Best Educational & Fun Toys for Children (0 - 15 Years Old)

Here is a list of best educational toys in my opinion. Since I am a firm believer in using the 5 senses to learn as well as using movement, most of the toys are manipulatives or Montessori materials. Some I have already gotten but others I am saving up to buy for Joshua. Some you can find substitutes in your kitchen or household and some you could make yourself, thus it is not necessary to buy all of them. You can use this list as an inspiration. I will return to this post to update the list, whenever I find a worthy toy.

1. Toys for Babies 0 - 6 months

Here are some of the toys that Joshua played with when he was a baby.

1.1. Mobile and Gym

These toys provide interesting things for the baby to look at, thereby stimulating their brain development, when they are lying on their back. At some point, the baby will be encourage to bat the toys above him, training his/her eye-hand coordination:

1.2. Lie-On-Tummy Gym

This toy helps to encourage baby to be on his/her tummy. One of my favourites when Joshua was a baby:

1.3. Bright Toys

I love these bright and colourful Lamaze toys with faces. Joshua was very attracted to them, when he was a baby and had hours of fun. They stimulate the baby, especially when the baby is lying in the pram:

1.4. Toys for Pram



This is great to hand on the pram:

1.5 Toys to Encourage Baby to Turn

These toys are good for the crib and the pram and encourage the baby to turn to his/her side. When Joshua was young, I used it to encourage Joshua to learn to turn around:

1.6. Wrist and Foot Rattles

At this age, babies cannot hold things yet. These wrist and foot rangles are good for making sounds for the baby for him/her to notice his/her hands and feet:

1.7. Toys for Autocar Seats

One of the concerns I had is baby does not get enough stimulation when on the road, while I am driving. These toys are great for the autocar seats and solved the problem:

1.8. Rangles for Grasp

These colourful rangles are great for babies. They love to grasp them. I like especially the Chinese type with drums on the side. They are very interesting for babies to play with, and was the top favourite for Joshua:

1.9. Mirror

Let baby looks at the mirror and help him to slowly recognize himself:

1.10. Exersaucer

This exersaucer is great for baby around 3 months old and was one of Joshua's favourite, when he was a baby. It came with toys for baby to bat with, training his hand-eye coordination:

1.11. vTech Ball

This moving vtech ball is great for baby around 5 months old who are beginning to learn to crawl as it encourages baby to crawl towards it:

You can read more about some the activities here:

http://elainengfriis.blogspot.dk/search/label/From%200%20month%20old
http://elainengfriis.blogspot.dk/search/label/From%201%20month%20old
http://elainengfriis.blogspot.dk/search/label/From%203%20months%20old
http://elainengfriis.blogspot.dk/search/label/From%204%20months%20old

2. Toys for Babies 6 - 12 months

2.1. Touch-&-Feel Books

2.2. Stacking Toys

2.3. Shape-Sorters

This is a classic for babies:

2.4. Stand-Up Toys

These toys are ideal in teaching a pre-toddler who is learning to walk:

2.5. Cause-&-Effecct Toys

2.6. Activity Mats

These mats are good for blanket time:

2.7. Rangles

This rangle is excellent for older babies, and it had provided Joshua lots of fun exploring it:

2.8. Musical Instruments

2.9. Bath Toys

3. Toys for Toddlers 1 - 2 years old

3.1. Balls

3.2. Wooden Blocks

3.3. Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

These wooden puzzles with knobs are good for babies learning to play with puzzles:

3.4. Wooden Stack & Sort Board

3.5. Piggy-bank

3.6. Doodle Sketch

3.7. Wooden Bead Maze

3.8. Wooden Lacing Beads

3.9. Pom Poms & Tweezers

3.10 LEGO Duplo

3.10. Child-Sized Porceleain Jugs and Trays

3.11. Bath Toys

3.12. Inflatable Pool

3.13. Sand Play Toys

3.14. Leap Frog Phonics Fridge Magnets

3.15. Teddy Bears

3.16. Glow-In-The-Dark Stickers

4. Toys for Toddlers 2 - 3 years old

4.1. Memory Matching Game

4.2. Jigsaw Puzzles

Here are some excellent and well-made jigsaw puzzles:

4.3. Letters Fridge Magnets & Others

These toys provide a fun way to learn the letters. Pop together these fun popsicles to match uppercase and lowercase letters. Skills reinforced: Matching upper- and lowercase letter. Ages 3 - 6 years old:

4.4. Play Kitchen & Cutting Food Toys

These cutting toys are a safe way for children to practise cutting and at the same time encourage good eating habits. The toy kitchen can be added for children who like home-living pretence play. It would be ideal to be plaed in a kitchen for the child to be cooking along with mommy.

4.5. Birthday Cake

I like this toy, because you can insert real candles and practise blowing candle with your child without consuming all the calories. Children find it really fun!

4.6 Playdough

It is said to be essential for children to play with sand and water. I would say that playdough comes next. It encourage creativity in children and a good toy for find motor skills development.

4.7. Lacing Toys

4.8. Mosaic Peg Board

4.9. Wooden Train Set

4.10. Fishing

4.11. Trucks

4.12. Balance Bike

4.13. Musical Instruments

At this age, your child would start to know how to blow. It would be interesting for him to play with musical instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, etc.

4.14. Art Supplies

4.15. Rubber Stamps

4.16. Kid-Size Table & Chair

4.17. Baby Dolls

4.18. Montessori Knobbed Cylinders

These are Montessori cylinders and they are great for developing the child's visual perception of dimension as well as experiences in seriation. They are made of wood. They are pricey though. If I could buy only 1 of them, I would buy Cylinder Block 2:

4.19. Montessori Weight Box

This Montessori weight box is great for developing the child's ability to perceive and differentiate weights. This learning toy builds concentration, matching and focusing skills. Children compare the weights of these smooth wooden cylinders to discover a match. Color-coded dots on the bottom allow for self-correction. This tactile educational toy is ideal for the home, preschool or day care center. Ages 3+:

4.20. Montessori Rough & Smooth Boards

This toy helps to create a conscious awareness of the texture of surfaces and refine the tactile senses:

4.21. Geometric Solids

These folding geometric shape set provides a concrete way to teach Maths concepts of symmetry, perimeter, area, surface area and volume:

4.22. Bear Counters

These toys are excellent for sorting, learning counting, colours and pattern recognition:

4.23. Hungry Monkey Motor Skills Game

5. Toys for Preschoolers 3 - 4 years old

5.1. Toy Cash Register

5.2.  Calendar

5.3. Real Piggy Bank

5.4. Leap Frog Word Builder

5.5. Bicycle

5.6. LEGO

5.7. Tea Set

5.8. Tent

5.9. 4-In-A-Line Game

5.10. Easel

5.11. Kite

5.12. Ring Toss

5.13. Hammer & Nails Tack Set

5.14. Montessori Colour Tablets

These toys help to refine the child's visual perception of color.

5.15. Montessori Binomial Cube

The Montessori Binomial Cube is great for for teaching on Sensory & Algebraic concept:

5.16. Montessori Constructive Triangles

Such a set is a great tool for the child to experiment the various ways which the sizes and shapes can be divided and combined to form other shapes:

5.17. Montessori Constructive Blue Triangles

These are great for the child to explore equivalency, congruency and similarity:

5.18. Wooden Pattern Blocks

This toy teaches a range of math concepts with these sets of wooden Pattern Blocks in 6 shapes and colors. Count, sort, explore symmetry, create colorful designs, practice linear and area measurement, etc.:

5.19. Lego Numbers and Mosaics Set

This is a fantastic Lego set that encourage the children to explore early math concepts, such as number recognition, sorting, sequencing, and mathematical symbols and concepts. Mosaic tiles teach about shapes, colors, and symmetry. Ages 3 up.

5.20. Bean Bags

Bean bags are good for tossing games, relays, juggling, hop scotch or even teaching Maths:

5.21. Montessori Phonetic Reading Blocks

These blocks are excellent for the Beginning Reader:

5.22. LEGO Letters Set

This is a great set to help children develop letter and sound recognition, and fine motor and language skills while building words. Ages 3 up:

5.23. Inflatable Float

5.24. Tack Set

6. Toys for Preschoolers 4 - 5 years old

6.1. Stringing Beads

6.2. Addition Dominoes:

6.3. Number Balance

This T-shaped scale with 20 weights provides the child a fun and concrete way to teach Maths - addition and subtraction:

6.4. Montessori Addition Strip Board

Provides concrete exercises in addition that engages the child's sense of touch:

6.5. Montessori Addition Working Charts

To provide the child more practice with subtraction and to help memorise the subtraction tables

6.6. Montessori Subtration Strip Board

Provides concrete exercises in subtraction the child's sense of touch:

6.7. Montessori Subtration Working Charts

To provide the child more practice with subtraction and to help memorise the subtraction tables

6.8. Montessori Moveable Alphabet Box

This set helps to prepare the child for reading, writing and spelling in a fun way. You can learn how to use it here. Ages 4 up.

