Four-year-olds are learning to negotiate boundaries, push limits, and question everything that they find and see in their environment. Life of a four-year-old is a long series of inquiries, challenges, and exciting discoveries.
Gifts for 4-year-olds should engage kids’ rapidly developing physical skills, boundless curiosity, and they satisfy their desire to understand everything around them. Toys that help kids develop skills related to engineering, science, technology, and math allow preschoolers to experiment with the strength, size, and shape of objects. Great choices for this age group are also the toys that encourage kids’ creativity, as well as toys that allow for silly and energetic play. STEM toys for 4-year-olds will give your child the opportunity for imagination and creative problem solving.
We have researched the market trying to identify the most engaging and memorable gifts for 4-year-olds. If you’re lost as to what gift you should get the cute 4-year-old in your life, read this article till the very end.
LEGO Classic Creative Brick Box – Building Toys for Creative Play
Here’s a LEGO toy that makes an ideal gift for 4-year-olds. This 484-piece Classic Creative Brick Box comes with creative bricks in 35 attractive colors, along with 18 tires and rims. This toy helps to expand your child’s imaginative capacity as they can construct items like trains, windmill, and animals with the colorful bricks.
The set comes with a base tray and a storage box to ensure that no brick goes missing during and after playtime.
A 2-in-1 Cartoon Police and Race Car Set with Remote Controls
The best gifts for kids are ones that can excite them. For a 4-year old, we believe that the Prextex 2-in-1 Carton Police and Race Car Set foots the bill. These Cartoon Vehicles make the perfect introduction to remote control toys for toddlers and other young children.
They come with a bunch of features that will excite your average 4 year old kid such as realistic sounding police sirens, honking sounds music and flashing headlights, plus police man action figures, race car drivers. Kids can use the included remote controls to operate the vehicles which have different frequencies and therefore can be operated at the same time using 3 AA batteries.
Will be plenty of fun for kids to use the remote controls to control the movements and relate them to professions they see in real life.
Melissa & Doug Fold and Go Dollhouse – Wooden Dollhouse
This wooden dollhouse by Melissa & Doug is full of features that allow your kids to have more amazing playtimes. The entire structure of the dollhouse can open completely to give your child sufficient space to explore their creativities without a screen.
The house is made from durable wood and has a non-toxic finishing. And when you combine this dollhouse with the amazing doll set from Melissa & Doug, you give your kids all they need to have the best pretend-play experience ever.
Waliki Hopper Ball – Jumping Hopping Therapy Ball
The Waliki Hopper is an excellent tool for some joyful bouncing around for your kids with energy to spare. But, the Walicki Hopper also doubles as a comfortable seat for kids that need to wiggle even when they’re sitting. The Hopper is constructed of thick rubber, and it is much more durable than yoga balls; Hopper will definitely withstand years of indoor and outdoor use. It comes in six different colors and plush-covered versions as well, and there are four sizes (but for the 4-year-olds, the 18-inch Hopper is the best choice).
Boogie Board Scribble– Play Color LCD Writing Tablet
Take this Boogie Board Scribble with you to keep your 4-year-old well entertained everywhere you go. It is an electronic notepad that features a marker and magical writing board that allows your child to have a long, entertaining writing playtime. The design of this toy helps your child develop their creativity skill. It also helps them gain mastery over their grip on the pen as they can draw, write, and erase very easily.
As a plus for parents, this board is very portable and can fit into a backpack or purse while on the go.
Gamewright Go Away Monster!
‘Go Away Monster!’ is a silly game that offers a light challenge that is still fun for 4-year-olds. Each player has a game board with a bedroom scene on it, and each player takes a turn randomly selecting either a bedroom item or a friendly-looking monster from a bag filled with cardboard pieces. ‘Go Away Monster!’ makes 4-year-olds use touch to recognize and remember shapes, as well as make choices about which pieces they need in their strategy. And this game is great for small kids that can get fussy because no one really loses.
American Girl Wellie-Wishers Ashlyn Doll – Brown Eyes, Freckled Cheeks
This is one fascinating doll your 4-year-old would love to have in their doll collection. Ashlyn’s long silky hair that matches the brown color of her eyes makes her adorable to every 4-year-old. Her hands and legs can be adjusted to give her any kind of pose. And your child can also develop their creative skills when they style Ashlyn’s long hair.
You’ll be surprised at how wonderful a parent your child can be with this doll –Ashlyn knows how best to ignite imaginative role-play in children.
Zoob BuilderZ 55-Piece Kit – Beware, the ZOOB Raptor
The Zoob kit is a cool building toy that has connectable pieces with ball joints that can be snapped into U-shaped brackets. Four-year-olds can experiment with joints and hinges of this toy. They can build open-ended and movable creations that have a lot of different curves and bends that they can flex, move, and spin. On the box, the Zoob kit is recommended for kids ages six and up, but younger kids gravitate to them the most.
