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Elizabeth Mitchell Kadar Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
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The best toys for 6-year-olds hold your child’s interest longer than expected—and are maybe just durable and intriguing enough to be passed down to younger siblings. Open-ended toys are best at this age, meaning there’s more than one way to play with them, and of course, they should be fun and developmentally appropriate. Bonus points if they help burn big 6-year-old kid energy.
“It’s an exciting time being 6, as typically a child of this age is showing a real interest and curiosity about the world around them,” notes Dr. Amanda Gummer, a psychologist, parenting and play expert and founder of The Good Play Guide. “They have an expanding vocabulary and are keen to explore their environment, ask questions and are showing improved memory and problem solving. Key milestones can include fine and gross motor skills development in respect to writing, drawing and playing sport,” she says. So toys that help develop these skills further, are fun and engage your little one are a must have.
While it’s certainly tempting to buy what’s trending, Gummer recommends taking a step back from the most popular toy. “Have a look around if you want a toy that isn’t going to bore them after an hour of play,” she advises. “Thinking of toys children will play with for months or even years to come, like Monopoly or Playmobil, means they are less likely to gather dust or sit on shelves untouched.”
From building sets and crafting kits to Lego, bounce houses and bikes, we’ve rounded up the best gifts and toys for 6-year-olds that are fun to play with and might just encourage growth and development—or at least hours of play.
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The Best Toys For 6-Year-Olds At A Glance
- Best Educational Toys For 6-Year-Olds: Insect Lore Butterfly Growing Kit, Mindware Pattern Play, Learning Resources STEM Explorers Pixel Art Challenge
- Best Pretend Toys For 6-Year-Olds: Little Live Pets My Puppy’s Home, Magna-Tiles Dino World, Wild Republic Great White Shark
- Best Arts And Crafts Toys For 6-Year-Olds: Make It Super DIY Bead Kit, Ooly Watercolor Set, Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Stamp 'N Top Pizza Oven
- Best Active Toys For 6-Year-Olds: Smol Bounce House, Droyd Romper Electric Tricycle, Nugget Play Couch
- Best Building Toys For 6-Year-Olds: Lego Classic Creative Transparent Bricks Set, PicassoTiles Marble Run, Clixo Rainbow
- Best Games For 6-Year-Olds: Hasbro Monopoly Junior Board Game, Hasbro Giant Connect 4, Mudpuppy Space Bingo Magnetic Board Game
- Best Tech Toys For 6-Year-Olds: Bitzee, Nintendo Switch OLED, Yoto Player, Furby
Best Educational Toys For 6-Year-Olds
Let Their Imaginations Run Wild
Terra By Battat Jungle World Animal Playset
My 6-year-old spends a ton of time engrossed in imaginary play scenarios with all different types of animals, from dogs and dinosaurs to zebras, giraffes and lions. This big bucket of jungle animals is sure to become a mainstay in your 6-year-old’s creative play too. There are 60 wild animals in total, including 24 different types, as well as accessories like fences and trees, so they can set up a zoo, explore the jungle or add them to play dough for the ultimate sensory experience.
As a mom, I especially love how realistic the animals in this set look. They’re awesome for working on those all-important first grade counting and math skills as well.
A Fascinating Butterfly Garden Kit
This highly-rated Butterfly Growing Kit is one of Gummer’s favorite toys for 6-year-olds. Kids learn all about the process of metamorphosis firsthand, as they watch cute little caterpillars become butterflies right before their eyes. It comes with a prepaid voucher for five baby caterpillars and is best done when daytime temperatures are between 55 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The clear viewing panel ensures your child or children can easily see what’s happening up close and personal—and trust us, they’ll want to check often, as will you.
The Options Are Endless With This Pattern Play Puzzle
We’ve had this bestselling, brightly-colored block puzzle in our house for years, and it still gets played with regularly and is in excellent condition. Unlike traditional puzzles, there are so many different ways to piece it together so kids never get bored after completing it the first time. They can create their own unique designs or use the 40 pattern cards included to replicate ready-made ones, which can prove to be challenging.
