All gifts in the Engineering Gift Guide 2021 sorted by age
Magicube Recycled Shapes (13 pcs) explores simple, open-ended play in a continuously satisfying way, allowing users to quickly and easily build whatever they want.
This Take Apart Cement Truck Toy by Kididdo is a fantastic introduction to reverse engineering for young children.
This series of take-apart toys by Kididdo is a great way to simulate the process of reverse engineering in a controlled environment.
This magnetic construction toy for children ages 3 and up has been created in many variations.
Geomags are magnetic construction toys for children ages 3 and up. This specific line of toys features glow-in-the-dark magnetic rods made of recycled plastic that children can use to build any creation they can imagine.
This counting toy for children ages 3 and up is designed in conjunction with the children’s TV show Numberblocks (Available on Netflix and other streaming platforms).
This visual counting set by hand2mind, designed for ages 3 and up, aligns with storylines from the children’s TV show Numberblocks.
This number-counting toy by Hand2mind not only teaches kids how to count but also gives users a chance to practice various other concepts.
Super Cityscape Transport Bucket Set is a toy that allows a user’s creativity to shine while quietly teaching foundational engineering skills.
This hands-on gear kit by Thames and Kosmos is the perfect introduction to using and understanding gears, an integral part of mechanics.
Magicube Recycled Shapes (15 pcs) is a fantastic gift that teaches engineering design thinking through discussions of recycling, as well as opportunities to practice self-guided play and creative thinking.
This magnetic shape set from Magformers has huge potential for the number of pieces provided. Aimed at an age range of three and older, young children will learn the basics of fitting pieces of varying shapes and sizes together to make colorful designs of their very own.
This set of magnetic building shapes comes with even more shape options than its 19-piece counterpart, “STEM Builder 19 Piece Set”.
This building toy by Hape includes various sizes of colored bamboo sticks and two types of flexible connectors that can be combined in various ways.
This applied coding toy allows young kids to strengthen coding and problem-solving skills through complex storylines to help vehicle characters save their town.
This track-building set by Brackitz is a fun way to introduce design skills to young children.
This adaptable fort-building toy by Fort Boards is perfect for bringing a child’s construction and building skills to the next level.
The book “Girls Can Be Engineers” by Jamila H. Lindo encourages young children to be excited about any career, regardless of their gender.
STEM Explorers Brainometry is a fantastic toy for small children to begin practicing concrete STEM skills.
This set of child-friendly tools by Makedo is perfect for children who are already interested in creating their own inventions.
This high-quality building kit from Elenco walks users ages 6 and up through a design.
This build-it-yourself toy by Kididdo is perfect for older kids who want to challenge their building skills.
This 3-in-1 building set from Kididdo contains three separate remote-controlled vehicle designs and a provided instruction booklet.
This 2-in-1 building set from Kididdo walks the user through building a ‘speed racer’ remote-controlled vehicle.
This 2-in-1 building set from Kididdo walks the user through building a ‘speed racer’ remote-controlled vehicle.
Qubits is a versatile building toy for ages 6 and up that can be used for more than just fun.
This building toy by Thames and Kosmos is the perfect introduction to hands-on engineering experience while introducing fundamental physics and mathematical concepts.
The Mega Cyborg Hand by Thames & Kosmos is an incredibly entertaining look into hydraulics, exoskeletons, and spatial reasoning.
Iggy Peck’s Big Project Book for Amazing Architects by David Roberts is a fantastic introduction to the engineering process for children ages five and up.
Snap Circuits Junior (20th Anniversary Edition) is a gift that consistently promotes engineering design thinking by asking its users to solve complex, real-world problems.
This build-it-yourself circuit kit by Elecno includes all the basics needed to get started with Snap Circuits and so much more.
For many years now, the Snap Circuits line of toys has been fantastic for learning and practicing circuitry and other engineering concepts, and Snap Circuits MyHome Plus is no exception.
This do-it-yourself circuit kit from Elenco pairs up with a user-friendly smartphone app to create a graphical, block-based coding experience fit for beginners and experts alike.
This build-it-yourself music machine kit by Smartivity is a great way to introduce the design process to kids.
This building kit for children 8 and up is perfect for the child who’s always wondering how things work!
This 3-in-1 RC building kit from Kididdo has an instruction booklet that walks the user through creating three separate remote-controlled vehicle designs.
This introductory coding kit from Let's Start Coding comes with over 100 experiments for children ages 8-15 to try completing independently.
This game from Looney Labs may come in a small box, but entire galaxies are contained within. Players (ages 8+) must develop strategies to fight over alien terrain while managing limited resources.
This build-it-yourself robotics toy by Thames and Kosmos not only walks you through building two different designs of robots but also introduces the basics of coding in an accessible manner.
This toy is the perfect introduction for those interested in vehicle design; it allows users to build multiple vehicles while simultaneously exploring complex physics and science concepts in an accessible way.
The WindBots: 6-in-1 Wind-Powered Machine Kit explores wind power and spatial reasoning with just enough engineering knowledge to pique a user’s interest.
Over the last two decades, coding has become one of the most important skills someone can possess. The Boolean Box Micro: Bit Base Kit is an incredible introduction to problem-solving, computers, and coding.
While it appears as a simple word puzzle, WordStruct 3.0 offers much more.
WordStruct ESSENTIALS brings facets of spatial reasoning to an incredibly enjoyable word game.
This book by Shari Eskenas uses nursery rhymes and fairy tales as fun contexts to explain Python's coding fundamentals to kids ages 10-18.
In this exciting and challenging board game, one player takes on the role of Moderator and creates a game structure using a rule that only they know. Other players take turns building their own structures to try and figure out what the rule is.
While Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment is not an easy read, for the dedicated user, it is an invaluable tool and resource for engineering design learning.
