Best Gifts for 9-Year-Olds

The seminal book about being nine might beJudy BlumesTales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, but nothing just isnt acceptable when a birthday rolls around.In lieu of coming empty-handed, we found the bestgifts for 9-year-old boys and girls. (Is your kid still a bit young at heart? Or maybe more mature? Check out our gift guides for8-year-oldsand 10-year-olds, too.)

By age nine, reports the CDC, kids start to form strong and complex friendships. They become more aware of body image and peer pressure. Theyre dealing with greateracademic challenges at school, are becoming more independent, and, blessedly, have a stronger attention span.

See more:Best Toys For A 7-Year-Old

We did the research, and the best toys for 9-year-olds give them some independence, whether its in using their creativity or exploring the world around them. LEGOs are always a solid choice. And they may or may not feature poop, because poop is hilarious. Here are our favorites.

Baby walkers don't work. Imperial Walkers do.

At 689 Pieces, Legos AT-AP Walker Kit is an epic build. But unlike, say, some of those massive Millenium Falcons you seeing laying about in toy stores its doable. With time, focus and some minor parental assistance, a 9-year-old kid can bring one of Kylo Rens striding tanks to life and feel like an engineer while doing it.

This sleek and fantastic scooter is made from aircraft-grade aluminum, meaning it won't break or fall apart.

This scooter is great for kids who are starting to get their bearings. It supports kids up to 143 pounds. And it has a rear fender brake for easy stops. Dont forget to wear a helmet.

This LOL Surprise! doll is, as the name indicates, heavy on crystals and a true collector's item for the diehard LOL lover.

Crystal Star is no joke. Shes wearing a jumpsuit and a skirt. And of course, because bland is boring, she has her ownlight-up stage, a tiara, and a disco ball.

This clever, but not too clever maze game has players beaming up bovines using a magnetic flying saucer. The game gets harder as more hazards get in the UFOs way. With some 60 challenges to complete, this thing is a time killer and great family activity ideal for your extended family back on the farm.

If your kid is the next Eric Clapton or Bonnie Raitt, get him or her this dope guitar.

Kids can start jamming on day one with this guitar, which usesregular guitar strings and standard guitar tuning. The accompanying app has video lessons, a tuner, and a digital songbook.

Another clutch Harry Potter toy is, of course, the flying Snitch. It not only flies but it allows the player to customize its flight pattern from random directional flight to near vertical flight by adjusting the angles of the wings.

This is essentially Quidditch practice for aspiring players. Thanks to its proximity sensor technology, the Snitch will hover over the players hand and move in random directions in the air.

This toy is an interactive track system that lets kids design and build their own race tracks and experiment with gravity, magnetism, and kinetics.

This fully modular game lets kids create their own race tracks using tiles, levels, and features to control the speed of each ball.

Your kid will turn into a mad scientist with this very cool kit, which lets him or her conduct experiments in an actual lab.

Kids can choose from 20 different nontoxic experiments, which include making slime, of course.

Instead of letting gravity do all the work, this set has motorized boosters that speed cars through the central crash zone and through the four steeply banked curves.

Theres a lot of drama in this Amazon-exclusive set. Will your car make it through unscathed, or will it collide with another in a dramatic crash at one of the four intersections in this battery-powered set? Kids can try to time their cars for close calls or maximum destruction, but either way, this set is a ton of fun.

It's hard to go wrong with Legos, and this particular kit has even more to offer than traditional sets.

Kids can build five different models with this kit, everything from a cat to a guitar. Once everythings snapped together, they can use the Lego Boost app to write basic computer programs that will make their new robot do whatever they want. Just note that the coding capabilities dont come cheap, so if all your kid wants to do is build classic Legos this may not be the best value.

This kit comes with everything your kids will need to stage battles with these super popular spinning tops.

Theres something deeply satisfying about pulling the launcher as quickly as possible and watching, mesmerized, as two tops bang into each other for Beyblade supremacy.

A solid Nerf gun with a rotating drum.

This foam blaster is nice and compact, with a satisfying rotating drum that holds six darts and can fire them in rapid succession and hit targets up to 90 feet away.

You get three toys in one, because Gravity Maze is a combination logic game, marble run, and STEM toy.

The goal is simple, yet challenging: Kidsneed to create a maze that will carry a marble from the start position to the target tower. Which means they need to plan and think critically.

It's important to keep kids at this age active, and this hovering soccer disk has a novelty that won't soon wear out.

Its a freaking floating soccer ball that lights up and comes with two goals. Whats not to love?

This football is designed to go further, and its whistling tail adds a satisfying sound to your kid's best heaves.

The tail on the end of this football and the hand grip make it fly further than a classic pigskin. Kids will love testing their arm and competing with their friends to see how high and far they can throw it.

If you don't mind the noise (and there is a lot of it), this laser tag set is a win-win for kids.

A stellar, albeit noisy, group activity for kids, this laser tag set comes with four guns, four vests, and endless amounts of running around.

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