It’s also a sneaky and fun way to help introduce math concepts like matching, sorting, symmetry, fractions and congruence. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing with it once the kids have moved on.
Create Pixel Art And Learn To Code With This STEM Kit
Learning Resources STEM Explorers Pixel Art Challenge
If your 6-year-old loves art and math or is interested in learning how to code like my kid, this screen-free STEM Explorer Pixel Art Challenge is the perfect interactive toy to teach them and hold their interest. They’ll work on problem-solving skills and critical thinking as they solve math problems and code their way through all the various fun challenges.
“Kids create Pixel Art while learning some basic math and coding skills,” explains one reviewer. “The pictures are increasingly harder to create. The first few are designed for the kid to copy what they see in the booklet. Then they move on to a ‘color by number’ type activity. Next, there are some basic graphing activities to follow in order to produce a picture. The last activities use beginning coding skills to create pixel art.”
An Earth Science Kit For Curious Kids
National Geographic Earth Science Kit
Kids are served an excellent introduction to earth science with this top-rated science kit, where they’ll get their hands dirty conducting more than 15 exciting experiments. From building their very own erupting volcano to growing crystals and completing two geologic digs, there is no shortage of hands-on learning to be had here. Plus, it comes with everything kids need (aside from a few common household items) to complete the experiments, as well as clear instructions and a learning guide to answer all their burning questions as they go.
A Terrarium Kit Based Off Their Fave Book
Creativity For Kids The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Ready To Grow Garden
Bring their favorite book to life and inspire “hungry” minds with this adorable apple-shaped terrarium kit, which makes growing a miniature garden all the more fun. The quick-grow chia seeds sprout in as little as 3 to 5 days, so your child won’t have to wait long to see results, though it is a good lesson in patience. The kit includes stickers to decorate it, a hungry caterpillar figurine to go inside and enough seeds to grow their garden multiple times.
A Super Gross Science Kit
Fat Brain Toys Disgusting Science Kit
If there’s one way to get a 6-year-old’s attention, it’s to talk about gross stuff. They’ll get a kick out of this Disgusting Science Kit, which is chocked full of gnarly, nasty experiments. Kids can create their own joke soap, fart putty, burping slime, super smelly gasses and more, all while learning the chemistry, physics and science behind it.
Best Pretend Toys For 6-Year-Olds
Their Very Own Puppy
Little Live Pets My Puppy's Home
This puppy’s big eyes and cute little puppy noises and whimpers are hard to resist. Kids are tasked with building the puppy’s home (it snaps together, though they can use the little hammer too) out of the box, and if they follow the directions just right, when they place the final nail by tacking up the new puppy’s nameplate, their pet is revealed as a surprise when they open the door. Kids can play with the sweet pooch and take care of it by filling up its water bowl and more. The stuffie responds with noises and other reactions, and there are a few more surprises baked into this pretend toy.
A Realistic Stuffed Animal
Wild Republic Great White Shark (20-Inch)
At age 6, kids often get extra interested in animals and the natural world. The stuffed animals from Wild Republic come in both the cuddly variety and the more realistic types like this 20-inch great white shark. If you have an ocean or shark obsessor on your hands, this stuffed animal toy is sure to thrill and protect them—as well as factor into upcoming pretend play. This stuffie is the right size for snuggling at bedtime, but you could also opt to splurge on the brand’s jumbo size great white shark for an extra special gift.
For Prehistoric Play
Magna-Tiles Dino World
This 50-piece magnetic Magna-Tiles set includes six dinosaur figures for plenty of prehistoric play. The magnetic trees help set the scene. It also includes 16 of the brand’s XL tiles, as well as additional squares and triangles. Add this dino kit to your current Magna-Tiles stash for extra large builds.
A Popular Magnetic Panel Set Perfect For Playdates
This Superspace set is like Magna-Tiles, but supersized so kids can bring all their big ideas to life. It comes with 22 oversize magnetic panels in five shapes, including squares, triangles and windows, to ignite their imaginations. Children can construct whatever their imaginations inspire from a pirate ship to a lemonade stand. Once the fun is over, these easy-to-clean and eco-friendly panels stack away compactly until the next time.
