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How to Pick the Best Educational Toys for 5-Year-Olds

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Mathew Slavica

educational toys for 5 year olds

Every holiday season, relatives see just how big the youngest family members have grown.

Small children who were toddlers just a year or two previous are now bold young kindergarteners this year.

Five-year-olds are ready to put on their big-kid hats and face the world with a whole new attitude of exploration, science, and play. Where younger children focused mainly on learning how their hands worked and then how to take charge of a playroom, five-year-olds are starting to see the big picture for the first time.

It's hard to choose the wrong gift for a five-year-old, they are enthusiastic about everything, and anything is a new learning experience.

However, this holiday season, the best gifts for a kindergartener are toys they can build and rebuild into new challenges all year long. STEM learning, puzzle games, and games they can play with new friends made at school will make your gift a playtime favourite.

Machine-Building with Georello Tech Gears

Educational Toys for 5-Year-Olds - Georello Tech Gears

Gears are infinitely interesting, but gears with shafts, belts, chains, and tall multi-gear structures are even more incredible.

Five-year-olds are ready to master 3D puzzles and explore the STEM possibilities of early simple machines.

Levers and latches are a great place to start, but gear shafts are really what get the mental gears turning. Inspire your little engineer to build their first complex machine with the Gerorello Tech Gears set by Quercetti.

This incredible machine-maker incorporates all sorts of moving pieces that all move together when combined with the Quercetti universal joint piece that transmits spin over distances and to new parts of the machine.

The Multi-Level Snakes and Ladders Game

Educational Toys for 5-Year-Olds - Snakes and Ladders

When we played snakes (or chutes) and ladders as children, of course, we imagined a 3D world where the pieces could really climb or slide down.

Of course, we acted out the climbing and the sliding, complete with sound effects. Well, now someone has finally built the game we all imagined: a 3D snakes and ladders game with multiple levels of stacked game boards.

The Multi-Level Snakes and Ladders game will not only fascinate your five-year-old, but it will also become a centrepiece of your holiday celebrations. Everyone from all generations will take a shot at this reinvention of a classic favourite board game.

Bye By Mr Fox, a Board Game for Saving Eggs

Educational Toys for 5-Year-Olds - Bye Bye Mr Fox

What do you get when you combine four wooden hens, a spinner, and 26 barnyard tokens? It's a game called Bye Bye Mr Fox that kids love.

Blue Orange Games brings us a cooperative board game for five-year-olds and older where the goal is to rescue the hen's eggs before Mr Fox gets a chance to steal one.

Each spin of the spinner determines who gets to move. Getting three eggs into each player-hen's nest is what it takes to win. This game teaches cooperation, math, problem-solving skills and fine motor control with an adorable wooden barnyard aesthetic.

The Ultimate Wooden Marble Run for Young Kids

Educational Toys for Five Year Olds - Wooden Marble Run

Of course, if you want to be the coolest gift-giver in your five-year-old's holiday, there's always the marble run.

There's no explanation why we love marble runs so much, except that humans of all ages can't resist watching marbles spin, track, jump, and roll down track after creative track.

Babies love marble runs from an early age, but they are old enough for something truly complex and life-sized at five. A wonderful building toy for developing fine motor skills and to teach your kids cause and effect. Young children love this one.

The Quadrilla Marble Run: Race to the Finish is a block set, a marble track set, and a city-building kit all in one.

Five-year-olds get their first collection of marbles (now being old enough for pretty glass orbs). The 58 pieces set includes an incredible spinner twist, riser blocks, track pieces, marble shutters, and 30 individual marbles to send down the run.

In addition to endless hours of fun, your five-year-old will also be practising fine and gross motor control, hand-eye coordination, and an early exploration into gravity, velocity, and architectural STEM learning.

This holiday season could be the best possible experience for your five-year-old with engaging, educational games that will keep them interested and learning for months after the gift is given.

These great games and toys for kids are inspired to create bright childhood experiences and learning opportunities with every new play session.

Kids of all ages learn through play, and when kids learn, we all win. Our full collection of educational toys for 5 year olds.

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