7 Gifts Ideas for Pint-Sized Future Engineers

For most kids, a trip to Toys R Us is a treat. For me, it was torture.

In that wall-to-wall wonderland of every toy you could possible want, my mother, a teacher, would find the workbooks. We'd buy an adorable doll you could diaper and feed, but it would go to some other kid for their birthday. I was leaving with some long division. If I was lucky, I would get a workbook with a cartooned bespectacled kid named Seymour and his passel of pals on the cover.

Did this instill in me some great understanding of the world of mathematics that paved the way to a brilliant career and the potential for a Fields Medal? It did not. But that doesn't mean you can't help foster your child's love of math and science with a few gizmos from the toy store. These days, workbooks are a thing of the past, and store shelves are lined with items so enchanting that they can get kids involved in science, math, and tech without them ever realizing it.

The gifts in this list aren't ones that will be inflicted on kids but ones they'll actually wish for. There are robot friends they can build and program from scratch, dollhouses that are as smart as they are pretty, and a board game that won't leave them bored for a second.

(For more, check out 22 Top Tech Toys for Kids.)

Dash & Dot

$259
Dash & Dot are the cutest pair of robots teachers your kids will ever have. The bots are perfect companions for kids ages five and up who are learning to code (it's never too early). They can start by playing with the duo using apps, then direct them using Google's visual programming language Blockly, and eventually graduate to Objective C and Java.

Romo

Kids can guide Romo the friendly little phone-driven robot through Robot Space Race missions, just pal around with him, or explore programming on their own by downloading Romo's SDK and making their own app.

Robot Turtles

Some turtles fight crime with a "Cowabunga!" Others code with a cause: teaching kids to program. Robot Turtles is a board game that imparts the basics to kids.

Python for Kids

Playing with a python is not something you want kids to do. But playing around with Python should be encouraged. The programming language is made easy for kids 9 and up with illustrated instruction in Python for Kids.

Roominate

Dollhouses are the new smart homes, at least when it comes to Roominate. From studio apartments to palatial estates, the Roominate living spaces are places kids can put together themselves from top to bottom. After they build a house, they can wire up lights and doorbells and make motors to run elevators and carousels.

Little Robot Friends

$50 - $75
Kids can make friends—actually make the friends—with Little Robot Friends. Those who are 13 and up can DIY Curvy, Ghosty, or Spikey and younger kids can get them ready-made. The adorable robots can be programmed to respond to light, sound, and touch and if you have two or the trio, they'll even talk (in their own special robot way) to each other.

Museum Membership

Price Varies
Give kids a year of getting excited about science, tech, and math with a membership to a museum.

About Our Expert

Chandra Steele

Senior Features Writer

My Experience

My title is Senior Features Writer, which is a license to write about absolutely anything if I can connect it to technology (I can). I’ve been at PCMag since 2011 and have covered the surveillance state, vaccination cards, ghost guns, voting, ISIS, art, fashion, film, design, gender bias, and more. You might have seen me on TV talking about these topics or heard me on your commute home on the radio or a podcast. Or maybe you’ve just seen my Bernie meme.

I strive to explain topics that you might come across in the news but not fully understand, such as NFTs and meme stocks. I’ve had the pleasure of talking tech with Jeff Goldblum, Ang Lee, and other celebrities who have brought a different perspective to it. I put great care into writing gift guides and am always touched by the notes I get from people who’ve used them to choose presents that have been well-received. Though I love that I get to write about the tech industry every day, it’s touched by gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality and I try to bring these topics to light.

Outside of PCMag, I write fiction, poetry, humor, and essays on culture.

My Areas of Expertise

Making incomprehensible tech news easy to understand
Expanding the boundaries of topics covered in the industry
Figuring out tips and tricks in apps and on devices and letting you know about them
Putting together gift guides for everyone in your life

The Technology I Use

All that gadgets is gold for me: my iPhone 11 Pro, my fifth-generation iPad that I use only for streaming videos and music, my iPad mini 4 that I like to take with me whenever I carry a bag that can fit it, and my MacBook Pro. Why are they all different shades of gold, though? What’s going on, Apple?

None of them quite live up to my two past loves: my LG Lotus LX600 phone and my Sony Walkman NW-E005 MP3 player.

I've never given up wired earbuds so I was ahead of all those trend pieces. I use a Mangotek Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter to connect them to my phone.

I have had so many ebook readers, but I prefer paper to them all. Still, my Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for traveling or when I’m too impatient to wait for a book to be released in paperback.

Read the latest from Chandra Steele

Read full bio