14 Learning and Educational Toys to Make Your Preschooler Happy This Christmas

HED: 15 Cool and Exciting Toys That Promote Learning for Your Preschooler

DEK: Your kids will love you more when you give these as Christmas presents!

By Kitty Elicay

HED1: 15 Toys to Give Your Preschooler to Encourage Imaginative, Interactive, and Active Play

HED2: 15 Toys that Boost the Imagination, Encourage Interaction, and Get Your Kids Moving

HED3: 15 Toys that Boost Your Preschooler’s Cognitive, Social and Physical Development

As your child grows older, he’ll be more decisive about the things that he wants, especially when it comes to toys. With Christmas coming up, you might be tempted to get him the latest toys and gadgets just to see a smile light up his face, but you should remind yourself why toys should be given in the first place—play encourages learning, and toys are meant to be the tools to achieve this. Before buying toys for your kids, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is it age-appropriate?

2. Is it safe?

3. Can it be used to further develop curiosity, creativity or imagination?

4. Can it be used as a tool to initiate interaction?

5. Would it be helpful to facilitate learning?

We’ve written about the three types of toys that can help boost your child’s development, and here are more choices that we think would be perfect presents this Christmas:

Toys that feed the imagination

1. Disney Pixar Cars 3 Smart Steer Lightning McQueen

Here’s a toy that utilizes the latest technology while still helping your kids to learn through play. The wristband control allows your child to “drive” the car without the need for an actual steering wheel, so he’ll enjoy imagining the car’s movements and discovering the effects through gestures of left, right, backwards, forwards, and stop. The vehicle also makes racing sounds for a more realistic play! P2,499.75, Richprime 

2. Viking Toys 25-Piece Train Set

Simple vehicles like cars, boats, airplanes, and trains are great for imaginative play. It improves hand dexterity, and teaches cause and effect, too! If you’re getting your child a train, might as well choose ones that have tracks like this, which can be rearranged so he also learns structural concepts. PX,XXX, Richprime

3. Megabloks First Builders Block Scooping Wagon

Blocks promote learning at any age. It strengthens spatial and motor skills, improves eye-hand coordination, and encourages your child to be creative at building different structures and figures. You can even teach your kids to be more responsible with their things and clean up after their mess—the wagon can pick up the blocks from the floor as your little one pulls our pushes it! P1,799.75, Kids Company

4. Disney Princess Royal Dreams Castle

Dollhouses allow your child to get creative and express emotions through role play. This dollhouse is over three feet tall with more than 15 accessories and four themed rooms that relate to a Disney princess—Snow White’s kitchen, Belle’s library and ballroom, Sleeping Beauty’s bedroom, and Ariel’s bathroom. Let their imagination guide them! PXXX, Toy Kingdom

5. Step 2 Busy Bake Shop Kitchen

A play kitchen is an even better toy for encouraging role play, as our little tikes love to pretend that they are already grown ups. This bake shop and kitchen encourages them to create their own menu and write it on the dry erase magnetic board, build a grocery list with the ingredient pieces, take orders via phone, and set the electric timer to get the baked goods out of the oven! Have them wear aprons and a chef’s hat for the complete experience! P6,999.75, Toys “R” Us 

6. Playgo Kitchen and Cutlery

If you want your kids to play with something simpler, you can’t go wrong with your ‘ol pots and pans. This set contains 46-pieces that will encourage your kids to widen their imagination—they can cook meals, host a tea party and serve drinks! P1,079.75, Toys “R” Us

7. Osmo Explorer Kit

Children 2 to 5 years old should have a maximum screen time of 1 hour a day, so if you’re planning to get your child the latest gadget, you should also think of how they can use it for learning. The Osmo Explorer kit is a game system that will expose your child to hands-on play. It comes with playing pieces (coding blocks, number and word tiles, etc) and creative tools, like a dry-erase board and markers, that when combined with their app-based games, will teach your children concepts like coding, logical thinking, special sense, problem solving, and eye-hand coordination, plus expand their reading and vocabulary! PX,XXX, XXX

Toys that encourage interaction

8. Kinetic Sands Ice Cream Treats

Building strong relationships with other people, like playmates and relatives, but most especially the parents, is crucial for child development. It’s important to buy toys that you can share with your child, such as models, which you can build together. This play set comes with tools to make “ice cream,” but since the squeezable sand is soft and stretchy, you can encourage your child to be creative and build anything that he can imagine. PXXX, XXX

9. Jenga

This classic block-stacking game never grows old, and you can have so much fun with your kids for hours—just imagine their excitement once the tower wobbles or crumbles down! It will hone your kid’s mental and problem-solving skills, and also help him learn more about cause and effect. P699.75, Toy Kingdom at Lazada

10. Play Doh Play N’ Store Table
Teach your kids to be creative and to clean up after play with this handy table. It comes with built-in half-molds, a variety of animal and shape cutters, tools for making ice cream treats (perfect for role play!), and 8 Play Doh cans that’s more than enough for your child and his playmates! After they’re done playing, they can easily drop the tools into the hinged doors for storage. P1,000 Toy Kingdom at Lazada

11. The Learning Journey My First Grab It Circus Match

Get your kids to learn more about patterns with this action-packed game. Launch the game discs in the dispenser and when a disc that matches an answer on the card they’re holding comes out, they should immediately grab it. The first one to fill up their board wins!

It’s a great family game that’s especially made for the young ones. P849.75, Ogalala

12. Disney Princess Playhouse Pop-Up Tent

Whether it’s a big one that you can camp in outdoors, or a smaller one that you can prop up in the living room and hang out together, tents are great for bonding activities and will encourage better parent-child interaction. P999.75, Toys “R” Us 

Toys that get them moving

13. Traxx Sweet Princess Bike

It’s important that your kids learn how to exercise at an early age—it keeps them healthy and encourages them to be more energetic. A bike is a great investment that will help with their physical development. Choose one that has a sturdy frame with training wheels to help your kids get started on developing their balance and coordination. Don’t forget to buy a helmet, too! P3,599.75, Toys “R”Us

14. Crayola Chalk Grab ‘N Go Games Bean Bag Toss

Get your kids moving outdoors with this kit designed for active play. It comes with 4 sticks of washable sidewalk chalk, instructions and game ideas, but it’s also great if you can encourage the kids to invent their own games (or just teach them how to play piko!) P499.75, Ogalala

15. Super Miracle Bubbles Tiny Ever Bubble Guns

You don’t have to spend a lot just to get your kids running—no matter what age, children will always be invested in bubbles. Make it a game for them and have them chase the bubbles and make it burst before they hit the ground. You can even help them mix their own bubble water!

4. Justice League Hero-Ready Sets

The movie’s just come out, and I’m sure that your kids would love pretending to be superheroes (we especially think Wonder Woman is an awesome role model for young girls!).