Top 10 Best Gifts for Kids in 2019: Coding Toys, STEAM Toys and Educational Board Games

It is often stressful to buy gifts for kids as they are the harshest critics! When picking the right gift for them, it is always ideal to find something that allows learning and fun to go hand-in-hand effortlessly. This explains why game creators have been releasing more and more educational games.

Your choice also depends on your child’s interests and the objective of gifting him the toy. From coding toys to STEM toys, we have gathered the top 10 best toy gifts for kids in 2019!

3Doodler

If your child loves to draw, the 3Doodler 3D pen is the perfect tool to bring his drawings to life!

These pens have been thoughtfully designed to cater to both kids and professionals to unleash their 3D creations. 

The 3Doodler Start is made with zero hot parts, enabling kids as young as 6 years old to get their creative juices flowing. For teens from 14 years old, the 3Doodler Create is compatible with non-toxic PLA, ABS and FLEXY plastics with more than 65 colour options!

Still not sure which one to get? Take a look at this comparison table:

Osmo Genius Kit

The Osmo Genius Kit is a widely popular STEAM toy that allows your child to explore science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics concepts. If you are looking for a self-learning resource, the hands-on experience that this kit offers guarantees to enable better retention of concepts.

It comes with 5 engaging educational games:

1. Tangram

 

The Osmo kit has more than 500 variations of this traditional dissection puzzle. Not only does it improve visual-spatial awareness, Tangram puzzles will also promote learning of mathematical concepts such as geometry and symmetry.

2. Words

With the aid of relatable images, your child can learn spelling through arranging physical alphabet tiles.

3. Newton

This is where physics meets fun! The Newton game converts theory into practice – simply direct falling balls to hit the right target on screen. This will test your child’s knowledge of angles, acceleration and more.

4. Masterpiece

Another essential element of learning is to boost your child’s creativity through art. Masterpiece is amazing as it allows you to take a photo of anything and provides a basic outline for your child to follow.

5. Numbers

Using fun and engaging visuals, the numbers game encourages your child to learn math at different difficulty levels.

The real-time feedback provided by this kit builds the foundation for a stress-free learning experience for kids, which is crucial to encouraging learning. Moreover, once your child is done with his creations, he is able to share them with family and friends!

Kingdomino

This board game is designed for kids who love to crack their brains to outwit their friends! It encourages systematic thinking, tests your child’s creativity and keeps multiplication at his fingertips.

As a 2 to 4 player game for ages 8 and up, Kingdomino lets you take turns to expand your kingdom strategically. The rules are simple – you just have to connect matching terrain types to build a perfect 5x5 land.

The points you score will depend on the size of each property (of connected same terrain type) and the number of crowns within each property.

Here’s an example of how to calculate your points during the game:

The different terrain types are forests, meadows, water, deserts, mines and waste lands.

Once everyone has completed their 5x5 grid, the player with the highest number of points wins!

Conquered Kingdomino? Kingdomino: Age of Giants Expansion is the next best gift for your kid!

Cozmo

Every child wishes that their toys would come to life to play with them. With Cozmo, that wish will come true instantly!

This smart programmable robot has a mind of its own – watch as it navigates and interacts with its surroundings. Powered by artificial intelligence, Cozmo can detect people and pets and play games with you!

Furthermore, it can be paired with Code Lab to allow you to take control of its actions through drag-and-drop programming functions.

There isn’t a boring moment with the Cozmo robot as it is constantly updating its software to surprise you with new ways to interact.

Getting this as a gift for your child will not only introduce him to the wonders of AI, it will also spur him to use his creativity to pick up basic coding.

Sphero BOLT

The Sphero BOLT is the new and improved Sphero SPRK+ with more amazing features and a better look.

If you are an educator looking to incorporate this tech toy into your lessons, the Sphero BOLT EDU Power Pack lets you store and charge up to 15 robots at once – definitely a great way to keep your students engaged.

Features include:

• Programmable 8x8 LED matrix

This allows you to visualise data, display your favourite icons and even play games on it.

• Built-in compass

The compass equips the robot with an auto-aiming feature that enables it to navigate based on real maps.

• Infrared detection

The infrared function means that your robot will be able to interact with other robots to exchange data and send messages. This brings about new possibilities such as storytelling, advanced movements and never-before-seen games.

