It’s time for another “MPMK Gift Guide Glimpse”… For those of you not exactly sure what I’m talking about, this is a day when we highlight one of our favorite sections of the:
2016 MPMK Gift Guides
Why?
Because I realize that our MEGA gift guides are a lot to take in- detailed descriptions and age recommendations of over 400 toys, books, games, and more divided into 15 themed guides takes some concentration to get through.
I’ve heard from several moms in fact, both via email and in real life, who have already spent a good hour or two immersed in them.
So this year, I’m trying to help you navigate the guides by highlighting some of my favorite parts.
Over the next few months, I’ll be stopping in every once in a while to showcase a favorite section from one of the 15 guides. (Note this is not even a full guide, but simply a sub-section of one of the guides.)
My hope is that it will help you find the perfect gift for under the tree! Today we’re talking S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Year after year this is our most popular guide and I continue to get emails like this one:
Just wanted to say your gift guides are the best! I found your site after looking up “best STEM toys” on Google! 🙂
Paige P
I totally get it, I love each and every one of the high quality educational toys on this list (as do my 7-year-old son, 5-year-old daughter, and 19-month-old baby!)
And the sub-section we’re spotlighting today, are our top 20 toys of all of our top S.T.E.M. picks for the year.
Again, this is only one small section of the Best S.T.E.M. Toys for Kids Guide. You’ll definitely want to check out the whole thing for more awesome finds, including many of the top 10 from all 400+ of our picks this year.
But first, here are all the toys from our 2016 Best S.T.E.M. Toys:
Sphero Star Wars BB-8 App Controlled Robot $149.95 $127.99 – With the massive resurgence of Star Wars this year, I just couldn’t leave it off the list- but which toy to chose? This is the actual robot from the movie in real life and controlled by a smart phone. So cool!
GoldieBlox Girl Inventor Zipline Action Figure $24.99 $21.99(6 – 9 years)
I remember a friend of mine sending me a link to this toy when it first appeared on KickStarter. It’s been great to see the massive success this engineering toy built with girls in mind has enjoyed since then.
GoldieBlox is a series of interactive books and construction toys starring Goldie, a curious girl with a love of engineering. Goldie’s stories leverage girls’ advanced verbal skills to help develop and build self-confidence in their spatial skills – so smart!
LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack $59.80 (6 years and up)
On Sale for $39.99 for the xbox 360, Playstation 4, and Wii U
Deciding when to let your kids start to play video games is a very personal parenting decision. When you do take the plunge, though, this is a fantastic way to start. LEGO Dimensions is a kid-friendly video game that encourages creativity as well as game play by incorporating LEGO building into the process. I love that! I also love that one of the three characters in the starter pack is a girl, Wyldstyle from The LEGO Movie.
Once kids have the starter pack, they put together the three minifigures (Batman, Wyldstyle and Gandalf from Lord of the Rings), then the game guides them on how to use the LEGOs included to build the “LEGO gateway” on top of the toy pad. Once that is done, kids can place the 3 included figurines and batmobile onto the gateway and they’ll actually show up in the game. So cool!
After that, there are all kinds of expansion packs kids can buy, build, and add into the game to create something completely unique like Harry Potter, Ghost Busters, and Batman all playing side by side.
As video games go, this one is incredibly hands on and creative and I love that the price of the expansion packs makes them the perfect thing for kids to do chores and save up for! We are taking the plunge and getting this and the Xbox One S Minecraft Bundle for our 8-year-old this Christmas (and I’m sure the 6-year-old will get in on some of the fun too.)
Mind-Blowing Science Kit $23.99 $12.02 (4+ years w/ adult supervision)
Performing some basic science experiments at home is a great way to inject a little learning into your quality time with the kids. This set gets good reviews from parents and comes with step-by-step instructions for each experiment. There’s also a detailed science guide that provides adults with “mind blowing science secrets” that help to answer questions about what’s happening in each experiment.
