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25 Best Toys & Gift Ideas for 9-Year-Old Boys: 2024 Picks

Updated
Looking for ideas? Check out these 25 great gift ideas for 9-year-old boys.

Are you trying to find the best gift for a 9-year-old boy? It can be a tough one. They’re no longer little kids, but they’re not teens yet, either.

We’ve experienced the same challenge many times, so we set out to find the best products on the market to help excite and entertain the 9-year-old boy in your life. These toys have passed our criteria of being well-made, unique, educational, and fun, and they come highly recommended by the 9-year-olds in our lives.

Check out this list of the 25 best gifts for 9-year-old boys. The hardest part will be choosing just one.

Our Top Picks

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Best STEM Kit: Tinkering Labs STEM Kit
  • Endless robotic creations
  • Kid-tested, parent-approved
  • Intro to engineering kit
Best Card Game: Skillmatics Card Game
  • 50 cards
  • Great for learning and bonding
  • Screen-free play
Best for Skaters: Razor RipStik Ripster
  • Slip-resistant concave deck platforms
  • Rubber padded steel torsion bar
  • High-grade urethane wheels
Best Robot Toy: Anki Cozmo
  • Real-life robot
  • Perfect educational robot
  • Tested for durability and security
Best Books for Boys: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  • Includes books 1-10
  • Lighthearted and fun
  • Award-winning author
Best Lego Robotics Toy: Lego Boost Robot
  • 840 Lego pieces
  • 5 multifunctional models
  • Over 60 exciting activities included
Minecraft Favorite: Lego Minecraft - The Farm
  • Includes a Steve minifigure
  • 262 assorted Lego pieces
  • For Lego and Minecraft fans
Best Nerf Gun: Nerf N-Strike Blaster
  • Includes 6 official Nerf Elite darts
  • Easy dart loading
  • No batteries required
Favorite Logic Game: Gravity Maze Logic Game
  • 60 beginner to expert challenges
  • Easy to learn
  • High quality components
Best for Young Scientists: Omano Microscope
  • Premium-grade glass objective
  • Gives crystal clear images
  • Solid and well-built


Product Reviews

To make your choices easier, we’ve categorized the products we think are the best gifts for 9-year-old boys. Here are our top 25 picks.

Technical and Electronic Gifts

Boys love to explore technology and electronics. At this age, they’re starting to discover and master new things all the time. Learning about robots, engineering, and electronics will be exciting and interesting.

Exploring these experiences in a fun way will hold their attention and give them hours of enjoyment.

Tinkering Labs Electric Motors Catalyst STEM Kit

Best STEM Kit

Let your child’s imagination run riot with this kit, which lets them power electric model cars, build doodling robots, add motors to Legos, and more.

This introduction to electronics comes with challenge cards to give your tweenager ideas of what to build.


Lego Boost Creative Toolbox Robot Building Set

Best Lego Robotics Toy

Boys of all ages enjoy creating with Legos. This kit lets them use it to enter the world of coding by creating fun robots.

Instructions for five different robots are included in the free app, suitable for iOS or Android. Because of this, the set requires access to a tablet or smartphone.


K'NEX Swing Ride Building Set

Best Building Toy

This educational set from the world of K’NEX introduces kids to basic engineering and technology skills by creating a fully functioning fairground ride. There are three amusement park ride models to choose from and build.

It comes with all the pieces you need, plus a battery-operated motor.


Wonder Workshop Dash Coding Robot

Best Coding Toy for 9-Year-Old Boys

Wonder Workshop brings us this robot, which can be coded to follow mazes or race around a track. Once your child masters basic coding on paper or a tablet, they can begin block-based coding with the free Blockly app.

This award-winning coding robot toy is sure to be a hit with any 9-year-old boy.


Engino Levers, Linkages & Structures Building Kit

Best Building Mechanics Toy

This is one of many kits from Engino that help your child discover the world of technology and mechanics. Your child can use it to create 16 different working models while learning how levers and linkages work.

As well as a full instruction booklet, there’s online support via the company website or a free app.


Games and Toys

Just because your little boy is growing up doesn’t mean he won’t still enjoy games and toys. It seems all boys, even grown-up ones, love cars and similar toys, and who doesn’t like the challenge of a good board game?

Some of the games and puzzles we’ve selected might be more advanced but are still suitable for this age group and will provide lots of fun.

Skillmatics Guess in 10 States of America Card Game

Best Educational Card Game

This guessing card game lets you and your kids enter the exciting world of city exploration within the United States. It’s suitable for two to six players ages 8 and over.

