Educational Kids Toys You'll Want to Play With Too

Make your living room into its own children’s museum with this interactive, easy-to-set-up “wind lab” featuring scarves, a pinwheel, a fabric tube dancer, and more. While your kids can learn real lessons about wind and the way air works, they’ll also just enjoy watching things fall and float. ($49.95, KiwiCo)

The real MVP of any pretend play shop, cafe, grocery store…the possibilities are endless. There’s a satisfyingly realistic sound when you open the drawer, and while the coins are a little too small for kids under 3, you can have fun pushing buttons and calculating totals with or without the included play money. ($27.99, Amazon)

The perfect workbook that feels like a game, but also helps kids sharpen their attention. These Hidden Pictures books are coloring books, too, and you’ll probably enjoy them just as much as your little ones – in fact, we’re waiting for some grown-up Hidden Pictures books to catch up to the adult coloring book craze. ($19.99/4-pack, Amazon)

This cute, noodle-inspired game builds counting, color recognition, and fine motor skills. And while you can follow the rules, building noodle bowls according to shape, color, and ingredient lists, you can also just do your own thing and turn your living room into a pretend restaurant. ($15.99, Amazon)

Learning chess is a great educational opportunity in its own right, but this set takes it to another level, giving kids the opportunity to build geared storage drawers and even assemble their own game pieces. The set includes an instructional booklet teaching game play, and each piece even has etched visual reminders about all the ways it can move. ($59.95, KiwiCo)

We said easy to learn – but not necessarily easy to play, which is a good thing. This puzzle game comes with a big deck of brainteasers and patterned game pieces you can use to build each puzzle in the deck, either alone or in competition with other players. Since the puzzles range from easy to very difficult, this is a great option for game nights when the whole household wants to get involved. ($44, Amazon)

This screen-free toy helps kids learn basic coding skills via an adorable robot named Botley. Send Botley on adventures by coding his actions up to 80 steps in advance with the included remote. ($47.99, Amazon)

Perfect for kids just learning to read, or grown-ups who’ve been reading for decades, Bananagrams is basically a cross between Scrabble and a crossword puzzle…but endlessly reusable, and with no board to carry around. We love it for travel or just game night around the house. This bundle also includes a special version for the youngest readers, but you can buy the original game alone, too. ($27.99, Amazon)

Tucked away in its own travel-size case, this brainteaser game consists of 12 colorful pieces that can be used to solve 2D and 3D puzzles. There’s a 48-page puzzle book included, and don’t be fooled – while it looks pretty unassuming, some of the 200 puzzles are incredibly tricky. ($9.97, Amazon)

Designed for kids age 8 and up, this electrical building set offers 100 different circuitry projects, from turning on lights and alarms to sending a flying saucer into the air. If it’s a huge hit, there are also versions with 300, 500, and 750 projects available. ($29.99, Amazon)

From a company that’s been making butterfly kits for decades, this activity set lets your kids see the life cycle of caterpillars and Painted Lady butterflies up close. Buy the kit anytime, then use the live caterpillar voucher as soon as it’s reliably warm out (50-90 degrees) where you live. ($24.99, Amazon)

Teach your video game lover the basics of building 8-bit games with Python and JavaScript (and introduce them to existing classic games) with this cute little console. It’s even a smartwatch/pedometer, too. ($85, Uncommon Goods)

Use this box set to prep for an upcoming vacation, or – our favorite – just take an armchair trip to 12 national parks around the country with your favorite little naturalist. (You can also buy each book individually.) ($53.21, Amazon)