Calico Critters Hopscotch Rabbit Family – Dollhouse Figures
Encourage imaginative thinking in your child with this rabbit family. With father Harlin, mother Heidi, brother Skip and Sister Bell, there’s no limit to what children can achieve with role-playing when they handle this toy family.
Let your kids tell their unique rabbit family story with this toy set while also improving their cognitive and critical thinking abilities. Each family member is made from soft cotton so that your child can cuddle them while playing.
Relevant Play Mad Mattr – STRETCH YOUR CREATIVITY TO THE MAX
The Mad Mattr modeling compound has several advantages over Play-Doh both for kids and for their caretakers. The Mad Mattr modeling compound compresses into hard shapes and is moldable like a dough, but it stretches out into soft sand. It is also less ductile than Play-Doh, and it does not stain or get everywhere, which works for the parents that are cleaning up after the kids. If you get some extruder molds to make the sand into bricks, you can increase playtime.
BRIO Metro Railway Set – 20-Piece Train Toy
Unleash the engineer in your 4-year-old with this railway set that includes wooden tracks, a train set, two passengers, a ticket stand, and a metro map.
With this toy, children will understand the nitty-gritty of commuting. They will also have the opportunity to tell their own unique train stories as they expand their logical reasoning capacities.
The various parts of this toy set are made from wood and child-safe plastics and can be easily assembled.
Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! Deluxe 100-piece Building Set
The Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! the building set is a box of colored gears that snap together with extenders and axles to create moveable, complex structures. Finding the perfect way to align and order the gears so they will turn in unison and not get jammed up is the real challenge of this game, and it will keep the child occupied for hours and hours. A lot of preschoolers will understand the basics of complex machines as they experiment with building whirring, spinning, gear-driven structures.
Calico Critters Grocery Market – Stimulates Imaginative Role-Playing
Don’t leave your 5-year-olds wondering what happens when you visit the grocery store, get them their personalized grocery market! This 30-piece grocery market by Calico Critters features a grocery stand and checkout counter that stimulate your child’s artistic growth.
Your child gets to explore the depths of their imagination when they shop eggs, milk, apple juice, and many more into their grocery baskets. They also learn responsibility when they pay for their groceries at the checkout stand.
Lakeshore Turn & Learn Magnetic Gears – Sturdy Plastic Pieces
Turn & Learn Magnetic Gears by The Lakeshore set includes magnetized gears that you can use to attach your child’s drawings and pictures to the fridge. This set provides an engaging opportunity for kids to experiment with mechanics. The pieces in this set are also a bit larger, and they will be easier for some little kids to handle. The magnets are really strong and will keep all of your child’s artwork in place for many years.
Melissa & Doug Pet Vet Toy Set – Helps Children Develop Empathy
This Vet toy makes an ideal gift for all your 4-year-old doctors-in-training! It is a 24-piece veterinarian set that helps your kid become the most empathic vet ever – no pet is ever will remain sick again!
It is recommended to help your child develop interactive and cognitive skills. It features a stethoscope, syringe, thermometer, clamp, ear-scope, and tweezers to help your kids examine and treat their pets. The set is portable so that your kids can still handle emergency pet situations when you’re on the go.
Ball Pit, Play Tent and Tunnels for Kids
Take the fun to a whole new level for kids that are aged 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and even 7 years old with this pop-up ball pit, play tent tunnel for kids. A child can customize different combinations of maze options, which makes the play set more fun and exciting. Kids can enjoy the excitement of moving through tunnels, throwing balls into an attached wall hoop or even throwing darts on a wall-attached dart.
Perfect for birthday parties, picnics, carnivals, sleepovers, etc. Will help enhance creativity and imagination in kids. It’s a gift for kids that can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Stomp Rocket, Jr. Glow – Outdoor Rocket Toy
Let your kids have endless fun with this glowing rocket. It does not require any plug-in nor batteries, so your kids can have fun whenever they want. All they need to do is to give the launcher a big stomp, and off they go– on their air-rocket adventure. The set is easy to set up, and the rockets can cover as long as a 100-foot distance in the air.
Magna-Tiles – 32-Piece Clear Colors Set
If there is one constant thing that preschool-age children are interested in, it is definitely magnets. Colorful Magna-Tiles combine the mesmerizing snap-together magic of magnets with open-ended block play. Castles will likely be a 4-year-old’s go-to most of the time, but they also have an opportunity of building new creations, like a robot or an oven. Classic Magna-Tiles include a wide variety of basic shapes, but there is also a Magna-Qubix, which is a set of three-dimensional pyramids, cubes, and prisms, which can be used to add more detail to the sculptures.
ThinkFun Zingo Bingo Game – One of the Most Popular Board Games
Develop your 4-year-olds logical reasoning skill with the ThinkFun Zingo Bingo game. Along with up to six other players, your toddlers can build their cognitive and language skills with this board game. The components of the game are made with durable, high-quality materials to withstand long hours of play.
