Math Gifts Kids Will Actually LOVE (2024)

Believe it or not, some of the best gifts are toys and games that nurture a love of math. For kids who already love math these gifts are a treat. However, for kids who haven't yet found joy in math, the right game or activity has the potential to encourage them to think about the subject in new ways.

Math Toys

Kids develop and learn skills during playtime. And those skills, like visual perception, patterning, enumerating and investigating are crucial for later academic success!

STANDARD UNIT BLOCKS

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Unit blocks are the classic toy. They provide endless amounts of entertainment, and teach everything from math concepts to physics all the while engaging a child's imagination. Every kid should have a set of unit blocks. No question. This is a great, basic set. Colors can be appealing to grown-ups buying toys, but neutral, unfinished block are the most versatile. Excellent for all ages!

PATTERN BLOCKS

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These colorful, wooden pattern blocks are a great math gift that doesn't look like a math gift! This block set offers kids the chance to build skills pattern recognition, matching, sorting, spatial awareness and one-to-one correspondence. Not only can they build designs based on the pre-determined patterns trays, but they can manipulate the blocks to arrange their own designs and patterns, allowing for endless creativity. Perfect for ages 3-6.

SHASHIBO SHAPE SHIFTING BOX

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This geometric marvel will mesmerize your kids for hours as they explore all the amazing shapes they can create. The box consists of magnetized puzzle pieces that you manipulate into seemingly endless shapes, drawing upon your spatial awareness and engineering design skills. It also makes a great fidget toy! Ages 8 and up.

Math Games

Some of the best math gifts for kids are games, and especially single player logic puzzles which also allow kids to strengthen their growth mindset skills. Here are our favorite single player and family math-themed games.

SUMOKU

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If Scrabble and Qwirkle had a baby who loved math, it would be Sumoku! Players use basic math skills to create patterns and sets in a crossword style format. The best part is there are several variations so the game never gets boring. This has been a family favorite! Be sure to check out more of our favorite math games for kids. Ages 8 and up.

PRIME CLUB

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Recommended for kids ages 10 to adult, Prime Climb is an excellent gift for any math-loving family. The game has won a ton of awards and is actually quite easy to learn. Plus, there are different variations of game play and even adults will be surprised at how much they learn and practice their math skills.

COLORKU

Find it: Amazon | Expansion packs

As the name implies, this is a giant version of Sudoku using colored wooden marbles instead of numbers. When your little genius has completed all the included puzzle cards, a card extension deck is also available. Ages 8 and up.

MATH DICE

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Need a stocking stuffer for a kid who loves dice games and math? Math Dice are perfect. Although the dice come with instructions for a specific game, that won't stop kids from inventing their own! Don't forget to check out more great stocking stuffer games. Ages 6 and up.

Books

In addition to the hands-on learning benefits of math games and toys, don't overlook the power of just the right book to inspire math learning. For more math books visit our book lists:

• Math books for preschoolers
• Math books for kindergartener - 2nd grade
• Math chapter books

MATH PERPLEXORS

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These are not your run-of-the-mill workbooks! Remember those logic puzzles you did as a kid? Math Perplexorsare classic grid logic puzzles but with a math twist. Fortunately, the activity book series offers multiple levels for different grade levels, from easy to expert! Ages 7 and up.

HOW TO BE A MATH GENIUS

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Doesn't everyone want to be a math genius? This clever, interactive book covers all things math, and then some. It's surprisingly entertaining. Ages 8 and up.

THE BOOK OF PERFECTLY PERILOUS MATH

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This intriguingly named book will spur your child on to investigate math conundrums. Author Sean Connolly frames math problems as precarious and dangerous scenarios. The math problem begins with a story and presents the problem to be solved, advice on how to solve it, and several grid pages as workspace. For example, in "Tornado on Your Tail!" problem solvers must uses clues in the story to figure out how long they have to find shelter before being overtaken by a fast-approaching tornado. The solution to each problem is clearly laid out and explained. A highly entertaining way to practice math. Ages 10 and up.

YOU CAN COUNT ON MONSTERS

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My son loved this book and spend hours looking through it! The aim of the book is to help readers understand factoring and prime numbers. It's great for visual learners. The book includes an explanation of how the numbers can be broken down into smaller units and every number from 1 to 100 is given an artistic representation based on its prime number components. Ages 7 and up.

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