Learning Resources Primary Science Lab Set $29.99 $15.30(4+ years)
This kit of real science tools is perfectly sized for little hands. It comes with 10 double sided activity cards, beaker, magnifying glass, funnel, eyedropper, flask, tweezers, googles, large 6″ test tube and stand, and 2 small test tubes. The authenticity of these items will have your little scientists dying to experiment and they’ll serve great double duty for dramatic play too.
Smithsonian: The Animal Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of Life on Earth (3rd – 7th grade) $17.69 $14.12
I’m a big fan of leaving books all over the house for the kids to discover pretty much from birth. My reader devours them and my emerging-reader will spend up to an hour perusing engaging picture books trying to glean information from them on her own or making up her own narratives. I love this beautiful books for school-aged children as well as toddlers and preschoolers.
Thames & Kosmos Crystal Growing Kit $30.99 $26.96 (10+ years/younger with parent help)
The crystals your kids can grow from this kit are absolutely gorgeous and I know more than one little girl (and boy) who would be totally captivated by the experience of making them. From the manufacturer, “Grow dozens of dazzling crystals and conduct 15 illuminating experiments using the full-color, 32-page experiment manual guides.
Mold fun plaster shapes, including stars, lightning bolts, dolphins, and pyramids, and grow layers of crystals on them. Use dyes to form colored crystals, and mix the dyes to grow a rainbow of custom colored crystals. Display your crystal creations in a clear treasure chest with a locking lid. Mold your own geode a hollow rock with crystals growing inside and create a beautiful crystal cavern inside.”
P.S. I would recommend also purchasing the book, National Geographic Kids Everything Rocks and Minerals: Dazzling gems of photos and info that will rock your world.
Bugs in the Kitchen by Ravensburger $19.99 $15.99 (2 – 9 years)
Put out by Ravensburger, a time-honored producer of wonderfully stimulating games, Bugs in the Kitchen is one of the most interesting new games I’ve seen in a while! If you already have a hex bug lover in your house, then this one is a no-brainer. If not, this is a great way to introduce the awesome little robot bugs.
But even if hex bugs aren’t your kiddo’s thing, there is still a lot to love about this engaging and straight-forward game. Big on fun, action, and building critical thinking skills, kids will absolutely love playing with while flexing their thinking ahead and strategy skills.
I’ve also noticed that my 2 1/2-year-old likes to play with some of his big siblings games all on his own during quiet time and I think this one will be a hit with him for that reason as well. If you have multiple kids in the house and they’re all past the mouthing stage, this one could be a winner with them all (which is always worth the money in my book!)
Ready? Here we go…
Top 20 Toys for Fostering S.T.E.M. Skills
#1 Magna-Tiles $119.99 (2 – 10 years)
I discovered magna-tiles a few years ago and they were the big present under the tree for the kids. They’re definitely more of an investment, but have been totally worth it. All of my kids, ages 2 to 8, still play with them multiple days a week. Currently, my 6-year-old loves making elaborate pet stores with ramps and rooms for each of her Disney Princess Palace Pets while my 2-year-old always asks for these first to take to build in his room during “Quiet Time”.
Teachers absolutely rave about these blocks and the play possibilities are endless. Because they join together using magnets, kids can create elaborate structures (often taller than they are) without becoming frustrated by crashes. They’re also great for use with other toys. They can be used along with blocks and LEGOs to make elaborate structures, with marbles and cars to make tunnels, bridges, and marble runs, or even with dolls to create doll houses. We splurged for the 100 piece set and got hours of rainy day fun with these. If you have the space/budget for a personal light table to use them, the translucent pieces would look fantastic lit up from underneath.
#2 Snap Circuits Jr $17.50 (5+ years) and Snap Circuits $38.83 (8 – 15 years)
This clever kit is the all-time-best-seller on our gift guides and another multi-award-winner that takes advantage of kids’ natural interest in building toys (like LEGOs) to teach the principles of electricity. The components aren’t intimidating, snap together simply, and can be used to create a bunch of cool projects. The standard setcomes with 60+ pieces to create over 300 different electronic projects. The pieces include snap wires, slide switches, an alarm circuit, a music integrated circuit, and a speaker and are numbered and color-coded to make identifying them easy.
