15 Fabulous Gifts for 5-Year-Old Boys in the UK

Are you looking for gifts for a 5 year old boy that will have him shouting for joy? While it has been years since my son was this age, I remember the types of toys that he played with the most and that kept his attention.

As a preschool teacher I also know what toys promote learning while being fun to play with. I have created this list of great toys for boys to include a variety of items that are fun but will build on skills needed for when he turns 6 years old.

1. Playmobil Scooby Doo Play Sets

Christmas presents for a 5 year old boy

We all grew up with Scooby Doo and his silly antics. We wondered why they always split up when searching for the villain, and pondered why Velma didn’t get contacts. Now your 5 year old can have fun with these mysteries too with numerous play sets to choose from.

What is the best present to buy for a 5 year old boy? The Scooby Doo Mystery Mansion is a popular gift for 5 year olds. It might be a bit more money, but it lights up and has sound effects. Get some Scooby Doo books to read to him to encourage his imagination.

2. Family Games

Games for 5 year old boys

Make some popcorn and host a family game night with some junior versions of classic games we grew up on.

A popular game for 5 year old boys right now is Shark Bite. Save your fish before the shark’s mouth snaps shut. Or try the classic Kerplunk. Don’t let the marbles fall while you pull out the sticks underneath.

3. Play-Doh

Christmas gifts for a 5 year old boy

Play-Doh is fun for all ages. When I was a preschool teacher, the children would play with play-doh for hours, and we didn’t even have these fun kits. So if you are looking for gift ideas for a 5 year old boy, these are it.

Don’t forget to get a bunch of backup dough. Kids like to mix the colors, so eventually they all end up a weird brown color. Also, after a while they dry out if the lids are not put on properly. Grab some extra tools as well so he and his friends won’t fight.

4. Swingball

Outdoor gifts for a 5 year old boy

This is a great outdoor toy for a 5 year old boy to practice his hitting skills without losing the ball.

Another outdoor toy for boys in the UK is a pogo stick. Remember these? They are fun while providing great exercise and improving coordination. For a birthday present for a 5 year old boy buy a bunch of silly carnival games to play outdoors. You could host his party in the yard, and the kids can have fun playing ring toss and bean bag games.

5. Botley the Coding Robot

What to get a 5 year old for Christmas

Introduce him to beginning coding with a programmable robot. Botley comes with a remote programmer, coding cards, double sided boards and accessories. You can even buy additional accessories for Botley.

A Remote Control Vehicle is another great present for a 5 year old boy. Also, if he likes creepy things, he may like a remote control wall climbing spider. Just make sure he doesn’t use it to scare his sisters or his mum!

6. Science Kits

Educational toys for a 5 year old

Science kits are fun educational toys for kids. There are so many to choose from you will be sure to find something to fit your 5 year old’s interests.

Another educational gift idea for a 5 year old boy is a microscope. You can also get a butterfly garden kit. The kit comes with a voucher to send away for caterpillars, a reusable habitat, feeding kit and instructions. Get him interested in nature from an early age.

7. Tool Bench

Creative toys for a 5 year old boy

This makes a great Christmas present for a 5 year old to find by the tree on Christmas Day. He can use blocks or other building toys with the tools to pretend he is building a house.

For more pretend play, buy him a veterinary care center. He can use his stuffed toys as patients. He will need a veterinary kit with doctor tools as well.

8. Electric Vehicle

Gift for a 5 year old boy who has everything

What do 5 year old boys want for Christmas? A jeep that really moves. This may seem an unusual gift for a 5 year old, but if money is no object, this luxury gift is for him. The vehicles are battery powered. You can even get most of them personalised with a license plate for an extra fee.

If this is out of your price range, try a foot powered vehicle. A popular gift for 5 year old boys is a 3 wheel scooter. Make sure you get him a helmet for safety.

9. Marble Run

Cool toys for 5 year old boys

Marble Run is by far, one of the best toys for a 5 year old boy. It is a great construction activity that improves spatial reasoning and engineering skills. Plus boys and girls of all ages have hours of fun just racing marbles through the tubes once they build it. My son had one of these, and I enjoyed playing it with him. I even played this with my class when I was a preschool teacher.

For more favorite building toys try Legos. There are so many fun sets that you will find tons of great presents for 5 year olds. The Lego City collection even has an airplane and a train. Kids love K’Nex building sets too. With these kits boys can construct rockets, dune buggies, and more.

10. Monster Trucks

Fun toys for a 5 year old boy

Boys love monster trucks. You can’t go wrong with these cool toys for 5 year old boys.

Get him this cool monster truck race track that fits both monster trucks and hot wheels cars. Or a Hot Wheels City Garage. This one has a chomping T-Rex that tries to eat the cars.

11. Superhero Costumes

Gift ideas for 5 year old boys

All boys love dressing up as Superheroes. They like to rescue people and fight the bad guys. I think my son was Spiderman for Halloween three years in a row as a kid. We just had to get a bigger size each year. Then my daughter and her friends would dress us with his costumes once he outgrew them.

For a variety, or if there are several kids in the household, get him a whole set of masks and capes. Or choose some community worker dress up gear. He can be a real life hero by dressing up as a doctor, police officer, firefighter, or construction worker.

12. Tablet

Best gift for 5 year old boy

I am normally against technology at a young age, but at 5 he is ready for school and face it, nowadays technology is used for everything. This technology can be used to play learning games which makes it one of the best gifts for 5 year old boys.

For an educational toy, get him an Osmo Little Genius Starter Kit. Kits come with hand held pieces for your child to use with his tablet to learn phonics, letter formation, and math skills depending on which pack you get. Osmo makes them for iPad and Fire tablets. Make sure you get the one that goes with the tablet he has. For extra fun, get him the Osmo Drawing Kit.

13. Interactive Globe

Educational presents for a 5 year old boy

An interactive globe makes a great birthday present for a 5 year old boy. It will teach him geography and instill a desire to learn about the planet we live on. The globe uses an app which you can download onto your smartphone or tablet, just make sure your device is compatible first before buying. For more fun you could get a globe of Mars that comes with a Mars Rover or a globe that has the earth as in prehistoric times. I think I want that one!

Another educational gift for a 5 year old boy is a cash register. Play with him to start teaching him about money and counting. For really learning his letters, get him an alligator letter puzzle. This is a step up from just matching the letters into their spaces. Each piece of this puzzle has a letter which is part of the alligator. He will have to learn to differentiate each letter to get them in the right order to complete the alligator.

14. Fingerlings

Popular toys for 5 year old boys

These toys grip onto your finger and react to sound, motion, and touch.

Dinosaur fans will also love a Dinosaur Torch Projector that will project images of 24 dinosaurs onto a wall. Maybe he will also want to paint his own dinosaurs with a craft kit.

15. Activity Books

Birthday gifts for a 5 year old boy

Activity books are great gifts for a 5 year old to take on trips or for any time he will have to spend time waiting. Instead of wasting time hearing him complain that he is bored, spend the time building his brain doing fun activities.

For another creative activity get him a 3D coloring puzzle set. He can color the pieces with the markers provided, and then put the pieces together to form cool creatures. For additional skills practice, he will enjoy a scissor skills craft kit. When I was a preschool teacher, the children loved spending time cutting things, whether just scraps of paper or trying to follow lines to cut out shapes. Cutting is a fundamental activity that improves hand-eye coordination and motor skills. With one of these kits he will be improving skills while creating fun projects.