, as you try to decipher just what is going on.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Hold up your favorite pictures, and amaze your classmates by explaining how things aren't exactly how they seem.
Trapped in the ooze-filled belly of this terrifying alien is an alien hunter who needs the help of a fearless child to set him free!
This alien dissection kit from Treasure X uses hands-on learning to slice and search through the alien goo, and rescue an alien hunter that's being digested, and the gem treasure they're hunting.
And once the day has been saved, the ooze can be gathered and squished from the alien's head. The interactive experimentation isn't quite a lab setting, but it can teach kids about the scientific process.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Tell the story of how you rescued the alien hunter and discovered the gem along the way.
Demonstrate how to squish the ooze from the alien head.
A Rubik's Cube with a difference, the eX Mars Robot Cube uses A.I. to teach you how to learn from your mistakes.
This all-in-one cube uses lights and music to create an interactive puzzle, and the A.I. assistance means you're less likely to stop playing and give up.
There are multiple challenge modes with the eX Mars Robot Cube, so you can keep on testing yourself and learning. Critical and logical thinking is key to solving this cube, and children will learn the benefits of thinking ahead.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Demonstrate the modes that the cube is capable of, and talk about how you start to solve the puzzles.
Want to set your child a real challenge? The X2 X-Cube Master is a puzzle cube taken to the extreme, with multiple layers and forms needing to shift about before you can solve it.
The X-Cube can provide hours (and days, and weeks) of fun, trying to navigate the tricky turns to get all the colors lined up.
Once you've done it for the first time, you can mix it all up again and set your child a new challenge. Or, leave the cube on display, so everyone can appreciate the work that went into the solve.
You need some real critical thinking skills to tackle the X-Cube Master.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Show how the cube moves, and the different steps you have to take to master it.
Mix up all the colors and sides, and give the other kids in the class a chance to see how it works.
Talk about the first time you solved the puzzle cube, and how you did it.
Of course, these X-Ray Glasses from SpyX can't actually see through walls and ceilings, but what they can do is encourage an interest in science and technology in young children.
The night mission glasses feature two LED light beams, illuminating up to 25 feet away. Perfect for nighttime missions, or for kids who are a little nervous in the dark.
During the day, the magnified flip-out scope brings things closer, so kids can explore and discover. The night mission glasses are perfect for playing spy and investigator.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Ask if you can turn the lights off and close the blinds to show how far ahead of you the beam can illuminate.
Talk about the kind of spy missions you might undertake wearing these glasses.
The X-Treme Rocket Launcher uses kid power to send these rockets blasting off into space. Head to a wide open space, and get your child to take a big run-up, and a massive leap onto the launch pad. This will send the rocket flying into the air!
With enough power, it can travel over 400 feet. As they're watching the rocket fly, you can teach your kid more about physics and engineering, and how exactly one big stomp can launch a rocket.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Teachers probably won't appreciate you bringing the rocket launcher into class, but they will be interested in hearing about how it works.
Robot X is a build your own robot that can be sculpted into 12 shapes, and controlled via coding. Coding is an important skill for young kids to learn, as computers play such a big role in their lives.
With Robot X, kids can learn the basics of coding in a fun and instinctive way. App coding can get Robot X to move, light up, play music, and follow lines.
And with the remote control, the robot can race and play. This is an excellent STEM toy that combines coding and engineering.
Ideas For Show And Tell
Prepare some coded movements, and show the class what Robot X can do.
Tell the class how you control the robot, and what it was like to build.
Takeaway
Kids love toys that encourage them to use their imagination, and we may have to use our own imagination a little in coming up with these "X" STEM toys.
We hope you've found the list informative and spotted some great ideas for toys that can encourage STEM skills in children!
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.