The latest and hottest iteration are:
- Snap Circuits 3D Illumination – Allows kids to go beyond the flat surface to build circuits horizontally, vertically and even upside down. The 3D setup means you can actually build a house and there’s even a projector that projects things onto the wall
- Snap Circuits Arcade – Lets kids actually build – and play! – mini arcade games. There’s also a incredibly cool fan that you can program to project any word or phrase onto with lights.
The components in Snap Circuits combine to create working circuit boards just like the ones found inside televisions, radios, and other electronic devices. (Note: there is a conversion set that turns Snap Circuits Jr into this bigger set when your kids are ready to move up.)
For bigger kids, you’ll definitely want to check out the reduced priced Snap Circuits Student Electronics Training Program down this year from $199.99 to $127.45 as well as the Alternative Green Energy Kit and Snap Circuits Lights – just connect any MP3 player and be amazed as your music creates a mesmerizing light display.
No two songs will ever produce the same light show. Includes prepunched patterns for motor, strobe light, and color-changing LED, lighted and glow-in-the-dark fans, strobe integrated circuit, color organ controlled by MP3 player, voice, or finger. Builds over 175 experiments.
#3 Da Vinci MiniMaker 3D printer $227.62 (7 years and up)
Ever since hearing Wired editor and bestselling author, Chris Anderson, speak on the new industrial revolution that’s under way and what it’s going to take to raise the next generation of innovators, I’ve had the idea of buying my kids a 3D printer percolating in the back of my head.
Despite the purchase being a significant investment at the time, Anderson quite convincingly argued that buying our children a 3D printer is tantamount to our own parents buying us our first computer. Why? Because with this one device anything our kids can imagine, they can literally create. That is a very powerful message to send our kids! Anderson effectively convinced me that this thing could open up a whole new world of innovation and possibilities for my children.
So when I saw that there’s a new, kid-friendly 3D printer on the market at a much more approachable price, I was more than a little intrigued. And when XYZ Printing offered me the chance to review it, I jumped at the chance and we gave it to our second grader for his 8th birthday.
The first thing that jumped out at me about this printer was the bright primary colors, making it immediately seem kid-friendly and approachable, and it’s nicely compact size. I really appreciate that I can easily keep it on our office desk but we still get a spacious build platform 5.9 inches.
The next thing was that as a true beginner’s 3D printer, the manufacturer offers a lot of features to ensure success. This includes comprehensive videos on how to set up and use the printer as well as a lot of design resources including the 3D Design Software, the XYZ 3D Gallery, and even a entire STEAM 3D Printing Education Curriculum.
We are having a lot of fun exploring with this machine and I highly recommend it for parents of elementary aged students and older. We started by printing Pokeman figurines we sourced online but the sky is truly the limit. Soon we hope to move on to creating working prototypes of the kids creations!
#4 Wonder Workshop Dash ($149.99 now $104.96) and Dot Robots ($49.99) (8 – 14 years)
These friendly little robots are the hottest programming toy out there for elementary age kids so I couldn’t say no when I was offered a pair to review a few months ago.
My favorite part is how hands on they are – this is your child learning coding with real life robots, not glued to a screen. I’ve been thrilled with how they’ve excited both my 8-year-old son and my 6-year-old daughter about robotics and programming. The fun and approachable look and sound of these real life robots for kids (think Wall-E) makes them appealing to both boys and girls of various ages.
Programmable by a multitude of free apps you can download on your apple or android tablets or smart phones, these guys can be made to respond to your voice, navigate objects to complete an obstacle course, dance, sing and a lot more.
Probably the best part is that unlike most coding and programing toys, you don’t have to spend a ton of time learning how to use them in order to help your kids. Dash and Dot’s programing apps feature built-in challenge tutorials that teach kids how to program on their own from the very beginning of each program.
I had my doubts about how hands-off this would really be but I had the phone for all of 30 seconds before my 2nd grader was clamoring to take over… and then I never got it back.
I also love that the apps ladder up in skill level with the child and that different Dash and Dot apps serve different interests. My 8-year-old son is all about the Wonder App, which looks and plays a lot like a video game on the screen but takes it into the real world where, in order to complete various “Scroll Quests”, he has to program Dash or Dot to do things in real life in our living room.
