Best toys for 9 year olds 2025, tried and tested by parents and children
Our pick of the toys that make great gifts for boys and girls aged 9 to 10 – from indoor basketball hoops and stop-motion kits to building sets, board games and battling trucks
By the age of 9, your child is likely to be a pretty independent thinker, with emerging – and sometimes pretty passionate – opinions of their own.
Their attention span is much longer and their spatial intelligence is rapidly improving. Plus, they have much more refined fine-finger skills, meaning they're able to paint, construct, craft, sew and draw in much greater detail.
Their gross motor skills are now developed enough to bring more grace, purpose and fluidity to physical movements and sport.
All of this means that there is a big change in the kinds of toys they enjoy playing with.
With their longer attention span, your 9 year old will now enjoy more complex or more strategic games, and will have fun with construction toys and problem-solving puzzles that take a fair bit of time and patience to complete.
That's not to say, of course, that your child doesn't still love to have a laugh with some very silly stuff, too. So, with that in mind, here are the best toys to buy your 9 year old.
Best toys for 9 year olds at a glance
- How to Train Your Dragon Toothless Puppet, £54.99
- LEGO Wicked Emerald City set, £89.99
- LOL Surprise! Mermaids Tots Assortment, £9.99
- Beyblade Xtreme Battle Set,
£45£39.99 - Miniverse Make It Mini Kitchen playset, £45
- Nintendo Switch Lite,
£199.99£179.99 - Jurassic World Dolores Puppet, £49.99
- Speedy Pants Family Card Game, £9.85
- Gamez Jam indoor basketball hoop, £31.95
- HEXBUG Battlebots Arena MAX,
£129.99£93 - Science Museum Mecha Dragon Kit, £32
- Doteki TOMY Multiplayer Battle Pack, Amazon
- FunLockets Secret Journal Diary Set, £20
- Build Your Own Mini Build Ladybird, £9.99
- HEXBUG Wall Crawler Gecko, £29.99
What are the best toys for 9 year olds?
1. How To Train Your Dragon Toothless Puppetronic by RealFX
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 8+ | Batteries: Yes
One of the coolest toys we've seen this year, this Toothless puppet combines old school puppetry with some cool new tech to create a fantastically lifelike play experience. The purple plasma blast feature is a standout!
He’s so lifelike and realistic, I think he’s a really special toy. The plasma blast and roar is awesome and I like making the smoke come out of his nostrils too! Toothless is very soft and fits on my hand really well and I love when he chuckles just like in the movie. He’s really cool. A really cool toy. Yeah, I love him.
2. LEGO Wicked Emerald City set, £89.99
Age suitability: 9+ | Best for age: 9 | Batteries: None
With the Wicked movie coming out this December, why not get ahead and buy this vibrant Emerald City set? From 945 pieces, you can build a beautifully-detailed model of the Emerald City, and enjoy the 5 LEGO Wicked mini-dolls – Glinda and Elphaba, The Wizard, Madame Morrible and Fiyero. This set is currently only available for pre-order and will be available from 1st October.
3. LOL Surprise! Mermaids Tots Assortment, £9.99
Available at: Hamleys and Argos
Age suitability: 7-9+ | Best for age: 9 | Batteries required: None
Like with all LOL Surprise products, you won't actually know which doll is inside until you open it on Christmas Day! You could get any one of the colourful mermaids on offer, but you do know each will come with a make-your-own mermaid tail which you fill with glitter and let set for 30 minutes, then simply pop it over the legs of the LOL Surprise doll.
4. Beyblade Xtreme Battle Set, £45
Available at: Amazon and The Entertainer
Age suitability: 8+ | | Best for age: 9 | Batteries required: None
Beyblades are back with a vengeance this Christmas. This new generation of tops is called Beyblade X, and the new Xtreme Beystadium (the arena) features an X-Celerator Rail and X-Celerator Gear System to level up the acceleration, speed, and ferocity of your Beyblade battles.
5. Miniverse Make It Mini Kitchen playset, £45
Available at: Selfridges and Asda George
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 9 | Batteries required: 3 x AA batteries (not included)
This 30cm mini kitchen comes with an oven with UV light, refrigerator and countertop, plus oven mitts and a cupboard full of mystery ingredients. From doughnuts to smoothies you can assemble your mystery meal with through combination of goo, sprinkles, fruit and more, then put it in the oven to finish your creation.
6. Nintendo Switch Lite, £199.99
Available at: Nintendo and Currys
Age suitability: 7+ | Best for age: 7-16 | Batteries required: None
The Nintendo Switch is a much-loved games console that's easy to hold and suitable for a wide range of ages. For 9 year olds, you can find a ton of appropriate games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and Monster High: Skulltimate Secrets Switch.
