What are STEM or STEAM Toys?

STEM toys or STEAM toys as it’s more recently been named, are toys that help children develops their skills and understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. There’s a whole range of wonderful STEM toys available. Here’s our updated, favourite STEM resources (children’s books and toys).

Our current Favourite STEM Resources for Young Children

1. Magformers Sky Track–

Build a monorail track then test it out by sending your very own battery powered vehicle along it! See if you can get it to go upside down, up a lift and even do a barrel roll. This toy is so good we even dedicated our first ever VLOG to it (watch it on YouTube here– where you can really see why this toys is one of our favourites!) Or read our full review here.

P.s if you buy if via their website, use our discount code for 10% off ‘SENRES10′ 

2. Learning Resources Botley the Coding Robot Activity Set

We love this Robot! If you want to get your kids into coding (an important part of primary school learning now!) then this little guy is the way to do it! Read our full review here.

3. Strictly Bricks

If you’re after a great value construction toy for young kids, without small parts, that’s compatible to other brick toys..then this is fantastic! So open ended providing hours of fun building and creating.

Find out more and see some more pictures in our full review here.

4. Nuts And Bolts Wooden Building Contruction Kits
Such a brilliant idea for a toy, children can use large nuts and bolts and pieces of wood with holes in to build their own creations. We tried out the ‘work bench chair’ kit (see our review here) but they also do lots more now.

5. Cheatwell Games Build your own 3D Dinosaur T-Rex Model

If your child loves dinosaurs then this brilliant and easy kit for building your very own T-Rex Model might be worth a look at! Read our full review here.

6. Science Experiments at Home 

As a qualified science teacher, my kids are always wanting to do ‘experiments’ at home, but trying to find ones that we have the equipment for (and that are safe!) can be a minefield. We love this book by B Small Publishers, perfect to pop on the book shelf and dip into on a rainy day when you fancy inspiring your little scientists!

7. Easy Read Time Teacher Watch and Clock

We’ve been raving about these two Resources recently and with good reason, they make learning to tell the time so much easier and are popular with kids. A brilliant, practical present option. Find out more about what we thought here and how they help children learn to tell the time.

8. Orchard Toys Giraffes in Scarves Game

We love Orchard Toys resources, their puzzles and games are always to such a high standard and children love them. This one, is particularly great for developing early maths skills. It had my children in giggles- a fun, counting game that can be enjoyed by a whole range of ages.

9. Could a Shark do Gymnastics? (What if a)

We stumbled on this wonderful ‘what if a…’ book series recently and can’t get enough of them! These clever,non-fiction books are full of questions to get kids thinking and using their imaginations. They are also packed with interesting facts to learn.

10. Lego

What’s not to love about this classic toy? It’s brilliant for developing creativity, imagination, patience and a whole range of other skills!

11. STEM Activity Book 

This book is a fantastic resource for at school or at home, helping to inspire future scientists, engineers, mathematicians etc through exciting activities and interesting facts to read.

12. Curious Questions and Answers about Our Planet

For young children, full of questions about the world, this book is absolutely wonderful. It’s one of my children’s favourite books. It has beautiful illustrations and manages to cover everything from the rain forest to how mountains grow. It is a fantastic, gentle introduction for children to the effects we are having on our environment and what we should be doing about it.

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*Please note we were sent some products for review, but as always all thoughts and opinions are our own. This blog post includes some Amazon Affiliate Links- find out more on our About Me page.