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By the time kids turn 7 years old, they are much more capable of remembering complicated concepts like the rules of a board game or a team sport. “Where a 5-year-old child can hit a T-ball, a 7-year-old can begin to apply and recall the rules of baseball, the various positions involved in the game, and the social skills necessary to play on a team,” explains Deb Vilas, director of the Child Life program at Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Kids this age are more coordinated, able to focus for longer periods of time, and beginning to develop hobbies. So when buying them a gift, your best bet is to find out what they are passionate about, whether it’s trading Pokémon cards, learning how to draw their favorite animal, or biking around the neighborhood with their friends.
To find the best toys for the 7-year-olds in your life, we asked for advice from Vilas and other experts, including professional nannies, cool parents, and toy-trend forecasters. Then, we took their suggestions and grouped them by price. If you have a specific budget in mind, you can use the table of contents to jump right to that section. Otherwise, read all the way through to discover all 30 toys we heard about.
Meanwhile, if you’re also shopping for kids in other age groups, we have gift guides for 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds, and 12-year-olds — plus the meticulously curated Strategist Toy Store, filled with all our greatest hits.
Under $25
“The children I’ve worked with over the years have always loved origami, especially once they’ve gotten a little bit older, like 7 or so, because it’s an age when they really start using their imagination in new ways,” says Kasia Dabrowska, a longtime Manhattan nanny. “There’s an instruction book to follow, but it’s not just about following instructions. They can just come up with their own animal shapes with these bright colors and patterns, then create pretend scenes with them.” This set by Creativity for Kids also pairs with accompanying YouTube videos that walk kids through the many different designs they can fold in 3-D.
“By the time you go to second grade, you know the drill,” says Dr. Roberta Golinkoff, a professor of child psychology at the University of Delaware. At 7, many kids are a lot more observant of trends, and when we asked elementary-school students about their back-to-school outfits, more than a few of them mentioned the importance of accessorizing their backpacks with cool key chains. The options are limitless, but when it comes to giving one as a gift, we suggest finding a Funko Pop! bobblehead key chain in the likeness of one of their favorite TV or movie characters, like this Spider-Gwen key chain.
If your kid won’t stop talking about Pokémon and you don’t want to give them more cards, this LEGO-like building toy comes recommended by Roberson Keffer, a toy-trend expert and VP of home at Macy’s. It combines the fun and creativity of construction toys, the allure of collectible toys, and the fan-favorite Pokémon franchise all in one package.
Erin Boyle of Reading My Tea Leaves likes these chunky colored pencils for kids who love to draw because they are easy to use; come in beautiful, highly pigmented colors; and are sturdy and long-lasting. For 7-year-olds who already have plenty of classic rainbow colored pencils, Boyle suggests this set of skin-tone pencils.
Kids will be amazed that they can use this set to create real working erasers out of clay. Once they mold the clay into shapes, you simply pop them into the oven to harden. According to Golinkoff, craft activities like this promote further development of fine motor skills and spatial awareness. And several of the parents we spoke to for this story appreciate that this type of kit provides an art project with minimal mess.
This isn’t a toy, but according to Jacob Cohen, a teacher in Brooklyn, the Fly Guy book series is just as exciting for the 7- and 8-year-olds he works with. “They’re very competitive about collecting the whole set,” he says. The easy-reader series is full of funny drawings and slapstick scenarios, and it’s perfect for independent reading time.
“Talk to them about math,” Dr. Golinkoff stresses, whether it’s at the supermarket or at home. A fun way to get that conversation going is with Mobi, a Bananagrams-like game that has kids create simple math equations on the fly and connect them in Scrabble-like grids. Fans of the game, including my second-grade niece, Lila, say it doesn’t feel like learning because “it’s just fun.” Also, who doesn’t love a whale-shaped carrying pouch?
“Kids this age are geniuses at improvisation,” says Rumaan Alam, a novelist and father of two. “A pad of Post-its is a flip book; it’s a storybook; it’s a wall mosaic that won’t cost your security deposit; it’s two-dozen very small paper airplanes. It doesn’t sound like much of a gift, but trust me: Kids love office supplies.”
Along those same lines, Abby Kerlin, program director of general education at Bank Street Graduate School of Education, says that often the best thing you can give an imaginative 7-year-old isn’t actually a toy. “When your kid is pretending to wait tables and they take your order, asking, ‘Do you want oat milk in your latte?,’ they’re revealing how carefully they have been observing the world around them,” she says, adding that what they need in that moment is a parent who is open to playing along or offering a pad of paper so they can write down the order. This five-pack of restaurant guest checks serves the same purpose while also adding authenticity to their pretend play.