My kids have loved testing this device! It’s super portable, easy to hold and navigate, and enables access to a vast bank of additional games. It’s so easy to switch things up and change games when one becomes boring. And some of the games they’ve been able to play online with their friends. This device is so perfect for longer journeys (hello car/plane entertainment!), or for simply lounging on the sofa at home.
7. Dolores Delux Puppetronic, £49.99
Available at: Smyths
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 8+ | Batteries: 3 x AAA (not included
This adorable puppet is just as full of life as the real Dolores from the movie. We loved this toy so much, it landed on our list of the top toys in the Toy Awards 2025 and it's easy to see why. It combines cuteness with play potential to create something truly magical.
I would definitely play with Dolores again, she is one of my favourite toys now. I'm really wowed that the tiny remote can control so much of the dinosaur.
8. Speedy Pants from Confident Games, £9.99
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 7+ | Best for: 7-9+ | Batteries: None
This quick to learn and extremely fun to play game offers 10 games in 1 in a compact, portable package. It's hilarious and ready to add just a touch of chaos to any family game night.
Clara found this a hilarious speedy card game that was quick to get to grips with. She quickly realised it was getting her to use her maths skills but reflected that it was ok as she was having fun.
9. Gamez Jam Mini Basketball Hoop, £31.95
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for: 9+ | Batteries: None
This is – by quite some way – the best indoor basketball hoop we've tested. The hooks are designed to fit over any door up to 50mm thick and there's plenty of foam padding to prevent scratching and reduce noise, although we're not going to pretend this is ever going to be a completely silent toy.
I've improved my aim and scored lots of goals. It's good fun and quite hard and I know my friends would like it too.
10. HEXBUG BattleBots Arena MAX, £129.99
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for: 8+ | Batteries: 9 x AAA and 4 x LR44 (included)
This easy-to-build robot-duelling set is very robust and has hammers in 2 corners and, along 1 side, a spinning auger (like a spiralling drill bit) for some extra jeopardy. It's not cheap but, given the enthusiastic reaction of both our child testers – and rather too much robot-smashing in the MadeForMums office – we'd say this is a toy that definitely delivers on the excitement front.
This is such fun – and the screw bit is wicked! I love how the hammers smash the robots too.
11. Science Museum Mecha Dragon Kit, £43.99
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for: 9+ | Batteries: AA batteries x 4
This construction kit builds motorised mecha-dragon is great for children with an interest in technology, electronics and, of course, dragons. 3 motors help the wings and mouth move and there are also 12 different game modes available to expand the play potential.
12. TOMY Dōteki Multi Player Battle Pack, £29.44
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 8+ | Batteries: None
This seriously fun 2 player game sees players take control of Doteki masters, facing off against each other to take down their opponents target. It's fun, thrilling and can be expanded with different characters or dynamic arenas.
13. FunLockets Secret Journal Diary Set, £20
Available at: Argos
Age suitability 6+ | Best for age: 9+ | Batteries: None
Loaded with secret compartments and hidden keys, this solid-sided diary set comes with over 30 accessories, including a notepad, glittery pencil, unicorn charm keyring, sticker sheets, bookmark, stencil shapes, stationery items and 2 secret messages.
It's really cute and fun and it has lots to do. My favourite part is opening all the sections and seeing what is behind each door.
14. Build Your Own Mini Build Ladybird, £9.99
Available at: Build Your Own
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 9+ | Batteries: None
This cardboard construction set has 27 parts that slot together to make a 3-D ladybird, complete with wings that rotate to mimic the spotty bug's real life movement. It also comes with a press out fact stand for displaying your finished creation.
It came came out brilliant! It's a good size to keep and it's really sturdy. We have similar building kits made out of wood that have easily broken just putting it together but this is very well made – even with the moving wings it stays very stable. The information booklet that came with it was very informative, too.
15. HEXBUG Wall Crawler Gecko, £29.99
Available at: The Entertainer
Age suitability: 4+ | Best for age: 8+ | Batteries: 2 x AAA (not included)
This realistic robot lizard can scurry along floors and scale up walls just like a real gecko. The remote control makes it easy to move around and its eyes light up in the dark to help you spot it at night.
This toy is super cool. I love its glowing eyes as they make it look real and alive, although it’s a bit too noisy and I was worried it would fall off the wall and break.
About the author
Helen is Deputy Editor of MadeForMums, the author of Parenting for Dummies (Wiley, £17.99) and the Head Tester for our MadeForMums Toy Awards. She has written about parenting for Mumsnet, Pregnancy & Birth, Prima Baby, Boots Parenting Club and She Magazine and she's also been Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby. She has 3 boys and a heavy-duty washing machine.
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Authors
Helen is author of the classic advice book Parenting for Dummies and a mum of 3. Before joining MadeForMums, she was Head of Community at Mumsnet and also the Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby.