Christmas is nearly here! The best gifts for 4-year-olds encourage a child’s curiosity and need for exploration while teaching them critical skills.
“4-year-olds are digging into the fantasy world, while also creating worlds of their own,” Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, psychology professor at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution — whose research work centers on the development of early language and literacy, as well as the role of play in learning — told the New York Post. “While 3-year-olds are beginning to become sophisticated, 4-year-olds are even more so.”
Much like 3-year-olds and even 2-year-olds, they’re constantly moving and likely have a toy collection growing by the month.
Most makers of children’s toys blend education with fun, making it easier for adults to gift items they can feel good about giving. Whether you’re searching for big gifts for 4-year-olds for a birthday or seeking a simple but sweet Christmas gift, our shopping team and childhood experts have you covered with options.
Check our FAQ section to see what to look for when shopping for the best gifts for 4-year-olds or scroll below to see our picks.
The Banwood Scooter teaches balance, as well as hand-eye coordination. Available in six different colors, it comes with a detachable basket, safety bell, and an adjustable T-handlebar. Made with non-toxic materials, any 4-year-old will love zooming around the neighborhood with this cool toy — with adult supervision, of course.
Hands-on learning disguised as a game? Sign us up! Or, should we say sign our kids up? The Stomp Rocket Original Dueling Rocket Launcher for Kids teaches gravity and force. Attach the rockets to the durable base, and let the kids stomp away to launch the rockets into the sky. More than 15,000 folks who purchased on Amazon approve of this outdoor-friendly game for kids!
Four-year-olds benefit from learning routines, and this visual schedule from Slumberkins is a fun way to teach them organization and responsibility. The cloth tiles are removable and can be set aside once an activity is complete. A few blank tiles are included, which can be written on for further customization.
Created to teach early STEM development, the Dynamo Wooden Domino Set strengthens color recognition and spatial thinking skills. Engaging enough for solo play or to enjoy with friends, the 100-piece set can be arranged in a variety of ways which are show to delight the 4-year-old in your life.
These magnetic blocks makes building fortresses and dream homes a breeze. Made of BPA-free plastic, the 100-piece set comes with two toy cars for an even more realistic setup.
“Children can learn while having fun with magnetic tiles,” Burhanettin Keskin, PhD, early childhood education professor, says. “They can learn about shapes, practice constructing designs, and express creativity through play with magnetic tiles.”
The Mini Muffins Phonics Activity Set introduces beginning sounds, word families, letter identification, and other phonics skills in this too-cool-for-school game. Activities become more challenging (and fun), as a child’s knowledge grows. Both parents and teachers love it, and so will your 4-year-old.
Imaginative play is just as important as learning one’s ABCs. With our love of vacuums, The Post Wanted team is partial to the Casdon Toys DC24 Dyson Ball Toy Vacuum. It won’t pick up real debris like the Dysons we’ve reviewed but a child can pretend, and isn’t that the point? We’re impressed by its realistic sound and design, and 4-year-olds will love pushing it behind mommy or daddy.
Dream of raising a tech genius? This is the game to gift. The Switcheroo Coding Crew teaches coding and STEM skills in the form of a rescue challenge game with Spike, the hedgehog. The mission is revealed on the back of the plastic quills, taking the child on an epic adventure of learning and problem-solving.
Know a child who can’t get enough of Marvel heroes? Gift this LEGO building set. It comes with Spidey’s headquarters, quad bike and truck toy, plus his friends, including Ghost-Spider, and Black Panther. The hands-on play toy will quickly become a favorite, while sneakingly fostering imagination and creativity.
This cute plushie provides companionship to little ones’ who become easily stressed. The squeezable toy is reversible, showcasing a happy face on one side, and an unhappy face on the other. Ideal for those who have difficulty expressing their emotions, the toy serves as an avatar for feelings that are scary to share. Honestly, we want one for ourselves. Available in more than a dozen styles.
For the child who loves animals, this Melissa & Doug Pet Vet Set will be happily received. It comes with a plush dog, a plush cat, a stethoscope, a thermometer, and a host of other tools for them to treat their cuddly patients. Best of all, this imaginative play gift can be personalized with their name if you grab it from Personalization Mall. However, it is a tad cheaper at Walmart.
This easy-to-build wonderland aids in hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Once complete, a child can turn the toy’s motor on and watch cute the penguin and snowman skate around the ice rink. It’s a display the whole family will love for the holidays and something a child can proudly say, ‘I made this!’
