Best Toys for Toddlers Gift Guide

Wooden Blocks

The GOAT of open-ended toys. Every home needs a set of wooden blocks, in my humble opinion. This simple set is the best, and has been played with every day in our home since 2014. A decade of play with one toy. Not too bad.

Stack and Count Wooden Parking Garage

These cars are the perfect size for little hands – juuuuust right. There’s colors, there’s numbers, there’s endless ways to play with these 10 cars. We’ve owned them for ten years and they’re beloved.

Pull-along Wagon

This is a treasure! Kids can load up their blocks, bears, babies, and anything else to travel around with. It’s just the right size for imaginary play and actual functionality.

Wooden Barn

A wooden farm that opens, closes, and comes with little animals? It’s a solid yes. From toddlers to elementary schoolers, this little barn works for all levels of play and grows with a child so sweetly.

Racing Tuck with Racing Cars

Gosh, I love a Green Toys vehicle – and this is my latest find (it’s a new toy on the market). The cars “shoot” off the ramp, hook together, and drive so well. This was an easy one to fall in love with and has been an overnight sensation with my kids and their friends.

Feelings Sensory Tubes

My kids love a sensory tube and these emotion ones might be their favorites. The faces are so inviting, the conversations are rich, but the size is perfect and the conversations they start are rich.

Take-Along Town

I absolutely love the set up for this train set: it’s small, it’s portable, and all the pieces fit inside the container. If you don’t feel ready for a full train set or have a child who would love a portable version for on-the-go, this is it.

Wooden Animals

Sweetest little set of wooden animals and just the right size for play. I bought this for my daughter when she was little little and she’s still using the in her big kid, 9 year old play.

Mini Vehicles Set

This is an absolute stand out. It’s a tub of little vehicles in different colors and sizes. The play this invites is incredible, the uses are endless, and the longevity is there (just ask my 11 year old…).

Magnetic Animals

This was a surprise hit for our family. The animals come apart and can be reconfigured, which adds a silly element that my kids deeply love. From neighbor kids (age 2) to my oldest (age 10), this toy has some serious magic.

Dust! Sweep! Mop!

There is a reason this toy has almost 50,000 reviews and a 5-star rating. It’s magical. My kids are 8, 9, and 11 and they still play with this set daily. It may not look like it, but this has longevity.

Nesting Buildings & Vehicles

A beloved toy for my family since 2014: There’s a lot of invitations to play here with the buildings and the cars. We’ve had this toy since my son’s first birthday – it’s heading to the “someday grandparents” box of toys we are saving.

Simple Vehicles

Simple vehicles are life. No need for lights, sirens, and batteries – these kid powered vehicles are perfection. I love this rocket ship – people forget how cool rocket ships are for toddlers. It’s a big wow factor. Check out other great vehicle options in the list below. These are other trucks we’ve owned for almost a decade.

Other Vehicles

• Garbage truck: This has been a forever a favorite at our house
• Dump truck: I can’t remember play life before this truck
• Ferry boat: These come with 2 cars and it’s great in the tub
• Firetruck: The best basic firetruck. It’s a legend.

Magnetic Picture Set

I really love a good magnetic play set – this is our newest and current favorite. It’s big and sturdy for toddlers, lots of options, and stores the pieces well so it’s something your family can keep playing with for many, many years.

Miniature Magnetic Tiles

These are miniature. They aren’t the same as the regular size. Magnetic tiles are fantastic but in my experience the regular size can be harder for little hands to work with. The mini size is way better for toddlers (and for away from home play). Toddlers to big kids: everyone has loved these at my house.

Small Animals

Having a set (or two) of small animals is a clutch open-ended toy. Kids can use with them in sensory bins, art projects, and basically any imaginary play world they can come up with.

Other Small Animal Set

Jumbo Animals

I believe in the power of animals in a toddler’s play. Opposite of small animal toys are these jumbo animal sets. We love having all kinds of animal sizes – each fulfills a different role and need in our play. For scale, the giraffe in this set is almost 12-inches tall.

Other Jumbo Sets

Basic Doll House

Doll houses are gender neutral. A doll house is the hub of imaginary play – a place to rescue animals from, to save from a fire, to intricate building skills and to make imaginary set ups. A basic doll house is like a watery hole: it’s where children gather and play happens. Tip: All the accessories for dollhouses are great for relatives looking for gift suggestions.

Construction Vehicles

We love Green Toys vehicles and this 3-pack is a wonderful gift set. I’m shocked more people don’t know about this set – so let’s change that. The small size is great for little hands and won’t clog up the playroom. Definitely worth a look.

Dinosaurs

Having a set of play dinosaurs might seem random from the outside but once you see all the play kids can do with just a few dinosaurs – you’ll understand why dinosaurs are a good one to own. Dinosaurs are a universal crowd-pleaser.

Jumbo Dinosaurs

Just like with animals, my preference is to have two sizes. We have regular dinosaurs and jumbo dinosaurs – and that combination has been just write for my family for a decade. Jumbo dinosaurs were a favorite toy in my kindergarten and first grade classrooms so I knew they’d get lots of traction at home – and I was right.

