“I’m bored” is something most parents hear daily over the summer holidays. Within moments of the school gates clanging shut, my kids had emptied the kitchen of snacks, dispersed their belongings around the house, and started to nag me about how we never do anything fun. Entertaining your kids is a tricky balance. Fun is important, but you want to cram in at least some intellectual stimulation.
We have you covered with a handpicked crop of the best Prime Day toy deals on games, Squishmallows, and Lego sets. All our picks have been WIRED-tested with the help of our kids. From construction kits to rock tumblers to some of the Best Family Board Games, these deals offer a break from screens and a chance for you to spend some quality time as a family (or keep them busy while you work).
We test products year-round and handpicked these deals. We’ll update this guide periodically throughout the sale event.
WIRED Featured Deals
Toy Deals
Construction kits are fun for everyone, and my entire family loved Clixo’s colorful, versatile, snap-together magnetic pieces. Connect the magnetic ends and bend them the way you want to build three-dimensional shapes, animals, and whatever else you can think of. The pieces are durable and washable, and they stack neatly to pack away. I especially love that you don’t need a flat surface to build because it means you can play with these kits anywhere. —Simon Hill
The return on investment for Magna-Tiles astounds me. My children, now 7 and 9, got their first set of Magna-Tiles when my oldest daughter was 2. Even now, almost 7 years later, they can still entertain themselves for an hour or two just by clicking these attractive, translucent tiles into 2D shapes and 3D objects. When they were 2 or 3, just making an ice cream cone was enough to thrill them. Now, they can build whole towers, forts, and stables for their tiny Squishmallows or dolls. The sky is the limit, or rather, my credit card is, since the sets are also infinitely expandable. We have more picks in our Best Stem Toys for Kids guide. —Adrienne So
If your kiddo is constantly making you fill up your pockets or purse with rocks, this kit is going to be right up their alley. This rock tumbler is one of the Best STEM Toys for Kids. After a rockhounding expedition, simply pop in the specimens, swap out the polishing grits, and let the machine do the work. Eventually, they’ll have smooth, polished stones worth displaying. Note that even though this tumbler is quieter than some other models, you might still want to put it in the garage—after all, you will be bashing rocks around a metal cylinder. It’ll get a little noisy. The kit includes four polishing grits, a sifter, an instruction guide, and nine different types of real rough gemstones. —Louryn Strampe
I impulse-bought my first Squishmallow a few Black Fridays ago, and the rest, as they say, is history. These plush toys are supremely soft and squishy, and the 16-inch size is large enough that you can rest on them while you’re napping, on a long car ride, or simply lounging about in bed. Austin here is undeniably cute and would make a good comfy addition to your couch or pile of pillows. Also, he won’t start to go bad after exactly 35 seconds of air exposure … unlike all those edible avocados you bought last week. —Louryn Strampe
I’ve built almost all of the Lego flower sets, and this one is by far my favorite. You’ll build 16 individual, adjustable stems ranging from the colorful lupin to stunning (and satisfying) gerbera daisies. While it’d be silly to call Lego sets sustainable, some of these pieces are made of plant-based plastic. So that’s something. You’ll have to supply your own vase, but if you know someone who could benefit from a year-round flower arrangement, I highly recommend this kit. Just look at the tiny lavender bugs. Look at them! —Louryn Strampe
OffBits combine special components with common hardware odds and ends you likely have around the house, like nuts and screws. Each kit boasts a special assembly tool and a robot, creature, or vehicle to build. My daughter enjoyed putting the UnicornBit together, and it’s easy to modify the designs and get creative. Some pieces were tough to connect, so adult supervision is advisable.—Simon Hill
Inspired by the Royal Palace of Evora in Portugal with its Moorish blue-and-white ceramic tiles, this tile-based game challenges you to make mosaics by matching patterns and colors to rack up the maximum possible score. One of the most popular family board games in our house, Azul is easy to grasp but supports many different tactical approaches and has surprising depth. The components—particularly the beautiful tiles—are high quality, and it is immensely satisfying to fill your board. Play moves quickly, and you can complete a game in less than an hour, but you will likely want to play again straight away. —Simon Hill
Want a quick and easy card game for family board game night? Exploding Kittens is very accessible, but there are layers of strategy as you organize your hand and try to avoid an exploding kitten card. This game takes inspiration from classic card games but gives them a modern twist with just enough complexity to make things fun without being confusing. The art is super cute, and cat lovers will be unable to resist. This game is for two to five players aged 7 years and up. It has once dipped lower than this price, but that was several months ago, and we think this is a good deal. —Simon Hill
