10 Learning Toys To Prep Your Kid for Back to School

This post contains a sponsored inclusion of Melissa & Doug, but all of the opinions within are those of The Everymom editorial board.

No matter if your LO is entering preschool or elementary school, learning is the last thing any kid wants to think about right now as summer comes to a close. While many of us may be rejoicing that child care is in sight, it’s understandable that they are having aversions to anything back to school related. However, we all know that a properly prepared mind will help them adjust to the classroom more smoothly. Thankfully, we’ve discovered that the most effective way to transition back into school is by doing something kids already love: playing.

If the only thing your kids are interested in is having fun before school starts, then learning toys are your biggest ally. Learning toys, like the ones from Melissa & Doug, prep kiddos for the topics covered in the classroom while still keeping them engaged. Play is brain-building because it enhances social, physical, and cognitive development. With instructive toys, your kids will explore new concepts and build on their existing skills. To make it easier for you, we’ve rounded up 10 captivating learning toys your kids will love.

Children's easels are recommended for building fine motor skills and proper pencil grip—this one is the ideal practice surface for a child's first letters and words. This double-sided, kid-sized art easel includes a dry-erase board, chalkboard, locking paper-roll holder (fits either an 18" or 12" wide paper roll), child-safe paper cutter, four easy-grip clips, and a plastic tray to attach to each side of the easel.

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This magnetic calendar is an editor-beloved toy and perfect for helping kids transition back into their daily school routine. It allows them to feel a greater sense of control and responsibility, which is important during new changes. They can help post the day of the week, date, weather, and special events on the large magnetic board for all to see. There's even a space to post their mood—an excellent way to open communication and encourage children to gauge their own emotions.

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With its 52 brightly colored magnetic letters, this is the ideal toy for letter recognition, matching, and stenciling. You can have kids place the uppercase letters on a magnetic surface as you slowly sing the alphabet song.

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Featuring eight double-sided wooden puzzle boards and 64 wooden letters, this wooden puzzle set helps children gain familiarity with the letters of the alphabet. You can speak the words they are spelling out loud in a sentence to help their comprehension.

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Lift the six pieces of the school bus to reveal different pictures underneath that show what's happening, and to hear the different verses of the classic children's song. Singing along to this puzzle while uncovering the various pieces will help your little's auditory processing and fine motor skill development.

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Kids can match the colors, sort the shapes, and solve the puzzle as they manipulate the color blocks and turn the hands. This clock features activities printed right on the box to encourage interactive play and help children begin to master early-learning concepts.

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This train toy features an engine and two train cars stacked full with 15 colorful, wooden blocks. Kiddos can practice motor skills by stacking, building, and sorting the wooden blocks onto the rods on the flatcars.

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This set of wooden blocks patterns includes 120 shapes and five boards. You can help your LO explore shapes and colors as they follow one of 10 design templates or by creating their own mosaic with the 120 wooden tiles provided.

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Littles will love stacking, building, and knocking down this collection of 100 wooden blocks. They can create countless colorful combinations, while gaining invaluable practice with fine motor skills and dexterity, color and shape recognition, and pre-math skills.

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This toy is entertaining for kids while it promotes color and shape recognition, problem-solving skills, and fine motor skills. Finding the correct matching shape can also help kids feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Use code EVERYMOM20 to get 20% off any Melissa & Doug product!

This post contains a sponsored inclusion of Melissa & Doug, but all of the opinions within are those of The Everymom editorial board. We only recommend products we genuinely love.