Including popular, imaginative, educational ideas for her birthday, holiday or special occasion.
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What's trending with 6-year-old girls this year? The Good Housekeeping Institute has done lots of toy testing this year in advance of its Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards, getting feedback from real kids, parents and Lab experts. And when it comes to getting gifts for kids this age, they told us what they like the most: soft plush, craft and DIY projects, cool collectibles and anything that's ultra-cute.
With all that in mind, these are the best toys and gifts for 6-year-old girls in 2024. These are the ones that have impressed Lab experts, received the best feedback from kids, are trendy best-sellers or have charmed our editors. Some of them let kids dig deeper into STEM concepts like early engineering, while others let them set their creativity free. Grab one of these for a birthday gift or holiday present, and you'll have a happy 6-year-old on your hands.
Kids have been making trips to the salon to try and get "fairy hair," where strands of tinsel are tied into their hairdos. Now, they can try to get that — and other creative 'dos — at home. This comes with different colors of tinsel and tools to weave it into their hairstyles, along with pony beads, elastics and other accessories. "She loved the tinsel, appearance of the packaging, and the overall theme of the toy," one parent tester said. Ages 6+
RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards
At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we've seen remote-controlled cars, planes and even Godzilla, but this is the first time we've ever seen a princess carriage. "My daughter loved the remote control and creating imaginary scenes with the carriage and her dolls," one parent said, while another said her kid appreciated the lights and sounds. Ages 4+
Axolotls are the animal of the moment, and every kid wants one as a "pet" to keep at home. This one lights up in water, interacts with your kid and sings. There are a few different versions: purple Auggie is at Amazon, and pink Alix is at Macy's and comes with an inflatable pool. “My daughter loved that it swam and sang,” a parent told us. Ages 5+
RELATED: Axolotl Toys That Make The Cutest Gifts
Sweets and treats take center stage with this set, which lets kids make four different puffy charm bracelets. There are 140 charms to choose from, with themes like sweet treats, emojis, pets or rainbows. They get to be creative and express their personal styles. Age 6+
These plush are big — 18 inches — which make them perfect to cuddle up to at night. "It's so cute, big, soft, and huggable — and I love Cinnamaroll," one 8-year-old tester said. You can get Hello Kitty, Cinnamaroll or Kuromi. Ages 6+
This is for anyone who has a chatterbox at home: Ruby René is always weighing in on the class conversations, perhaps too often. Good Housekeeping Institute testes loved how the book didn't try to dampen Ruby's inquisitiveness, just direct it a little. Ages 4–8
RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Book Awards
If she's a fan of surprise reveals, this has 10 things for her to unbox. She drops a letter through the slot, then gets a package! A parent told us, "“It was such a fun, extended surprise unboxing! And she loved that she could put it back together and repeat the surprise.” A 6-year-old tester said, “I love it the most when the toy makes the music and opens up.”Ages 4+
Flik Flak watches, which are sized for little wrists, make it easy for kids to tell time by including the minutes on the watch face. They come in a ton of fun patterns, too, and are water-resistant. Ages 3+
Kids love to personalize everything, and this RC lets them put their own personal style onto a remote-controlled car. It comes with 50 stickers, plus erasable markers that can be used, wiped off and used again. The markers can even be stored in the tailpipe! Ages 6+
This set has more than 100 images that kids can trace, and mixing and matching lets them make new creations every time. After they trace a basic sketch, they can color them in however they want. The set comes with one graphite pencil, 12 colored pencils, 10 tracing sheets and 10 blank sheets. You will need to add three AA batteries. Ages 6+
They can dress up their notebooks, lockers and school supplies by making their own stickers! Using the included jelly paint, kids can trace the different sticker designs — or they can come up with their own — and then add embellishments like eyes or rhinestones. It comes with enough supplies to make 60 stickers. Ages 6+
Our tester girls were fairly obsessed with finding and freeing the 5-inch pixie doll from this lantern, along with watching the digital pixie interact. First your kid inserts a key to meet the digital pixie with whom they can play games, adopt a pet or dance. (There are more than 200 ways to play digitally). Then the doll with long hair is revealed through the top of the lantern, and the play — both IRL and digital — can just keep going. Ages 6+
Now her fashion dolls can have a hair salon, and she has a new excuse to play with their hair. This set comes with a Dayna doll, who can own the Icon Salon and invite other dolls in for a style session. It comes with a dozen hair-themed accessories, like a hairdryer, and a reclining chair. “My daughter is a doll lover, and this was her favorite,” said one parent after toy testing in our Lab. “She really liked all the pieces that allowed for imaginative play and going through the motions of getting hair done at a salon.” Ages 3+
This exciting DIY soap kit mimics a real science lab, so your 6-year-old can pretend she works at a bath products company. This STEM toy will help her learn about things like pH levels and acids while making real molded soaps and bath bombs. In total, it comes with 10 different experiments to play around with. Ages 6+
We love the whole "Guess in 10" line of card games, which work like twenty questions except, you know, players get 10 guesses. You take turns asking questions like “Are you an animal?” or “Do you wear a blue dress?" to guess the character on the card. Clue Cards can help. This one is obviously for Disney fans, there are others that cost less like Guess in 10 Animals and Guess in 10 Sports. Ages 6+
It's one of the cutest Barbies yet: She just 1.5 inches tall and has an entire mini universe. Today's 6-year-old girls love everything mini, and one parent told us, “She thought the toys and dolls were cute and loved that the house was a mini version of the regular-size Barbie Dreamhouse." A bonus, said parents: These mini sets don't take up much space! This house comes with a surprise box. Other collectible sets include a pet salon and a larger set with a house, camper, plane and boat plus three dolls. Ages 4+
This lets kids search for fairies and "catch" them in the jar, where they can feed and play games with them. There are lots of different fairies to find and collect — and cool tips, like flipping over the jar to catch an upside-down yoga fairy — and they can even be "shared" between jars if you have a friend that has one. If they like it, they can also get the blue jar, the fairy house, the baby fairy finder and the fairy pet finder, which are all compatible with the jar. Ages 5+
Tamagotchi has been taken to the next level with Tamagotchi Uni. Now, in addition to allowing kids to care for a digital pet, they can connect to the "Tamaverse" where they can meet with friends, try on fashions and play games. They can even be worn as accessories. “I remember these from when I was a kid, and I can’t believe how much they’ve evolved,” one parent tester said. “My daughter can even have Tamagotchi playdates with her friend’s Tamagotchi.” Ages 6+
She can build Mirabel's 3-story house, and use the minifigures of Mirabel, Abuela, Antonio plus capybara and butterfly. Inside the house are dozens of accessories, from furniture to decorative touches like flowers. Ages 6+
Our kid testers loved swapping out different faces and hairstyles and coloring in different makeup effects to create new looks. Kids got real wild with their designs — one liked trying to put the facial features on upside-down! — and parents appreciated that the paper comes in a variety of shades to mimic different skin tones. Ages 6+
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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