Educational Toys For Pre-School Children

A couple of week ago, J turned 3 year old. This got me thinking about wanting to get him more toys that work as a dual purpose – for fun, and for educational purposes. It seems there has been a shift in this direction in recent years and now most toys for pre-school children are aimed at giving young children a fun toy to play with whilst teaching them basic subjects.

So this post is showing off some of the educational toys that J loves, and that I think are fantastic for pre-school children…

A red and blue toy till with play money, perfect for preschool children. The cash drawer is open, revealing coins and notes inside. Includes a play credit card—an ideal educational toy for learning about money on a white surface.

Pretend & Play® Calculator Cash Register with Play Money | Learning Resources | £36.00

Children can make playing shops just like the real thing with this robust cash register. This cash register features a solar powered calculator so can help to teach children early maths skills and number work whilst playing shop.

A red and blue toy till with British play money, including coins and paper notes, displayed in the open cash drawer and on top of the till. Perfect as an educational toy for pre-school children. The screen shows the number 25623.

The oversized buttons and large digital display are perfect for little fingers and the cash tray compartments are the perfect size to hold real-life money. Even though the cash register has pretend money, this is based around our UK money so gives children a basic knowledge of our notes and coins from a young age.

The cash register includes a pretend credit card and then 10 or each coin denomination and 4 of each £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes. It gives children the chance to work and play with money, and gives them that push to learning about maths, and workings out with the use of the till.

A colourful PJ Masks-themed toy tablet designed for pre-school children features a keyboard and screen on a white surface. In the background, three small PJ Masks character figurines—Gekko, Catboy, and Owlette—stand in a row.

PJ Masks Tablet | VTech | £24.99

Join Catboy, Owlette and Gekko as they go into the night to save the day! Your child’s favourite heroes are here to save the day with their learning tablet, to teach children whilst getting to play with their favourite characters. Featuring the voices of the masked crusaders, it includes 6 exciting activities teaching letters, phonics, rhyming, patterns and shapes.

A PJ Masks-themed children’s learning tablet with a keyboard, screen, and colourful buttons is surrounded by small PJ Masks character figurines—Gekko, Catboy, and Owlette—on a white surface. Perfect for pre-school educational toys for pre-school children.

It is perfect for early learning lessons as children are engaged straight away when the voices of the characters talk to them. The PJ Masks Tablet is easy to use and has 26 letter buttons and 3 character buttons which introduce your favourite PJ Masks friends. With fun animations, cool sound effects and character voices, your child will love to join this learning adventure with the PJ Masks!

A LeapFrog Fridge Phonics toy shaped like a red apple with a green frog, letter tile slots, and letter tiles spelling "love." These educational toys for children include extra tiles that say "Best Mum in the world," "Best Dad in the world," and "Me.

Tad’s Fridge Phonics | Leapfrog | £21.99

Phonics is such an important subject for children to learn and the Tad’s Fridge Phonics introduces your child to the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make though phonics. Helping build vocabulary and exercise fine motor skills too which is so important for young children to grasp.

Three magnets reading “Best Dad in the world,” “Me,” and “Best Mum in the world” above a grid of 26 lowercase magnetic letters—perfect educational toys for pre-school children to make learning fun and interactive.

You simply have to place one of the 26 musical letter tiles into the letter slot and press down for three modes of play that reinforce letter names, phonics and word skills. There are three frames which can be customised with your own photos and images, for a unique, personalised play experience making it even more fun for children too.

Two children's books, perfect for pre-school children, are shown: "From A to Z with Joseph" and "From 1 to 10 with Joseph." Both covers feature a smiling boy, whilst the second book includes playful illustrations of ducks and numbers.

Personalised Early Learning Bundle | Itsyourstory | £35.00

Learning has to be fun and relevant which is why these two beautifully illustrated books press all the right buttons for children. These two books, ‘From A to Z’ and ‘From 1 to 10’ can be personalised wiyh your child’s name and photo. You child then features on every page alongside the letter or number and a simple sentence which brings the scene to life.

An illustrated book page shows a child in a winter coat peeking out of an igloo in falling snow. Perfect for pre-school children, the opposite page reads, "J is for Jelly. The Jelly Jiggles and Jumps.

The books perfectly complement each other with the same illustrative style throughout. A wonderful gift for any young child who is starting on their learning journey and you can even add a thoughtful message at the front of each book so they can be cherished for years to come.

A yellow toy dumper truck with a removable wheel, a large plastic bolt, and a yellow toy power drill with a grey tip—perfect educational toys for pre-school children, all set against a white background.

CAT Take-A-Part Dump Truck | Smyths | £16.99
The CAT Take-A-Part Dump Truck gives children a way to use tools whilst also helping their fine motor skills. Children can the “power drill” included to remove the screws and take off the tyres, cab, dump bed or blade and then put it all back together again and it’ll be as good as new and ready to roll on the job site.

It’s a great way to learn problem solving to work out how it goes back together – a puzzle and free wheeling vehicle all in one. The motorised hand drill makes it easy for children to put the screws back in, and back out again.

A dinosaur-themed bingo game called "Bingosaurus" is displayed with its box, bingo cards featuring dinosaur illustrations and names, blue bingo counters, and a stack of cards—an engaging educational toy ideal for pre-school children.

Bingosaurus | Carlton Books | £16.99
Bingosaurus is the next level of bingo playing! This game features 48 dinosaurs, all of which are brought to life with stunning illustrations and is perfect for teaching children about matching. You can make it as hard or easy as you like.

Fun for children as they can learn dinosaurs as they play, but it’s also great for learning their matching skills and for their memory. You don’t even have to play against each other – it can be a simply game of matching the dinosaurs to the ones on your sheet. Simply turn over a dinosaur card, and if your child has that one, they pop a chip on it – until it’s full and… BINGO!