My kindergarten daughter is still a little young for that but that didn’t stop her from engaging with these robots through the apps “Path” and “Go” which let her use the phone like a remote to drive them, program them to light up in all sorts of different colors, and program them to say anything she could think of by using her own voice.
She was even able to figure out how to write a program to make Dash take multi-step actions; go forward, say something she programmed, go in a circle, turn purple, go backwards and then stop.
I see Dash and Dot (you can buy them separately, together, or in a combo pack with accessories) as a toy that will grow with us for many years. We haven’t even gotten to the Blockly app yet, which is the one that will start to teach the kids to use simplified coding language to program Dash & Dot. If you’re serious about introducing your kids to programming or robotics in a fun and engaging way, this is the toy for you!
#5 Amazon Fire Kids’ Edition $99.99
In my opinion, this is the kids tablet that gives you the most bang for your buck- by far. You get a year of FreeTime Unlimited (a library of 10,000 vetted and kid-appropriate apps, ebooks and show) plus a protective case, a comprehensive 2 year warranty against accidents, and best-in-class parental controls.
See directly below this list for a detailed description of which Amazon Fire Tablet we decided on for our kids and why.
#6 Tot Tube Playset – Toy Car and Ball Tunnel Ramp Race Track $19.95 (1 – 10 years)
This deceptively simple toy is so much more than it appears. Parents and teachers rave about how the hours and hours their kids spend shooting things through this heavy duty tunnel. This is a great toy to get kids hypothesizing about, “what will happen when I… (put something heaver in, tilt it higher, put more than one thing in it, etc…) When my friend first introduced me to the tot tube, I really liked the idea but wondered if it was worth the money (couldn’t we essentially do the same thing with a cardboard wrapping paper tube?).
What I like about this, though, is that it’s a lot more durable than a cardboard tube, it’s wider shape accommodates bigger sized cars and balls, it can break apart for easy storage or you can attach more than one for a super long tunnel, and the kids can see through it- making it so much more engaging. Read the reviews on this one and I think you’ll be sold.
#7 Castle Logix $26.99 (3 – 8 years) and Camelot Jr. $26.99 (4 – 8 years)
The entire line of single player puzzle games from SmartGames gets such stellar reviews that it was hard not to recommend all of them! The bold colors of these two 3-D wooden castle puzzles especially caught my eye. I bought it for my daughter a couple of years ago and it was an absolute winner.
Assemble the wooden blocks and towers to match the challenges included in the booklet. With simple challenges for inexperienced builders to complex puzzles that will challenge skilled architects, these puzzles serve to develop logical thinking skills and spatial reasoning abilities.
#8 LeapFrog LeapStart Interactive Learning System for Preschool & Pre-Kindergarten $29.99 (2-4 years)
This is the pre-cursor to the Leapfrog Leapreader Reading and Writing System that I rave about in my Top Learning Toys for Independent Play Gift Guide. It’s a great toy for your older toddler who is becoming interested in naming letters, numbers, etc. and who wants tablets and books all their own. The magic behind LeapStart is a stylus that reads invisible dots on every page of the books triggering engaging audio like questions, challenges, songs, jokes and more to teach school and life skills in new, exciting ways.
This is also a fantastic toy to start to introduce “quiet time” or, as we call it, “me time”. This is something that you REALLY, REALLY want to introduce around this age, even just for 15 – 20 minutes, trust me!
I really appreciate the large number of books that are available as add-ons with this system as well as the fact that most replayable activities are designed with two levels so that kids can play and learn at the right level and move up when they’re ready. Highly considering it for under our own Christmas tree this year.
#9 LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack $59.80 for xbox (6 years and up)
On Sale for $39.99 for the xbox 360, Playstation 4, and Wii U
Deciding when to let your kids start to play video games is a very personal parenting decision. When you do take the plunge, though, this is a fantastic way to start. LEGO Dimensions is a kid-friendly video game that encourages creativity as well as game play by incorporating LEGO building into the process. I love that! I also love that one of the three characters in the starter pack is a girl, Wyldstyle from The LEGO Movie.
