Do you know what STEM Toys and Games are?

STEM toys and games stimulate a child’s curiosity, thinking and learning about science, technology, engineering and maths. Encourage playful discovery through experimentation. Up their tech skills with robotics, gaming and drones. Become a ‘maker’ of lip balm or bath bombs. Use STEM model building kits and work with solar power, green energy and motors. Renewable energy at their fingertips. Discover more about the world with a telescope or microscope. Learn to mathematical agility. Get your child’s curiosity pumping

10 Great STEM Toys and Games!

Nintendo Switch Console with Neon Red and Neon Blue Joy-Con (NS)

At Toy Talk we love Nintendo Switch because it’s about family fun, bringing people together and putting smiles on their faces as they interact, play, move and compete using tech. The Nintendo Switch, is a multi-use gaming console with a 6.2 inch multi-touch screen. Play at home on your HD TV, then undock it to seamlessly transition into handheld gamer that can be played anywhere, anytime. Flip the stand to share the screen and play in multiplayer mode. Games come to life through easy-to-use motion controls and HD rumble advanced vibration features built into each Joy-Con. Start a gaming party anytime with multiplayer games for Nintendo Switch, compete against or team up with friends at home. You can also play online with other Nintendo Switch gamers. Link up to eight systems together to play anywhere. The switch has a battery life of more than six hours, and an internal memory of 32GB. Choose from loads of Switch games including Mario Brothers, Pokémon, Splatoon and the amazing Labo products made just for the Switch

Number of players: Play alone or in a group
Brand: Nintendo
Age: 4 – adult

Labo Variety Kit (Nintendo Switch)

Combine real life and tech with an educational twist. Make, play and discover with Nintendo Labo from Nintendo Switch which combines reinforced cardboard construction toys with gaming and imagination. Your child will spend hours constructing the cardboard models and then bring them to life with the Joy-Con controller. With this variety set you can build and create five different model toys including a remote control car, fishing rod, house, motorbike and a piano with corresponding games. Have a blast racing the motorbike circuit, drive your remote control car which even has a cardboard accelerator, compose your own music, haul in a massive fish and make your house come to life. The kit includes everything you need to build each model and the software to play the games. We had a huge amount of fun with this product. The constructions require a bit of thought and planning.

Number of players: Multiplayer
Brand: Nintendo
Age: 4+

Sphero Mini App-Enabled Robotic Ball – White

Sphero Mini is an indestructible robotic ball the size of a ping pong ball that can be used on land and in water using an app on a smart device to control it via Bluetooth. You can drive the Sphero Mini using different modes: joystick, tilt and slingshot, or just by using your facial expressions with Face Drive, an hilarious new feature. Sphero Mini has many exciting games – use the ball as a controller to shoot your way through space, race a ship through a tunnel, or rotate your ball to destroy a polygon of bricks. Thanks to the beauty of app updates, there’s always more on the way. If you’re feeling extra clever, download the Sphero Edu app and program your robot using JavaScript.

Sphero has incredible versatility in the STEM arena and is being used in many school robotics programmes to teach the basics of coding and programming. This helps children to explore concepts such as speed, distance and time. Packed with teeny tiny tech, Sphero Mini has a little gyroscope, accelerometer, and LED lights. With almost an hour of play time, Sphero Mini is the next big thing. The set includes three mini traffic cones and six mini bowling pins. The kids are in control and are not just passively sitting watching a screen. Our families have enjoyed Sphero for the last few years.

Number of players: Play alone or in a group
Brand: Core Group
Age: 7 to adult

Engino Discovering Stem – Solar Power

What better way to combine elements of science and engineering than with a solar power construction project. Our children are constantly hearing the words reduce, reuse and recycle and are fast realising that renewable energy sources are key to our survival. This fun and educational solar powered toy is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the concept of green energy, while building cool models that are powered by the sun. This entertaining and engaging set includes 144 construction pieces, a 3V solar panel that powers up an electrical motor, instructions for 16 solar powered models half in the leaflet and half that can be accessed on an interactive app. The models include a chopper car, fan, plane, robot, drawbridge, a winch crane and much more!
Note: The Solar panel is not used to store electricity. It is used only for direct supply to the motor. Even without sun you can insert batteries for all-weather play.

