If you’re looking for open-ended building toys that inspire creativity and hands-on play, check out our favorite building toys for preschoolers!
We know our Building & Construction Toys
We’ve got a bunch of kid builders and coders at our house – 5 of them to be exact! From our hands-on learner teen and our 8yr old that we have dubbed “the brain” all the way down to our little mechanic, Sawyer, who is almost 2 years old.
We have tried all of the building toys available because we love to give our kids open-ended toys that allow them to learn hands-on and develop creative thinking skills.
Our girls love to tinker with things. Thea (she’s 5!) also tries to use an actual screwdriver to help Dad put together anything and everything.
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Benefits of Building & Construction Toys
There are so many building and construction toys available, which makes your decision harder than ever when it comes to picking out the best building toys for your kids.
Building toys have so many educational and developmental benefits including motor skills, problem-solving, and social and communication skills.
Building toys help develop motor skills.
Picking up blocks, putting them together, and taking them apart help preschoolers to build finger dexterity. This dexterity is crucial for pencil grips when they begin to practice writing.
Building toys help kids learn how to problem solve.
Building toys can be frustrating to play with at times. This is a good thing! Kids will quickly develop innate engineering skills like figuring out the center of mass to keep their blocks balanced.
Kids also develop spatial reasoning skills to determine what blocks fit where and then they practice the engineering design process without even knowing it by correcting builds and testing again.
Building toys helps kids learn to communicate.
Building toys inspire collaborative play, which helps kids to develop stronger social communication skills. These language skills translate to communicating effectively, which is a trait of successful computer programmers!
Top-Rated Building Toys for Preschoolers
Our top building toys for toddlers & preschoolers are a mix of toys that we’ve recently purchased and others that we’ve had for years. These are all toys that we own and our honest opinion about them!
Most of these STEM toys are top-rated by several learning organizations and are best sellers on Amazon as well!
Educational Insights Design & Drill Activity Center
The Educational Insights Design & Drill Activity Center is a great construction toy for preschoolers to encourage STEM learning!
This building toy pairs construction with creativity by including patterns that kids can follow to make specific pictures with their bolts.
The set comes with a few drill bits and toy drill, a toy screwdriver, 120 bolts, and a toy wrench.
Our kids love to use the design center to create their own designs as well as follow the 20 activity cards to make pictures and patterns.
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We recommend this building toy because it is so engaging for kids while also encouraging STEM learning and strengthening fine motor skills necessary for holding a pencil!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 3+
Find more Educational Insights Toys
Morvat Foam Building Block Set
The Morvat Foam Building Block Set comes with 140 non-toxic foam stacking blocks, a floating base, and a tote bag as well as a mesh bag!
This foam block building set is great for stacking and encourages problem solving while strengthening motor skills and improving hand-eye coordination.
These foam blocks are made with non-recycled toxin free EVA foam to ensure maximum durability.
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We love that these foam building blocks can also be used in the bathtub. They come in such vibrant colors and are soft enough for little hands to play with them too! You also can’t deny that a 100% money back guarantee is worth giving it a try too!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 2+
Find more Foam Block Building Toys
1-2-3 Build It! Rocket, Train, & Helicopter
The 1-2-3 Built It Rocket, Train, and Helicopter set helps toddlers build three different vehicles with a kid-sized play wrench.
This building set is designed for kids age 2 and up and includes all of the parts needed to build a rocket, an old-fashioned train engine, and a helicopter.
Why we love 1-2-3 Build It!
We love that this toy encourages kids to learn how things are built! This helps build curiosity in young children for engineering as well as assembling objects and taking them apart. Skills like this translate to coding skills like decomposition later on and building an innate sense early helps to prepare kids for computer programming!
Recommended ages: 2-5yrs
Find more Learning Resources Building Toys
PicassoTiles Magnetic Tiles
PicassoTiles Magnetic tiles are a great open-ended building toy that is both fun and educational for kids ages 3 and up!
Magnetic tiles help preschoolers develop a strong sense of color, geometrical shapes including 3D forms, magnetic polarities and architectural design!
We have hundreds of magnetic tiles at our house from both PicassoTiles as well as Magnatiles. There are few differences between them and because of the price point difference, we always recommend PicassoTiles.
There are numerous PicassoTiles building sets including a racetrack set that is pretty neat and comes with magnetic tile cars to play with!
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
Picasso Tiles are an incredible find! They are almost half the price as Magnatiles and they are just as durable. My kids play with Picasso Tiles almost daily. We even bought them an awesome light board to put underneath their cool creations.