Gather and trade resources on a randomly generated map of hexagonal tiles in this addictive board game. Gathering enough victory points requires a smart strategy and some dice-rolling luck. It’s easy to get the hang of and only takes around an hour to finish. Players can trade freely, but this can lead to ganging up, and there’s a robber mechanic that can cause arguments, so set some ground rules. The modular randomization makes for excellent replay value, and there are expansions to further complicate the gameplay. This game is for three or four players aged 10 years and up. —Simon Hill
As an adult, I don’t love this chaotic game, but ask my kids, and they’ll tell you it’s one of the best family board games you can play. The card game is all about finding sets of three and passing cards you don’t want, but certain combinations trigger crazy throwing attacks where folks grab for the squishy toy burritos in the middle and start pelting each other with them. It’s fun with young kids and very easy to grasp, but I suggest playing outdoors or at least not in a room with anything breakable. —Simon Hill
Kids love silly games, and this one is as daft as they come. Each card features a word, and your seemingly simple task is to describe that word without saying it by speaking in single syllables only, which is harder than it sounds. There is a time limit to ramp up the pressure, and if that’s not enough to make you feel flustered, consider that the opposition can hit you with the inflatable “No” stick if you mess up. If they are anything like my kids, they will delight in hitting you a lot. This game is loud, silly, and fun for players aged 7 years and up, proving that the best family board games don’t have to be strategic or complex. —Simon Hill
There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of completing an enormous Lego build, unless it’s the satisfaction of knowing that you didn’t pay full price for it. As I discovered when I wrote about how to build up your collection, it’s unwise to skimp on Lego bricks. The company’s tolerances are legendary—bricks made decades apart will snap together and be stable. The company also has a few other sets on sale along with the X-Wing set. —Adrienne So
My 7- and 9-year-olds love the Yoto. It’s one of WIRED’s chosen Best Speakers for Kids, and it’s an adorable little speaker with a pixelated display that your kids can pick up and listen to wherever they want without having to steal your phone. Instead, they insert cards on the top. You can also buy blank cards and make your own content. We haven’t tried the Mini but it has all the same features as the original Yoto, just in a smaller, more travel-friendly format. All the starter pack bundles and several types of accessories, including cases, Yoto headphones, and the Yoto Mini travel case are 20 percent off. —Adrienne So
These sticker books are my secret power to taking my toddler anywhere that involves sitting down and waiting for longer than two minutes. Waiting for breakfast at our favorite diner? Sticker book. Grouchy waiting for dinner to be done after he comes home from daycare? Sticker book. Planning air travel only to get an ear infection and end up on solo baby duty? Sticker book!! These Melissa & Doug sticker books come in three packs, which is great because buying just one will last you for weeks of outings since you can cycle between them, and the stickers have stayed pretty sticky no matter how often my son re-sticks them to his arms. This set of safari, barn, and chipmunk-themed stickers are on sale for 15 percent off. —Nena Farrell
If you’re trying to foster a love of cleaning early, this set will teach your little one a love of sweeping and mopping from the early days. It’s also handy if your kid is weirdly obsessed with the regular-sized broom already and gets frustrated with the fact that it is clearly not the right size for him to wield. The set comes with a mop, duster, broom, dustpan, a little hand broom, and a stand to hold all the pieces up. I have it right next to my pantry in the hopes that my son chooses his own broom instead of mine. You can get this set on sale right now for nearly half off the standard price, though we can usually find it for around $34. The Prime Day price is still a steal either way. —Nena Farrell
Budding explorers can use this interactive globe to learn about the nations of the world. A companion app on your tablet allows your child to scan the globe for augmented reality pop-ups. Each pop-up reveals facts about landmarks, animals, cuisines, and more. The goofy voices make this more suitable for younger kids. (PlayShifu recommends it for ages 4 to 10.) The globe is a bit cheap, and the AR pop-ups tend to clip through it, but this is a different way for your kids to learn more about their world. —Simon Hill
This twist on the classic Rubik’s Cube is Bluetooth-enabled, and packs smart sensors inside the glowing cube that connect to a companion app on your phone to show you where each block is positioned. It can teach you strategies to help you reduce your solve-time, and it’s fun to compete with your family. —Simon Hill
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Photograph: Simon Hill