Playing With Their Food Is Encouraged With This Popular Set
While many 6-year-olds have graduated from the play kitchen stage, MGA Miniverse’s mini ingredients and kitchen accessories set is sure to excite them. This toy combine kids (and adults) love of crafting and collecting with food for a fun DIY experience that results in super realistic, miniature food replicas of kid favorites, like ice cream sundaes and pizza. “My 6-year-old loves them,” writes one Amazon reviewer. “They make good-sized accessories for her Barbies.” Kids follow the included recipes to prep their creations, then set them in any UV light until hardened and done.
A Compact Polly Pocket For On-The-Go Play
Polly Pocket Compact Playset
Polly Pocket is adored by kids and parents alike, many of who grew up playing with the popular pocket-sized dolls themselves. This compact set is perfect for your mini sports enthusiast, with a fun soccer ball design on the outside and sunglasses with shakeable glitter you won’t have to worry about getting everywhere.
It includes two micro dolls ready to play soccer, shoot basketball hoops, climb the rock wall, swim laps in the fold-down pool and much more. There are 12 tiny accessories in all. Store everything inside the case, and kids can opt to wear it as a wristlet when they’re not playing.
Kids Can Create Their Own Beasts
Many kids at this age are all about action figures, science experiments and saving the world—so a hot holiday toy that combines it all is a home run. With this interactive play set, kids create and unleash their very own electronic beast by carefully adding ingredients to a cool beaker-like chamber. As each ingredient is added, lights, sounds and a real bio mist will come from the chamber to eventually reveal one of two sharks (it’s a surprise) once the green goo is drained. The beast itself can be used for all the pretend play games and is packed with its own lights, sounds and epic super powers. The best part is that the experiment can be repeated again and again.
Best Arts & Craft Toys For 6-Year-Olds
A DIY Bead Kit For Your Mini Fashionista
Super Smalls Make It Super DIY Bead Kit
This super stylish bead kit is sure to delight the budding jewelry designer in your home. My almost 5-year-old daughter is obsessed with this brand, and I can personally attest to how cute and quality the beads are. The reusable box doubles as a great jewelry or hair tie organizer once they’re done making all the necklaces and friendship bracelets. As a mom, I personally love gifting DIY jewelry kits like this, as they’re crowd-pleasing, creative and consumable, not just another plastic toy to clutter up the playroom.
A Gift-Ready Watercolor Set
Ooly makes high-quality art supplies for little artists, including this watercolor set. Your creative kids might appreciate the unique shimmering colors in this watercolor palette. The travel-friendly case includes 12 colors, which give off a metallic or pearlescent sheen. The kit is ready for wrapping and includes a 15-page Chroma watercolor sketchbook and paintbrush, so they can start painting straight away.
Endless Creative Possibilities With Play-Doh
Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Stamp 'N Top Pizza Oven
Present them with a few new tubs of Play-Doh and many kids get to work immediately: building, shaping, molding and imagining new creations. Gifting a Play-Doh Kitchen Creations like this on-trend pizza oven amps up the creative play that’s sure to go on for an hour or more. This set includes the playset with cheese presser, pizza paddle, plate, roller, pizza cutter and five cans of new dough. They’ll be sharpening their fine motor skills, not to mention stretching their imaginations and enjoying sensory play.
This Sparkly Sticker Activity Set
As a mom of a 5- and 6-year-old, arts and crafts can be quite stressful, not to mention the mess. This fun foil sticker-making activity set is a great quiet activity that doesn’t require scissors, paint or parental-supervision. Each themed book, from princesses and unicorns to dinosaurs and outer space, comes with everything kids need to create their own sparkly foil-embossed stickers. Kids place the stickers on the 10 included picture canvasses, each featuring a different scene, to create their own unique works of art.