Amongst other things, 4-year-olds can start learning dates and months. This colorful calendar from LEGO will make the task easier, plus is under $20 and exceptionally colorful.
While we’ve recommended this child’s toy for those who are a bit younger, 4-year-olds will still enjoy the Kikidex Magnetic Drawing Board. Easy to carry, it’s an ideal gift for little hands that like to stay busy while mommy and daddy do chores around the home.
Foster social interaction and creativity with this slime kit. It makes oddly realistic-looking ice cream treats — delicious scents included. A fun project for birthday parties or when cousins come to visit, a 4-year-old will not only have an afternoon of fun but learn direction-taking and cooperation.
Search and find games are fun for all, especially if you can search for yourself! The 36-page book gives children a chance to explore a variety of multiverse — with themselves at the center. Printed and shipped between 2-4 days, it’s one of the most memorable gift options on our list, and something we wish we could have for ourselves.
More than 21,000 Amazon customers have given the Activ Life Kid’s Flying Rings a solid rating. Designed to be caught by small hands, the lightweight rings are simple to handle and beat hours spent in front of a tablet. Best of all, this bestselling toy comes with a variety of activities to do with the rings. Boredom, non-optional!
The Persister Play Kit is all about giving children exciting but challenging puzzles to solve. Fostering letter recognition, visual-spatial processing and fine motor skills, more than 18,000 adults give it their approval for the children in their lives. It includes a calming circle, a draw, trace and erase board, a breathing activities guide and a few more goodies kids will love to take a crack at.
This super-sized floor mat game looks so cool, we want to try it ourselves. Using their knowledge of shapes and numbers, kids make their way across the creek — and out of the crocodile’s mouth. The game comes with one vinyl floor mat, two inflatable 5-inch cubes, 40 animal game markers, and an activity guide.
Help a child get a jumpstart on geography with this very cool USA Coloring Tablecloth. It shows all the states, capitals, and various graphics for them to color in while waiting for supper. An ideal gift for 4-year-olds who constantly need to be kept busy, also consider this a gift to busy moms who can be on entertainment-patrol 24/7.
“I love the Toniebox because it has an ever-growing library of character figures that kids can place on top of the screen-free device to play audio stories and songs associated with each character,” Jackie Cucco, senior editor at “The Toy Insider.”
Plus, Tonies offers additional characters based on your 4-year-olds’ favorite books and movies should they want to grow their collection.
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“I remind the children I work with often that their feelings are important and valid,” Rooker shares.
This flip book makes it simpler for young children to identify which emotion they’re feeling, plus gives different healthy activities to help them express or process them.
“This book is great for any child to learn to identify and express their feelings. I love how it is also helping him decide what to do when he feels certain emotions. Great find,” shared one of the 2,000 plus Amazon customers who added it to their cart.
“This book follows two otter siblings as they deal with the death of a pet to teach readers how to address loss and grief,” Cucco shares. “Parents can use the books as a tool to discuss difficult topics with their kids in positive and age-appropriate ways.”
Written by an expert, it’s a lighthearted way to teach your 4-year-old a tougher subject matter.
“These Classic Pedal Cars have a charming, retro-inspired look modeled after vintage convertibles, hot rods, old-school police cars and fire trucks that will make kids feel so cool riding around town,” Cucco notes.
This incredibly snazzy ride is detailed with steel construction and rubber tires — complete with chrome hub caps. For more options, check out our guide to the best ride-on toys.
“I love this simple but functional cottage!” Rooker shares, excitedly. “The flexibility of doll houses helps to foster imagination and creativity. They also offer the opportunities to learn new vocabulary (ex: time to wipe the stove!).”
According to Rooker, pretend play also opens up interactions, and allows children to recreate and rehearse conversations and events they have experienced.
“This has been a favorite of many of the children I’ve worked with,” Rooker shares. “I love the elevator and the opportunity to send vehicles ‘up’ and ‘down.'”
According to Rooker, pretend play also provides opportunities for problem-solving and reasoning, making this toy a less-than-$25 learning hit.
“This educational toy gives kids meaningful screen time by combining physical and digital play,” Cucco shares. “Kids will learn about numbers, shapes, reading, problem-solving and more as they use the tactile game pieces to interact with on-screen characters.”