According to toy expert Chris Byrne, who goes by the Toy Guy, the miniature sizes of Squishmallows’ beloved characters are particularly well suited to elementary-school kids who love to compare their collections and trade with friends. This set comes with four characters — a Bigfoot, chameleon, parrot, and an axolotl — and a display case that can stand on a desk or be hung on a wall.
“We got some Plus Plus as a gift years ago and have since given it to so many of our friends,” says Alam of this building toy where every recycled-plastic piece has the exact same shape, but the construction possibilities are endless. The set pictured here has 70 pieces that let you build a pretty realistic bumble bee. Alam says it’s something to take with you whenever you dine out: “It’s so fun to work with; it keeps kids busy and (crucially) quiet.”
With this kit, kids dig into a molded block of clay that appears to be straight out of the desert and use chisels, brushes, and a magnifying glass to uncover highly realistic fossils, including dinosaur bones, shark teeth, and sea urchins. “It makes kids feel like real scientists,” says Elizabeth S., a nanny for the New York–based SmartSitting agency. They can also classify the fossils using the accompanying learning booklet. “I gave this gift to a 7-year-old, and he and his 9-year-old sister were digging for the better part of a rainy day inside. Next time I saw them, they couldn’t wait to show me what they’d uncovered.”
Under $50
This miniature flying L.O.L. Surprise! doll is slated to be one of 2023’s most popular holiday toys, says James Zahn, senior editor at the Toy Insider. To make it fly, you first have to initiate a magical, interactive unboxing experience: Touch the bottle once and it shakes; touch it twice and it lights up; touch it three times and it opens enough that you can pull the lid back and watch your winged doll fly into the air. You can even keep it from dropping to the ground by guiding it with your hand.
When Ruka Curate, founder of the Tiny Treasures Nanny Agency, consulted her Facebook group of 50,000 women for help in recommending the best toys to us, Snap Circuits was a popular response. Its color-coded, easy-to-assemble components can be combined to form working circuit boards like the ones inside a television or a radio (there’s even a music-integrated circuit and a speaker). “Of all the Manhattan families I know with kids between ages 7 and 10, most of them have at some point received Snap Circuits as a gift,” says Curate. Personally, she’s gifted it multiple times over the years, because she’s seen how engaging it is, all while encouraging STEM and STEAM learning.
The long-lasting slime trend has diversified to include squishy slime-filled toys like these stretchy Heroes of Goo Jit Zu action figures. They’re full of goop and beads, and according to Adrienne Appell of the Toy Association, kids love to pull and stretch their arms and legs to feel the stuff inside. They come in several different characters, including some classic Marvel heroes.
This comic-book-making kit guides budding illustrators and writers through each step of the process. Lori Caplan-Colon, a speech and language pathologist at Montclair Speech Therapy, says it makes a great gift because “it doesn’t leave the child alone to possibly get frustrated.” Kids end up with their very own comic and a little more of “the discipline all creative endeavors need to be fruitful,” she says.
Caitlin Meister, founder of the Greer Meister Group, a private-tutoring and educational-consulting practice in Brooklyn, likes playing this game with her own kids, because each time you play, it’s different. The pieces are magnetic and attach through the board to metal ball bearings underneath. Before you start playing, one person sets up the secret labyrinth and a set of little walls underneath the board. “If you hit a wall, your ball-bearing drops off the bottom of your piece. There’s this very cool sensory component to try to find your way through the maze,” Meister says.
For kids who are getting into hobbies and sports, Golinkoff recommends supplies and equipment that nurture those interests. If you know a 7-year-old who loves to kick a ball around, this set of soccer goals and practice cones doesn’t involve any annoying assembly: The nets pop right out of their carrying case (and then fold back in with a simple twist).
No one can deny the joy of jumping up and down — especially if it’s on a super-bouncy pogo stick, like this one that Dr. Alexandra Figueras-Daniel, an assistant research professor at the National Institute for Early Education Research, recommends. “The pogo stick is a great balancing toy that will definitely require a bit of practice,” she says. But that’s a good thing: “I think toys that are just slightly above ability levels are great as they encourage persistence and also avoid becoming boring too quickly.” This model, which comes in a bunch of colors including blue, red, and yellow, features non-slip pedals and a safety foam handle. As with any other playthings they could potentially fall off of, it’s recommended that children wear a helmet and other protective gear when using pogo sticks.
