It’s back to school across the country. Even my three-year-old is gearing up for another big year in her preschool class! After she decided our vacuum cleaner was her best friend, we decided she needed more socialization than our weekly playdates were providing. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she loves learning, which is something we want to facilitate at home too! Luckily, there are a lot of great ways we can help her learn at home while having fun at the same time. Check out some of these educational toys for preschoolers which are great for back to school learning.

Samples were received to facilitate this post, but all opinions are our own.

Back To School Educational Toys For Preschoolers

1. Learn To Read with Bob Books and VersaTiles Beginning Readers Set is a hands-on approach to learning reading. My daughter has learned a few letters and is beginning to spell, but she wants to learn to read, so she was excited to see the Learn to Read set arrive at our house. The set contains 12 Bob books that teach letter sounds through stories and a Versatiles workbook that allows kids to practice what they’re learning through the Bob books.

The combination of reading practice and hands-on learning helps the kids get the most out of their learning time. Even better, the answer case for the workbook allows kids to check their own answers. If your child is fiercely independent with an “I Do It Myself” attitude like mine is, they’ll really appreciate the chance to self-correct instead of having someone else correct them.

2. My First Write-On Wipe-Off Board Book ABCs and 123s and My First Write-On Wipe-Off Hidden Pictures – We travel a lot. In fact, my child, Critter, started traveling when she was only three weeks old. That means we’ve gotten pretty good at knowing what we need for trips. Something we never leave home without is activities for the car or plane. We usually let Critter pick out her own coloring or activity book for the road, and she almost always chooses a learning book. When we discovered Highlights Write On Wipe Off Board Books we knew they would make a great addition to our on-the-go activity stash!

Each board book comes with a small dry erase markers that wipe off when you’re done with the page, letting you use the same book over and over! These books aren’t just letter and number tracing (although Critter loves that!). They include matching games, puzzles, and simple Hidden Pictures scenes to keep learning novel and fun. We love the bright illustrations, sturdy construction, and the fact that there’s a place to store the marker on the board book so it doesn’t immediately get lost.

We also love the My First Hidden Pictures board book which contains a lot of fun preschool-level activities like Hidden Pictures puzzles, connect the dots, drawing activities, and counting activities. It’s perfect alone or as part of your child’s activity book sets along with the My First ABC and My First 123 books.

3. Hot Dots Jr. Pete The Cat I Love Preschool Set– Critter is a big fan of Pete the Cat. In fact, we recently spent our Saturday morning driving an hour to a local town where we attended the second annual Pete the Cat festival. Although we didn’t get to meet the author (tickets for that went fast!) we had a lot of fun. That’s why, when we received the Educational Insights Hot Dots Jr. Pete the Cat We Love Preschool Set, it was love at first sight.

This set comes with two interactive spiral-bound notebooks full of activities, and a Hot Dots Jr. Pete the Cat– Your Groovin’ Schoolin’ Friend pen. How does it work? Your child reads (or you read to your child) the questions, and your child uses the Pete the Cat Hot Dots Jr. pen to the correct answer. It immediately tells them if they got the answer right or not! The Hot Dots Jr. Pete the Cat We Love Preschool set lets kids learn and develop skills necessary for future school success in a fun, laid-back way.

The immediate feedback builds confidence, and the included reward stickers and award certificate give kids motivation and validation they need to feel successful and competent! Critter has been using the Hot Dots set nonstop since we got it, and I can tell she’s already learning from it This set does require two AAA batteries, which are not included. We had to run to the store to get some because we weren’t originally aware of this and only had AA batteries on hand.

4. Manners Mouse – There are a lot of mice in my daughter’s life. Mickey, Missile, and now, Manners Mouse! We received the first Manners Mouse book, which focuses on developing great manners at home, along with a Manners Mouse plush toy. Manners Mouse Making Manners Matter: Home Edition teaches manners that can be applied at home, and the included Manners Mouse toy rejoices when children show great manners.

When kids are having a good day with their manners, the Manners Mouse doll is happy and wants to play with the kids. When the kids aren’t behaving, Manners Mouse takes a break from being played with until everyone is being kind and well-mannered again.

