5 and 6 Year Olds

By 5 years old your child is a problem solver with an attention span to match. They’re ready to learn all their letters, and count 20 items. They’ll begin to spend a lot of time with friends at school and peers will be important. Along with their newfound independence, they’ll gain a stronger sense of responsibility. Their growing attention span will allow them to spend a great deal of energy learning all their letters and decoding all of that into reading. Simple math concepts such as patterns, additions and subtraction will all solidify.  

By 6, children are becoming less egocentric. They’re beginning to understand that they’re a unique individual with feelings and ideas that may not be shared with others – or that may not be real. Their thinking is more logical and they can reason. Your elementary age child can compare and contrast and begin to predict outcomes. They can explain simple game instructions and rules.

Your 6 year-old’s balance and whole body movements are developing, so physical play without competition is great. Their fine motor skills are changing quickly and they now know how to make their letters, so the fine tuning and smaller handwriting sets in. They can color in the lines, create original artwork, and tie shoes.

Our best gifts for 5 year-olds collection includes the ultimate fort, and some super-fun hand puppets.

The play experts at Beyond the Blackboard stay up-to-date on the best toys for kids of all ages. We regularly play with our kid play experts in-store to make sure the toys we stock are the ones grown-ups and kids alike will want to buy. With this in mind, our best toys for 5 and 6 year-olds focus on cognitive skills, and creative, emotional, physical, and social growth. Many of these toys for 5 year-old girls and boys are award winners! If you're looking for toys for the rest of the family, be sure to check out our collections for other age groups, as well.