A Toy Reviewer’s Guide to the Best Holiday Gifts for 5-Year-Olds

This game is a great gift for 5-year-olds who love to talk; once they’ve collected all the elements of a fairy tale, like a scene and a hero, they get to make up their own story that incorporates those elements. And since most of them are starting to get better at taking turns, board games are actually more fun to play with them.

Thisboard gameis one of my niece’s favorites. Players take turns tapping out ice cubes with hammers without letting Phillip the penguin fall down. It’s fast and full of anticipation that eventually gives way to giggles.

This is one of my favorite new toys of the year. Play-Doh Barbie lets kids create 3-D outfits for their dolls out of the classic modeling clay. Each of the sets in theseriescomes with an 11-inch Barbie doll, a stand, a sheet of Play-Doh that looks like fabric, a clothing cutter, a fringe or ruffle roller tool, a stamper, and hair and hat molds. You can also buy additional pattern sets in hearts,bows, andgems.

Kids go wild for stomp rockets and often take to them as early as age 2. But where younger kids are usually more of a spectator, by age 5, kids have thebalanceand strength to send a rocket skyward on their own, something they will do repeatedly.

Dr. Alexandra Figueras-Daniel, an assistant research professor at the National Institute for Early Education Research, recommends walkie talkies because they encourage collaboration and are a really fun way to practice and develop language and communication skills. This high-quality pair has a range of three miles, making them ideal for use all over the neighborhood or even during visits to the zoo or amusement park (the quiet-crisp audio quality is especially helpful in such noisy environments).

I recently moved into a new apartment building with a shared playroom in the basement; that’s where I discovered this clever Ikea ball-storage contraption that doubles as a soccer goal. It can be stood on one end to save space when it’s not in use, and it’s affordable enough to buy a couple and use one for stuffed animals as well.

I would have loved to unwrap this heart-shaped vanity as a kid. It’s a nice size for small bedrooms or for parents who don’t want to commit to another piece of play furniture, with just one drawer to hold a few trinkets. But the real genius is that kids get to decorate it themselves with rainbow gem stickers.

Milk Teethco-founders Rebecca Calavan and Catherine Newell-Hanson tipped me off to this Etsy seller who will make matching dresses for little kids and their dolls. I love this red plaid for holiday parties or Christmas morning.

Bruder trucks and carsare the crème de la crème of realistic vehicle toys, but they can be quite expensive. So here’s a somewhat affordable Bruder play set that will delight kindergartners who love watching construction equipment just as much as they love talking about the potty. The worker can mix cement, dig a hole, haul the dirt, and then take a break from it all in the porta-potty.

Levy bought this pair of beginner skates (plus a set ofmatching pink knee and elbow pads) for her daughter’s fifth birthday. They’re lighter than traditional skates and can be strapped on over sneakers.

As kids get more confident in their gross motor skills, they also risk falling and hurting themselves on the monkey bars or other playground equipment. Thus, at any given time in elementary school, there usually are at least a couple children with an arm or a leg in a cast. When Calavan heard that Newell-Hanson’s then 5-year-old daughter had broken her arm, she ordered a stuffy with a matching cast as a gift. “My son and I picked the animal, which body part to put the cast on, and the color of the cast,” says Calavan, adding that the gift was a huge hit.

Another hot toy of 2025, this leveled-up version of interactive “hatching” toys is the most realistic one I have ever seen. Kids get to watch as a baby T. rex fights its way out of a dinosaur egg. Then they get to feed it steak and help calm it down with gentle pets.

Plus Plus is a greatbuilding toyfor kids of many ages; each piece is exactly the same shape, like two plus signs stuck together, but the creative possibilities are endless. This set also comes with a bunch of extra pieces like wheels and platforms, plus instructions for building a plane, a race car, or a jeep.

This set of 30 watercolor chalks is an investment in lasting creativity. The creamy sticks are smooth and rich in color and make drawing all the more fun.

“Dramatic play at this age can be more sophisticated,” says Figueras-Daniel, who adds that “having detailed accessories” — like those in this Playmobil animal hotel — adds to the imaginative possibilities. The set has an outdoor pen and a bathtub for dogs on one side and a kitty lounge area on the other. There are also amenities for other pets like hamsters and birds — in other words, everything a 5-year-old might need to recreate a true-to-life scene.

When selecting adolls, Kristin Morency Goldman, senior adviser of strategic communications atthe Toy Association, says representation is key and helps children of all races understand and feel included in the world around them. She recommends this 18-inch Healthy Roots doll, whose textured hair can be washed and styled.

One of the most essential toys for any kid is a scooter, and most of the parents and experts we havetalked toagree that Micro Kickboard makes the best ones on the market. “Their attention to detail, quality of design, and precision of build just can’t be beat,” says Carrie Wren ofTwo Wheeling Tots. This one is sized for kids from roughly 5 to 12 years old — the handlebars are adjustable — and can support up to 110 pounds. (Note that this scooter also comes in aMini sizethat is rated for kids from 2 to 5, if your child is on the smaller side — and this wonderfullythorough guidefrom the brand can help you determine which size to choose.)

For speed-freak kindergartners, Strategist senior writer Lauren Ro recommends one of Carrera’s entry-level slot car-racing sets. Her two sons love sending the realistic race cars around the track over and over. This set is technically rated for ages 6 years old and up — Ro’s boys are 6 and 3, and both use it — but it’s just as much fun for adults to play with alongside kids, if any parental help is needed. It is also compatible withexpansion packs, so it will definitely grow with your child.

If you’ve got a kid who never tires of fort-making, you might be ready for Super Space magnetic building panels. They’re basically life-size Magna-Tiles that kids can use to build playhouses, spaceships, and lots more. Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio has a set at home that she and her two daughters love playing with. Though they are great for a variety of ages, Trolio suggests 5 or 6 as a good starting point, because by then kids are a little bigger and more capable of building larger structures with them. They are also super-compact when stacked neatly, and thus very easy to store in a corner or under a couch.

[Editor’s note: These are no longer available for a Christmas delivery but can be preordered for January.]