Once kids have the starter pack, they put together the three minifigures (Batman, Wyldstyle and Gandalf from Lord of the Rings), then the game guides them on how to use the LEGOs included to build the “LEGO gateway” on top of the toy pad. Once that is done, kids can place the 3 included figurines and batmobile onto the gateway and they’ll actually show up in the game. So cool!
After that, there are all kinds of expansion packs kids can buy, build, and add into the game to create something completely unique like Harry Potter, Ghost Busters, and Batman all playing side by side.
As video games go, this one is incredibly hands on and creative and I love that the price of the expansion packs makes them the perfect thing for kids to do chores and save up for! We are taking the plunge and getting this and the Xbox One S Minecraft Bundle for our 8-year-old this Christmas (and I’m sure the 6-year-old will get in on some of the fun too.)
#10 Klutz LEGO Chain Reactions Craft Kit $8.36 (7 – 15 years)
The first thing I thought when I saw this book was that it was a combo of two of my son’s favorite things: LEGOs and the game Mouse Trap. I talk a lot in this gift guide about the value of open-ended toys and I think this book could really get a kid’s mind spinning in regards to what new contraptions they can invent… From the manufacturer, “LEGO Chain Reactions is packed full of ideas, instructions, and inspiration for 10 LEGO machines that spin, swing, pivot, roll, lift, and drop.
Each machine alone is awesome, but put them together and you get incredible chain reactions. Then, combine the machines in any order you like to create your ownchain reactions. Our team of experts worked with educators and 11-year-olds to invent the machines, then wrote a book that teaches the skills (and some of the physics behind the fun) kids need to create their own amazing chain reaction machines.”
The kit comes with 78 page book, 33 LEGO elements, 6 LEGO balls, 6 feet of string, 8 paper ramps, 2 paper pop-up signs, 1 paper funnel ramp, 1 paper flag, 1 paper bucket, 1 platform and the makers assure that you don’t need to worry that you won’t have the right bricks as they made sure you’ll need only the most common bricks, and that there are plenty of substitutes… And while we’re on the topic of LEGO build books, The LEGO Ideas Book and LEGO Play Book are also well worth looking into.
#11 Qwirkle $24.95 (5+ years)
One of the best-sellers ever amongst all 350 toys on our gift guides. My son got this strategic domino and scrabble-like game for his 5th birthday and asks to play it during our one-on-one time or as a family several times a week.
Although we’ve altered the rules and points system a bit to adjust for his age, this Parents’ Choice Gold Award and Mensa National Competition winner is still fantastic for working on shape and color recognition as well as pattern perception and spatial and critical thinking skills. Recently my 4 year old daughter has been getting in on the fun and I can tell this is one that our family is sure to be playing for years to come.
#12 SmartLab Toys Secret Formula Lab $32.57 (8+ years)
This is the science kit you always wanted as a kit, but didn’t really exist- a kid-friendly chemistry set that actually looks legit. The big fun here is in the apparatus. The beakers and test tubes are connected to each other via tubes and a plunger that make it possible to pump chemicals from one to the next and create lots of cool concoctions. Check out the video to see how it works.
I’m seriously considering this one as for my 8-year-old this year as I know it’s something he’ll have a lot of fun with on his own or with me. I also love that the kit comes with the chemicals required for the “40 epic experiments” and only requires the addition of basic kitchen ingredients, so we can play with it right out of the box.
This one looks like the rare STEM toy that will get kids excited about science in a way that involves something other than programming and technology. That gets a big gold star from me!
#13 The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float Water, Measure Gravity-Challenge the World Around You! $6.43 (8+ years)
This is kind of like Mr. Wizard in a book. Written by a high school science and math teacher, this guide will help school-aged kids explore scientific topics with themed chapters broken down into accessible experiments of varying difficulty levels. Fun for them to do on their own or along with you – this one is a great value!