An All Natural Play Makeup Kit
Klee Kids Unicorn Cloud Fairy Deluxe Play Makeup Kit
If they’re always getting into your makeup, kids are over the moon to have their own. This cute Unicorn Cloud Fairy-themed makeup kit comes with two eye shadow compacts, blush, pink lip shimmer, a roll-on natural fragrance and water-based, peel-able nail polish for the ultimate pampering. There’s also a a powder brush and applicator included. Everything is non-toxic, gentle and free of parabens, talc and synthetic fragrances so you can feel better about letting them experiment with makeup.
A DIY Comic Book Set
I came across this cool comic book kit in my local Target store and immediately picked it up as a gift for a 6-year-old child’s birthday party my son was attending. Superheroes are such a universally-loved theme at this age—and he loved it.
It comes with everything they need to create three original 32-page comic books (two soft covers and one hardcover), including markers, stickers, wood stamps, stamp pads and stencils. The price is great too, especially for a kids’ birthday party.
The Softest Pajamas They Can Color Themselves
Clothing may not be the most exciting gift for some 6-year-olds, but buttery-soft pajamas in a favorite theme that they get to color is almost guaranteed to be a win. There’s a birthday set to celebrate them, a dinosaur jammie for the T-rex obsessed and mermaids, rainbows and unicorns. My kids each received a set over a month ago and are still working on them, which is awesome because it’s already provided hours of entertainment with plenty more to come. As a mom, it’s also fun to jump in and help them when they let me. To color, we love to use Crayola Fabric Markers.
Wow Them With Glow-In-The-Dark Art
When they’re stuck in the backseat at night on a long car ride, this mess-free glow-in-the-dark art studio might just keep them occupied. Kids can create glowing pictures using the battery-operated light wand. After a short time, each drawing magically disappears, so they can create something new again and again.
Best Building Toys For 6-Year-Olds
A Pretty Pastel Building Set Worth The Investment
Connetix Tiles 120 Piece Pastel Creative Pack
If your kid is already a big fan of Magna-Tiles, they might enjoy this pretty pastel-colored Connetix set, which features 120 magnetic tiles in a variety of geometric shapes, with door and window pieces for constructing even more realistic buildings and houses. Kids can build everything from rocket ships, boats and princess castles to garages for their cars—whatever they imagine.
One reviewer calls these blocks: “solid and high quality,” while others point out how strong they are, making them especially great for building tall things.
A Classic Lego Set For Your Little Creator
Lego Classic Creative Transparent Bricks Building Set
Claire Goss, senior manager in the education department at Bright Horizons, recommends parents spend their money on toys that can do more than one thing and can be played with in multiple ways, like Lego. “Lego bricks can be used to build a skyscraper city or they can become a ramp for toy cars to race down,” she says. This classic set is a great building introduction, with 500 colorful pieces, including bricks, eyes and wheels, to get their own wheels turning.
Kids can construct a magical unicorn, robot, wizard, lion and four more animals right out of the box. Plus, there are plenty of extra pieces included to encourage their creativity and allow them to design and build whatever they can dream up.
A Marble Run They'll Have A Ball With
Picassotiles Marble Run (120 Piece)
A marble run is one of those toys my 6-year-old is always pulling out of the closet to play with, and this 120-piece set from magnetic block company, Picassotiles, is even more exciting thanks to its various tunnels, loops, twists and turns. “A marble run promotes STEM thinking, because your child can engineer a variety of unique designs,” notes Goss. This one is rated for ages 3 and up, so your 6-year-old can likely put together a variety of exciting mazes.
A Colorful Set of Flexible Building Pieces
These flexible builders let kids flex their creativity, building all sorts of shapes, creatures and more. The magnetic tabs bend and connect every which way, meaning Clixo sets are the definition of open-ended play. They’re also lightweight, portable and easy to clean. Each set comes in a gift-worthy little box.
Kids Can Build 3D Pixel Art With These Bright Bricks
Fine-tune those fine motor skills and encourage creativity with this giant bucket of 1,500 small and colorful interlocking bricks. Kids can slide and stack to build in every direction (horizontally, vertically and diagonally), creating anything they can imagine in 2D or 3D. They can also get inspired by countless pixel art templates available online and in the brand’s app.
