Kids

Best STEM Toys for Girls

by Samantha McIntyre


Best STEM Toys for Girls
Shop Story

Parents eager to promote an early interest in STEM are paving a wonderful path toward introducing girls to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math while opening up a wide world of fascinating technologies that strengthen problem-solving and critical thinking in addition to teaching the science behind coding, exciting experiments and electrical engineering. “Parents should introduce their child to STEM-related materials as early as infancy,” suggests Kiddie Academy Curriculum Project Manager Carmen Draayer. “For example, a color ring stacker provides a world of entertainment for an infant. However, as an infant explores with the color ring stacker, they are developing eye-hand coordination, fine motor control, learning about cause and effect as well as trial and error.”

 

 

Best STEM Toys For Girls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With so many STEM toys and books available for girls of every age, it’s crucial to consider the skill level and curiosity of your child when selecting the perfect products. “It’s important to understand your child’s interest when determining what STEM toys to provide,” adds Draayer.  “Children are developing ways to apply reason and logic while having fun. Exposing children to STEM-related materials may inspire a child to become an engineer, a scientist, or even an astronaut.” The benefits of these high-tech teaching tools are incredible as young girls get an early STEM-friendly education while engaging in fun activities.

 

“STEM toys encourage children to design, create and develop cognitive, academic and motor skills with hands-on learning and real-world experiences that engage problem-solving and critical thinking skills,” adds Draayer. We’ve taken the science out of searching for super cool STEM toys to engage and inspire your girl to get excited about a technical future as she learns amazing scientific facts in a field still largely underrepresented by women. Check out our roundup of stimulating educational STEM toys to support your little lady’s love of science.

 

Best Overall

1 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

Elenco Snap Circuits Jr.

Price:$35.00

Hard-wired for fun, Snap Circuits Jr from Elenco makes learning about the flow of electricity a breeze. This 30-piece STEM-focused set introduces young engineers to the science of electronics with more than 100 diagrammed projects configured to build electrical circuits using a board grid and simply snapping pieces into place to create a working light, siren, doorbell, flying sauce and so much more. No doubt your girl will light up at the sight of these exciting engineering experiments. Recommended for kids ages 8 and up.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
I bought this for my 12-year-old daughter for Christmas, and at first she didn't have much interest in it until she opened it and actually started playing with it. Now she LOOOOVES it. She had fun putting together all of the different configurations and seeing what they do, and we look forward to getting more sets. They're great toys for learning about electrical currents and how those work.

My 8-year-old daughter loves all things science. She's obsessed with this toy. She flies through the projects and it's boosted her confidence in her abilities to do "smart stuff" independently. I will absolutely buy the expansion set when she completes the set.

My daughter loves science and looking into how things work so when I saw this I had to get it for her. It is so fun!! It comes with an instruction booklet with different things to do. They start out easy like making a light flash using currents but as they progress they get more difficult (still easy to do) but take more time to set up which my daughter loves. In the end, it's a nice activity for kids to do especially during the summer when it's too hot outside. Would recommend!

Best for Toddlers

2 of 11 Image Credits: Target

Fisher-Price Think & Learn Rocktopus

Price:$57.00

Take note, Mom and Dad! We are certain this Fisher-Price Think & Learn Rocktopus will strike a chord with your little music lover. Toddlers not only get to jam while creating cool tunes with 15 musical instruments, but they can also select from five music genres and change the tempo all at the press of a button. This interactive toy also has a math setting that encourages kids to count and apply basic math skills by adding and subtracting instruments. And the game setting challenges kids to follow prompts to bop the instruments that light up (think Simon, but for toddlers). Recommended for kids ages 3 to 6.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
My four year old loves this toy. The lights and instrument pieces are fun, bright and engaging, and the multiple modes keep her attention. She loves the technology aspect, and I feel like a great mom for providing a fun alternative to the tablet. My daughter knew maybe 3 instruments before this, but the system makes it easy to learn more.

This is a fun and educational toy! Many music functions included and fun games for your little ones! It teaches them music and numbers all in one! Very colorful and has bright fun lights. The talking Octopus is absolutely amazing!! Great for toddlers up to six years of age!

Perfect for my 18-month-old and my 3-year-old to enjoy!

Best for Young Girls

3 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

Marble Galaxy Fun Run Set Game

Price:$52.00

Your girl will be on a roll configuring this cool Marble Galaxy Fun Run Set Game. This building set comes with 70 track and connector pieces and 20 glass marbles. Kids can trace the path of their marbles through the colorful translucent tubes. This set also features four difficulty levels to make the track more challenging. This STEM set helps kiddos to strengthen problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination while using their creativity to assemble new structures. Sounds like she's in for several rounds of fun! Recommended for kids ages 4 and up.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
I purchased this as a gift for my 8-year-old daughter. It's pretty awesome! I had a great time being her lab assistant while she made her first magical wand. It was easy for her to read and follow the directions. There are lots of experiments to do with this one kit. I am looking forward to the next science night. I would recommend this product.

This kit is really cute. My daughter particularly likes the crystal ball in a beaker and the crystal wand. The additional "magical" elements were a big hit.

My daughter absolutely loves science-based projects. She likes to see explosions, gooey oozy stuff, and general messes. We have had a lot of fun doing the experiments together. The instruction book is very easy to follow. Clean up is minimal which for a busy mom is quite appreciated. On top of it, we had a lot of laughs and dialog along the way.

Best for Older Girls

4 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

Scientific Explorer Magic Science for Wizards Only Kit

Price:$15.00

Lab-loving kids can put their magical talents to the test conjuring up colorful spells with this Scientific Explorer Magic Science for Wizards Only Kit. The set comes with nine science-based experiments for young wizards to magically concoct test-tube potions by adding in chemicals (and, of course, a wave of the enclosed magic wand) to create a Frothing Color-Changing Potion or a Glow-in-the-Dark Bubbling Potion. Alakazam! Recommended for kids ages 6 and up.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
I purchased this as a gift for my 8-year-old daughter. It's pretty awesome! I had a great time being her lab assistant while she made her first magical wand. It was easy for her to read and follow the directions. There are lots of experiments to do with this one kit. I am looking forward to the next science night. I would recommend this product.

This kit is really cute. My daughter particularly likes the crystal ball in a beaker and the crystal wand. The additional "magical" elements were a big hit.

My daughter absolutely loves science-based projects. She likes to see explosions, gooey oozy stuff, and general messes. We have had a lot of fun doing the experiments together. The instruction book is very easy to follow. Clean up is minimal which for a busy mom is quite appreciated. On top of it, we had a lot of laughs and dialog along the way.

Best for Preteens

5 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

Sphero BOLT

Price:$150.00

Your teen will have a ball playing around with this interactive Sphero BOLT. Kids control the ball's motion and light displays and play games through a coding app connected to high-tech sensors that manage the speed and movement of the device, which features a built-in compass. Discover coding, programming and JavaScript with this robotic design while enjoying endless hours of play.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
This ball is wonderful. Has a lot of possibilities to program. My daughter loved.

I got this for Christmas for my daughter who is 12 and is just starting to show an interest in coding. I was afraid it would be too simplistic for her, or not really fun, but she really loves it! Since the Bolt can also be programmed using JavaScript, we hope she will be able to continue to learn with this toy, even after the novelty of making the simple block programs wears off.

My daughter loves her coding class with her school, even though the subject matter has its challenges (coding alone) she loves the program with Sphero to keep her on toes and the Bolt associated with it. I am amazed at how she’s getting creative with it. She’s very happy.

Best Coding Toys

6 of 11 Image Credits: Target

Ozobot Bit Maker Starter Pack

Price:$54.00

This programmable robot combines art and science. Kids can simply draw a diagram for the color sensing Ozobot Bit to follow using a piece of paper and markers or design STEM programs using the OzoBot App. This pocket-sized device is perfect for introducing coding to kids with robotic technology that's out of this world! Recommended for kids ages 8 and up.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
This is a wonderful tool/toy for the whole family to work/play with coding in a fun way. The whole family was busy for hours testing their "path" for Ozobot to follow.

I know nothing about Ozobots but my 7-year-old learned about it at school and in coding class and this was one of her favorite gifts! She can do it all herself and said it was great.

I purchased this robot for my six-year-old niece after my five-year-old daughter and I played with this at a science fair. It’s such an innovative toy that really speaks to your creative side. I’m not gonna lie, I even enjoyed playing with it!