We particularly like that this learning game allows parents to interact with kids away from today’s technology. It’s getting back to the basics. Plus, you get to teach your child about geography in a subtle and fun way!


Lego Minecraft - The Farm

Minecraft Favorite

Is your 9-year-old son a fan of the video game phenomenon Minecraft? Are they also still into their Lego kits? If so, this is the ideal gift.

With this set, your child can build a Minecraft-based farm, use their imagination to help Steve maintain it, and fight off the skeleton and his bow.


Spin Master Perplexus Epic Interactive Maze Game

Best Puzzle Game

Hone your skills by navigating a ball through this 3D maze enclosed in a clear plastic sphere. There are 22 feet of track and 125 obstacles to keep your child focused for hours.

This puzzle game will develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills while enhancing hand-eye coordination.


Ideal Magic Spectacular Magic Suitcase

Showstopper

Release your boy’s inner Criss Angel with this 56-piece magic kit. There are instructions for 100 easy-to-learn tricks that they can use to wow family and friends.

The set even includes a magic top hat and wand to add to the theatrics of the magic show.


Maisto Rock Crawler Radio Control Vehicle

Best RC Vehicle

It’s time to leave the kiddie cars behind and enter the world of battery-operated, radio-controlled action. This car has three motors (one for steering, two for driving), front and rear suspension, and a 3-channel transmitter.

It can be used indoors or outdoors and is rugged and tough enough for all terrains.


Sports and Outdoors

Outdoor activities are a must for a 9-year-old boy to burn off some of that excess energy. This could be playing ball games, chasing friends around with Nerf guns, or riding a bike or scooter.

Any toys that enhance an outdoor experience for your kids will be a bonus.

Razor RipStik Ripster Caster Board

Best for Skaters

This lightweight skateboard has been crafted with kids in mind. The shorter wheelbase is good for a tween’s smaller size, but it still performs at the skatepark.

It has 360-degree inclined casters with high-grade urethane wheels. The board has a concave deck for increased control when carving turns.


Nerf N-Strike Elite Strongarm Blaster

Best Nerf Gun

The Nerf N-Strike Elite is a massive hit amongst 9-year-old boys. With six darts they can fire in quick action, this gun will satisfy any Nerf war addict. It’s quick and easy to load.

If six darts aren’t enough, you can purchase extras separately.


Marky Sparky Blast Pad Rocket Launcher

Reach for the Stars

Keep active by jumping on this blast pad to launch a rocket over 200 feet into the air. Your boy can play with friends to see who can launch the highest rocket.

Once the kids have finished having fun with this outdoor toy, everything packs neatly into the base. This is the perfect solution for storage and keeping everything together for the next playtime.


Franklin Sports Electronic Baseball Pitching Machine

Best for Baseball Lovers

If you have a boy who likes baseball, but you aren’t always around to pitch for him to practice, go electronic. This battery-operated pitching machine will launch one of the six plastic balls every 20 seconds.

We like that this is height adjustable, so you can set it just right for your kid’s swing.


Razor Electric Scooter

Best Electric Scooter

Your 9-year-old will be whizzing off to the store for you on this battery-powered scooter. It’s one way to get them to volunteer to run an errand.

This best electric scooter for kids has a throttle in the handle and a hand-operated front brake. Just push off to kick start it and get to a thrilling speed of up to 10 miles per hour.


Educational and STEM Gifts

There are so many good toys on the market that teach our kids through play. Kids don’t even realize they’re learning as they use these genius toys and games. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) toys are designed to fit in with a child’s curriculum.

These types of toys are great for developing a child’s interest and enthusiasm for the world around them.

Anki Cozmo

Best Robot Toy

Cozmo is the ideal robot buddy for a 9-year-old boy. Apart from all the games he can play straight out of the box, some simple programming with a free app lets him control Cozmo to do his bidding.

We love the simple drag-and-drop coding method, as it makes it quick for new coders to use and see results.


Think Fun Gravity Maze Marble Run Logic Game

Entertaining Marble Maze

Enjoy 60 different challenges that get progressively harder to create a maze that carries a marble from the starting point to a target tower.

This game combines building and engineering and comes with clear and easy-to-follow instructions.


University Games The Game of Science

Grossest Game for Boys

This game for two to four players over the age of 8 covers all sorts of science subjects. Kids can learn about chemistry, biology, astronomy, anatomy, zoology, and physics.