• Long-lasting battery

A 6-hour charge equates to 2 hours of endless fun and learning!

Most importantly, learn programming with the Sphero Edu app by dragging and dropping Scratch block or using JavaScript. If you wish to take a break from coding, you can also use your device as a controller.

Photosynthesis board game

Looking for a strategy board game to light up your child’s eyes? The Photosynthesis board game incorporates science concepts and also allows practising of simple mathematics calculations.

 This game happens in 2 phases:

1. Photosynthesis phase

This is when players have to place their available trees on the game board to collect as many points as possible.

The aim is to place the trees such that they are able to get sunlight, based on the direction of the sun’s rays for that round. If your tree is blocked by the shadow of another taller tree, you will not get any points.

2. Life cycle phase

After you have accumulated points from the first phase, you can use the points you have earned in this next phase.

There are 3 actions that you can make: planting seeds, buying seeds or trees and growing a seed or tree.

During this phase, you can choose to take as many actions as you like.

After 3 rounds of the sun moving a full circle around the board, the player with the most points wins!

LittleBits Avengers Hero Inventor Kit

Have a huge Avengers fan at home? The littleBits Avengers Home Inventor Kit lets your child learn basic coding while customising the wearable gear to become his favourite hero!

Simply download the free littleBits Avengers Hero Inventor app to get going. The app includes detailed instructional tutorials that will aid your kid in his journey of innovating and learning.

Heroes include

• Iron Man and Iron Heart

The default kit is inspired by Iron Man gear!

• Ant-Man and the Wasp

The speed tracker within the device will accompany you while you train your speed and movement with Ant-Man.

• Black Widow

Pick up skills like Night Vision and Undercover Device to be as stealthy as Black Widow.

• Black Panther and Shuri

Invent like Shuri by completing the customisation and coding in-app activities!  

With the many challenges in the app, your child will be encouraged to use his creativity to re-modify his gear into new inventions. The best part is – it comes with authentic Marvel Avengers sound effects!

Letter Tycoon

Letter Tycoon provides an optimal balance between fun and learning! The main objective of this card game for kids is to earn money and stocks by forming words.

The longer the word is, the more money and stock you earn. The amount is determined by the scoring card:

At your turn, you can also choose to discard your cards for new ones and skip your turn. The letter frequency card will help you to decide whether to do so. 

The stock that you have earned cannot be used. However, you can use your money to patent the letters that you have used to form your word. Thereafter, if anyone uses your patented letter(s) in the words they form, you will get a royalty fee from the bank.

The game stops when any player has reached the designated patent value:

The winner will be the player with the highest money, stock and patent value!

Designed to be a family night game, this innovative box of cards illustrates real-life business concepts such as patents and royalties. It also keeps your child thinking about the different possible words they can form while practising simple math to see where they stand in the game. 

My First Carcassonne

Specially made for kids, My First Carcassonne is a simplified version of the Carcassonne game.

This tactical tile game uses easy-to-grip meeples as pawns, where each player gets a different colour.

The game starts with one tile on the table. Then, at each turn, you will have to place a tile from the draw pile strategically. Whenever you end a road with your meeple colour on it, you get to place your meeple on the map.

The first person to place all of their meeples on the map is the winner!

This game is suitable for kids aged and above as it is extremely easy to learn. It also encourages your child to make calculated moves to emerge victorious.   

Order of Invention

This easy-to-learn card game is the one for kids who are constantly seeking to gain general knowledge and learn interesting facts. As the name suggests, Order of Invention tests your knowledge of the history of 80 inventions!

All you have to do is to have 4 invention cards with the red side face up. All players will then have to rank the inventions from 1^st to 4^th in chronological order of when the invention was introduced.

If you feel extra confident about your answer, you may choose to put score tokens to increase your bet.

When the answer is revealed, you will get to see the year of invention and a fun fact about each invention. If you’re right, you score points!

The adorable, bright-coloured card designs will keep your child at his seat as these educational facts are etched in his mind.  

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Here's a summary of what to get for your children based on their ages and interests!

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Fret not! As one of the top educational toy stores in Singapore, TOYTAG has the widest selection of games and toys for your child.

Whether you’re looking for the best brain games or word games, explore our page for the best options!