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
- 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 - WOW! Stuff Light Painting Lumos Wand, £25
- Fire in the Hole!, £21.99
- Gamez Jam indoor basketball hoop, £31.95
- HEXBUG Battlebots Arena MAX,
£129.99£93 - Science Museum Mecha Dragon Kit, £32
- Zu3D Animation Kit, £59.95
- FunLockets Secret Journal Diary Set, £20
- Build Your Own Mini Build Ladybird, £9.99
- Mi-Mic - Karaoke Machine MMC3 Bluetooth Speaker, £49.99
- HEXBUG Wall Crawler Gecko, £29.99
What are the best toys for 9 year olds?
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. WOW! Stuff Light Painting Lumos Wand
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 6+ | Best for age: 9 | Batteries: None
Harry Potter fans old and young can cast a spell with these replica wands that look like they’ve flown off the shelf at Ollivander’s Wand Shop. There are 14 different spells to learn from the wand, and if you swish or flick your wrist when holding it, the ‘Spell Master’ feature on the wand will come to life to help you master them. Each wand is voice activated to coach kids through casting the spells, and the wand will keep guiding you until they are mastered.
I like that you can draw whatever you want and that there are different templates that you can use to practice with. I’d definitely play with it again! I like being able to dress up as Hermione and pretend that i can do spells, like Lumos and then I can press the button and the wand lights up, as if I’ve done it!
7. Fire in the Hole!, £29.99
Available at: McMiller and Amazon
Age suitability: 7+ | Best for: 9+ | Size: L63cm x W36cm x H24cm | Batteries: None
This amazingly constructed pop-up board game is stunning to look at, hilarious to play and is made entirely of biodegradable materials. You draw cards that allow you – in various ways – to launch your 6 colourful felt cannonballs at the holes in the pirate ship's deck and the aim is to try to land them in a row of 4, vertically or horizontally.
We had a total blast playing this game as a family. We all loved how the board and ship cleverly folded out. The cannonballs did fly everywhere – which added to the fun.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Zu3D Animation Kit, £59.95
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 9+ | Batteries: None
This kit contains all you need to create your own stop-motion animations à la Wallace and Gromit. It features a USB webcam with adjustable stand and manual focus and 2 licences for software (for Mac, PC or iPad) that includes sound effects, music, titles and artwork. It also comes with 8 strips of modelling clay, a mini set, a 'green screen' cloth and a handbook. This kit is used in over 1,000 UK schools and we can see why: the camera is robust and easy to focus, and editing and adding sounds, backgrounds and credits is very intuitive.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Mi-Mic - Karaoke Machine MMC3 Bluetooth Speaker
Available at: Amazon, Wilko, Currys and Ryman
Age suitability: 6+ | Best for age: 9+ | Batteries: None
Let your child unlock their inner pop star with this adorable two-person karaoke machine. Complete with different pitches and voices, this item is perfect for sleepovers and parties.
I enjoy playing with this karaoke machine. I like that 2 people can sing together when both microphones work and I like the lights. It makes us all laugh with the silly voices.
Child judge Eadie, 8 years old
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.
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