The best coding toys for kids 2022

Meet Botley 2.0, a robot that is easy to use and aims to have kids as young as five coding in minutes. Featuring a built-in light sensor, children can use the included activity set to create STEM challenges and put Botley's object detection function to the test. The gamepad-style remote has chunky buttons that are easy for little hands to use, plus the buttons are also colour-coded to make it fun and easy for young children to get going with coding.

Review: "This is a great 'learning' robot, and our kids love it. Very sturdy and able to take a good knock, it keeps them interested when learning to program the toy."

This fun board game is designed to introduce kids to coding and includes a detailed guide to help your child become a Cosmic Coder and complete their mission to collect all their stars.

Review: "How nice to have a game in which players are completing their own missions, not just competing! In addition to the coding aspect of the game, memory and strategy are involved, so it's educational on many levels."

This easy-to-play STEM coding robot needs no screens. Children use colourful plastic blocks to represent coding commands and construct their understanding directly with their hands.

Review: "This is a very cute coding kit for kids. When thinking about coding, it is really about problem-solving and programming. This set starts kids thinking in that way earlier, which will make it easier for them to pick up coding languages as they grow up."

Dash the Robot can do everything, from talking to your kids about code to following their programming instructions. You can even connect to compatible apps to unlock even more interactions, such as making them dance, make sounds and avoid obstacles in their path.

Review: "My 6-year-old loves Dash, he often grabs Dash and his fire tablet and is greatly amused every time. Really positive toy that brings many a smile, loads of fun and a great learning experience."

Introduce your little one to the world of beginner's coding with this snazzy little caterpillar. It comes with eight segments that can be easily rearranged to make it go forwards, left, and right and play music and sounds. Your little love will have tons of fun whilst experimenting and developing important skills like critical thinking, planning and sequencing, and problem-solving.

Review: "The four-year-old loves it – and so does her little brother! While I'd like for it to have a volume control (it really is very loud), the sounds it makes are fun and engaging for the kids. They love watching this little guy wiggle his way across the room, and the four-year-old is already starting to understand the cause and effect of which codes she inputs and which obstacles are in the way."

You'll need an iPad or Fire Tablet for this product. Children are encouraged to use colourful blocks and coding commands to control a character named Awbie on a fun-filled adventure which involves music and puzzles.

Review: "This is a great product, my 5-year-old likes playing with it, but she hasn't quite mastered the coding concepts yet. I think it'll be better when she gets a bit older."

This adorable dinosaur-themed play set consists of 23 pieces which help your child create their own endless coding challenges and adventures. They'll adore caring for clumsy Rumble the dinosaur and his little friend Bumble. Other characters are available.

Review: "It is super easy to program and use. Imogen soon understood how to make it move. It has a simple mode of just pressing the arrow buttons (forward, left, right and backward). It is a little hard to visualise the distance travelled with the forward and back movements, but with a little practice, you soon get the hang of making the cat move where you want to. It is a fun novel toy!"

One for the Frozen fans out there, this kit provides step-by-step guides to help your child build sensors while teaching them the basics of coding. Soon they'll be able to build Olaf, create rainbow snowflakes, throw snowballs and with much-loved Frozen characters like Anna and Elsa.

Review: "My daughter loves this even though she is a bit young for it, we have done all the challenges, though, and she isn't really ready to make her own creations yet. There seems to be a whole extra set of challenges unrelated to frozen on the Kano site as well, though, so we are doing these as well. I am happy that my daughter is showing an interest in coding, and it makes me smile when she asks if she can do Elsa Anna coding."

How sweet is this little fella? All your child has to do is create a step-by-step path for Jack the mouse using the 30 double-sided coding cards. Each card features a direction or 'step' (such as forward or reverse) to program into Jack. He can be programmed up to 40 steps and features two speeds.

Review: "Overall, it's proved to be durable, having been played with by 3-year-olds (boys and girls), so it's great value for money and a good replacement for the more expensive coding bee that's also recommended."