The Best Gifts for 9-Year-Olds

by admin

When looking for the best toys for 9 year olds, you want stuff that doesn’t look like that dreaded three-letter word, but that gets them off their devices and screens (good luck with that) while also pushing them to explore and develop their interests in music, art, and science. Standout 9-year-old gifts for both boys and girls encourage collaborative play, because by the time they enter third grade, they’ve formed strong and complex friendships.

If you have a 9-year-old, or know one, this isn’t news: Kids this age are capable of exhibiting shocking maturity, while also still having jaw-dropping meltdowns over travesties like splinters or lost Lego pieces. He or she is outspoken. Opinionated. Independent. And the best toys for 9-year-olds tap into all those strengths. Kids this age are dealing with greater academic challenges at school, becoming more self-reliant, and, have a stronger attention span, so more intricate board games or logic puzzles will hit the spot, as well as toys that let them get creative and express themselves. And don’t forget that gross things never lose their luster, so slime is a winner. Always.

Give your budding artist the ultimate 3D drawing experience with this pen. It's a great way for kids to work on their creative, design, planning, building, and spatial understanding skills. In other words, make tons of cool art. It's easy to use: Plug it in, insert the plastic, wait for it to heat up, and you're ready to go.

Speaking of paper, first kids learn to make their own paper by recycling used paper. And then, they use said paper to make glow planet mobiles, glow dinosaur fossils, or a table- top volcano. It even comes with glow paint. Ecology, plus art, equals a winning combo.

If you want to bring science and biology to life, get your kid this wonderful microscope. It has two sets of optical glass lenses providing 20x and 50x magnification, and it lets kids view specimens on slides, or look at 3D objects in detail. The set comes with 10 blank slides and 35 prepared slides (including algae, muscle cells, and plant cells). Plus, they get a petri dish, an eye dropper, a mini geode, brine shrimp eggs and a hatchery station. In other words, all the tools kids need to make their own slides so they can see what a drop of lotion or a fingernail looks like in intricate detail.

Once your kid outgrows the scooter, this is a great next step. It's a cruiser-style skateboard, so it's easier to balance on it, and the 62mm x 51mm poured urethane wheels and ABEC 5-speed bearings provide a smooth ride. The weight limit is 110 pounds, so it should last your kid a few years, if not longer.

Here's a guaranteed way to make STEM learning fun: Do it via these 20 science experiments. Kids learn to bend metal with water, create a vanishing test tube, and make a coin float. And of course, it comes with a requisite magic wand and white gloves.

Your kid is into photos, but isn't old enough for a phone? This HD camera is the answer. It's unbreakable, for starters. It has a built-in microphone and special effects, plus 20 animated backgrounds. Best of all, photos and movies can be edited on the camera itself, and need parental permission to be uploaded to an actual computer via USB. The tripod is included.

A starter guitar that looks Clapton-worthy, this one is engineered so kids can crank out tunes from day one. It's made of sustainably sourced basswood and maple plywood, looks dope as hell, and features steel strings that are easy for kid hands to work.

It's a dodgeball card game. Of course it is. The goal here is to collect matching sets of cards faster than your opponents while also not getting hit by three-foot tall inflatable burritos. Honestly, this thing is a blast.

Budding designers create their own custom bracelets, necklaces, rings and headbands using over 2600 beads, as well as waxed and elastic cords.

Instead of a remote-controlled car, upgrade with this glorious bird. It has a 200 foot range, and an obstacle-avoiding module that uses infrared sensors to avoid running into things. Outdoor fun made simple.

Look, you know your kid wants a tablet. So get him or her a tablet that takes a beating, and is loaded with kids' programming as well as stellar parental controls. The new Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablet gives kids access to content from National Geographic, Rabbids Coding, and LEGO, among many others. Best of all, kids get access to the digital store but with parental controls, so they can request apps, while parents approve purchases and downloads. This time, the browser comes with built-in controls as well. It has 12 hours of battery life.

Another standout kit from NatGeo, this one has kids learning about geology as they break open 15 geodes to unearth the minerals inside them. The kit includes safety goggles and display stands.

Creativity coupled with STEM learning: Kids learn all about the science behind light and reflection as they design their very own kaleidoscope. The set includes one cardboard kaleidoscope, plus glitter tape, sticky sheets, beads and sequins.

Customize a room any way they want, with a phrase or quote of their choosing. This USB-powered LED lightbox can be used in classic white mode, RGB color-changing mode, or any single color. It comes with more than 100 words and symbols.

Calling all rocket scientists: This kit is loaded with 100 parts, enough for kids to build eight rockets. They work with laser-cut centering rings, engine mount tubes, and parachutes and streamers to bring space exploration to life.

What a cool concept: Kids make their own stop-motion animation, using plasticine (which never dries out). The kit includes 73 punch-out movie props, scenes, and tools, as well as modeling clay. And there's even a phone stand for filming.

The Rubik's cube remains ever-popular, but it's something that you used to only be able to play on your own. Not anymore. With this app-enabled Rubik’s cube, kids solve it, solve it some more, level up, keep solving it, and connect with an entire community of fellow gamers. It has 60 hours of play time on a single charge.

Encourage self-expression with this endlessly creative journal kit. Kids customize a 70-sheet spiral journal with stickers, frames, and gems, and use they use the blank pages inside to record their ideas, thoughts, and solutions to global problems.

This logic game, designed by a Danish architect, teaches kids to think strategically and solve problems under pressure. Four players all go simultaneously, with the goals of stacking the spheres however each card dictates. Each player gets 15 spheres, pulls a card, and plays against the timer to complete the task. The person who gets it right, and thus gets the most points, wins.

