Getting toys for nine-year-olds can be tough. They are at the in-between age where they don’t care for toys but are not old enough to do tween activities. They need space to explore their interests but also preserve their childlike innocence.
At age nine, boys are likely to enjoy activities such as shooting guns, Legos, Minecraft toys, realistic working toys like watches and cameras, scientific experiment crafts, outdoor sports equipment, fun stationery, board games with friends, and bobby-based skills.
In order to pick out appropriate toys for nine-year-old boys, it is important first to understand their developmental milestones at this age. How they think and perceive the world and themselves plays a significant role in how they will choose to spend their time. Read more about this below.
Understanding 9-year-old boys
Kids start to form stronger and more complex friendships at this age and experience higher levels of peer pressure. They also become more aware of body image and expectations. The media and screen time they are exposed to can play a major role in their mental state.
You often find parents mention that their nine-year-old sons have anger bursts like a teenager. It can be challenging to navigate what the child wants. Even though children are still meant to play with classic toy items and unleash their childlike personalities at this age, the changes in technology, new age pressure, and social expectations can cause them to pull back and only want teen/adult activities.
The items they play with should help them preserve their childishness while simultaneously letting them feel like they are grown up. It should help them explore their individuality, independence while still offering them fun and entertainment.
Additionally, it should offer them some educational aspects, such as math, reading, or a skill that could turn into a hobby or future career. At the same time, that learning aspect should be exciting, unstructured, and they should feel in control.
Have a look at the list of toys for 9-year-olds below:
Toys Under $25
Minecraft UNO
It is no secret that every child out there these days are obsessed with playing Minecraft. It’s all they want to do, and it’s all they can talk about. With these Minecraft-themed Uno cards, you can get your boys off the screen and into the real world!
The set is a collector’s item for sure; tell your child that, and it will double his excitement! It is a unique deck of cards with all the favorite Minecraft characters and environments on each card.
It is a deck of 112, with a special Creeper card. When you show The Creeper to another player, they have to draw additional cards. The gameplay is still the same as the original Uno. Matching colors and numbers (Minecraft characters for this deck) on each turn and announcing “UNO!” when you have your last card left.
It’s a fun family time game or one that your nine-year-old can play with his Minecraft-loving friends. It will fill their Minecraft cups up without them staring at a screen all day. Mental stimulation is guaranteed with Uno and a whole bunch of endless fun!
Jigsaw Puzzles
Puzzles are a classic activity for all ages. You get puzzles that work for each age according to the number of pieces and pictures on them.
Building puzzles help with resilience, problem-solving, and critical thinking. It additionally improves hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
Puzzles keep kids occupied for ages, provide them with educational aspects and allow for open-ended, free-flowing play. Puzzles are fun and exciting. Once completed, kids always feel a great sense of accomplishment.
For a nine-year-old, this set of 2 100-piece puzzles are a great way to keep them entertained and engaged. One is themed like the world map, and the other is the solar system. Both themes are typically interesting to kids, sparks interest, and bring about new questions and interactive communication with caregivers and friends.
Set of Rubik’s Cubes
A Rubik’s cube is the perfect brain teaser for your curious nine-year-old boy. What better way than to get their brains stimulated than trying to solve a block of colors?
You get a wide variety of Rubik’s cubes. They are different shapes, sizes, color combinations, and even difficulty levels.
A nine-year-old, who might have already solved a regular cube previously, will require something a little more challenging. If they’re just getting started, they will want something at a beginner’s level to get the hang of it.
This set offers them both options. It includes 3 different cubes; 1 is triangle shaped, 1 is square with large blocks of color, and the third is square with small, medium, and large color blocks. They all have a unique look to them and will challenge your child in different ways.
Glow In the Dark Rock Painting Kit
This is a super fun, super cool, glow-in-the-dark rock painting kit that includes 10 rocks and everything else you need to decorate the rocks.
The paint is dimensional, water-resistant, and fluorescent. The paint will give the rocks a 3D effect, allowing your child to experience different textures and designs. It will withstand rain and wind outside, and because it is fluorescent, it will glow in the dark at night.
The paint is also non-toxic and safe for kids.
A nine-year-old can get creative with a range of desired patterns and colors. They can express themselves through painting and then enjoy having their work displayed in the garden or home. The best part is when it glows at night and sparks a whole series of joy.
Junior Scrabble Board Game
This is an incredible board game for a nine-year-old to play with family or friends. It is the kid’s version of adult scrabble.
The educational value of helping kids get better with spelling without any pressure is a bonus. And your kids will feel a sense of confidence and accomplishment when they get the spelling correct.
The game has a 2-sided board for more advanced play as they grow with it. One side has you match letters to form words, and the other side has you building your own words.
The box includes the letter tiles, the tokens, and everything required to play the games and will have your kids spending hours playing.
Digital Toy Camera 8GB
You might not want your kids walking around or going to friends’ homes carrying a phone, but a camera would be okay because they could have fun taking pictures of their playtime and start collecting memories.
The video recorder has high-cost efficiency. It has a cute aesthetic, safety material, special IPS screen, high-resolution video, and portable design. This kids’ digital camera is a perfect product to get your nine-year-old girl.