Best Robots

7 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

Anki Cozmo Robot

Price:$177.00

This Anki Cozmo Robot is full of personality thanks to futuristic artificial intelligence. Cozmo has high-tech software programming that gives it a full range of emotions along with facial and pet recognition. The robot comes with three game cubes and a built-in camera that connects to your smartphone. Kids will build confidence learning to code with this super smart robotic toy. Recommended for kids ages 8 and up. ($177; amazon.com)

What Reviewers Are Saying:
This is by far one of the best gifts I got for myself, I mean my kids, hahaha. I got them this for Christmas and it is one of the best toys ever. So much fun. Plays all kinds of games and it recognizes my kids when they turn him on.

My 8-year-old daughter definitely grasps and understands how to use him far better than my 6-year-old son.

This was all my daughter could talk about. She loves this little guy. He plays games, does tricks, has expressions, and they keep each other busy! We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what he can do yet. Looking forward to finding out what else he can do.

Best Experiment Kits

8 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

Scientific Explorer My First Mind Blowing Science Kit

Price:$24.00

If your future chemist is curious about reactions and has penchant for mixing things together, , the Scientific Explorer My First Mind Blowing Science Kit is sure to be a blast! Kids learn the basic concepts behind chemical reactions by combining ingredients included in the set to create a color-changing volcano or secret messages to send to friends. These entertaining experiments will keep girls engaged and excited while exploring 11 fun activities. Recommended for kids ages 6 and up.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
My great niece (6) received this for her birthday and enjoyed all of the experiments. I believe it is something that really encourages family time as it does need some hands-on from an adult.

Great set of experiments for the budding scientist. Yes, you can replicate most of these experiments with things you find in the house, but this kit is a great way to build that interest in your child.

My daughter LOVES this kit. She wanted to do all the experiments in one day because she was having so much fun. The clean up is easy and it really teaches some simple scientific facts.

Best Engineering Toys

9 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

K'NEX Thrill Rides 3-in-1 Classic Amusement Park Building Set

Price:$55.00

Let the adventure begin! The only thing better than riding a theme park ride is to actually build one. Kids are in for a good time building this K'NEX Thrill Rides 3-in-1 Classic Amusement Park Building Set. Kids can design 3 different amusement park rides with real moving parts. The colorful collection comes with 744 connecting parts for hours of construction. Get ready for some "wheel" fun with this popular building kit! Recommended for kids ages 7 and up.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
My granddaughter loved this set. It was fun to build and the motion gave it a whole new dimension. Very happy with this purchase and would definitely buy for this seller again.

My daughter (7) had a really fun time working on this with her dad. It took just 2 short night, and it was done!! Only thing is that the design of the seating does not allow her small dolls to be on.....we use rubber band to hold them on it. She loves it. It's really big!

My 8-year-old daughter and I had a blast putting together the flying swings ride. It took us about 3 hours but we were taking our time and having fun with the project.

Best Gardening Toys

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INNOCHEER Kids Gardening Tools

Price:$32.00

Okay, so here's the dirt on these awesome INNOCHEER Kids Gardening Tools—this set is so much fun for blossoming, nature-loving fans! This 18-piece gardening collection comes with a plethora of accessories including a watering can, gloves, shovel, rake, smock, planting pots and much more. This STEM set plants seeds of knowledge to help kids learn how to grow healthy fruits, plants and veggies.

What Reviewers Are Saying:
My kids love these gardening tools. They've been using it since we got it. The materials are great and durable. The tools come with gloves, an apron and a little booklet and stickers. The hand rake, trowel can be easily cleaned by just rinsing it. Great for kids.

Great product! Tools look and feel very sturdy. My daughters really love them. Can’t wait for spring to have a lot of fun gardening.

This gardening tools set is awesome for kids, my daughters love to play with it, now they want to spend more time playing outside, which is great, also they love the colors. It is very nice quality, I definitely recommend it for kids as a great gift.

11 of 11 Image Credits: Amazon

The New Girl Code - The launch of a fashion app

Price:$17.00

This book tells the story of 15 year-old Charlie, who discovers her love for coding and most importantly, herself, as she enters Sophomore year of high school. Charlie, who lives in Brooklyn, feels awkward and uncertain about a things - about her future, friendships, lack of relationships, and even more so, about breaking barriers that once for boys only, the area of technology.