Top toy picks for a magical summer – keep kids busy, learning, and active with these fun summer toys whether you’re home for the summer or on the road.
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Our Favorite Summer Toys for Kids
What You'll Find on This Page
We need toys this summer more than ever before, with summer camps canceled and outing severely limited. Save your sanity as a parent this summer by investing in our top-ranked summer toys for kids.
Outdoor Toys
Sprinklers are my favorite outdoor summer toys for kids. It’s hard to beat watering the lawn while entertaining children at the same time, and you won’t find a better way to cool down fast.
Summer is also the perfect time to introduce children to lawn games. And don’t forget that summer classic, bubbles!
Outdoor games build gross motor skills and help children develop coordination.
Summer Board Games
The long days of summer are perfect for board games. From classics like Monopoly to games that teach math, there is something for everyone!
My family especially enjoys cooperative board games. Cooperative games build teamwork skills, and they remove the drama of dealing with a winner and a loser. Five Minute Dungeon is our current favorite cooperative game!
Board games develop turn taking skills, communication, and grace as children learn how to be good sports about both winning and losing. Turn taking also develops that all important life skill of patience.
Building Toys for Summer
LEGO bricks are my family’s favorite building toys, but there are so many amazing options now! This summer my children have also spent hours playing with tree blocks and castle blocks.
Building toys teach children about geometry and physics. They are fantastic for developing spatial awareness, and they promote pretend play.
Puzzles
I love puzzles! My kids are especially fond of 4D city puzzles. The kids love the tiny buildings and the layering of the puzzles. I love all of the geography and history they learn in the process.
Puzzles teach problem solving skills, patience, and spatial awarenesss. Use map puzzles to teach kids about the world. Mount favorite puzzles and turn them into artwork to decorate your walls.
Indoor Active Toys
Summer weather is often lovely, but sometimes you need ways to keep kids active indoors! I already wrote up a list of our favorite indoor active toys. Pick out your personal favorites and invest in a couple to save your sanity.
Active toys build core muscle strength, gross motor skills, and coordination. They are also invaluable for saving parental sanity.
Pretend Play Toys
A good pretend play toy opens the door to hours upon hours of free play for children! Right now my children are all about Playmobil; they’ve converted our garage into a Playmobil universe. My youngest is still really into her play kitchen, and dolls and soft toys make regular appearances. Dress up is also always popular!
Children use pretend play to develop social skills and work through anxieties and worries.
What are your favorite summer toys for kids?
Find more toy recommendations and play ideas on my Facebook page and in my Instagram feed.