#14 Educational Insights Design & Drill Activity Center $26.54 (3 – 8 years)
I particularly like how this particular toy combines fine motor skills with pattern recognition AND adds a great dramatic play element. We got it for our son when he was 4 and he played with it quite a bit until his little old sister took it over. Now our 1 1/2 year old is starting to get in on the fun (mostly sorting and manipulating the pieces with his hands for now but I anticipate him picking up the drill pretty soon).
The popularity of this toy has also led to some cool variations, including the Design & Drill Flower Power Station and, my favorite, the Design & Drill BrightWorks– which is like if the Design & Drill had a baby with the classic Lite Brite from my childhood (in other words, the pieces light up and it’s totally awesome).
#15 Bugs in the Kitchen by Ravensburger $19.99 $15.99 (2 – 9 years)
Put out by Ravensburger, a time-honored producer of wonderfully stimulating games, Bugs in the Kitchen is one of the most interesting new games I’ve seen in a while! If you already have a hex bug lover in your house, then this one is a no-brainer. If not, this is a great way to introduce the awesome little robot bugs.
But even if hex bugs aren’t your kiddo’s thing, there is still a lot to love about this engaging and straight-forward game. Big on fun, action, and building critical thinking skills, kids will absolutely love playing with while flexing their thinking ahead and strategy skills.
I’ve also noticed that my 2 1/2-year-old likes to play with some of his big siblings games all on his own during quiet time and I think this one will be a hit with him for that reason as well. If you have multiple kids in the house and they’re all past the mouthing stage, this one could be a winner with them all (which is always worth the money in my book!)
#16 Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late $11.29 (4 – 7 years)
When my son was in kindergarten, he really started getting into math and began asking for story problems at night before bed, so imagine my excitement when I saw this book, which contains just that! From the publisher, “Inside this book, families will find fun, mischief-making math problems to tackle—math that isn’t just kid-friendly, but actually kid-appealing.
With over 100 math riddles on topics from jalapeños and submarines to roller coasters and flamingos, this book bursts with math that looks nothing like school. And with three different levels of challenge (wee ones, little kids, and big kids), there’s something for everyone.” This is a great way to change up story time at night and encourage math skills in kids that are excited about the subject as well as those who need some help getting excited. We’re now onto the second and third books in the series.
#17 LEGO Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster Building Set $79.76 (7 – 12 years)
The LEGO Friends collection is marketed primarily to girls but both boys and girls will be impressed with all that this big set can do. The mechanical stuff is very cool, a moving roller coaster with lights that turn on when a person sits down and a large ferris wheel that spins.
Beyond that there are also a lot of little touches that kids will love in their dramatic play; working turn styles, refreshment stands, park maps and etc. LEGO is no dope, they know studies show that girls like to use story-telling in their play and that incorporating dramatic play is a great way to get them interested in engineering toys. Parents say that got it right and this one packs a lot of playtime punch.
#18 VTech KidiZoom Action Cam $37.99 (6 years and up)
In a nutshell, this is a Go-Pro for kids… at a price that won’t give you a heart attack if something happens to it! I don’t know a school aged kid who wouldn’t love one of these and I love how it promotes creativity, learning to use technology, and being active. It also puts them in control of making their own videos without having to hand over your precious phone. What more is there to say?
#19 No Stress Chess $14.99 (5+ years)
When my kindergartner came home from school one day asking me to teach him to play chess, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand I was excited because, despite spending a lot of our time together on sports-related activities, I have great memories of playing chess with my dad growing up. On the other hand, I was afraid he was a little young for it and might get frustrated and give up on the game all together. Enter “No Stress Chess”.
This genius game uses cards to teach young kids how to play in stages. The cards tell you which piece to move, so even children (and adults) who have never played the game can jump right in. The moves for each piece are on the cards as well as on the game board and the first stage makes the game about chance, not skill – you simply draw a card and do what it says, perfect for learning how the pieces work.
Once that is mastered, you can draw 3 cards at a time and decide which one you want to go with to introduce some strategy to the game. Finally, when you’re ready to play chess for real, just get rid of the cards and flip the board over to a traditional chess board.