The camera supports continuous shooting, making it easy to shoot dynamic movements without missing any moments. It has a time-lapse option with 3 levels and even a delay photo option.
The camera comes with an 8GB micro-SD card, a USB cable, a lanyard, and a user manual.
It is ideal for your little guy to enjoy feeling like a grown-up with his very own camera that is safe for kids. He will love taking as many pictures and videos as he wants, without the restrictions of using parents’ items.
Toys Under $50
Boxing Bag Set
Physical activity is a must for kids, especially boys. They have way more energy than they actually use in a day. This is especially apparent in today’s time, where most kids are glued to the screens with gaming and TV.
This is a boxing bag for kids to get their bodies moving, learn new skills, and possibly let out some steam. It is height adjustable, so no matter how tall or short your nine-year-old is, they will still be able to use it efficiently.
It is a boxing ball on a stand with a sturdy round base to keep it in place. The spring is strong enough to take hits and allow the ball to bounce back into place.
Boxing helps with hand-eye coordination, physical wellness, reaction skills, relieving stress, and self-defense skills. It will get your kids’ heart rates up and allow them to burn some energy.
The set also includes a pair of boxing gloves and a pump for the inflatable punching bag.
Avengers Lego Kit
Nine-year-old boys love the avengers. They love superheroes. They also love Legos. Now imagine having that all in one! This kit lets your child build Legos into Avengers characters. They can build a War-Machine and Ant-Man.
Once the structures are built, they get to play with the characters. It’s a multifunctional toy giving your child a range of fun experiences.
They can role-play or put the structure up with the rest of their Lego collection on display. Whenever they feel like rebuilding it, they simply have to take it apart and start again.
It provides endless fun, occupies them for hours, helps with motor skills, problem-solving, and resilience. It also teaches them to be patient while following a method to reach a goal.
The kit includes 362 pieces and is compatible with all other Lego playsets, bringing an array of imaginative play and entertainment.
Karaoke Microphone
By age nine, kids can pretty much fully sing songs. They know what kind of music they prefer, and they actually love music and singing.
This karaoke microphone will enhance your child’s vocals and auditory development. It will boost their confidence, give them feel-good emotions, and even inspire their future music career.
The microphone comes in a variety of fun colors to choose from and has 30 hit karaoke songs pre-loaded. It has a loudspeaker that will amplify your voice.
It can be connected to Bluetooth so your kids can pick and choose any song they like and play it from a phone or computer. It will play any song from YouTube, Spotify, and other apps.
Kids will have endless fun alone, with family, or with friends singing along to their favorite songs and making up some fun dance moves in the process.
Kidizoom Smartwatch
This durable smartwatch for your young photographer is a great way to offer them the experience of feeling independent and encourage them to stay active.
The watch has a camera, video camera, games, activities, motion sensor, digital plus analog watch faces, an alarm, a timer, a stopwatch, a calendar, and a calculator.
Your nine-year-old will have the best time using the watch like a grown-up, and you will be at ease knowing it’s a kid-friendly device.
Children can explore their creativity with fun photo effects, frames, and filters. In addition to helping them learn and tell time, they have fun using the timer and stopwatch to motivate them with physical activity.
The watch face can be customized to be either digital or analog, and there are 11 touch screen activities to choose from. It is splash-proof for everyday play and has a built-in rechargeable battery.
Bow and Arrow Archery Toy
Physical activity is crucial to a nine-year-old after spending hours behind a desk, in front of screens, and writing in books every day with school and tuition. They need to get their bodies moving for improved mental, emotional, and physical health.
This archery set is fantastic for your nine-year-old to learn a new skill and make a hobby out of it. It is additionally great if your child is not the biggest fan of excessive exercise and too much movement. This will give them just the right amount of activity without being sedentary.
The set includes an archery bow, 3 arrows for the bow, a bull’s eye target board, and a quiver to hold the arrows. It also has LED lights to help with easier target and safety at night. Plus, the lights make it more fun.
Toys Under $100
Minecraft Lego Set
Here is another Lego set for your Lego crazy, Minecraft-obsessed nine-year-old who can’t seem to get enough of the 2 activities.
This Lego set would be considered a structure to add to your child’s display collection after they’ve built it. The entire purpose of it is to build something that looks like it’s from Minecraft. While the kids can play with it after building, your child might be too excited to have the structure all done looking like his favorite game.
The set includes 208 pieces and even has 2 mini-figures: Alex and a zombie, plus an iron golem and a baby pig. It has all the key accessories and tools most famous amongst the Minecrafters, such as a pickaxe, a buildable torch, and a pumpkin.
Your child can build and rebuild the structure as many times as they prefer and be proud of their hard work and perseverance.
Legos keep kids busy and stimulated with endless fun and excitement, and in the process, they gain developmental benefits and genuine happiness.
Light Up Dance Pad
Running and jumping are some of the most important things for kids to do. Moving their bodies is absolutely crucial for their mental and physical development and overall health.
