AUSTIN, Texas -- Parents looking to add something educational under the Christmas tree will deal with prices higher than the average toy.

This year’s holiday season has parents thinking about ways to keep their kids learning.

“Buying STEM or STEM oriented toys is important for education for children at a early developmental stage and it will help them into their future and even in their adult world by having that early exposure,” said Vanessa Smith, of The Thinkery Museum.

But the benefits of STEM oriented toys can come at a price, one that can be a bit higher than your average action figure or Barbie doll.

“It does cost a little bit more to invest in those because more has been done on the backside of it. You have educators and designers and all of this coming together on the backside to find a toy that can really unlock your child’s potential,” said Smith.

Now just like regular toys, these come in a bunch of different price ranges but they can get a little bit pricey. A Thinking Putty Kit is $19.25. An Arts and Crafts Library, rings up at $42.25, and a Magna Tiles 100 piece set has a $125 price tag. But parents who buy educational toys say it’s completely worth it. Amy and Eric King buy educational toys for their 1-year-old son Luke.

“Things that have buttons on them or keypad and things, he’s definitely intrigued, as far as ‘OK this moves when I touch it, what does it mean and what else can it do?’," said Amy King.

Though they’re willing to pay extra to keep Luke learning, they lean toward quality over quantity.

“I’d love to say we can just buy anything and everything but you know when it is a bit of a more expensive toy, I tend to buy just one or two,” said Amy King.

Experts say those one or two toys that teach can be enough to help kids like Luke grow up to do amazing things.

"That would bring them into being engineers, artists; you know who knows the next President,” said Smith.