The Best Non-Tech Toys for Kids

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In a technology-saturated culture, we as parents need to make a greater effort to incorporate non-tech toys into our kids every day. Toys that inspire and unleash their creative potential.

Side Effects of Too Much Tech in Kids

There is nothing wrong with technology in moderation. My kids enjoy playing video games. But if I am not careful, those games will absorb all their attention. And before I know it, we are dealing with behavior problems.

Perhaps you have seen it in your home also?

Children who:

• struggle to focus and easily forget verbal commands
• lash out in anger with the slightest disappointment
• become lazy
• show belligerence and disobedience to parents
• are having trouble sleeping

These are all signs of technology addiction in children and teens. Like any addiction, it can be hard to break. I have found for our family it’s important not just to limit availability to tech, but to provide alternative interests for my children to fill their time.

Toys that Stand the Test of Time

While cleaning out my kid’s toys recently, I noticed a pattern. The toys that retained interest, the ones that got pulled out over and over again, that multiple kids and ages loved, were not the latest fads or character toys. Those were the discarded toys I was now culling.

There is nothing I hate more than finding I wasted money on the latest “it” toy. Here is a selection of our family’s favorite non-tech toys for kids that have lasted the test of time.

Our Favorite Non-Tech STEM Toys for Kids & Teens

Brio Builder Construction Set

My kids love Brio! This STEM toy is a combination of wood and plastic pieces that let kids use their imagination to build. The Construction set includes a hammer, wrench, and screwdriver kids can use to build their creations. My kids love the feeling of working with tools to create.

Brio Blocks have provided hours of entertainment for my kids. Even my teens like to tinker with them. I love toys like this because it spans age ranges. This means my older kids will willingly join younger siblings to play.

Brain Blox Wooden Planks

You might be thinking, “These are just wooden planks. How exciting can they be?” BUT, my kids play with these for hours! And not just my kids. I recently took these to our co-op and the kids there had the best time. Their big accomplishment was building a tower taller than them.

This is another one spans ages. Even my teens and husband will sit down to build with them.

Related| Brain Blox Building Planks-A Simple Favorite Kids Love

Magnetic Tiles

I’ll admit we were a little late discovering magnetic tiles, but my kids love playing with them. As far as non-tech toys for kids go, these are some of our favorite. And there are just so many things you can do with them. Kids can use them to practice letters or numbers, create marble runs, or build whatever their imagination allows. My younger kids like to build fancy garages and enclosures for their toys. My older kids like to stretch their architecture skills and see what fancy designs they can come up with.

Lego’s & Duplos

Legos and Duplos are old educational STEM favorites. Our family enjoys both the Lego kits and the loose buckets of Legos. The kits, like the Creator 3-in-1, are perfect for helping kids learn to follow detailed instructions. They also teach them different techniques they can use in their own builds.

While all my kids love building the kits, only a few have enjoyed building the kits and using them to play. My dinosaur-loving preschooler is enthralled with the Jurassic Park Lego and Duplo kits and will sit to play with them. Mostly though, my kids enjoy the build, and then they disassemble it so they can build their own thing. Which is perfectly fine!

My teens have recently gotten into some of the Lego wall art and displays, so that has been neat to see also.

Our Favorite Competive & Cooperative Board Games for Families

Whenever we do a technology fast, we like to look for activities we can do as a family to fill in the time we would have been spending on our devices or watching television. One of the activities we have found to do together is board games. Board games provide ample opportunities for family bonding. And family games nights (or afternoons) can quickly become something everyone looks forward to.

Cooperative Board Games

We’ve always enjoyed board games, but during the pandemic, we’ve discovered a few new favorites. We love to play cooperative games together as a family.

In cooperative games, you work together to problem-solve and find a solution to beat the game. I love the teamwork they foster, the practice of listening to everyone’s ideas, and the critical thinking skills used for strategy building.

These are MY favorite cooperative board games for families:

Pandemic–of course, the perfect game to play given the current state of things. But it really is fun to try and find the cure and save the world together.

Jurassic World the Board Game–Pick your role and then work together to hatch eggs, place dinosaurs, and manage breakouts while you work together to achieve your objective. As Jurassic World fans, we enjoy playing this one together.

Feed the Woozle–This is one my younger kids really like that helps with hand-eye coordination and motor skills. Really fun and silly game.

Competive Games

Sometimes, my kids do like the challenge of healthy competition. Here are the most frequently played competitive games in our house:

Farkle and

Ticket to Ride–We love Ticket to Ride because-trains. And it’s my kid’s preferred way to learn US geography. Bonus when games can count as school right?

Catan–My kids enjoy this strategy game and working to build their own civilization. I like that it can have a different outcome every time.

Enchanted Forest–This game is like a step up from your basic memory game. You work your way to the end of the board and along the way you get to glance at the picture under the trees. When you get to the other side of the board you try to remember where the tree with the matching picture is. All the images are based on common fairy tales. My preschool-aged children and up like this game. It doesn’t take long and there are extra rules that can be added to make it more challenging for older players.

Include More Non-Tech Toys in Your Child’s Play

These non-tech toys and games are great for boys and girls. It’s one of the reasons why I love them so much. And it’s a large part of why interest lasts so long. The appeal to both genders and a wide age range makes them perfect for families with multiple children.

They are also great for stimulating the imagination and helping to strengthen STEM skills.