Best Active Toys For 6-Year-Olds
A Modern Bounce House That Looks Good In The Backyard
SMOL Bounce House
This stylish blue bounce house will easily make you the coolest parent on the block. It’s the perfect toy to bust out whenever they’re bored or for entertaining at play dates and parties. Parents will especially appreciate the aesthetically pleasing design that makes it anything but an eyesore when set up.
Aside from being super fun and excellent exercise, bounce houses help kids work on a variety of skills, including gross and fine motor, balance, flexibility, coordination and social skills if they jump with siblings or friends.
A Stylish, Lightweight Bike They'll Really Love Riding
My 6-year-old has been on a Woom bike ever since he was a toddler, starting with the balance bike and graduating to the stylish Woom 4, which we often have to remind him shouldn’t be ridden in the house. While an investment, this bike is worth every penny, thanks to the ultra-lightweight design that makes mastering it and going anywhere a breeze for kids. With seven speeds and an easy-to-operate twist gear shifter, kids can go further, faster and explore new sights, whether they’re cruising around the neighborhood or beginning to bike to school alongside parents. Independently operated front and rear V-brakes provide parents plenty of peace of mind as 6-year-olds ride down hills and venture off-road.
A Unique, Stand-Up Swing
Swurfer Stand Up Tree Swing
My 6-year-old just figured out how to propel himself on a traditional swing, and I’m pretty sure he’d go bananas if we had the space to hang this popular skateboard-like swing in our backyard. Designed for adults and kids age 6 and up alike, it features a unique, curved shape made to provide more power, stability and a wider range of motion as you swing. Sit down for a nice, relaxing ride or stand up and skate or surf the air—literally.
A Budget-Friendly Nerf Gun To Get Them Outside
Nerf gun parties are all the rage in first grade right now amongst my son’s friend group. For an easy, budget friendly gift that definitely won’t disappoint (especially a 6-year-old boy), The Nerf Disruptor Elite Blaster is my go-to. It has a rotating drum to hold and unleash six darts one after the other. I personally recommend purchasing two so your recipient will immediately have someone to run around and play with. It’s by far one of my son’s favorite toys to break out when he has a friend over.
An Electric Trike For Tiny Thrill Seekers
Droyd Romper Electric Tricycle
If they’ve been begging you to buy an e-bike, like my 6-year-old who sees them everywhere in our little beach town, this cool electric tricycle is the perfect compromise for putting the pedal to the metal without sacrificing safety. It can go up to 6 mph, which is about the same as a hoverboard, but parental speed controls allow you to set the ideal max speed for your kid. It starts off slow and the charge lasts a surprisingly long time.
My son loves riding this to the park and around the neighborhood. It always finds its way into our house too despite my protests. The motion-activated LED lights on the front wheel are especially fun for kiddos. And good news for parents: assembly is quite easy.
Outdoor Fun With A Physics Lesson
Stomp Rocket Original Dueling Rocket Launcher
While we see exciting new toys released every year, some classics remain a favorite for a reason. Stomp Rockets have been around for 30 years without changing too much. These original rockets require kids to jump with all their might for a good launch—and the two-pack makes for a perfect competition. If you’re looking for a new variation on this classic favorite, the brand also offers stunt planes and more.
A Basic Balance Board With Loads Of Benefits
Balance boards are an excellent open-ended toy that help stimulate the vestibular and proprioceptivesystem, encourage kids to get creative and improve gross motor skills and posture, believe it or not. We have two in our home, and our kids love to rock back and forth in them while they relax and watch a show. They always make it into their pretend play games too, whether as a balance beam, a cradle for their stuffed animals and dolls or part of an impromptu obstacle course. Of course, they also enjoy using them as actual balance boards—as do plenty of visiting adults and kids.