It also comes with an easy-to-read manual and makes for an ideal gift for 4-year-olds.
FAO Schwarz Wooden Castle Building Blocks – 75 Piece Set
These wooden building blocks come with instructions for building one elaborate castle that kids will enjoy making and playing with once it is done. And even after the child gets bored from building the same thing over and over again, he/she can just incorporate them into the other block creations. This toy will likely become a classic, well-loved, long-lasting gadget in your house.
Playmobil Barn with Silos – Including Wandering Chickens
Your baby will love being on the farm with their experience from playing with this toy. They’ll enjoy playing the role of a framer when they get to feed the chickens and the cow, and also store up their harvest in the storage silos.
Kikkerland Solar-Powered Rainbow Maker – Window-Mount Rainbow
The Kikkerland Rainbow Maker is a small contraption that uses a solar panel to power a colorful geared motor, which rotates a hanging Swarovski crystal and sends rainbow-colored light all across your room. The Rainbow Maker uses a suction cup to stay attached to the window. Once that window gets enough direct sunlight, optics work their magic that your kids will enjoy.
Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Counter – All-Inclusive Ice Cream Playset
Set up an ice cream shop for your 4-year-old right in the comfort of their playpen. This ice cream counter by Melissa & Doug replicates the exact experience your kids enjoy in ice cream shops. It features a wooden counter, play cash, scoops and toppings, cones, cups, and a wooden spoon.
Your kids can role-play as customers or retailers when they scoop, serve, and pay for delicious ice cream treats.
KidKraft Storage Easel – A Great Way to Paint Imagination
Setting up for a painting session and cleaning up after on the kitchen table can be a tiring project for a parent, especially if you have a child that is very creative and into painting. The KidKraft easel comes with built-in storage bins underneath that can be used to hold paints, brushes, and other supplies, and an attached roll of art paper that can be used for cleaning up and avoiding the mess. Though this easel requires a bit of assembling, it is much sturdier and has more features than some cheaper easels on the market.
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel – Build Fine Motor Skills
This kids’ wooden standing art easel includes a dry erase board, a paper roller that locks, and a paper cutter that is child-safe. A child can unleash his or her creativity through drawing and writing to practice first letters and words, while also developing fine motor skills by getting a good practice on gripping the pencil. The wooden, sturdy frame is easy to assemble. Makes a great gift for kids 3 and older.
Green Toys Jump Rope – BPA Free, Phthalates Free,
Help your kids stay fit while they have fun with this BPA and phthalate-free jump rope from Green Toys. The rope is lightweight and very effective in keeping your child’s brain healthy. They also get to increase your toddler’s energy levels for each jump they make with the cotton rope.
The Original Colorforms Set
This impressive replica of the 1970 color form set makes for an excellent storytelling gift for 4-year-olds. The set includes a 5-page booklet, a large board, 350 pieces of color forms, a storage box, and an easy-to-read manual.
It is also a perfect tool to harness the inbound creativity of your toddler. Kids can arrange, stack, and stick the pieces together in creative ways to achieve whatever their imaginations allow them.
Magna-Tiles Toy Set
With this imaginative combination of science, creativity, and math, your kids can now develop their tactile and spatial skills during playtime. The set features 100 colorful and translucent shapes that can kindle prolonged hours of creative play and math learning in your kids. Kids can explore with 2D and 3D shapes and figures on horizontal and vertical platforms.
Each shape is environmentally safe and possesses smooth edges to ensure your child’s safety during play.
Marble Genius Marble Run Extreme Set – Building and Stacking
Marble Genius Marble Run Extreme introduces new energy to a childhood classic game. This 125-piece set includes spinning wheels, funnels, tubes that snap together, and translucent parts that allow children to watch marbles as they move from top to the bottom and through all the twists and turns. Marble runs let kids observe the effects of gravity, speed, and direction, In addition to giving challenging them to construct a track. The set comes with 20 marbles, but it can also be used for the standard-size marbles your child already has (maybe even some of your old ones).
BRIO Smart Tech Engine Set with Action Tunnels
The analog trains are lovely, but Ann Kienzle of Play toys offer a newer set that uses smart technology to let kids automate their trains. The set includes one battery-powered train and three tunnels that can interact with one another wirelessly (without the need for an app or a separate controller). One tunnel makes the train light up when it passes through, another one makes it whistle, and the third one makes the train stop. There is a simple knob on the traffic light at the main station that kids can use to control the train’s movement.
This set is compatible with all wooden Brio tracks, and it comes with some basic track pieces. But, if you have a child that wants to become an experienced train conductor but you don’t have any tracks lying around, you may also want to get a few expansion sets to start off your beginner’s train collection and passion.
Conclusion
With this detailed list of the ideal toys for 4-year-olds, your kid is sure to have so much fun all day long.
