It’s never too early to introduce STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts to your toddler. To help you with this task, we created a list of the best STEM toys for toddlers. Our goal is to provide parents with an easy-to-read resource that will help them choose the perfect toy for their child.
The top STEM toys for toddlers are:
- Melissa & Doug Deluxe Jumbo Knob Puzzle
- MagifireWooden Toddler Puzzles (x6)
- Dreampark Educational Toddler Geometric Board
- Goobi Juniors 20 Piece Construction Set
- Boon Building Bath Toy Bundle with Pipes, Cogs and Tubes
- Learning Resources Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog
- Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pounding Bench
- Fat Brain Toys Dimpl Digits
- Haba Town Maze Magnetic Puzzle Game
- Jumbo Nuts and Bolts Toddler Toys – Skoolzy Montessori
- Fisher-Price Think & Learn Code-a-pillar Twist
- Magna-Tiles 32-Piece Clear Colors Set
- ZoZoplay STEM Learning Toy Tubular Pipes & Spouts & Joints
- Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards
- CozyBomB Magnetic Wooden Fishing Game Toy for Toddlers
Ages between 1 and 3 represent an important time because it’s the first window of opportunity to introduce your child to STEM concepts. These toys will help them develop their fine motor skills and creativity while also teaching them about science.
To make things simpler, we have broken down this list into three categories according to your child’s age.
Best STEM Toys for 1-Year-Olds
The best toys for 1-year olds are ones that encourage them to explore and learn without being too complicated or discouraging. These STEM Toys provide the perfect opportunity, as they’re designed with fun colors and shapes your little one will love.
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Jumbo Knob Puzzle
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle – Geometric Shapes (8 pcs)
Price: $19.99*
Let’s get started with Melissa & Doug’s Deluxe Jumbo Knob Puzzle. This is a great STEM toy for toddlers because it’s easy to assemble and it comes with an amazing geometric artwork.
This puzzle is a fun way to help your child develop hand-eye coordination and visual perception skills. The extra-thick wooden puzzle features friendly colors with sweet illustrations of familiar objects, making it perfect for little ones.
Melissa and Doug, the creators of Melissa & Doug toys, know that play is an important part of childhood development. After being inspired by their own six children’s imaginations during family game night, they started to create fun games for kids – some in which adults can join in on. The company was born out of a shared love for making memories with our families through laughter-filled times together.
MagifireWooden Toddler Puzzles (x6)
MAGIFIRE Wooden Toddler Puzzles Gifts Toys for 1 2 3 Year Old Boys Girls Baby Infant Kid Learning Educational 6 Animal Shape Jigsaw Eco Friendly Child Kid Montessori Stem Travel Toy
Price: $20.89*
Next on the list, we have MagifireWooden Toddler Puzzles, which is a great option if you are looking for a puzzle that will teach your child about shapes and colors.
This set of puzzles features six colorful wooden blocks with pictures of a ladybug, a butterfly, a bee, a tortoise, a bear and a car on them – perfect for toddlers who are starting to explore the world.
The puzzle pieces fit together like traditional jigsaw puzzles but they’re sized just right for little hands to pick up easily without causing any frustration when attempting to put it back in its correct place.
This set of puzzles has colors that are all bright and vibrant. And they’re really good for developing hand-eye coordination as well as color and shape recognition; you know, the kind little kids love.
Dreampark Educational Toddler Geometric Board
Dreampark Educational Toddler Toys for Boys Girls Age 1 2 3 4 and Up, Wooden Shape Color Recognition Preschool Stack and Sort Geometric Board Blocks for Kids Children, Non-Toxic
Price: $15.99*
Up next, we have the Dreampark Educational Toddler Geometric Board. This toy for toddlers is special because it’s both educational and interactive.
Your little one will love stacking the blocks on this colorful shape sorting toy. It’s so much more than a puzzle. The mainboard has four cute and engaging pictures that kids just can’t resist (bird, elephant, mountain, rabbit), while each block is shaped differently to encourage imaginative play.
And because we know how important it is for your child to have both hand-eye coordination and color recognition skills as they grow up, you’ll find this wooden building set helps with all of those developmental milestones too.
Goobi Juniors 20 Piece Construction Set
Goobi Juniors 20 Piece Construction Set Large Building Blocks Developmental Play Sticks STEM Learning Vibrant Colors Creativity Imagination 3D Puzzle Educational Toys for 1 Year Old Toddlers Preschool
Price: $32.95*
The Goobi Juniors 20 Piece Construction Set is a good option for parents to introduce their toddlers to building block toys. This toy contains a set of developmental play sticks in vibrant colors that will foster creativity and imagination.