My kids ages 1 and up all enjoy playing with PicassoTiles. It is our most used building toy of all time — would you believe me if I told you they were literally playing with them as I write this article? Because they absolutely are!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 3+
Find more Picasso Tiles Products
Blockaroo Magnetic Foam Building Blocks
These Magnetic Foam Building Blocks from Blockaroo take block building to a new level.
The Blockaroo Blocks are soft non-toxic foam magnetic blocks that click together, rotate 360-degrees, and always attract to each other!
Not only is this a great developmental toy, it is also a fun sensory toy for kids to explore shapes, colors. These blocks help preschool age kids to develop engineering and creative thinking skills.
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We love that these foam building blocks float in the bathtub and that they are dishwasher safe, mold free, and very durable. You can toss them right in the dishwasher to sanitize them and they are easily portable for trips as well!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 2+
Find more Blockaroo Magnetic Foam Blocks
Melissa & Doug Wooden Blocks
The 100 Wooden Building Blocks set from Melissa & Doug is a classic educational toy that offers hours of open-ended play.
This wooden block building set is designed to introduce early math concepts, shapes, and colors as well as early building skills.
Building with blocks helps kids to develop strong motor skills and resilience as they work through trial and error to create by building, knocking blocks over, and then rebuilding!
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We love Melissa & Doug toys because they are made of durable and safe materials that last a long time! These wooden blocks have rounded edges and a smooth painted finish that won’t splinter making this toy great for younger kids.
Manufacturer recommended ages: 3-8yrs
Find more Melissa & Doug Toys for Kids Ages 2-4
Brain Flakes
VIAHART Brain Flakes are a unique construction toy that teaches children spatial thinking and encourages creativity!
VIAHART Brain Flakes are the original Brain Flakes building set that comes with over 500 interconnecting discs and a plastic jar for storage.
The kit also comes with an idea booklet with instructions to build a Brain Flakes ball.
Brain Flakes click together and are designed for kids over the age of 5 to be able to click the child safe discs together easily.
This construction toy helps preschoolers to develop spatial thinking skills and is also a wonderful collaborative activity perfect for classrooms or at home!
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We love that this building toy offers hours of limitless creativity and engineering education. Brain Flakes help improve coordination and dexterity. My kids just love to see all of the different things they can create. Most recently, we created crowns for my toddler to wear around the house!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 5+
Find more Brain Flakes Sets
Wooden Balance Rocks Set
These wooden balancing stone rocks from BESTAMTOY are unlike any traditional building toy you’ve seen!
The wooden stacking blocks are polyhedrons that are all different in size, color, and weight. This makes it a challenge to stack the rocks and complete the building process in this way!
This building toy is great for kids to enjoy on their own, but it is also a fantastic way to play as a family.
The wooden stones are made of high quality wood and coated with eco-friendly paint. They are natural, safe, non-toxic, and exquisitely crafted to create a smooth surface for children to play with.
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
The stone blocks have flat cut surfaces so that the stones can be stacked. Like traditional wooden blocks, this building toy works on hands-on skills, promotes creativity, and develops fine motor skills.
However, stacking wooden rocks also stimulates a child’s sense of challenge and helps build resiliency and persistence that challenges fine motor skills, spatial thinking skills, and trains logical thinking.
Manufacturer recommended ages: 3+
Find more Building Toys
Kid K’Nex Oodles of Pals Building Set
The Kid K’Nex Oodles of Pals Building set has 116 large and flexible pieces to create different pals!
Kid K’Nex support the developmental growth of preschoolers by challenging kids to discover how the building system works while working to build 60 different designs and more.
K’Nex helps kids to strengthen hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills by using their problem-solving and spatial awareness skills to create!
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We recommend K’Nex because building with KID K’Nex puts preschoolers on a path towards a fundamental understanding of STEAM subjects especially engineering!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 3+
Find more KID K’Nex Toys
LEGO DUPLO Classic Brick Box
You can’t go wrong with LEGO DUPLO toys!
The LEGO© DUPLO Classic Brick Box comes with 65 colorful pieces in different shapes and sizes and building cards to help build a helicopter, a fish, a flower, and more!
DUPLO pieces are designed for kids ages 1 1/2 to 3 years old.
What we love about LEGO© DUPLO
We love all things LEGO© in our house! DUPLO building blocks make it easy for young children ages 1-3 to get involved in open-ended play with easier to manipulate blocks.
Recommended ages: 1-3yrs
Find more LEGO© DUPLO Toys
Learning Resources Candy Construction
Build sweet structures with sticks, swirls, gumdrops, and more with this Learning Resources Candy Construction building set!
This building set helps preschoolers boost fine motor skills as well as develop early STEM skills with 92 pieces and an activity guide that has step-by-step building instructions to get started!
We keep this awesome building toy with our Christmas decorations and we build an epic candy house every holiday season.