A Modular Kids' Couch They'll Play With Every Day
MOST POPULAR
This cult-fave, modular foam kids’ couch has nearly 30,000 reviews and a wildly impressive 4.9-average star rating. It’s especially beloved for its versatility, serving as a comfy kid-sized spot for 6-year-olds to relax and read books or watch TV one minute, and a fort, launch pad, indoor playground and giant stepping stool the next. The play possibilities are endless. Choose from among 19 colors and three machine washable fabrics to find one that fits in perfectly with your home décor—or their’s.
A Colorful Stacking Set For Unlimited Open-Ended Play
This beautiful and bestselling German stacking stones set is made to engage the brain, encourage creativity and get kids up and active. It comes with six stones (that can support hundreds of pounds) in every color of the rainbow for all the building possibilities. It’s perfect for impromptu games of “The Floor Is Lava,” transforming the living room into the ultimate American Ninja Warrior course, constructing a bridge for pretend play and so much more.
Best Games For 6-Year-Olds
A Classic Board Game That's Character Building—And Fun!
Hasbro Monopoly Junior Board Game
Playing board games like Monopoly together is not only a great way to bond as a family but to teach your child important life, math, money and emotional regulation skills, something 6-year-olds might struggle with at this age. Through play, they’ll learn about finances, business and money management, as well as how to strategize, do math, negotiate and cope with the frustration of not always winning.
The Monopoly Junior version is the perfect place for 6-year-olds to start, with simplified rules and kid-friendly properties like zoos, video game arcades and movie theaters for kids to own.
A Giant Connect 4 That's A Big Hit On Game Nights
Our favorite staycation spot has a jumbo-sized Connect 4 set up in the grassy area by the pool, and both my 6-year-old and 4-year-old, plus every other kid there, are always gravitating toward it to play. Whether you’re hosting a playdate, party or just want to enjoy more family nights outside, this backyard-friendly Giant Connect 4 from Hasbro is sure to be a winner. It features an all-weather frame and is made of durable materials to withstand the elements.
Travel-Friendly Magnetic Bingo
Mudpuppy Space Bingo Magnetic Board Game
Bingo is one of those games that never gets old, no matter how old you are. This space-themed set is perfect for aspiring astronauts and tiny enough for travel. With room for two to play, it folds up in one piece for easy transport in your child’s backpack and comes with a spinner, magnetic game pieces and instructions for playing.
A Bubble-Popping Sensory Game Perfect For Travel
This addicting game takes the basic pop fidget toy to the next level with multi-colored lights. Kids are tasked with popping all the lit bubbles as fast as they can before time’s up. Push the big button on the back to reset and play the next level. It makes for a great stocking stuffer and is great to pack in their backpack to kill time at the airport, on long car rides or when you go out to eat. “Great value for a game that kept our kids busy for hours,” writes one Amazon reviewer.
An Award-Winning Learn-To-Read Game They'll Want To Play
Kangaroo Cravings Learn-to-Read Board Game
Ditch the flashcards and make learning to read and recognizing sight words a lot more fun with this silly, multi-sensory board game kids want to play again and again. “My kiddos love this game,” raves one Amazon reviewer. “It's so much, they don't even realize they are learning.” Another parent says her daughter “thinks the game is hilarious and loves playing. She can’t wait for me to draw the kangaroo card where I have to spell with my tail.” It’s fast-paced, interactive and helps build the key skills necessary for reading fluency in a way that doesn’t feel like homework.
Best Tech Toys For 6-Year-Olds
A 3D Digital Pet They'll Love
Bitzee
If you’re looking for a tech-savvy toy, Bitzee is a new electronic pet toy. Kids can look, touch, feel and interact with the 3D digital pet as it responds to all the tilts, swipes and shakes with realistic sounds and reactions. The more your child feeds, plays and takes care of their pet, the more it grows, eventually becoming an adult and then a super Bitzee. As time goes on, kids unlock additional Bitzee pets, as well as games and outfits for their pets.
A Nintendo Switch They Can Play Anywhere
Nintendo Switch OLED Model w/ White Joy-Con
For my son and all his 6-year-old friends, the new Nintendo Switch OLED seems to be the hot toy right now. They can play their favorite games, from Mario Kart and Minecraft to Lego City and Just Dance, at home on the big screen or in handheld mode with the vibrant 7-inch OLED screen included. We especially like how portable it is, perfect for entertainment on plane rides and road trips, and the screen quality is excellent too. Mom and dad might even want to play post-bedtime.