So your kid is sick of unwanted siblings sneaking into his or her room? This is the answer. This felt letter board, which is available in more than 30 different bright or neutral colors, comes with more than 300 letters, numbers and special characters like hashtags. To spell out anything, like KEEP OUT.

By building their own DIY flashlight, kids learn how motion converts to energy through an electromagnetic coil. It's all a really fancy and nice way of saying that kids learn how to make light. And there's nothing cooler than that.

This little robot responds to your kid's voice, and he'll actually talk back. Kids learn to program him to do stuff, like tell them a joke or spin or dance. Plus, he'll record a 10 second message and play it back. And naturally, because farting never loses its humor value, this robot goes into gross mode and you can figure out the rest.

An immersive Lego-building experience for kids who love music: Put together the set, download the app, and see the character come to life within the music video, complete with unique dance moves and special effects. One of the coolest new Lego sets we've seen in a while.

Kids learn about the physics of air pressure and suction as they build a robotic bug that can climb smooth vertical surfaces. And they're not even realizing they're also learning about gears, electric circuits, and motors.

The truly fantastic thing about this kit is that it's compatible with Lego bricks, so the possibility for modular play is pretty much endless. Kids control the robot using the app, and are guided through building 15 different ones. Or they can freestyle and build their own, which makes for a great blend of creativity and robotics.

Young creators build a robot that walks on a tightrope, using a motorized gyroscope unit. In doing so, they learn about orientation and angular velocity, and the science behind gyroscopic forces. It sounds complex. But this set makes it accessible. And fun.

A plane kids can control from your phone! It connects to your phone, and has a range of up to 230 feet. Plus, the heavy duty carbon fiber body will survive serious turbulence, and the plane has a built-in launch assist and wind stabilizer.

Self-expression at its finest: Scribes write and illustrate their own full-color, 20 page story, complete with an 'about the author' page.

The folks who gave us the Roomba are now tackling STEM toys. This coding robot responds to touch, avoids obstacles, and be programmed to drive, turn, draw, erase, light-up, play music, and vertically climb whiteboards. It works with the corresponding app and levels up, as your kid becomes more comfortable with coding.

These walkie talkies don't look like toys. Which is a win-win for this age group. The walkies have 22 channels, and up to 23 hours of battery life. There's a built-in flashlight and the sound clarity is fantastic. Kids can use them when they're hiking, biking, or during sleepovers. Roger that.

With its 54 full-sized keys, this looks and feels like a regular piano. It has two built-in speakers, and a sheet music stand for a tablet; kids download the instructional app and follow along to learn how to play.

First, kids build the glorious unicorn bot, which is one helluva great STEM toy. Then, they program it using Blockly coding. Kids use the app to control the purple unicorn, and follow simple coding instructions.

One of the standouts at this year's Toy Fair, this toy is fun. And honestly, sometimes that's good enough. It's an all-surface vehicle that flips, rips, and roam all over your home, using any surface available. it's battery-operated, comes with 22 tread pieces, and its track can be extended using boxes or whatever else you have handy.

Not only is this set stunning. Which it is. It's also 3D and modular. Kids use components that click and connect to create the cities of their dreams. They can build skyscrapers or schools, stores or cityscapes. The colored floor tiles represent grass, roads, water, or sidewalks. The creations can be modified endlessly.

In a perfect blend of STEM and creativity, this set includes 85 translucent, colorful 3D shapes, enabling kids to build cars and houses and dogs and horses and dragons. The pieces click together, enabling younger kids to build the towers of their dreams.

Searching for hidden treasure (or money) never gets old. This kid-sized metal detector has adjustable sensitivity to help avoid false positives and has a detecting depth of up to 6 inches. It flashes an LED light when it detects metal.

This expandable charging controller fits most phones. It charges them while your kid plays Minecraft or Roblox or Animal Crossing. And because it charges any Qi wireless enabled phone, you won’t have to worry about cable and connections. Because let's face it: Just about every kid this age would rather be gaming.

Swatch watches are about as classic as you can get. But they're also cool. And they teach kids how to tell time, and help them with transitions. They're Swiss-made, shock-resistant, and machine-washable.

This handy slime kit includes three containers of washable Elmer's glue, plus three activators: Metallic, glow in the dark, and confetti.

The fantastic thing about Lego's Dots line is that kids have a finished, working product when they're done building. In this case, a box for jewelry, pencils, crafts, or anything else they want to keep away from prying eyes.

If you really, really don't want to get a dog, get this balloon dog instead. It's a a hell of a good time, with no cleanup. Kids can pop him and inflate him back up. When he's fed, he pees and farts. When he's tickled, he rolls around and asks for more.

Kids this age don't like to shower. So make cleanliness more appealing by installing a waterproof speaker. This one comes in a slew of colors, has Bluetooth streaming and five hours of playtime.

An essential kit for drawing, painting, coloring, or sketching, this one includes 24 colored pencils, 8 watercolor pencils, 18 oil pastels, 12 washable DuoTip markers, a sharpener, paint brush, and artist paper of course.

This wonderful science kit lets kids make eight of own bath bombs. They learn about chemistry and color-mixing, and the set includes everything they need, from beakers to measuring spoons.

With this monthly subscription service, kids get crafting sets that teach them about imaging, embroidery, and woodworking. For example, one month they can create an entire intricate garden out of felt.

Players have a singular challenge here: To match the abstract tiles to images they see on 1 of 60 cards. The shapes are similar to Tangram pieces and help kids with spatial relationships and critical thinking. The game gets increasingly harder, so it levels up with the players.

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