Learning Gifts for Preschool and Kindergarten Children

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If you are like me, you love to buy learning gifts for preschool and kindergarten children instead of toys that will get played with once at most. Better to spend money on an educational toy that will inspire problem-solving or thinking skills.

The trick is in knowing which games and educational toys to look for! Which of these toys are worth spending money on? We’ve crowdsourced a list of exceptional learning gifts your children will find captivating.

You might also like our list of Nature Gifts for Kids.

Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links. If you use them, I might be rewarded credit or a commission of the sale. Please note that I only recommend tools that I personally use and love and I always have my readers’ best interest at heart.

Problem-Solving Learning Gifts for Preschool and Kindergarten

Tangrams Set. I’ve written up some great ideas for using tangrams.

Geoboard. Learn how to use a geoboard.

LEGO® Bricks Sets. Because giving kids LEGOs and teaching them to build on their own is like giving them a problem-solving booster pack. You need to do this!

Pattern Blocks. Similar, but slightly different from tangrams, pattern blocks start building spatial recognition and visual perceptual skills.

Thinking Skills Learning Gifts for Preschool and Kindergarten

Board Games for Young Students

Kids love to play board games and the best part is they will actually be learning so much about life and critical thinking as they play. When children are brought up playing board games with family, they can almost always play those games before reaching the recommended age range, so the age ranges mentioned are just suggestions and a loose guide.

Sequence Jr. A great introduction to patterns, similarities, and memory.

Connect 4 by Hasbro. Ages 6 and up is recommended but definitely, some five-year-olds can play this game.

Clue Jr. The classic game was made simpler for smaller people and growing brains.

Four Player Mancala by Square Root Games (ages 5 and up)

Aggravation. This game covers addition, subtraction, risk-taking, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

Guess Who? by Hasbro. Builds memory skills and critical thinking skills.

Monopoly Jr. The classic game made simpler and easier and shorter for younger children to enjoy.

Puzzles for Young Students

The tricky thing about recommending puzzles for a specific age group is that puzzle skill is really all about where your child is at and how much experience they have with puzzle solving. Some five year olds are ready for really complicated puzzles because they’ve been working puzzles for years.

Others need a little more work in this area and still enjoy the knobby puzzles. Most children will fall somewhere in between those two extremes at ages four and five. I’ve found some great options for this range of skills.

Floor Puzzles. These puzzles are big, build thinking skills and get kids, large muscle groups, thus building their gross motor skills.

24 Piece Puzzles. These puzzles are slightly more complicated and encourage your child to start learning the classic approach to puzzle-solving — edges first.

Wooden Puzzles. A simpler version of puzzles that serves as a gateway to frameless puzzles.

Knobby Puzzles. The simplest form of a puzzle gets little ones thinking about how to fit shapes into open spaces.

STEM Learning Gifts for Preschool and Kindergarten

Design and Drill Activity Center by Educational Insights. Ages 3 and up. Teaches following plans, planning, and matching skills.

AMAZE-N-Marbles Set by Tots and Things. Ages 5 and up. Problem-solving fun with marbles.

Magsnaps by Popular Playthings Ages 3 and up. Building and engineering with magnets stimulate creativity and thinking skills.

The Mega Marble Run by Mindware Ages 3 and up. The ultimate block-building engineering challenge for little ones. The older your child gets the more complicated his or her creations will become. Teaches cause and effect with creativity.

Talking Microscope by Educational Insights Ages 5-9. A great introduction to the things unseen by normal human eyesight. Fun and interactive.

9 in 1 Construction Blocks for Preschool. Ages 3 – 5. Fun construction vehicles are built out of blocks.

Books that Make Great Gifts

365 Things to do with LEGO® Bricks. by Simon Hugo. Inspire your kids to go bigger and build better with LEGO® books.

LEGOS with Dad. Amazingly Awesome LEGO® Plans for Parents and Children to Build Together. By Warren Nash.

A Little Spot of Emotion set. By Diane Alber. Kids sometimes need help identifying and managing emotions. These adorable books and plushies are a great way to introduce emotional regulation to your kiddos.

Edible Crafts Kid’s Cookbook. By Charity Matthews. Ages 4 – 8. Because food can be fun. And messy. And interesting.

Logic Puzzles for Clever Kids. By Lisa C. Davis. Ages 4 and up. Challenge your kids with these interesting logic puzzles.