

This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. All include a practical element, and promote the development of problem-solving and creativity – but, above all, they are lots of fun. We have included options on opposing ends of the price scale, and some for young children and others for those who are older. We tried a variety of Stem toys, from the simplest concepts to some that even challenged the adults. With Durrant’s advice fresh in our minds, we enlisted a group of eager young testers to help put together this roundup.

Many of the simplest toys, such as construction kits and marble runs, are hugely beneficial to kids, she says. Read more: Best educational sites to help with home schoolingĪnd Durrant points out that Stem toys do not always have to be super-advanced challenging games that will push your child’s abilities to the limit. “You can have the most amazing Stem resource in the world at home, but if your child doesn’t enjoy it, it’s not going to benefit them because it will inevitably get left in a box or shelf,” adds Durrant. When choosing Stem toys, Durrant says the most important question to ask is, “Will my child enjoy it?” Often, it is easy to become so focused on education that we can forget toys are, fundamentally, meant to be fun. There are also a vast number of toys available to support development in these areas. Stem learning is all around us: it is in baking a cake, counting how many cars there are and planting sunflower seeds in the garden. All really useful skills for their future learning and for the modern world.”
STEM TOYS 1 YEAR OLD HOW TO
“And that squabbling with a friend is helping them to develop social skills, to listen to others’ ideas, to get their own ideas heard and to learn how to work as a team. “They are learning it’s OK to make mistakes, to keep trying new ways of coding the robot to avoid the obstacles, to think critically about why it’s not working, to be creative about their ideas and to experiment. An onlooker might just think they are pressing buttons and accidentally knocking over obstacles while squabbling with their friend over which button to press next – but, in reality, they are learning so much more. “For example, a child could be playing with a coding robot toy with their friend, trying to instruct it to move around objects.

