Toys for 5+ Year Olds

From around five, children can follow several steps in a row, work carefully with small parts and wait for a result, for example for plaster to set before painting. Their drawing becomes more detailed and their hand more steady, which prepares them for writing at school. They like to plan, make something useful or beautiful and show it to others. Games with rules, crafts and building projects that take more than one sitting suit this age well.

• Plaster casting and painting. Children pour plaster into moulds, wait for the animal figures to harden and then paint them. A project in several steps that teaches patience and gives a finished result.
• Pom-pom monsters. A craft kit for making funny monsters from pom-poms and other parts. It trains fine motor skills and invites children to invent their own characters.

More creative sets are in craft kits and creative toys.

Many toys marked from 3 years remain interesting at five and beyond, because older children use them in a more complex way. Logic games sets with tasks from easy to tricky, magnetic building sets, a creative block set with 300 pieces and skill games for the whole family are good examples. You will find them in puzzles and games, building toys and toys for 3–5 year olds.

Prepare a covered table and keep all materials in one box. Read the instructions together first, then let your child do as much as possible alone. Plan projects in stages: casting today, painting tomorrow. Display the finished works or give them as gifts; this makes the effort feel worthwhile.