Magnetic Maze

I love these self contained mazes where motor skills and spatial awareness develop. No pieces to lose and kids keep coming back to these for a reason.

Play Garage

If you have a car loving toddler, this is a great garage to start with and may be all you need throughout the years. It’s small, basic, but perfect for being the center of car play.

Horse Riding Stick

Bear with me: I know this is a simple, throw back toy but it’s one my kids have loved for years. Then the neighbor toddler got one too, and well, this old-fashioned toy has earned it’s spot on my gift guide list forever.

My First Shaving Kit

Kids love to play make-believe and kits like this can help fuel the fun. This shaving kit is a favorite in our house – from toddlers to grade school kids, boys and girls – it has mass appeal. We also have the “My First Styling Kit“, which is equally a hit among all kids.

Train Set

A good train set is a great open-ended investment: something to build with, imagine with, and interact with. This is a great place to start. The set comes in a clear tub and the lid is the mountains you can see in the photo. It is compatible with other sets.

Super Size Memory

Is there anything better than when kids learn to play memory? This version by Skip Hop is so adorable, the pictures of perfect, and the size for their hands is just right.

Vehicles with People

Having some simple wooden people can make for really inventive imaginative play. We’ve had all of these trucks for 8 years…and they’re still played with constantly. Check out the links to all these wooden vehicles to find the one best for your toddler’s personality.

Other Wooden Vehicles

Play Kitchen

Another gender neutral toy: a play kitchen is the best. This was our play kitchen for 7 years and what a gem. A lot of kitchens on the market are large in size, full of buttons and noises. Not this one. It’s the Mary Poppins of kid kitchens (practically perfect in every way). We also had the matching refrigerator.

Cash Register

A terrific toy for dramatic play – a cash register turns a playroom into a restaurant, grocery store, bank or shop. This is a fantastic toy (and it’s a good simple size). My big kids outgrew their play kitchen in height, but kept this cash register and the food linked below.

Play Food

If a kitchen is in your gifting plan, check out this set up food. It also comes with a “wicker” basket and grocery store basket. My kids LOVE it. Alternatively, if a play kitchen isn’t in the budget or able to fit in your home, a cash register and food set plays just wonderfully on its own.

Toddler Logic Puzzle

An absolute stand out – but also a hidden gem that no one seems to know about! This was a new release from HABA in 2023 that we have loved, but hasn’t picked up traction on the toy market. Let’s change that. It’s basically a toddler logic puzzle, and is such a different style of puzzle to introduce to tots. This is a 10/10.

Wheely Bug

This is a joy. Young toddlers to big kids (yeah, I’ve seen my 10-year-old riding this) will love scooting around. I linked to the smaller size, but a larger one is available. 

Doctor’s Play Kit

Empathy skills are a big learning goal in early childhood, and practicing caregiver skills is one way kids grow empathy in play. A simple doctor’s kit is a staple. I love the twist of this kit and do my kids: all the doctor supplies store inside an ambulance. Brilliant.

Other Doctor Kits

LEGO Duplos

An open-ended toy that most every house has or should have! LEGO bricks are full of learning and fun, and Duplos start kids building in the right direction.

Chunky Puzzles

I always say this: you can never have too many puzzles. Puzzles are amazing for teaching spatial awareness, reasoning, and problem solving. Why wouldn’t we want a whole lot of that?

Plush Barn with Animals

My daughter got this for her 2nd birthday – it’s still in her play rotation. She’ll be 10 in January. It’s a favorite of every kid from age 2-12 that visits. It’s sweet, simple, and keeps kids playing.

Emergency Vehicle Carrier

All of these loader-style vehicles from Melissa and Doug have been all-stars at our house. Emergency vehicles and play is a big deal in the early years – this is the perfect simple set for toddlers. FYI: This toys stretches out to two-feet long which is just plain awesome.

Dolls

Dolls are (say it with me) gender neutral. All kids need a chance to practice care skills and empathy. Future parents, doctors, nurses, teachers, and childcare workers need a chance to hone their skills. These baby dolls come as a set or are sold individually.

Play Tools

Another plug for dramatic play – this is how our kids make sense of the world around them and interact with it. Tools to fix with are a perfect way for kids to practice some helpful skills.

Dress Up Costumes

Another chance for dramatic play: costumes! This is a fun collection to grow… grow this slowly and over time (more listed below).

Other Costume Options

Build-a-Bouquet

Oh this sweet little toy has so many possibilities: use it in a sensory bin, use it in the bath, use it with muddy play outside, use it all by itself. Each piece comes apart for endless flower building. Kids love creating new bouquets and arrangements and incorporating this into their imaginary play.

Wooden Vehicles

These little wooden vehicles offer a big surprise: not only are they fun on their own, but they’re compatible with wooden train tracks. That’s huge in the world of train building, and makes these a great add-on to a growing train or cars collection.