1. Lego

Girls and boys love Lego and it’s had a remarkable resurgence in recent years with a huge variety of sets available. You can now get everything from Star Wars to Frozen or for more creativity get a huge tub of different coloured bricks and let their imaginations go wild.

LEGO Classic 10698 Large Creative Brick Box

2. K’Nex

For kids that love Lego but want to try something a bit different, K’Nex are a fantastic alternative. Instead of bricks you build with plastic rods, connecting them with coloured cogs. You can also buy sets with motors so you can see your creations come alive like this fantastic roller coaster one.

K’NEX Star Shooter Roller Coaster Building Set

3. Science Kit

All kids like experimenting and making a mess and a science set is the perfect way to feed inquisitive minds. Most sets come with all the equipment you need for some fun experiments but bare in mind you’ll need to buy some extras like baking soda and vinegar. This one from the Science Museum is a good place to start.

SCIENCE MUSEUM Clementoni My First Chemistry Set

4. Creative fun

Encourage children’s imaginations with arts and crafts sets and role play. Whether they’re into sewing, knitting, drawing, painting, jewellery making or modelling there is so much choice. This mini sewing machine makes sewing easy whilst this Pretend & Play School Set means kids can pretend to be just like their teachers.

Sew Cool 6020398 Sewing Studio

Pretend & Play® School Set UK version

5. Amazon Fire HD Kids edition

For techno whiz kids, Amazon’s Fire HD Kids edition is fantastic. They can download books to read, play games, use educational apps, watch videos and much more. It also comes with one year of Fire for Kids unlimited that gives them free access to thousands of books, movies, TV shows, educational apps. You can also set a timer that turns the tablet off after an allotted time to limit use.

Fire HD 6 Kids Edition, 6″ HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case