It’s family-friendly learning made fun. Just stretch your line of gross slime to the end of the board to win.


Mattel Build Your Own Video Game

Gaming for Beginners

Kids love video games. This gift lets them create their own game, test it, and then play it. They can even share it with friends, which is really cool.

The free app that enables this game can be downloaded to a compatible device, which will have to be available for use.


Playz Edible Candy! Food Science Chemistry Kit

Succulent Science

Anyone for candy? This kit has a complete instruction book for 40 different experiments your kids can follow to make different types of candy. They can learn about food science and then eat the end results.

While the kit includes 27 tools and ingredients, you’ll need to add some pantry staples for the experiments.


The Best of the Rest

There are gifts that either don’t fall into the categories we’ve covered or which we feel are worth a mention. After all, arts and crafts, books, and exploration of the world are still of interest to many 9-year-old boys.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box Set

Best Books for 9-Year-Old Boys

Lighthearted and fun, this box set of books from award-winning author Jeff Kinney are favorites with kids worldwide. Easy to pick up but hard to put down, they’ll provide lots of laughs and encourage your 9-year-old to read.

You might even find yourself sneaking one out of the box to read yourself.


Omano Professional Microscopes for Kids

Best for Young Scientists

This microscope is ready to be used out of the box and will enchant boys who love looking into what things are made of. There are three different magnification levels and easy-to-use focus knobs.

They can examine the wings of a fly, see its eye close up, or grow bacteria and examine it.


Crayola Light Up Tracing Pad

For the Young Artist

This lightweight tracing pad has LED lights, making it easy to trace through. It’s really thin and portable. A graphite pencil and 12 colored pencils are included, along with 10 tracing sheets.


IQ Builder DIY Arts and Crafts Kit

Best Puzzle Kit

Arts and crafts are an excellent way for a tween to unwind and relax. This kit comes with the puzzle pieces to create nine 3D designs. It also comes with 40 markers for coloring them in.

Your child can assemble houses, buildings, animals, or insects and then get creative coloring them in.

You’ll probably be asking them to share with you, as these projects are good for stress relief.


SKLZ Mini Basketball Hoop

No review of boys’ toys would be complete without a basketball hoop. This mini version fits over a door and comes with a mini-basketball. The shatter-resistant backboard has foam backing to prevent damage.

This is great for kids to let off steam on rainy days indoors or just for practicing their skills whenever they want.

How to Choose Gifts for 9-Year-Old Boys

Nine-year-old boys are starting out on the stage of adolescence. Some will develop earlier than others; as we all know, no two kids are the same.

In general, your boys at this age will start to become aware of their relationships with others outside the family. You might have to let them go for their first sleepover with friends, which is never easy for a mom. It’s a sign that your baby is growing up.

Their attention span will improve, and they’re more likely to want to see something through to a conclusion. On the other hand, their interests can change quite rapidly. They’ll also be more adept at sports and outdoor activities (1).

Good toys for boys at this age will test their brains and physical capabilities. It could be anything from reading a book that interests them, exploring the world of science and technology, or simply shooting some hoops. They’ll also enjoy age-appropriate board games and toys.

FAQs

What Stage of Development is a 9-Year-Old In?

A nine-year-old is typically in the late childhood stage of development. They have improved coordination, are able to handle more complex tasks and games, and begin to form more concrete thoughts and moral reasoning.

They are also developing a stronger sense of identity and social understanding.

Do 9-Year-Olds Still Like Toys?

Many nine-year-olds still enjoy toys, especially those that challenge them or relate to interests like science, art, sports, or collecting. They might prefer more sophisticated toys like advanced building sets, strategy games, or electronics.

How Many Toys Should a 9-Year-Old Have?

The number of toys a nine-year-old should have isn’t fixed and depends on the child’s interests, space, and lifestyle. Focus on quality and variety, providing toys that engage different skills and can be enjoyed over time.

What Do 9-Year-Old Kids Like to Do?

Nine-year-old kids like to engage in activities that challenge them mentally and physically. They might enjoy sports, creative arts, reading, building projects, and interactive play with friends or family.

What is the Best Game For a 9-Year-Old?

The best game for a nine-year-old might include board games that require strategy like Catan Junior or Ticket to Ride.

Also, physical games like tag or soccer, or video games that are age-appropriate and offer creative or problem-solving challenges like the ThinkFun Gravity Maze Marble Run Brain Game and STEM Toy.


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