Dancing is a wonderful activity to use as exercise and get those happy emotions running in your child. Dancing makes them feel good and allows them to express themselves and release any stress.
This mat is a multifunctional dance game. It has a jumbo soft dance surface. The large, light-up dance pads indicate your next move.
It includes 3 different arcade games with 5 different difficulty levels. The volume is adjustable to suit your child’s situation and mood.
Osmo Genius Starter Kit
If your child, like most kids, is addicted to the screen and you would prefer if they used it productively, Osmo is an interactive, educational tool to add fun to your child’s learning.
Kids learn best through play. If they’re having fun, they will absorb information better and actually remember it. The Osmo genius kit offers them just that.
The kit includes an Osmo base for an iPad, tangram pieces, number tiles, word tiles, and stackable storage.
It is compatible with several iPad models and will allow your child to enjoy screen time while gaining skills and educational information while simultaneously having a series of fun. They won’t feel like they’re learning or being tied down to studying.
Osmo sensors and reacts to every real-life move. The games bring your child’s creative imagination to life with hand-held pieces that interact with an iPad and an Osmo base. The best part is that it doesn’t require wifi to play.
The product gives them a range of skills such as visual problem-solving, critical thinking, auditory, reading, and several other education subjects.
Your nine-year-old will never get bored of the Osmo genius kit and can use it for a good few years before passing it onto a sibling or friend.
Astronomical Refractor Telescope
Here is the perfect product if you have a child obsessed with space, the planets, and everything around that. What could be better than getting your child a telescope that they can actually use for real?
This can be given to a nine-year-old who doesn’t have much interest in space and astronomy to spark that interest. It can allow them an opportunity to take an interest in something new. It will spark curiosity, excitement, and questions, allowing a platform to interact, learn and share thoughts with caregivers, friends, and family.
This is a portable telescope for kids who are beginners with learning all things space. The telescope is bright and clear, and the lead-free glass can be upgraded. It has a cross-finder scope to make it more convenient to find the star on any flying bird.
There are 2 different eyepieces to enjoy the sight of different distances. This means the telescope doesn’t only have to be used for moon-viewing but can be used to watch birds and other scenery.
The universe is a complex, vast, and interesting topic to get into. There is so much you can offer your child to learn. Having a telescope might spark a hobby interest that will keep them occupied and stimulated for longer than you can imagine.
Toys Above $100
Lazer Tag Gun Set
There is most definitely not another classic, common toy that comes close to how much boys love playing with guns. They seldom grow out of it. It goes from one type to the other over the years until they’re middle-aged men still shooting on a Sunday afternoon.
This gun set is different from the usual. It’s a laser tag set with 4 guns and 4 corresponding vests. It is a great way to have team play and full-on entertainment. It allows for healthy competition, boosts quick thinking skills, and gets the adrenaline pumping.
The package includes everything required to set up the guns and vests with an instruction manual on how to play with relevant rules.
Your boys will get to enjoy a typical boy toy with a completely different experience surrounding fun and entertainment.
Goobi Construction Set
STEM learning activities are incredible for kids who require a good amount of stimulation (as nine-year-olds do) with an educational experience through organic play.
This is not your classic blocks or Lego set. It is an open-ended construction toy that has ergonomically shaped bars designed safely to explore magnetism. Magnetics’s repulsive and attractive properties are interesting, and watching how a structure can be built by connecting magnets will prove mind-blowing for kids.
The Goobi set contains 140 plastic bars with strong attractions, 90 nickel-coated iron balls, and 70 tripods as interlocking pieces. The tripods help with 90-degree connections. Additionally, the tripods allow children to create rigid cubical structures, increasing design possibilities. The pieces come in an assortment of bright colors. There is also a 32-page illustrated instruction booklet.
Goobi construction set induces creativity and helps to develop a sense of proportion in children. It creates fun and simple methods of learning the basics of geometry, physics, and architecture. Hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills will be improved through play.
Deluxe Student Microscope Set
Your child does not have to into science to be fascinated with putting things under a microscope, and if they are, they will love this more!
It’s not the usual toy you would find a nine-year-old playing with, but that’s because microscopes are only used in school for educational purposes. It doesn’t have to be that way; you can get your child intrigued in the microscopic life from this age.
It is truly super fascinating, especially for a nine-year-old between ages and not sure of what they actually enjoy doing. This could keep them occupied, get them learning, and it will all be done with genuine fun. There is no pressure when it’s used for playtime at home.
The kit contains 2 10-piece slide kits, each with 5 biological specimens and 5 blank slides. It is great for an introduction to using a microscope. The book “The World of the Microscope” is also included. If you don’t mind spending some time learning and explaining to your child, it could be a great interactive activity to improve communication and help with learning.
Your nine-year-old shouldn’t be underestimated because of their age. You will be surprised at how understanding and mature kids can be once they are given an opportunity to organically take an interest in something without pressure or being micro-managed.
Giving a nine-year-old boy the opportunity to explore their desired interests within of range of age appropriateness and safety can help them thrive in every aspect of their lives.
Items from the above list will help you choose the best options for toys and activities that will keep your nine-year-old occupied, interested, and happy.