This set is easy to use and provides toddlers with a wide variety of challenges they can grow into without being overwhelmed by too much at one time.
The most alluring aspect of this toy is that it helps toddlers develop a sense of proportion and geometry. It also provides simple ways to learn the basics of physics, architecture, and more. And to top it all off, the toy is completely safe for children as it meets ASTM (USA) and EN71 (EU) standards.
Boon Building Bath Toy Bundle with Pipes, Cogs and Tubes
Boon Bundle Building Toddler Bath Tub Toy with Pipes, Cogs and Tubes for Kids Aged 12 Months and Up, Multicolor (Pack of 13)
Price: $29.99*
We have the Boon Building Bath Toy Bundle with Pipes, Cogs and Tubes to close this section. What better way to upgrade your child’s bath experience with this amazing toy.
Building a water toy is more than just the fun of play, it’s also great for teaching little ones about how things work. This set from Boon comes with 8 pipe shapes that interact differently in water and help to get your builder creative when they’re soaking up their favorite liquid at bath time.
These parts even stick right onto the shower wall so that when they’re done playing for now, you don’t have to worry about cleaning up any messes outside of the tub; everything stays put until time’s up.
The only problem will be getting them out of the tub once all this awesome gear has been put together.
Best STEM Toys for 2-Year-Olds
Children aged two are at an important milestone for development: experimenting with how things work by manipulating them in three dimensions using their hands. Hence the importance of STEM building toys. The physical interaction with these objects helps children learn spatial relations and develop a sense of what will happen if you push or pull little bits here and there – all skills essential for navigating schoolwork when they’re older.
Learning Resources Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog
Learning Resources Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog Fidget Friend, Amazon Exclusive, Fidget Toy, Tactile Toy for Toddlers, Road Trip Toys, Ages 2+
Price: $14.99*
This toy is great for your toddler to develop their fine motor skills while playing with chunky, peg-shaped pieces that fit on this friendly hedgehog called Spike. Its colorful quill also helps kids build color recognition skills and sorting/counting abilities. It can be a great toy for visually impaired children as well.
What comes inside: this toy set includes the 2-piece hedgehog made for interactive play, 12 quills with different colors to explore and an activity guide. The best part is that you can easily wipe the plastic quills clean once playtime ends by storing them snugly inside Spike.
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pounding Bench
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pounding Bench Wooden Toy With Mallet
Price: $17.99*
This is a classic pounding toy that has an innovative twist. The non-removable and colorful pegs on the bench go up and down as they play peekaboo. As it goes back and forth, each peg reveals its friendly smile to your child’s delight.
Melissa & Doug’s Deluxe Pounding Bench is a great toy for children to practice their fine motor skills. You can help them learn numbers, colors, counting skills as well as hand-eye coordination by pounding pegs of different shapes into holes that correspond to their color – all while enjoying quality bonding time.
You know what they say: “Friends don’t let friends build with cheap, junky wood.” With this wooden toy set and mallet made from high-quality materials, you’ll be able to enjoy years of fun for your children.
Fat Brain Toys Dimpl Digits Baby Toys & Gifts for Ages 2 to 3
Fat Brain Toys Dimpl Digits Baby Toys & Gifts for Ages 2 to 3
Price: $33.50*
Next on the list, we have Dimpl Digits from Fat Brain Toy Co. This set is perfect for your young bilingual learner. It features a plastic frame with 10 squishy bubbles that captivate the fingers while you help your child learn their numbers and counting in English and Spanish.
On one side, there are numbers (from 1-10) and names in English; on the other, words in Spanish to count with pictures of dots next to each word so that they can easily identify any given number or word without having it spelled out for them.
This toy is designed to be safe for toddlers, with a high-quality ABS plastic frame and food-grade silicone bubbles. With its range of sensory activities, your child can develop their fine motor skills while learning about numbers and reading in an engaging way that’s perfect for beginners.
Moreover, Fat Brain Toy Co. has been featured in some of the most prestigious publications and shows, like USA Today, Consumer Reports, Real Simple.
Haba Town Maze Magnetic Puzzle Game
HABA Number Maze Magnetic Game STEM Toy Encourages Color Recognition, Fine Motor & Counting
Price: $22.99*
This toy from Haba offers a different experience for your toddler. The goal of the puzzle game is to help colored balls find their way home. Some roads are blocked, so this toy will develop children’s concentration and strategic thinking as they navigate through town with a magnetic wand.
This game also helps in developing visual-spatial skills (counting, color recognition), dexterity for manipulating pieces on board or trying different strategies until one works.