We also have the basic construction building set too, so it’s a special treat to build the candy one!
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
The best part is that it gets toddlers to start putting pieces together even if it doesn’t turn into a house. The pieces go together really easily and it’s super fun to build little pretend lollipops or flowers.
This is a great STEM toy for kids under 5yrs! Charlotte loves building houses, tunnels, and whatever else she comes up with!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 4+
Find more Learning Resources Construction Toys
Bristle Blocks
Battat Bristle Blocks basic building set comes with 112 pieces of assorted sizes and colors!
Bristle blocks have soft, interlocking bristles that stick together at any angle for frustration-free building.
This kit also includes eight functional wheels to add motion to objects, which provides additional options to preschool builders for more creative engineering builds.
The blocks in this set are compatible with Battat Spinaroo and Stackadoo bristle block sets.
Why We Recommend this Building Toy
We love Bristle Blocks because they are so easy to build with and create objects that are a little more sturdy than typical building toys for preschoolers. My kids love to challenge themselves to build new things for practical uses like a computer stand or a door stop. We even had a reindeer Bristle Block decoration for Christmas featured on our entry way table!
Manufacturer recommended ages: 2+
Find more Battat Bristle Blocks Sets
Magna-Qubix 19-Piece Set
Magna-Qubix are specially designed to be fun and frustration free for kids ages 3+
Magna-Qubix, part of the Magna-Tiles family, allow kids to explore STEAM concepts through play with open-ended building tiles!
Magna-Qubix are made of tough plastic, strong neodymium magnets, and are press-sealed, making them safe for children ages 3+.
These magnetic building blocks help preschoolers to develop hand-eye coordination, practice early math and engineering skills, enhance spatial awareness, and improve fine motor skills.
These translucent and brightly colored magnetic building blocks are the perfect educational tool for children to explore colors, shapes and much more!
What we love about Magna-Qubix!
We own two sets of Magna-Qubix and we like that they encourage children to problem solve and learn that each shape must be arranged and placed properly in order to prevent their builds from toppling over.
These cubes are much smaller than traditional Magnatiles and we do not recommend them for kids who still put things in their mouth.
Recommended ages: 3+
Find more Magnetic Building Sets
We love these STEM building & construction toys for kids under 5!
Most of these toys are rated 3+ since several do contain small choking hazards. We do let our Sawyer (almost 2yrs) play with them under adult supervision since she doesn’t put objects in her mouth anymore.
All of these toys are highly recommended on Amazon and we absolute recommend them for kids ages 5 and under!
The best part of these STEM building toys is that they are great toys to learn through playing and start building a foundation for your little builders!
STEAM Gift Guides
Looking for a STEM or STEAM toy? Check out these gift guides for more information on our top STEAM toys for kids!
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We’ve hunted down the best tech toys for kids that are both educational and engaging and are sure to be a hit.
Blast Off with the Best Rockets for Kids!
These rocket toys for kids are sure to be a hit while also teaching some pretty awesome physics concepts like trajectory, force, and gravity. Learn the science behind rocket propulsion with these rockets that are great for active kiddos!
STEAM Gifts for Preschoolers that Cost Less Than $25
We’ve narrowed down the top STEAM toys for preschoolers under $25! Check out these great learning toys that teach STEAM concepts through play designed for kids 5 and under!
Coding with Awbie: Teach Kids to Code with Osmo
Find out why we love to use Coding Awbie to teach kids ages 3-9 how to string together commands and learn basic concepts of coding with Osmo!
Meet Toni, the Maker Mom behind Our Family Code
Hey there, I’m Toni! I’m a software engineer and Maker Mom that finds my joy in unleashing my children’s curiosity by exploring STEAM concepts with my fantastic five!
When I’m not chasing toddlers or raising tweens, you can find me tearing things up and putting them back together over here at Our Family Code.
I am the owner and content creator of multiple educational websites designed to increase access to STEAM & STEM education with a focus on teaching computer science and coding to kids of all ages!
You can also find out more about me by visiting ToniGardner.com!
Best Learning Toys for Preschoolers
Tuesday 4th of September 2018
Your list of building toys is really amazing and these kinds of toys will encourage intellectual and physical development in your child through play.
Toni
Tuesday 4th of September 2018
Thank you! We are huge advocates for learning through play!
Jasmine - LoveLifeLaughMotherhood
Tuesday 28th of August 2018
putting the tool box on the christmas list, my son will love that!
Sarah
Saturday 18th of August 2018
I love all these. My daughter loves building things more and more.
Toni
Sunday 19th of August 2018
These toys are great for many years! I love that my 2yr old is playing with the toys my 5yr old still enjoys and they can get creative together!