Manners Mouse was created by Steve and Kathy Prahcharov, who have raised three children and created a charter school in Scottsdale, Arizona. Manners are an important part of the curriculum at the Prahcharovs’ school, and they wanted to find a fun way to teach them that would inspire and motivate their students They created Manners Mouse after working with thousands of students. The second edition of Manners Mouse, focusing on having great manners at school, will be available soon.

5. PBS Kids Playtime Pad 7 HD Kid Safe Tablet – “Mommy, can I have your iPad? I want to play Daniel Tiger.” It’s a question that’s asked on almost every road trip, especially when we hit Atlanta traffic and move two miles in an hour. Normally, I don’t mind, but I also use my iPad for work, and I do some of my best writing in Atlanta traffic jams. I also don’t like that sometimes apps accidentally get opened or deleted on my iPad while Critter is trying to solve a puzzle for Daniel Tiger. What’s a family to do?

Enter the PBS Kids Playtime Pad. This is a kid-safe tablet created by PBS Kids. It runs on Android 8.1 and has a 7″ HD touchscreen, surrounded by a pretty indestructibly designed case with soft grips, perfect for little hands. The Playtime Pad is easy to set up, and the parental controls are a great way to ensure that your child doesn’t get into anything they shouldn’t. The one downside of this product is its speed. It loads slowly. We did use the tablet on two recent flights and a road trip, though, and it saved the day.

It connects to WiFi, has a camera, and offers free live TV from PBS while connected to WiFi. You can download apps to use offline, including our favorite, the PBS Kids game app. It’s easy for my three-year-old to navigate this tablet on her own, which is more than can be said for other tablets she’s tried before. The battery life is also commendable. The PBS Playtime Pad retails for $79.00 and can be purchased at your local Walmart or online.

6.  Edushape Color Window Blocks – Tech is fun, but we spend a lot of time unplugged. One of our favorite screen-free activities is building things out of blocks. We have plastic blocks, wooden blocks, and now, EduShape Color Window Blocks.

These chunky, brightly colored blocks are perfect for little hands to grip. They’re easy to stack, and the windows in the middle of each block are perfect for all your imaginary window needs, like building castles for princesses, one of Critter’s favorite activities with the blocks. Each package comes with twelve blocks, which is perfect for building small buildings and little hands. I like that the blocks are soft, which is perfect for beginning builders. I don’t know how many times one of us has sustained a minor injury from a wooden block set– that’s not a problem with the Color Window Blocks!

7. Edushape Texture Memory Game – Memory games and matching games have been a favorite in our house for a long time. When Critter first learned her colors, she once picked up every green thing in the house and put it in a pile in our living room. The EduShape Texture Memory Game was an instant hit in our household.

We love learning that engages the senses, so the idea of matching textures instead of shapes or patterns immediately caught our eye! Children learn through play, and part of the play is touching and exploring the world around them. This set has a board with circles filled with fabrics or materials of different textures, and small circle pegs with the same textures on them. It seems too easy, at first, but several of the textures look similar yet feel very different, making this game more challenging than you’d expect.

This game encourages memory skills as kids learn the textures on the pieces and game board through touch, then match them time and time again. With ten pieces, the game is large enough to be challenging, but small enough to not be overwhelming.

8. My First Workout– Although Critter loves to run and play, getting other kids (like my little brother) interested in fitness can be a challenge.  CEO Michelle Miller, a certified personal trainer, believes exercise is an activity parents and kids can enjoy together. The My First Workout Starter Collection is divided into ages 5-7, and ages 8-10. We chose the 5-7 box.  It arrived complete with an aerobic step, an exercise mat, a 4-pound easy sand grip ball,  a jump rope, 4 free weights (two each of 2 and 3-pound weights), and a wristband.  Also included is the first exercise program, along with instructions on how to unlock the first workout video.  Additional exercise videos are available for separate purchase.

Because the workouts are a little intense for Critter, who is three, we’ve adapted them. She loves doing her yoga poses on the mat and adapted versions from Exercise 1. My mom, who hates to exercise, was intrigued and is helping Critter with her workout. I call that a win for the entire family!

Learning can be fun, especially if you have the right tools! This back to school season, which of these games or activities would you pick for your child?