14 Best Toys for Kids Who Love Cars
These are our favorites, for babies and toddlers through kids and tweens.
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When a kid is into cars, they tend to be really into cars. The car crazies could kick in while they're a toddler or a preschooler, or it could appear during the tween years. When a kid says they love cars, automobiles, trucks, and race cars are usually what they mean, versus a bulldozer or a fire truck. Heres, I'm separating a love for cars from a love for construction-themed toys or pretend rescue play.
There are some Good Housekeeping Institute kid-tested favorites in here as well as toys I've long loved as a journalist who follows the toy market. I'm also a mom of two who has lived through having small cars rolling around in my purse!
Oball is one of our favorite infant toys and this version has a twist: The mesh Oball material is attached to the top of a toy car so your baby can grab it and roll it around. Beads in the tires dance as it goes. The toy comes in red, too. Ages 3 months+
Toddlers are all about role-playing so rather than pushing around a small car, they'll want to sit on a big car, turn the steering wheel, and beep the horn. This Radio Flyer Ride On also has a hidden storage compartment under the seat. It won one of our Best Toy Awards years ago and we still love it. It's also sold in pink. Ages 1 to 3
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Cars can be educational toys! This set contains seven boxes for toddlers to nest or stack, plus seven rainbow-colored wooden vehicles. Use it as an opportunity to ask a toddler about colors—can they park the orange car in the green box? There are numerals on each car and garage, too, if you want to challenge them to match the 4 car to the 4 garage and so on. Ages 2+
With its chunky wheels and Spidey in the driver's seat, this is total preschooler bait. Pull it back, then release and it revs forward, a move most 3-year-olds can master. The tires help it crawl over small objects on the floor. Ages 3+
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A pre-K kid is ready for that most classic of car toys, Hot Wheels. They'll want to collect, and they'll need a way to store them. I love this Roll Out Raceway because it can hold up to 80 cars. Then, it can be unrolled to turn into a sloped race track. It comes with one car, easy to supplement with a 10 pack of Hot Wheels. Also cool, and a recent Best Toys winner: Hot Wheels Dragon Hauler, which holds about 20 cars. Ages 4+
If your 5-year-old is ready to operate a remote-controlled vehicle, we gave this one our most recent Best Toy Award. Unlike other RCs, this one crumples when it crashes, then with the click of a button on the remote, the monster truck fixes itself. During our toy-testing day, kids reveled in “breaking it” and then watching it return to normal. The Monster truck can be recharged. Buy 2 AAA batteries for the controller. Ages 4+
This also won a previous Best Toy Award. Both at-home testers and kids who tested in our office loved how the cars can flatten, load into a launcher, then burst out to race.
"It’s very different than most car toys in that it’s flat and turns into a car after hitting the button," said one parent of a 6-year-old. "It's a great gift." The car can be endlessly reloaded and raced. The price is for one—they're sold individually and are available in more than ten colors. New this year is a Flat 2 Fast Stunt 2-pack set, a winner in our most recent Best Toy Awards. Ages 5+
Kids can drive this indoor RC across the floor, or up the walls, or even across the ceiling. It doesn't damage walls as it zooms, but I say it's better for the 7-year-olds than preschoolers since the older kids can control it better. (It also gets decorated with stickers, which older kids are better at applying.)
It can't go, say, from the floor and then up the wall—just straight forward or backward on whichever surface it's first set on. New with this model, there's a different mode for when it's defying gravity on the wall or ceiling versus when it's racing across the floor. The car is rechargeable for up to 8 minutes of play. Buy 2 AAA batteries for the controller. Ages 4+
Stomp Rocket is one of our favorite outdoor toys and the brand's race cars work similarly: Kids stomp on a launcher to send a car zipping. They can quickly see how stepping produces one speed while jumping on it will result in another.
I think it works best when kids are a little heavier, which is why I am recommending it for age 8 even though the brand marks it for 5 and up. Each box has two cars and two launchers, one red set and one blue set. Ages 5 to 12
This new 318-piece set allows your kid to build a Ferrari F40. It comes with a minifigure as well. Once built, kids can roll the racer around, and display it in their room. LEGO has other models in the line as well, including a yellow Porsche and a blue Mustang. Ages 9+
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LEGO Technic Porsche 911 RSR
LEGO Technic Porsche 911 RSR
Tween car fanatics may be ready for the LEGO Technic line, like this model Porsche with a realistic engine and suspension. It gets thousands of five-star Amazon reviews, including praise for being worth the money despite the high price. A kid will need some patience and focus, and can be great for a kid and adult to do together, too. Ages 10+
Bonus Car Toys
If your kids loves the Disney Pixar Cars movie: My son was obsessed, and rather than buy the cars one at a time, it was easier to get the whole crew, like this set of 10 Cars cars that includes Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and Luigi & Guido (who for some reason count as one vehicle). Ages 3+
For a ride-on: Both of my kids were crazy about the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, a classic. I think that because there are doors to open before they sit inside, kids feel it's legit. Ages 1 to 5
Cool car toy for an adult: LEGO's Technic line makes model cars for adults, too, like a 1:12 scale Ford GT with tiny details like moving pistons. Ages 18+
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