Number of players: 1
Brand: Engino
Age: 8-16 years

Engino Discovering Stem – Mechanics wheels

Have fun while learning all about the mechanics of wheels, axels and inclined planes with Engino’s creative construction kits that use snap to fit connectivity. Children will learn how wheels and axles use friction to move objects easily and how big tyres compare to small tyres. Find out how an inclined plane can be used for lifting heavy objects and how another form of inclined plane, the wedge, is used in everyday applications. Build 14 working models such as a launching platform, a door with a knob, a well, an airport staircase, an experimental ramp and a splitting wedge. The set comes with a 46-page full colour booklet that includes the mechanics theory, experimental activities, a quiz and building instructions. It offers thought provoking building challenges and exercises, and a space to write notes, results and draw conclusions. Fantastic for the child who is always wanting to know how things work.

Number of players: 1
Brand: Engino
Age: 8-16 years

Think fun Circuit Maze Educational Game

Think Fun Circuit Maze is a brain teaser that requires kids to create circuits. If you’ve found the right solution the beacons will light up. Circuit Maze is an innovative way to teach children about electrical circuits while challenging them to solve spatial, 3D problems. There are 60 challenge cards graded from beginner to expert. Use these to show you how to set the grid with specific pieces and then lace the correct pieces to fill in the gaps in the circuit. Get it right and the coloured beacons on the board will light up giving your child a sense of real satisfaction. Develops perseverance, logic and spatial planning.

Number of players: 1+
Brand: Think Fun
Age: 7+ years

Mobi Math Tiles Game (Off Toy Talk blog)

Mobi Maths is a fun, fast-paced tile game that works much like Bananagrams (making crossword puzzles with letter tiles). Now you get to apply basic maths skills at speed by making a crossword puzzle out of numbers and mathematical symbols (equations) such as 10 + 2 = 12 or 10 – 2 = 8. Use the operations of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. If you don’t like a number in your ‘pod’ then exchange it for three more number tiles. Finish all the tiles in your pod, shout ‘flip’ and every player has to pick up two new tiles. Play continues until someone uses up all their tiles and there are no more left in the middle of the table. A very portable game in this cute whale zip up pouch. Great for building confidence with numbers and mathematical mental agility. We are not maths boffs at Toy Talk but we love this game!

Click here to see a video.

Number of players: 2-8
Brand: Play Mobi
Age: 10 years to adult

Wild Science Lip Balm Studio and Wild Science Bath Bomb studio

Wild Science provides perfect science kits that help your child make products they can actually use. Have a blast creating your own lip balm and bath bombs with these two creative kits. Using the Wild Science Lip Balm Studio, you can create your own shimmering lip balms and fruity lip protectors using the natural waxes and oils included in the kit to create a variety of colours, flavours and fragrances. Mix different colour combinations or add some shimmer or SPF for the beach on sunny days!

Have some good clean fun with the Wild Science Bath Bomb Factory. Experiment with all the ingredients and make your own scented Bath Bombs, a lava launch and much, much more. As well as being fantastic, fizzy and fascinating, the Bath Bomb Factory also teaches your child about the science behind the ‘fizz’ and the scientific changes that occur when certain substances are mixed together. Follow the colourful illustrated activity guide to see how it’s done. All materials needed are included except for water.

Number of players: 1
Brand: Wild Science
Age: 7+ years

Magnoidz Pressure Powered Car Science Kit

Learn about forces with this fun experiment kit from Magnoidz. It’s a comprehensive set that includes everything you need for eight different experiments. Includes an educational resource booklet which is packed with fun experiments and interesting facts all about forces and pressure! Learn about the power of air and how it is used in the real world, or the effect of air pressure on warm water, how atmospheric pressure changes, and why sealed containers expand in a plane or on a high mountain, this and so much more! The set includes: 1 x car body, 1 x gear case, 1 x drive wheel, 2 x rear wheel, 2 x front wheel, 1 x air tank, 1 x cap, 2 x syringe, 1 x short axle, 1 x rocket, 1 x front axle

Number of players: 1
Brand: Magnoidz
Age: 6+ years

Hot Wheels DRX Stingray Racing Drone

This sturdy Drone Racer is a perfect entry level introduction to droning. The Stingray Racing drone is easy to control (minimising the risk of breaking any prized possessions) and impact resistant, so it’ll withstand any unexpected crashes. The drone has a choice of three different speed so you can start slowly and hone your piloting skills bit by bit. It has altitude and smart directional control and comes with four spare rotor blades and guards. It charges quickly on a portable battery-driven charger and is superb for indoor flying.

Number of players: 1
Brand: Hotwheels
Age: 8+ years

*Disclaimer: All items listed are subject to availability.