30 Gifts and Toys for 9-Year-Old Boys

"Go long!" is the call he shouts most at recess, and a Vortex Aero Howler lets him be the one throwing the deep pass.

Its tail is built for distance and it whistles in the air, so whoever is sprinting out across the park can hear it coming.

CrunchLabs is Mark Rober's brand, so a fan of his videos gets a machine from a name he already knows.

The Crunchinator is all about crushing everyday objects: he picks one, flattens it and checks how it gave way, then goes looking for something tougher to try next.

A boy who doodles roller coasters in the margins of his homework can turn those sketches into track he builds himself.

This Thames & Kosmos kit gives that habit a real shape, so he can check which ideas hold up. On his bedroom floor, he can take a layout apart and put together a steeper version of his favorite drop.

Couch-cushion forts fall down by morning, but a Minecraft world on his Switch keeps every wall right where he put it.

Towers can climb higher than any sofa allows, caves can run underneath, and the whole build is waiting for him the next day.

When his robot battles need a fresh opponent, the Transformers Constructicon Scavenger joins the lineup on his bedroom floor.

He wants collector pieces now, ones worth posing mid-fight and keeping out on display. Between matches, the figure holds its stance at the edge of the battlefield.

Waiting rooms and restaurant tables are where this travel edition of Ubongo earns its spot in his bag.

Each challenge asks him to fit odd-shaped tiles into a puzzle board with no gaps left over, a quiet brain-teaser he works out on his own.

If his closet runs to athletic shorts and team shirts, a Nike Club pullover hoodie slides right into the rotation.

This one is a boys' Medium in carbon heather and white, so check it against a hoodie that fits him now before you order.

His first mix will probably happen behind a closed bedroom door, with a VTech Kidi Star deck on his desk and songs to blend into his own set.

Once it sounds right, the next family dance party has its DJ.

Pokémon collectors know every marking on the creatures in their binder, and this Klutz kit puts that sharp eye to use as he recreates Pokémon characters by hand in a stained-glass style.

Tape a finished one to his bedroom window and see how it looks with the light behind it.

This MCS float frame takes a young painter's favorite canvas off the floor and onto his wall.

He decides which piece earns the spot, so the frame shows off his own pick rather than a store print. Pair it with a new set of paints, and his next canvas has somewhere to go.

Coding mistakes are easy to spot when they send a robot the wrong way across the rug.

With Botley, he plans a string of moves, runs them and fixes whichever step went wrong. It suits a beginner, while one who already writes programs on a computer may find it too simple.

Every one of these ten National Geographic geodes looks like an ordinary rock from the outside, and the only way to see what it hides is to crack it open himself.

With ten to work through, there is no need to open them all in one go; a few can wait for a rainy Saturday.

Behind the large viewing window of this giant Uncle Milton habitat, he can watch the colony dig new tunnels and see the whole network take shape.

Ants work while he is at school, so there is usually a new passage to find when he gets home.

If your gift goes to a kid who props up books as ramps, this National Geographic kit swaps them for real track.

He invents his own contraptions now, and loose pieces let him rework a drop the moment it stalls. His fastest layout stays standing on the bedroom floor until a new idea pulls it apart.

When the boy you're buying for doodles towers on napkins, Magna-Tiles microMAGS turn those sketches into something he can hold.

Magnetic pieces grab each other as he goes, so a lopsided design gets reshaped rather than torn down.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 13 lets a kid who borrows a parent's phone for every photo hold his own shots in hand.

He wants gear of his own, and paper prints are something to trade with classmates the same day.

Until the family says yes to a dog, a Tamagotchi Original gives him a pet that counts on him alone.

Feeding it and cleaning up after it are his jobs from the first morning, and this Tama Picnic version is small enough to ride along in a jacket pocket all day.

The PowerA LucidSound LS500 headset lets an avid gamer keep playing once his younger siblings are asleep.

The game plays in his ears instead of through the TV, so the house stays quiet while he finishes a level. Before you order, check that it works with the console or computer he already plays on.

Extra large, with a posable tongue and a wired tail he can bend into shape, this Hammond Collection Spinosaurus from Jurassic Park III is a big step up from a basic dinosaur toy.

A floor battle can freeze mid-roar exactly the way he sets it, and the chunky toddler dinosaurs finally get a break.

A Jazwares Dragonair plush gives a Pokémon-loving kid a soft version of the character for his room.

He chooses where it sits, so his love of Pokémon stays on show his way. During homework, it can perch on the corner of his desk.

This giant teddy bear doubles as a floor seat for a boy still fond of soft toys.

Cuddly things still matter at his age, and this one is big enough to claim its own corner. He can sprawl against it with a comic book on a lazy afternoon.

Capybaras turn out to be stackable, right up until they aren't.

In Creature Crash, each player adds one more to a wobbly pile and whoever brings it down loses the round, which makes it an easy one to pull out at his birthday party with friends crowded around the table.

On a family game night, the kid with the calmest fingers in the house gets to be the surgeon everyone crowds around.

He prefers contests of nerve to luck, and Hasbro Gaming Operation turns on how still his own fingers stay. The board sits on the table, waiting for the next player to lean in close.

This marble set turns a chalk circle on the driveway into an arena for a kid with a steady thumb.

He judges angles before every flick and argues close calls, an old-school competition he would pick over any board game.

The boy who answers every dare with "watch this" wants a contest he can hold, and Hasbro Gaming Bop It! hands him one.

Every barked instruction needs ears and fingers working together, the split-second speed he chases against friends at recess.

Invented monsters crowd the notebook of a young artist who designs creature cards, and Crayola Clicks markers let him ink them all.

He makes up powers and names for every creature, so hand-drawn cards let him build a deck nobody else owns. The pens ride in his pencil pouch, ready whenever a new monster needs finishing touches.

This card display rack lets a trading card fan keep his favorite cards standing in plain view.

He decides the order himself and reshuffles it whenever a trade brings home something new. Friends who come over to swap cards can scan the rack before they make an offer.