A Toy Reviewer’s Guide to the Best Holiday Gifts for 4-Year-Olds

Stabilo’s shorter and stubbier-than-usual colored pencils are great for small hands. The brand, known for its vibrant colors, is also featured in our roundup of the best art supplies for kids.

Many 4-year-olds are ready to graduate from DUPLOS and move on to playing with full-size LEGO bricks, which Dr. George Sachs, a child psychologist and founder of the Sachs Center in Manhattan, says “allow children to develop their own creative ideas and foster spatial awareness.” This set is specifically designed for children 4 years and up, and comes with beginner-friendly instructions for simple builds.

If you’re looking to encourage a musically inclined kid without much effort, I suggest this kid harmonica from Hape. It comes with a rechargeable light-up display that attaches to the back and guides children through a handful of songs: Red lights indicate when to blow out, and blue indicates when to suck in. Switch it to band mode, and it will play all of the other instruments along with your budding musician. The harmonica also detaches for free play, so kids can jam without any help.

To win this game, kids use a spinner and draw cards to help their monster — called a Meef — get all of its 12 teeth back before anyone else. The teeth are housed in a central pile that shrinks or grows depending on where the spinner lands and which cards each player draws; if you land the spinner on the lucky blue tooth, you get to take all the teeth from the pile. The illustrations are cute and silly, and there’s even a little bit of counting and simple math baked in.

For the animal lover, speech-language pathologist and mom Ellice Kim Lacerda recommends figurines from Schleich, the German toy company that’s been around since 1935. “We always add a few different animals to every holiday and birthday wish list,” she says. “They are pricier than other figurines, but they look realistic and are very durable.” Whether your kid prefers dinosaurs, wild animals, livestock, or mythical beasts, there’s something for everyone.

Speaking of dinosaurs, this clay-dinosaur craft kit makes kids feel like one part artist, one part paleontologist as they mold their own prehistoric creatures, using little tools and bright clay to cover up faux fossils.

Crafting supplies like pipe cleaners, pom-poms, and googly eyes are endlessly appealing to 4-year-olds, so Tze Chun, founder of UPRISE ART, recommends this beginner craft library that she says contains enough of a mix to keep little kids busy but is curated enough to motivate them to use their supplies carefully. She also likes that it works as a “perfect self-contained activity” and can be easily brought on a trip.

Corey also recommends art supplies that support process over product, like scissors, which are a superlative tool for honing fine motor skills and improving hand strength. The wacky edges on this easy-to-grip, child-safe set come in six different shapes for wavier, more interesting borders.

And here’s a fun activity book to help children practice their cutting and trimming skills.

A large part of every child’s education is social-emotional — learning how to interact with other children and process feelings. For that reason, Lori Caplan-Colon, a speech and language pathologist at Montclair Speech Therapy, suggests toys that encourage empathy and pretend play, like this veterinarian kit that lets kids treat and care for a plush kitten and puppy.

Milk Teeth co-founder Catherine Newell-Hanson is a repeat buyer of these personalized superhero capes that have been a hit with many of the kids in her life. You’ll need a bit of lead time, but the result will undoubtedly make the recipient feel special. “The Etsy seller who makes them can also include a matching mask,” she notes.

“Plips” are part fidget and part building toy; kids can assemble unique sculptures and patterns while practicing their their fine-motor skills. But what I like most about them is that the pieces make a satisfying “pop” when pulled apart.

If cats and dogs are old news, here’s a toy that lets children play midwife — sort of — to a rabbit. When you first open Mama Surprise (and a grown-up sets it up with batteries), she is alone in her hutch. But after feeding her some carrots and comforting her with a few head pats, she is ready to give birth to three babies. One of senior editor Jen Trolio’s daughters received the older guinea-pig version of this toy for her 6th birthday and loved re-creating the surprise over and over again. But she easily figured out how it worked, so Trolio suggests giving it to kids around 4 years old instead.

Many kids who love Hot Wheels cars don’t need more Hot Wheels cars. So if you’re looking for a gift in that realm that’s won’t add to the clutter, I suggest this T. rex on wheels that doubles as a Hot Wheels garage and ramp. I found out about the toy from WNBA player Breanna Stewart, whose toddler son is obsessed with it. Kids can also use it to clean up their toy cars by guiding its jaws over them and watching as it loudly gobbles them up.

When the baking is done, Disney Princess enthusiasts can host their friends, family, and dolls for a fancy tea service using this set of real porcelain teacups that feature Belle, Jasmine, Ariel, and Cinderella.

This Playmobil castle isn’t cheap, but it is packed with cool details that make it irresistible: spiral staircases that wind around one of the castle towers, a majestic throne room, rotating dance platforms, climbing rose bushes, a golden gate, a royal couple, and a cute Persian cat.