The balls are securely fastened inside of the toy, which makes it a great choice for your little one. It is also one of the favorite car trip toys, perfect for toddlers through young school age and will provide hours of entertainment on those long road trips.
Jumbo Nuts and Bolts Toddler Toys – Skoolzy Montessori
Jumbo Nuts and Bolts Toddler Toys – Skoolzy Montessori Toys Building Construction Set | 12 pc Occupational Therapy Tools Matching Fine Motor Skills for Toddlers Boys, Girls | Learning Activities eBook
Price: $17.89*
To close this section, let’s have a look at Jumbo Nuts and Bolt by Skoolzy Montessori. You have a whole lot of nuts and bolts to keep track of when your child plays with this toy. It’s like they’re trying out for the job as an engineer! But don’t worry, because there are 12 pieces in total that need to be put together into 6 sets.
When you first open up these fasteners, it can seem confusing where all those screws should go, but thankfully, it is very intuitive and shapes and colors will help your kid to get it right.
Playing with a nuts and bolts set is an easy way to help your child develop the finger and hand strength that they will need for using scissors in preschool.
It also helps build up those important muscles needed for writing later on, as well as practicing coordination skills between both hands. The best part? Your little one won’t even notice they are learning.
Best STEM Toys for 3-Year-Olds
As kids grow up, they show interest in reading and talking about the objects that they read. They can benefit from having toys like blocks to build with because it allows them to explore more creatively. Kids will use more sophisticated objects for building bridges, skyscrapers, etc., in order to further develop literacy skills early on.
Fisher-Price Think & Learn Code-a-pillar Twist
Fisher-Price Think & Learn Code-a-pillar Twist, Preschool Toy [Amazon Exclusive]
Price: $34.99*
As your kid approaches age 3, it might be a good opportunity to spark an interest in coding. The Fisher-Price Code-a-Pillar Twist comes preloaded with 1 motorized head and 5 permanently attached segments, each of which has a dial for kids to turn in order to program the path that their new friend will take (turn right, turn left, or straight ahead) and what sound it will make (music or effect).
With more than 1000 possible combinations at any time, it fosters early coding skills as well as problem-solving by children who are eager to test out different paths and see what happens when they change things up. It also includes light-up eyes on top of sound effects so you can keep an eye (and ear) on them while they enjoy hours exploring all the possibilities together.
Magna-Tiles 32-Piece Clear Colors Set
Magna-Tiles 32-Piece Clear Colors Set, The Original Magnetic Building Tiles For Creative Open-Ended Play, Educational Toys For Children Ages 3 Years +
Price: $49.30*
This 3D Magnetic building set that engages young minds through math, science and creativity is known as the original 3D magnetic building set. They will be able to create flat or 3-dimensional shapes with it.
What could be more fun than building a masterpiece out of colorful and translucent shapes? The set includes all the pieces that your kids need to construct their own unique designs.
This pack contains two large squares, 14 small ones, eight equilateral triangles (perfect for making octagons), four right angles triangles that are perfect for connecting structures on an angle or rectangle anywhere you want them. Also, it contains four isosceles triangles (that can also be used interchangeably), which makes building rectangles easy.
Magna-Tiles are more than just a toy. Developed over 20 years ago, they have been designed with safety in mind and their durability is unmatched by any other children’s toy on the market today.
This makes them not only one of the kids’ favorite options but also beloved parents who can rest assured that they will be investing money into something worth it because there won’t ever come an issue of stopped playtime from boredom or lack of interest.
ZoZoplay STEM Learning Toy Tubular Pipes & Spouts & Joints 64 Piece Build Bicycle
ZoZoplay STEM Learning Toy Tubular Pipes & Spouts & Joints 64 Piece Build Bicycle, Tank, Scootie, Moter Skills Endless Designs Educational Building Blocks Set for Kid Ages 3+ Multicolor
Price: $26.99*
The 64 pieces tube building toy set has a friendly output tone, which helps young children to have more construction fun. Different shapes and colorful tube parts help your kids learn colors while they’re having a good time playing with this durable plastic interlocking toy that can create structures, animals, aircrafts or cars depending on what the child imagines.
The toy is designed to help your child develop hand-eye coordination, master fine motor skills, and improve logical thinking. It will also support their creativity as they grow by encouraging them to make up new games with the pieces or find ways of using them in different scenarios.
Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards
Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards – Classic Toy With 120 Solid Wood Shapes and 5 Double-Sided Panels
Price: $21.99*
Melissa & Doug are again on our list, this time with their Pattern Blocks and Boards toy. It contains 120 wooden shapes that are brightly colored. With 5 different boards, kids can create colorful patterns on the board surface using these pieces in various arrangements.
The Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards for Kids are a great way to encourage kids’ creativity. They come with double-sided boards that allow children the opportunity to create linear patterns, sort blocks by color or number of pieces, count them up, and more.
CozyBomB Magnetic Wooden Fishing Game Toy for Toddlers
CozyBomB Magnetic Wooden Fishing Game Toy for Toddlers – Alphabet Fish Catching Counting Preschool Board Games Toys for 3 4 5 Year Old Girl Boy Kids Birthday Learning Education Math with Magnet Poles
Price: $16.98*
The Fisher Toys Wooden Magnetic Fishing Game is a fun way to work on speech therapy and other language skills. Kids will love the challenge of searching for fish under an iced lake with their magnetic dolls while fishing in the ocean using poles. This game fosters close interaction when playing together or solo by increasing communication through play.
This toy provides a balance between challenge and ease, which will keep your child entertained for hours while promoting self-confidence. It also contains colorful artwork with many details to identify, count and discuss.
Honorable Mentions
Choosing the top STEM toys for toddlers wasn’t an easy task, so here’s a list of honorable mentions we wanted to feature in case you’re still looking for more options for your child.
Guidecraft Grippies Builders
Grippies Builders – 30 Piece Soft Grip Magnetic Building Set, Educational STEM Construction Toy for Toddlers
Price: $29.99
This magnetic toys for toddlers has a soft-grip material, and it’s great for kids’ small hands. It contains 30 pieces that give children an early introduction to engineering concepts and the chance to use critical thinking when they come up with 3D builds in creative ways.
GoodyKing Wooden Toy Rainbow Stacker Puzzle Blocks for Toddlers
GoodyKing Wooden Toy Rainbow Stacker Puzzle Blocks for Toddlers – Educational Preschool Activity Learning Creative Stacking Color Shape Sorting Pre-School Early Learning Age 1 2 3 4 Years Old and up
Price: $27.98
Introduce your children to colors the fun with GoodyKing’s Wooden Rainbow Stacking Toy. It nurtures creativity and offers many ways of playing with it; stacking, balancing, arranging them like a puzzle or even making it into a tiny house. All you would need is imagination.
Learning Resources Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Set
Learning Resources Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Set, Homeschool, Play Food, Fruits and Vegetables Toy, Easter Toys, 30 Piece Set, Easter Gifts for Kids, Ages 3+
Price: $39.99
The Learning Resources Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Set is an excellent way to teach kids about colors and sorting. With 25 pieces in five different colors, this set will keep your child engaged as they identify the objects or group them by color or type. It also includes a guide that promotes fun while learning.
Buckle Toy – Blu Whale – Learning Activity Toy
Buckle Toy – Buster Square – Learning Activity Toy – Develop Fine Motor Skills and Problem Solving – Easy Travel Toy
Price: $29.99
The sound of “SNAP” and clicking is enough to make any toddler jump for joy when they see this adorable animal with its colorful buckles. The toy teaches kids how buckles work while also developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem-solving and color recognition! Plus it’s super fun because the animals come in numbers, shapes or colors that are embroidered on them too.
The whale toy is perfect for busy parents who don’t want to carry around a bulky bag with their young child in tow. You can attach the whale toy to your stroller or car seat without hassle, and it’s small enough that you can just toss into any old handbag when running errands.
We hope you were able to find some great STEM toys for your toddler. If not, we’d love to help. Our team has spent hours researching and testing the best products on the market so that you can feel confident in what you buy for your child. Let us know if this article was helpful as there are plenty more where these came from.
Related Questions
What are STEM Toys?
STEM Toys are educational toys that help develop skills in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.
What Makes a Good STEM Toy?
STEM Toys should be fully interactive, from basic analogous options, all the way to touchscreens, you should look for a toy that encourages hands-on play while teaching skills like problem-solving, math or biology. Also, materials should be safe for children.
How can parents use these types of toys to educate their children?
Parents should talk about what they’re building in order to reinforce math and science concepts at a young age. They could also ask questions such as “how many squares do you see?” or “what shape is this?”. This will allow kids to start thinking critically without being overwhelmed by an intimidating puzzle.
What’s the best age to introduce STEM Toys?
Experts say that STEM Toys are best suited for kids aged 12 months and up. They should be able to talk, which is key in stimulating their imaginations and understanding what they’re building.
Where Can I Find STEM DIY Toy Ideas?
The internet is full of interesting ideas for toys you could make at home (or things to do outside) using easily accessible materials you might find around the house, from cardboard tubes as tunnels in an obstacle course to toilet paper rolls as makeshift tools for playing “doctor” together.
Related Guides