Plus, Osmo has even more play sets available, though this one is specially geared toward the preschool age.
“I love Melissa and Doug products,” Rooker shares. “They are high quality and generally thoughtful and educational.”
In particular, she likes this puzzle set because you can compare the different types of vehicles. Which one has the most wheels? Which one is yellow? Which one do you think would be the fastest?
“I absolutely LOVE Magna-tiles,” Rooker shares. “Depending on the set, you can target colors, concepts like ‘top’ and ‘bottom,’ shapes, descriptors and more!”
Rooker uses this particular set with kids of all ages, too. “I typically use it along with the Brown Bear book,” she explains. “Feel free to get creative! We have used these to build houses, a zoo, a garage to park our cars, a rocket and more! I’ve even used them to work on various concepts (for example, ‘Can you park the car on the red bird?’)
“Kids who are still singing along to Disney’s “Encanto” can give themselves a toy to perform with,” Cucco adds. “Not only can they play their favorite songs and sing along using the microphone, but they can also record and save their performances.”
For more karaoke sets, Amazon has a wealth of options to choose from.
“Baby dolls really promote increased interaction as well as compassion and responsibility, Rooker explains. “Learning to take care of a doll not only introduces new vocabulary, but can also increase social awareness and understanding of the needs of others!”
Your 4-year-old will adore this all-in-one toy — especially if they have a younger brother or sister. They’ll learn how to feed a baby with its bottle, too.
“Zingo is a simple but fun game with a variety of learning opportunities,” Rooker explains. “Basic vocabulary is an obvious target, but this game also works on matching and the concepts of ‘same’ and ‘different,’ as well as play skills such as turn-taking.
It’s a great less-than-$25 toy that can transition your 4-year-old nicely into traditional bingo games, too.
Ahead, our team of child development experts provides insight into the 4-year-old age group and what defines playtime at this stage.
For more, check out our expert-backed guides to the best toys for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds.
4-year-olds have an array of qualities and traits unique to their age group. Ahead, Hirsh-Pasek outlines some key attributes that define this stage:
“A good toy for a 4-year-old has to do more than one thing,” Hirsh-Pasek adds. “Sets that create worlds, like dinosaur sets and family playsets are great.”
Not to mention, Hirsh-Pasek relays that you won’t believe how popular dinosaurs are with 4-year-olds. “They’re their own paleontologists and entomologists, learning how to become experts in their own domain,” she adds. “They can learn star constellations and start to do mazes.”
“4-year-olds have a wide range of interests when it comes to toys, including but not limited to blocks, puzzles, arts and crafts materials such as crayons and colored pencils, outdoor toys like balls and tricycles, musical instruments like keyboards and drums, imaginative play items such as play kitchen sets and dress-up costumes and books with appropriate stories and illustrations.”
Burhanettin Keskin, PhD, a professor of early childhood education at the University of Mississippi with more than 20 years of experience
Toys can facilitate learning among the 4-year-old age group in many ways. They provide hands-on exploration and experimentation, allowing for the expansion of children’s knowledge.
“Toys that encourage imagination and social interaction allow children to develop their language and social skills,” Keskin notes. “Toys can also promote the motor skill development of children. Through toys, children can also develop early literacy and numeracy skills.” Toys are also valuable for children, in terms of understanding how the world we live in works.
Additionally, play has countless benefits for children. “It helps children develop cognitive skills such as problem-solving skills and critical thinking, physical skills such as gross and fine motor skills, balance, and coordination, emotional skills such as expressing and processing one’s own emotions, social skills such as taking turns, sharing, and negotiating, and through play, children release stress and develop executive function skills and creativity,” Keskin adds.
In short, play is the best way for young children to learn. “I am a play-based therapist, and have enjoyed discovering new ways to develop children’s speech and language skills through play,” Rooker highlights. “Social awareness, social communication, and problem solving can also be developed through play activities. Authentic play is the best way to hold children’s attention so that they are able to learn!”
This is a pivotal age as it’s the last one before kindergarten, too.
“If we can bottle up a 4-year-old’s problem-solving and curiosity for other age groups to drink it, we’d all be at a better place. Sometimes, we don’t have our eyes on the prize for what really matters; much more important is to socially navigate your world, rather than seeing if a child can ‘make it’ into a certain reading or math group. Let’s harness and grow that curiosity, not suffocate it.”
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, psychology professor at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