Under $100
Unroll this rubbery keyboard to reveal 49 different keys. The preset tones can make it sound like a clarinet or violin or a whole orchestra. In addition to the standard piano option, you can record your songs and play them back. It is one of the handful of favorite toys mentioned by Austin-based second-grader Myrna, whom we also spoke to about back-to-school essentials. And Beth Beckman, a co-founder of FOMOFeed Kids, likes it for the space-saving design. “It’s great for apartments,” she says. That “and the fun rainbow colors make it a crowd pleaser.”
This futuristic-looking marble run “gives kids a hands-on introduction to gravity, magnetism, and kinetic energy,” says Dr. Taylor Chesney, director of the Feeling Good Institute. The modular design means they can assemble the tracks in various ways, allowing for curves, free falls, even cannon blasts — all of which provide “a great way to practice trial and error and problem-solving skills,” says Chesney, who notes that kids can either follow the instructions or get creative and dream up a layout all their own. The box says it’s meant for children 8 years old and up, but Cohen notes that it all depends on the kid. “A 7-year-old who is obsessed with building toys would benefit from the challenge of a more advanced marble run like this,” he explains.
Lindsay Bell, founder and owner of Bell Family child-care company, recommends this Hedgehog toy that’s “cute, spiny, and teaches children about programming” because in putting together all 172 pieces, you can’t help but learn about all the mechanics and gears and inner workings that make it go. When you clap, it will roll into a ball and tumble backward.
Zahn tells us that reissued Furbies are another highly anticipated toy for 2023. Timed to the 25th anniversary of the toy’s initial release, a new and improved class of the silly babbling creatures looks a lot like they all did in the ’90s but with some exciting updates — including voice-activated modes, accessories, lights, and dancing. They can also interact with other Furbies when they’re nearby.
“It’s never too early to start teaching good fiscal policy,” says Zibby Owens, author, mom of four, and host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. This battery-operated ATM-meets-piggy-bank helps kids learn how to budget and save money; they use their pretend debit card and pin code to deposit bills or coins in the designated slots and can look to the digital screen to see their savings accumulate (or dwindle as they make withdrawals). It can be serious business, adds Owens: “My son started charging me to enter our pantry!”
LEGOs of any variety are typically a hit with this age group. There’s something for every kind of kid, whether you choose a classic open-ended set to let them “free build” or a themed set that speaks to specific interests — from a race plane to a unicorn to a Harry Potter pencil cup to this Encanto set that lets them build the Madrigals’ magical house. The 587-piece set comes recommended by Myrna, whose parents told us that “LEGOs and Disney princesses are big in our world right now.”
Playmobil sets tend to stand out in the same way that LEGOs do — as one of the most tried-and-true toys you see kids play with more than anything else. “This is the first indoor toy I thought of when I was thinking of the best toys,” says retired kindergarten teacher Annamarie Mazzella. In this version, you can build out a tropical water park complete with two slides (one of which has a trap door at the top), two figures, eels, fish, a palm tree, and other accessories.
$100 and up
This award-winning robot, recommended by Caplan-Colon, is used in over 20,000 schools nationwide. Playing with it helps younger kids learn rudimentary coding skills that will help them as they prepare for middle and high school. “It’s packed with technology and is full of interactive surprises,” Caplan-Colon says. Dash comes with five free apps and simple guided missions to get kids started, and you can purchase additional accessories that allow the robot to play the xylophone, launch objects into the air, and create original works of art.
We named this bike the best overall in our story on kids’ bikes thanks to the recommendations of two experts we interviewed: Natalie Martins, owner of the review site Two Wheeling Tots, and Kristen Bonkoski, founder of the kids’-bike website Rascal Rides. Both of them recommend this REI two-wheeler because of its affordable price, light aluminum frame, and the company’s stellar return policy.
American Girl continues to release new historical dolls each year that speak to diverse audiences. Melody is a 10-year-old facing upheaval during the Civil Rights movement in 1960s Detroit; she comes with an era-specific A-line dress, cat-eye sunglasses, and a felt pillbox hat. Appell recommends any of the historical dolls because they help children connect with and learn about important moments in history. Or you can create your own Truly Me doll to look just like the child who will receive it.
Harry Potter turns 25 this year, and fans will find more licensed toys than ever before to help celebrate the momentous anniversary. There are Harry Potter Squishmallows, many many LEGO sets, Uno decks, Pictionary, and much more. But one of the most exciting magical collaborations is the Hogwarts collection from American Girl. This set comes with a detailed school uniform, a Sorting Hat, a wand, a stuffed owl, a school trunk, and other bits and bobs from the series.
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