This school year has been unusual. There’s options for distance learning, traditional classroom learning, and homeschooling. After Brittany’s bout with Covid-19 and frequent hospitalizations, the decision was made to homeschool Critter for Pre-K. One of the basic tenets I have always adhered too when I was teaching in a traditional setting or working with my own children, is the benefits of hands-on learning. We’ve found 4 new STEM Toys for Back To School fun.
STEM Toys for Back To School
- Tileblox Rainbow 20 Piece Set– We’re huge fans of Magformers their newest addition, Tilebox, was quickly added to our wish list. Developed for ages 3+, these colorful squares and triangles can be used to create “infinite” designs.
Why We Like Them: The pieces are designed with magnets on all corners, making them easy to connect. With 12 squares and 8 triangles included, kids can build 3-D designs, like boats, houses, or animals, or use them to create traditional flat patterns. When kids are finished with playtime, the blox stack easily and use minimal storage space.
Critter was fascinating with these blocks from the moment we removed them from the package. We quickly worked our way through the designs included in the idea booklet and began to create our own. She can spend up to an hour playing with them-no small feat for a 4-year-old with a limited attention span. What she doesn’t realize is that she is learning concepts of spatial development, hand/eye coordination, large motor skills, and basic design principles.
Tileblox are available in packages of 14, 20, 30, 42, 60, and 104 piece sets. Once you begin to build with these blocks, you’ll want more!
2. Magformers Basic Plus 14 Set– We’ve sung the praise of Magformers for years. They teach basic concepts, encourage creative play, and, best of all, keep Critter entertained. This 14 piece set is a great starter kit for beginning play. Included in the package are 4 Squares, 8 Triangles, and 2 Inner Circle Square shapes.
Designed for ages 3 plus, these colorful pieces are easy to grip and are made to create 3-D structures. You can use the included booklet for ideas. Some of the suggestions include rockets, a camera, a car, and a ship.
All of these Magformers are compatible with any other set available so you can expand your collection.
3. Magformers MiniBot Kitchen– This takes the basic Magformers concept of designing and building to an entirely new level. The 33-piece set comes with several basic Magformer pieces; 4 Triangles and 12 Squares, along with 2 magnetic support connectors. Then, there’s the additional accessories including 4 bricks, 2 windows, a Minibot Character, a Fence, 2 Clocks, a Refrigerator, an Oven, 2 Chairs, and a Table.
The instruction manual shows how to build 10 different kitchens. Once you’ve finished those, take a look at the pages of extra designs kids can create; basic models, like butterflies, shrimp, or fish, or 3-d designs.
Why We Like Them: All magformer pieces are designed to include magnets that never repel, meaning they’ll always stick together. All of the accessories are designed for small hands to grip, and since they work with all magformer sets, it easy to expand the collection. They promote concepts of fine motor skills, shape and color recognition, and problem-solving ability.
But, most of all, they’re fun and keep Critter entertained. She doesn’t realize she’s learning, which is always a plus since she’s decided “letters and numbers are boring.” These pieces allow us to practice counting, patterns, and other math concepts without her realize we’re “doing school.”
The Minibot sets come in several styles and can be mixed and matched.
4. Ooze Labs Colorful Crystal Lab– Science has never been more fun. The Colorful Crystal Lab features 11 experiments and most of the equipment needed to conduct them, including test tubes, a petri dish, and dye powders. A handy instruction book shares facts about crystals, along with tidbits called “What’s Happening,” that shares the science behind the experiments.
The instruction booklet is divided into three chapters; Crystals in Nature, Crystals and Chemistry, and Crystalline Jewels. Crystals in Nature gives instructions on how to make a Crystal Volcano, Sea Crystals, and a Stalactite. Crystals and Chemistry has four experiments that create different shapes of crystals. Crystalline Jewels allows kids to make 4 different colors of crystals; red, blue, purple, and rotating.
You will need a few additional items to prepare the experiments, but they are common household items, such as scissors, paper towels, table salt, and a pot with hot water. The lab is designed for ages 6 and up. We used the set with Critter, who is 4, and she was fascinated by the experiments, even sitting at the table for 20 minutes to see if crystals formed.
She needed constant supervision and we had to do a lot of the work, but she enjoyed adding ingredients, etc. She even sat through explanations of terms like “capillary action” and, later, told other members of the family about them.
The entire family is happy to have these toys to help with our back to school journey. What are your favorite STEM toys?
You Might Like These Posts
Sweet Suite’s Hot New Toys
Hot New Toys Galore: Sweet Suite
Educational Toys Your Child Will Enjoy
Like so many others, we are navigating schooling on our own and trying to find resources. Thanks for this- I see a few things my daughter would love!
These are really useful toys for kids, it helps the kids a lot. My kids done vitrual learning for first few weeks, and now they are going inperson.
We have had a set up magformers for a few years. My son loved them but over the years the pieces have been scattered. But we found enough to form a 3D cube he needed to make for a school project.
I like buying educational toys for my grandson. He is now doing virtual classroom learning (for this school year) and we are trying to find new ways to make his learning more fun. These toys are perfect! Thank you for the review and recommendation.
It’s so beautiful to watch kids playing! I know someone that will be happy to receive this stem toy!
Oh these toys look like a ton of fun! Kids have so many awesome things to do these days.
i love stem toys. i will have to forward this to a few friends of mine as well
Those toys will stimulate the brain for sure. Lots of putting things together with thought.
These are great toys.Thanks for the ideas for my nieces for the upcoming holidays.
These look like amazing toys. I love STEM toys for my daughters as well. They are some of the best. My kids have played with those Magformers before too and they love them.
This is so cool! I’m actually planning to buy one for my nephew because he love magnaformers.
These are so cool! I love seeing new STEM toys for kids to learn while playing. I know I had some magnetic blocks like the first set you featured, and my little niece loved playing with those for hours upon hours whenever she visited.
My kids love Magnaformers. So much fun, so much to do with them. 🙂
I love those magentic blocks they are so cool! Thanks for all the awesome educational toy ideas!
These sound like some awesome items to help kids with STEM while they are back at school, I love how they can be fun as well.
These are excellent picks. I love toys like this because they fit perfectly into the learning environment. That means you can actually use play to help teach lessons and ideas. That’s a huge win.
My kids love those magformers. I have a lot of fun playing with them also.