Kids Can Record Their Own Stories With This Audio Player
Yoto Player
In an attempt to minimize screen time, we bought each of our kids a Yoto audio player for Christmas last year, and they’ve been a big hit. You can purchase content cards based on your child’s age group and specific interests, including everything from popular Disney characters to their favorite books, music and more. My 6-year-old has loved the educational dinosaur and volcano cards in particular, while my daughter is into listening to all the princess stories. The coolest part is that you can purchase blank cards that they can create their own content on, or parents can record themselves reading books, singing songs and more for kids to play anytime.
Yoto doubles as a customizable clock and sleep-training tool with sleep cards available to play with soothing sounds to help them nod off. It’s easy and intuitive enough for a 6-year-old to operate.
Everyone's Favorite 90s Toy
Furby
The adorable fluffy robot that flew off shelves in the 90s is back and better than ever. This top-rated interactive toy moves, lights up, sings, dances, responds to commands and can even talk to your child and other Furby friends. The more you interact and engage with Furby, the more it learns and grows. Parents will appreciate that it doesn’t connect to the Internet for screen-free fun (and that there’s an off button too).
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
Forbes Vetted has extensive experience covering baby and kids gear, including toys and gifts. We care deeply about finding safe and fun playthings for kids of all ages. For this piece, we sought the expertise of two prominent child development experts, Claire Goss, a senior manager in the education department at childcare center Bright Horizons, and Dr. Amanda Gummer, a parenting and play expert, psychologist and the founder of The Good Play Guide.
I also used my own personal experience as a mom of three children, including a 6-year-old boy, and a freelance writer with more than 10 years of experience, including in the parenting space. I’ve had the opportunity to see, experience and test firsthand tons of toys for quality, engagement, fun and longevity as has my editor Rose Gordon Sala. We regularly update this article to ensure that it’s fresh and accurate, and it was most recently updated in December of 2023.
How We Chose The Best Toys for 6-Year-Olds
To choose the best toys for 6-year-olds, I considered the toys my own child, his friends, myself and fellow parents of this age group highly recommend. I also relied heavily on the input of our child development experts mentioned above. Their extensive knowledge and background in what types of toys are fun and developmentally-appropriate for this age group, as well as specific suggestions, were fundamental to creating this list. I also paid close attention to reviews and was careful to include top-rated toys from trusted brands with plenty of ways to play. I included toys to appeal to a range of interests and budgets too, so our readers can find toys for any type of kid.
What Toys Should My 6-Year-Old Have?
Dr. Gummer suggests you lean into open-ended toys for this age group. “These 6-year-olds are hitting their stride as thinkers and learners,” she says. “They’re curious about how the world works and use play as a way to learn about their world and the people in it.” She suggests looking for toys that are open-ended so your child can flex their imagination and creativity. “For example, set out animal figurines, some cardboard tubes, blocks and a few toy cars. Ask, ‘I wonder what we can make with these?’”
Other examples of awesome open-ended toys are simple things like a football or soccer ball, Lego and crafting materials, all of which 6-year-olds can use their imagination to create and do endless things with.
And if your child has unlimited energy, like most 6-year-olds do, big-ticket toys that get them active, such as a bounce house, bike or scooter, are all excellent investments.
More Toy And Gift Recommendations By Age
- Best Toys For 6-Month-Olds
- Best Toys For 1- Year-Olds
- Best Toys For 2-Year-Olds
- Best Toys For 3-Year-Olds
- Best Toys For 4-Year-Olds
- Best Toys For 5-Year-Olds
- Best Gifts For 7-Year-Olds
- Best Gifts For 8-Year-Olds
- Best Gifts For 9-Year-Olds
- Best Gifts For 10-Year-Olds
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Helix
Link to Coupon
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JustFly
Link to Coupon
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