24 Toys & Gifts for Kids Who Love Animals

Feed a tyke’s curiosity about wildlife with this kid-friendly subscription to Nat Geo! Each of the 10 colorful issues is packed with fascinating animal facts, games, and puzzles that encourage learning and screen-free entertainment.

Vanessa M. said:  My 5 year old loves this magazine. She treasures the featured animal cards that come in each magazine.

This excellent series of animal books for kids pits various animals against each other in hypothetical battles, exploring their unique strengths and weaknesses through engaging text and vibrant illustrations.

Experiencing the life cycle of the butterfly up close is a fun science experiment for animal-loving kids. This kit comes with a voucher that you can redeem for a caterpillar delivery once you're ready (and the weather is right).

Schleich animal figurines are highly detailed, hand-painted toys that bring the animal kingdom to life. They are crafted with precision and authenticity, making them both fun and educational for children.

Kelly R said:  All of the Schleich animal figurines make the best toys for 4 year olds, and will see many hours of imaginative play. They are so much more durable, realistic and beautiful than other brands, and our trusty T Rex still looks pretty cool in our tween's room years later! They are some of my favorite ideas for stocking stuffers that will get used for years and years. The reindeer is a perfect nod to Christmas!

Wild Republic offers compact sets of realistic animal figurines perfect for imaginative play. The sets typically contain a variety of animals from a specific theme, such as farm animal toys, sea creatures, and forest animals.

Alexandra F. said:  My kids love playing with animal figurines, and while Schleich toys are our favorites they are always drawn to these little miniatures as well. We really like the quality of the Wild Republic mini animals - not quite as good as Schleich, but better than most other animal figurines, and smaller (and cheaper!) than Schleich. Battat animal figurines are even smaller (and less expensive), if you're looking for them to fit in a small space, like an advent calendar, and all of these mini animals make great party favors and class favors for preschoolers (add a cute "wild about you" message and your school valentines are set!). They are also the toys my boys use most in the bath!

Support the World Wildlife Fund's global efforts to protect wild animals and their habitats by "adopting" one of a huge variety of animal species. These symbolic adoptions come with a "kit" including an informational card about the animal you've adopted, an adorable animal plush, and a certificate of adoption. A great option if you are looking for a gift idea for a kid who already seems to have everything!

Kids who love animals will treasure the opportunity to visit them regularly with a membership to a local zoo. Membership fees can also help support many zoos’ conservation and educational missions.

Animal-loving kids can take their pick from the many animal-themed toys and gifts at the gift shop whenever they visit their local zoo.

Alexandra F. said:  When my kids were toddlers and preschoolers, we were at our local zoo pretty much every week. Inevitably, the first and last thing we did every time we visited was to stop into the gift shop so they could check out all the amazing stuffed animals, animal figurines and other animal-themed toys. Of course, they rarely got to buy anything, so it was mostly window shopping for them. But, it did give me the idea to ask my family to contribute to a “gift shop fund” whenever they were looking for gift ideas for the kids. This was a huge hit!! My boys absolutely loved having money to buy stuff with when we visited - it was like they got the gift of buying from the gift shop, as well as the toy itself!

Kids can learn to draw a whole menagerie of adorable animals with simple step-by-step instructions. An especially fun gift for tweens who love animals.

Kelly R said:  This is a great series of books. My tween has and loves the animal one, and we've gifted a couple others for friends' birthdays. I like that each type of animal in this book has a few different options for variations and poses.

High-quality 200-piece puzzle with an African animal theme.

Alexandra F. said:  My son got really into puzzles around the end of first grade, and this was just the right size to keep him engaged without getting overwhelmed or frustrated. He loves animals, so this animal-themed puzzle was a huge hit for him. It's one we continue to pull out over and over again.

This captivating collection of bizarre and surprising animal facts by National Geographic is designed to entertain and educate young readers. Filled with fun, quirky details and vibrant photos, it explores the oddest and most fascinating creatures on Earth.

Wild Kratts is an educational children's show that follows the adventures of the Kratt brothers as they explore the animal kingdom, using special "Creature Power" suits to transform into different animals and learn about their unique abilities and habitats.

Alexandra F. said:  My animal-loving kids (7 and 5) are obsessed with this show, and have been for the last 3 or so years. There are so many seasons and episodes at this point that they are perfectly happy watching this most of the time they watch TV. We got the PBS add-on to our Prime subscription, which would be a really nice splurge gift for any kid who likes animals, but you can also purchase a season (or more) of the show individually.

A sturdy pair of kid-friendly binoculars has such a wide variety of uses. Don't forget to bring them along to the zoo so your animal-loving kids can get a closer look.

Educational guess-the-animal game is perfect for road trips.

This fun and hands-on animal toy allows kids to excavate and discover miniature animal figures hidden in a plaster block, simulating a real archaeological dig.