#20 LEGO Master Builder Academy Level 4 $199.00 (9+ years)
One of the things that impressed me most about The LEGO Movie was the emphasis on open-ended creativity through the “master builder” concept. So I was delighted to find that the “Master Builder Academy” series lives up to it’s name by offering kits that provide multiple builds but also amazing prompts to help kids create on their own. These extra special kits come with deluxe instruction manuals that teach technique as well as specific projects.
I’m especially eyeing the LEGO Master Builder Academy Level 4 – Invention Designer kit (ages 9+) which, while expensive,includes three 84-page Designer Handbooks teaching 6 LEGO Master Builder techniques. One reviewer wrote, “Once I opened this kit I realized how special this set is. This kit comes with 3 very nicely printed books (on high quality stock paper) with detailed instructions and techniques for building different creations.
I also learned that in addition to the 11 different items you can build, you can also unlock/download 22 ADDITIONAL instructions (from LegoMBA.com) to build even more items including vehicles and architectural structures! That was a huge, pleasant surprise for me! What other set can give you 33 different builds in a single box???”
In addition to the special manuals, each of these kits also comes with an access code to members-only online LEGO Master Builder Academy content (mentioned above), featuring additional tips and building instructions, special videos and technique demonstrations, skill tests and fun activities, and a gallery for kids to show off their own custom creations.
A word (or many words) about your child’s first tablet
One of the things parents are looking for most from this list is information on the best first tablet for their child. When to actually get our kids tablets, and which one to get, is something we wrestled with and researched A LOT. So I’ve done my best to tell you what we went with and why.
As a side note, we decided to very slowly start to let our kids have access to limited tablet time at the ages of 5 and 6. You’re decision around timing and ages may be very different. As always, you know your child best!
Amazon Fire Kids’ Edition $99.99 (5+ Years)
We have been super impressed and happy with our decision to go with the Fire tablets for our kids.
3 Reasons to Chose the Amazon Fire Kids’ Edition:
1) State-of-the-Art Parental Controls
By far, my favorite feature of the Fire- and the ultimate reason that I feel it is superior to other tablets for kids – is the state-of-the art parental control features. The flexibility of these features is unparalleled in my mind and I so, so appreciatethat I can set the different profiles for each of my kids and forget them so that the tablet can be the bad guy in terms of telling the kids that they can’t do something or that it’s time to shut it off.
Along with setting which hours during the day the Fire will turn on for each child(e.g. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day), I can also set specific time limits for each kind of activity- i.e. 20 minutes on apps, 30 minutes reading books, and 0 minutes for TV/movies each day. I can also set up educational goals, such as reading for 40 minutes each day, that have to be achieved before other things like apps can be accessed.
2) Amazon FreeTime Unlimited
The second thing that really sold me on the Fire is Amazon FreeTime Unlimited . As a parent who is already a little apprehensive about tablet time for my young kids, I am extremely picky about what apps they’re engaging with while they’re using them.
Amazon FreeTime Unlimited is an all-in-one subscription for kids that offers unlimited access to thousands of kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games and, for the most part, I’ve been really impressed with them. It’s a very easy way to get my kids new content that I feel I can trust.
Plus, there’s a kid-safe camera app that allows them to take pictures and edit them by adding stickers, drawings, and more. Parents can view photos and videos taken by their children in a separate photo gallery, and have the option to auto-save to Amazon Cloud Drive. Finally, while in the FreeTime app, kids are unable to access the internet, social media, or email and are also unable to make purchases on their own.
3) – Open Platform
The third and final thing that the Fire has going for it is that it’s a true tablet and, thus, an open-system. That means that unlike other kids’ tablet, I have full control over the apps that are loaded onto my kids tablets. If there’s a FreeTime Unlimited app that I don’t want them to have, I can easily delete it. Conversely, if there’s an app that I do want them to be able to use, like Minecraft or an awesome new educational app I saw on pinterest, I can download it to the device without a problem.
Continue Reading the Best S.T.E.M. Toys for Kids (and share it with your mom friends- they’ll thank you!)
*Post contains affiliate links.
Don’t forget – you can also check out all 15 of our 2016 Gift Guides here!
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