 

6.9. Skipping Rope (Ages 4 up)

7. Toys for Preschoolers 5 - 6 years old

7.1. Montessori Hundred Board

Below are various variation of the Montessori Hundred Board. They are a good tool for introducing numbers 1-100 in a logical way, teaching number patterns, sequencing and place value. Ages 5 - 10.

7.2. Montessori Pythagoras Board

The child chooses a wooden answer chip, thinks of a multiplication equation that produces this product, then places the chip in the correct position on the ruled board. Ages 4 up:

7.3. Montessori Teens and Tens Boards

The Teen Boards - To make the association of the names 11-19 with written figures. When used with the teen bead box, it helps make the association between the numbers and the quantities 11-19. Tens Boards - When used with the tens bead box, the child learns to associate quantities with the figures 11-99. To gain a thorough understanding of sequence:

7.4. Montessori Decimal System

It enhances the understanding of place value, arithmetic, decimals, fractions, percents, money, maths and more:

This is similar to the Montessori elementary materials introduction to decimal system, which much cheaper:

Here is the interlocking version:

Here are some unit cubes that can be clinked together on all 6 sides to make into bars and thousand cubes:

7.5. Money Dominos

Teaching money in a fun way:

7.6. Magnetic World Map Puzzle

This is a great toy to teach about the different countries in the world. The fact that it is magnetic means it is difficult to lose the pieces. Games to play with it - I take away four countries and ask your child what they are. Gradually make it harder for the child as he gets older. Test each other on the flags and continents. Ages 5 - 10:

8. Toys for Children 6 - 7 years old

8.1. Rainbow Fraction Pizzas, Tiles or Tower

These toys provide a great kinesthetic way to reinforce basic fraction concepts. Ages 6 up:

8.2. Fraction Card or Board Game

More fun fraction card and board game. Learners enjoy the fun of traditional domino game play and master addition facts at the same time:

8.3. Montessori Multiplication Board

Montessori multiplication board provides a concrete way to teach multiplication:

8.4. Montessori Dividion Board

Montessori division board provides a concrete way to teach division:

9. Toys for Children 7 - 8 years old

9.1. Microscope

9.2. LEGO Technic

Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex movable arms, such as machines with wheels, in addition to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego. Gears have been included within Lego Technic sets as a way of transferring rotary power, and of gearing-up or down the speed. Ages 7 - 14:



10. Toys for Children 8 - 9 years old

10.1. LEGO Technic

Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex movable arms, such as machines with wheels, in addition to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego. Gears have been included within Lego Technic sets as a way of transferring rotary power, and of gearing-up or down the speed. Ages 8 - 14:

10.2. Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100

This toy is an excellent introduction to electronics. It is ideal for your child on the road to understanding electricity. Everything just snaps together like building blocks, and there's no need for screwdrivers, soldering irons, electrical tape or testers. Think of this as the "LEGO" approach to wiring. Ages 8 - 12.

11. Toys for Children 9 - 10 years old

11.1. LEGO Technic

Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex movable arms, such as machines with wheels, in addition to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego. Gears have been included within Lego Technic sets as a way of transferring rotary power, and of gearing-up or down the speed.

12. Toys for Pre-Teens 10 - 11 years old

12.1. LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (8547)

Mindstorms, a Lego line of robotic products, can offer hours of fun for the inventive child. Your child will have a great start in engineering. As a bonus, your kid will be able to interact with people all over the world, while playing with it. Ages 10 - 18.

13. Toys for Pre-Teens 11 - 12 years old

13.1. Algebra Balance

The Algebra Balance is an excellent toy which allows you to demonstrate that –1<0. Weights placed on the outer pans represent negative integers, and those placed in the inner pans represent positive integers, making it possible to demonstrate that (–1)+(+1)=0. The set comes with 4 plastic pans, 4 plastic canisters, a set of plastic weights and a Teaching Guide. Ages 11 up:

13.2. Magnetic Algebra Tiles

These magnetic geometric shapes are great for modeling algebraic principles. Students get to build geometric models of polynomials exploring firsthand the concepts related to them. Students will learn concepts related to the Zero Principle, Polynomials and Trinomials. Addition, multiplication and other math skills will be sharpened using nearly 30 algebra worksheets featured in this 48-page book. Teaching Notes included. Ages 11 to 17 :

14. Toys for Pre-Teens 12 - 13 years old

11.1. LEGO Technic

Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex movable arms, such as machines with wheels, in addition to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego. Gears have been included within Lego Technic sets as a way of transferring rotary power, and of gearing-up or down the speed. Ages 12 - 14:

References:

http://www.learningresources.com/
http://www.fridgemagic.com/
http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/resources/blog/2009/10/addition-and-subtraction-fact-strategy-posters