Top picks… if you’re six! The best birthday presents for a six year old, from the experts at Magic Beans Fairfield

Being a staff member in a toy store is pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread – we get to play with, demonstrate, and recommend toys to our customers all day long! We love our jobs here at Magic Beans Fairfield (or, if you prefer, #mbfairfield), and we love introducing our customers to our favorites.

We can’t always introduce our top picks in person, of course, since a lot of folks reading this live nowhere near Fairfield, Connecticut, so we decided to compile a list of faves to share with the wider world! We’re focusing for today on the best birthday presents for six-year-old kids, divvied into toys for girls and toys for boys (although of course, all of these toys are perfectly suitable for either).

GIFTS FOR GIRLS

Chelsea: Micro Kickboard Maxi Kick Scooter, $129.99

I highly recommend the Micro Kickboard Maxi Kick Scooter in pink (although it does come in seven fun colors!). This scooter is not only great for 6 year olds, but will be a well-loved gift for years to come! The Maxi Kick Scooter is great for kids until they are 110 pounds, and because of the unique steering mechanism, which requires kids to lean in order to steer, you don’t have to worry about your kid turning too sharply and wiping out!

As far as the ride, it is the smoothest and quietest that you’ll find, with high-quality polyurethane wheels and a flexible fiberglass reinforced deck, which both absorb bumps in the sidewalk. This scooter is also my personal favorite mode of transportation from the floor to the stockroom!

And don’t forget to include a helmet!

Lauren: Melissa & Doug Fashion Design Activity Kit, $19.99
I absolutely LOVE the Melissa & Doug Fashion Design Activity Kit. It is such a great activity for a kid on the go, since the entire kit comes in its own carrying case. With all of the plates, you can choose countless combinations of ensembles and let your imagination go from there!

To create an outfit, first you select a combination of plates to arrange an ensemble. Next, you rub one of the included crayons over the plates to create the design outline. Then, you add color and texture to the clothing with the colored pencils. The result is a completely colored ensemble that is ready to be hung on your inspiration board to encourage the fashionista inside!

Kyle: Roominate Chateau Engineering Kit, $49.99
This was an easy choice: the Roominate Chateau Engineering Kit is one of the coolest toys that Magic Bean’s carries! Roominate lets kids create their own amazing dollhouse, using techniques that build their STEM learning skills (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math). And these dollhouses really are incredible – you can make working lights, an elevator, a fan, and so much more! They’re sophisticated but they’re not hard to build, and the open-ended nature of Roominate sets means that kids can come up with all sorts of creations we can’t even begin to predict.

Plus, Roominate was created by two female engineering students who met at Stanford – telling your child the story of how her toy came into existence is a great way to reinforce the idea that girls CAN grow up to be scientists and engineers.

And finally: Calico Critters make the perfect adorable inhabitants for a Roominate house! Add a fuzzy family to build a home for, and you’ve got one incredible birthday gift here.

Editor’s note: I would have LOST MY MIND if someone gave me a Roominate set and some Calico Critters when I was six. Kyle’s picks get a gold star from me!

Gia: Goldie Blox and the Dunk Tank, $19.99
I love all of the Goldie Blox sets, but Goldie Blox and the Dunk Tank is my favorite! In this Goldie Blox set, you get to build a dunk tank and actually dunk the included dog figurine. I absolutely love that this set comes with a story book to read, and building the dunk tank is part of the story. It’s a terrific gift for a budding engineer, or just a kid who loves silly dogs!

Oh, and all Goldie Blox sets are compatible, so that means that as kids add more sets, they can create bigger and more impressive inventions. So this set is only the beginning of the fun they can have!

GIFTS FOR BOYS

Chelsea: Ultra Stomp Rockets, $19.99
My personal favorite gift to give for anyone aged 5-12 is hands down, Stomp Rockets. They can be propelled up to 200 feet in the air just by stomping with all your might on the stomp pad! The rockets themselves are made of foam (so they won’t hurt if anyone gets bonked), and the set comes with four rockets, making it easier for multiple kids to get in on the fun. This is a great outdoor toy to play with when friends are over!

Lauren: Klutz Star Wars Folded Flyers, $19.99

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… you folded star fighters for endless fun! The Klutz Star Wars Folded Flyers set lets kids build a better paper airplane, by following easy directions and using the included materials. It just takes a bit of cutting and folding, and then they’re ready to go! And the set comes with supplies and directions to build THIRTY star fighters, which will keep kids busy for a good long time.

Kyle: Playmobil Pirate Ship with RC Underwater Motor, $129.99

Who doesn’t love pirate ships? And this one is truly epic, with functioning cannons and a remote-controlled underwater motor. The way that the ship leans with the turns in the water is truly impressive. I would honestly be thrilled to get this as a gift even now! And this is obviously a six-year-old’s dream.

I love that you can take this toy outside into your pool or a small pond and let your imagination roam! If your kiddo is prone to accidents, though, you might want to put the remote in a zipper seal bag, just in case the remote decides to go for a swim itself.

Editor’s note: see how big that box is in the picture? Like, how it covers up the entire torso of a grown man? Imagine your kid’s reaction to a wrapped box that size on their birthday. Even if the contents weren’t amazing, this would already be a surefire gift!

Gia: Magna-Tiles Ice 32-Piece Set, $49.99
I love toys that encourage creativity and don’t require batteries! Magna-Tiles Ice are clear magnetic tiles that allow for easy 3D building. This set comes with squares and triangles of all sizes. I love that you can quickly create a house, and then knock it down just as fast!

And when play time is over, Magna-Tiles stack neatly, so kids can arrange them in stacks of the same shape – it’s great for shape identification and makes cleanup a little more fun!

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