Santa's STEM Workshop: Last Minute STEM gift ideas

With Christmas almost upon us, you might be scrambling for a last minute present for your child.  What's better than a toy that entertains and educates?  Check out these recommendations for STEM toys for kids!

ThinkFun Gravity Maze
Ages 8+
This game is what you get when you combine a marble run with a series of engineering challenges.

Sillbird 12-in-1 Education Solar Robot Toy
​Ages 10+
This solar powered robot can be assembled 12 different ways.

Kinetic Sand
Ages 3+
This moldable sand behaves like wet sand and never dries out, so you can build and rebuild over and over again.

Snap Circuits Electronics Exploration Kit
Ages 8+
This kit gives kids safe, hands-on experience with electricity and circuits.  Directions for more than 100 projects are included.

Shashibo Shape-Shifting Box
Ages 8+
Similar to a fidget toy, this shape-shifting box can be configured into 70 different designs.  Test your spatial reasoning folding the pieces back together.

​ThinkFun Roller Coaster Challenge
Ages 6+
​This toy turns your child into a roller coaster engineer.  Design a roller coaster based on the challenge you draw.

Power Your Fun Fort Building Kit
Ages 4+
Kids can build endless forts, tunnels, and other play structures with these easy to connect rods and spheres.

Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope
Ages 4+
Slip in any of the 60 colorful slides and learn more than 100 facts about animals, plants, and humans.

National Geographic Rock Collection Box
Ages 8+
The perfect gift for your budding geologist, this box comes with over 200 samples of rocks, minerals, and fossils,  as well as a book and a magnifying glass to aid in identification.

hand2mind Numberblocks MathLink Cubes
Ages 3+
Use the linking counting cubes to recreate your favorite characters and the wipe-clean cards to complete math puzzles and games.  (My own daughter has absorbed so many math concepts from Numberblocks!  I am a big fan.)

Merry Christmas, space fans!