35 Toys and Gifts for 5-Year-Old Boys, According to Play Experts and Kid Toy Testers

At our in-person toy testing day, kids loved driving this dino around, making it stomp around the other toys, roar at kids, and shake its frills. One fun feature that's not available in every RC animal: It can walk backwards as well as forwards. "I love dinosaurs, and I’ve never seen something like this before,” shared one kid tester. Ages 5+; two AAA batteries required

This set makes it easy to create cool marble runs, just by snapping together a few tiles. “My son created a little world with his imagination and was proud of himself," one parent tester said. This starter set comes with a jungle theme, but there are also starter sets with undersea, polar, dinosaur, or desert themes; if they want to add to their collections, there are also expansion packs and individual elements that let the marbles do neat tricks. Ages 3+

With marble runs, the marble can only go where gravity will take it, but with Air Toobz EVO, balls whip up, down, and around tunnels powered by an air-blowing fan. “The Air Toobz were great for the whole family—we had fun taking turns designing our own paths and experimenting with the speed of the air and how it impacted the balls,” said one mom of a 7-year-old tester. “There were 15 speeds in total. [My son] in particular enjoyed starting the balls at a lower speed so the ball would ‘hover’ at the end of the tube, and then putting it on full blast to make it go a bit higher.” Ages 3+

At the Good Housekeeping Institute's in-person toy test, all the kids wanted a turn taking apart this pretend engine, using the included play tools. At home, one parent tester said, “The more they played, the more my two sons felt comfortable with the different components and tools. I love the fine motor skills it requires.” When it's all put together again, it can also be used for pretend driving and includes lights and sounds. Ages 3+; five AA batteries required

Mac & Cheese is an unexpected trend in kids’ gifts, and this silly picture book fits right in. It’s full of puns, like when Cheese tells Mac, “In queso you didn’t know, you make a great friend.” One parent told the Good Housekeeping Institute: “My daughter’s favorite joke was ‘What’s a pirate’s favorite cheese? Cheddarrrrrr.’ We walked around the house saying that for days.” Ages 4 to 8

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Good Housekeeping testers have long loved jumping, stomping, and stamping to launch a Stomp Rocket into the air. Now they can do the same with three different types of planes—a looper, a glider, and a wildcat—which are known for doing different types of aerial tricks, including curving in the air, soaring as high as possible, or doing stunts. Plus, when they experiment with force, flight paths, and wind, they're learning STEM skills. Ages 5+

This gives families something to do with the cardboard boxes that are probably already piling up around the house. It uses tools, bolts, brackets, accessory pieces, and stickers to transform those boxes into different kinds of vehicles. (There’s an animal kit, too.) “All three of my kids, ages 6, 4, and 2, loved this toy,” one parent said. “The box they decorated is still sitting in my playroom a month later being used every day!” Ages 5+

Loading these cars into their launchers, they look just like a flat rectangle. Then, kids are amazed as they shoot out of the launchers and pop into a 3D car shape, all while zooming at fast speeds. "He loved the novelty of this toy," one parent tester said. "He showed it to a lot of people." Parents also appreciated how little storage space they needed. Ages 5+

In this funny farm game, players have to wake up animals in the barn before the rooster crows and rouses them all at once. But players never know when the rooster will strike, so there’s lots of anticipation and excitement. “We loved it—it was simple and fun,” one parent tester said. “The balloon noise at the end was very silly.” Ages 4+

Our kid testers loved this one because there are so many different ways to play. The dragons can stay stacked, or be separated for sharing. The blue one flaps its wings and chomps cars (making for a fun cleanup). The red one sweeps cars out of the way with its fiery breath, and also unfolds to become a track. It also has storage for 20 cars on the side. Ages 4+

Kids and Lab experts alike were charmed by this on-the-go gecko, whose silicone limbs bounce around just enough to make it look like it's really alive. It's controlled by an easy-to-use remote, and the red LEDs in its eyes are the perfect finishing touch. Ages 4+; two AAA batteries required

For fans who can’t get enough of their favorite, friendly, neighborhood superhero, this Spidey action figure is just the thing. In addition to striking a cool, heroic pose, it has one neat trick: Press a button, and it executes a backflip! Ages 4+

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This set lets Bluey fans unleash their creativity: The four Heeler family figures can be colored on, washed off, and colored again. In addition to the figures, the set comes with a pump pool, an inner tube, a re-colorable backdrop, eight markers, and a scrub brush. “My daughter is in a coloring phase and a cleaning phase, so this was a good blend of both worlds,” a parent tester said. Ages 3+

The perfect gift for when you need just a little something, this set comes with smaller-sized tiles that easily pack up into a tin for car rides and plane trips. This one comes with 26 pieces, but there's also a larger, 55-piece travel set that also comes in a travel tin, along with small travel sets themed to spring, winter, hearts, Halloween, or holiday. Ages 3+

Yes, this toy really does have an odor to it, but parents were relieved to learn that it doesn't smell bad—it either smells like banana or burned popcorn. Kids adored everything about it. "His favorite thing was that it produced smoke rings when he used it," one parent tester said. "He has had fart sound and smell gizmos before, but never anything that took the toy beyond just sounds." Ages 4+; six AA batteries required

The voice of Emily Calandrelli, who kids know as the star of Emily's Wonder Lab, guides kids through real NASA images of space with this talking telescope. With it, kids can learn facts about space and all the amazing things that exist beyond our planet. And, if they want to look small instead of big, there's also the less-expensive GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope. Ages 4+; three AA batteries required

Kids can combine and recombine the translucent shapes to make endless art projects, then trace and color them in. It'll get them experimenting with color mixing and how shapes can work together to make a larger picture. The set comes with three markers, 22 shape clings, and three “Complete the Scene” transparency sheets, along with a light-up board that holds the markers. Ages 3+; three AA batteries required

They're not just playing with cards, they're learning the basics of coding! This set comes with challenge cards that feature a problem, and kids have to code the rescue vehicle to come in and save the day. The car comes with three shells that turn it into a police car, fire truck, or construction vehicle, and Good Housekeeping testers said that it was really easy to learn how to get them to go. Ages 4+; AAA batteries required