Best Toys for 2-Year-Olds
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Your 2-year-old is on the move and curious! The best toys for your tot are those that teach her how to get around in the world and master her burgeoning independence.
What types of toys should I buy a 2-year-old?
Toddlers learn best when they are playing and motivated, says Sarah Lytle, Ph.D, Director of Outreach and Education, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington.
“Toys that offer them choices are good, because 2-year-olds are learning how to create their own place in the world,” she says. And, as you’ve probably learned when it comes to what they want to eat for snacktime or the outfit they want to wear that day, the more 2-year-olds can control their choices, the happier they are.
What is the best toy for a 2-year-old?
Here are a few of the best types of toddler toys you should consider for your 2-year-old, plus a few features you may want to avoid.
Books. Books are always a smart choice. The best books for 2-year-olds can introduce rhyming words, which helps them improve literacy skills.
Toys to pretend with. Toddlers like to emulate Mom, Dad, other adults and even animals as a way to find their place in the world. Think dress-up clothes, dolls, toy pots and pans and a doctor set, suggests Lytle.
Toy vehicles. Things that zoom help your 2-year-old work on their large motor skills while playing. Look for trucks or cars that come with passengers so you can act out scenarios and your tot can decide who gets to go for a ride that day.
Puzzles. Children at this age are working on their problem-solving skills. A puzzle encourages them to ask and answer questions, such as Can a piece fit this way? Or do I need to turn it around?
Musical instruments. Lytle says that 2-year-olds “are learning how the things they do in the world have an impact.” With a drum, they learn that when they bang it, it makes a sound. With a play guitar, they can push a button and it makes noise. “Pattern imitation helps this age group with speech skills,” she says.
Be sure to avoid: Choking hazards are still a concern, so steer clear of anything with small pieces or flimsy plastic toys with pieces that could break off, per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Tots 18 months and under should have no screen time, according to the AAP, while those 18 months to 2 years old may have limited screen time with Mom or Dad’s supervision.
Ready to start shopping? Check out a few of our favorite toys for 2-year-olds.
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Best Learning Toy for 2-Year-Olds
'My First Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme Book' by C.R. Gibson
Get ready to read this book every night at bedtime! Nursery rhymes are timeless for a reason: Kids love the cadence and start to anticipate sounds, thanks to the classic couplets. With brightly-colored illustrations, this book features characters like Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, the Itsy Bitsy Spider and many more.
Best Toy Truck for 2-Year-Olds
Mega Bloks Caterpillar Large Dump Truck
Your 2-year-old will play with this large dump truck for hours on end. Kids can take the driver in and out and fill the bin with the included 25 large building blocks — then dump it out. The blocks can be played with separately to build roadblocks or walls for the truck to break through.
Recommended age: 1 year and older
Dimensions: 12.83 x 12 x 16 inches
Weight: 4.3 pounds
Best Classic Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Playskool Sit ‘n Spin
For decades, busy toddlers have been whirling and twirling on this classic spinner. It’s a perfect outlet for your little one to burn off extra energy indoors while practicing her balance, coordination and motor skills. You’ll love the simplicity — there are no batteries required.
Recommended age: 18 months to 6 years
Dimensions: 4 x 18 x 18 inches
Weight: 3 pounds
Best Puzzle Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Wood City Wooden Peg Puzzles
These colorful wooden puzzles with small pegs will help your 2-year-old with hand-eye coordination and problem solving skills, all while she’s learning the alphabet, numbers, shapes and a host of other vocabulary words. You'll get six in a set, as well as a rack for storage.
Recommended age: 2 years
Puzzle dimensions: 11.75 x 8.6 inches
Best Musical Toy for 2-Year-Olds
VTech KidiBeats Drum Set
Who’s got the beat? Your 2-year-old will, thanks to this drum set that she can play freestyle or follow along with to nine pre-set melodies. The drums and cymbal light up and also have letter and number modes. Music to your ears: It has volume control.
Recommended age: 2 to 5 years
Dimensions: 3.9 x 12.09 x 11.46 inches
Weight: 1.5 pounds
Best Interactive Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Green Toys Tea Set
Invite all the stuffed animals in the house for a teddy bear picnic! This tea set is made out of recycled plastic and is BPA- and PVC-free — you could even eat and drink out of it for real. She'll get a kick out of serving you pretend tea and cookies, and won’t even realize she’s fine-tuning her gross and fine motor skills while having so much fun.
Recommended age: 2 years and older
Best Wooden Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Melissa & Doug Wooden Jumbo Stacking Train
Your 2-year-old can use the train as a vehicle, pull it along as a pull toy or stack, sort, build and count the train car’s 14 colorful blocks. In other words, it’s a multi-use toy that’s sure to serve up hours of fun.
Recommended age: 2 years and older
Overall dimensions: 25 x 8.5 x 6.5 inches
Total weight: 8.25 pounds
Best Travel Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Melissa & Doug Bowling Set
Kids won’t be able to resist these plush colorful animal head pins. Their bottoms are weighted, so they’re easy to set up and knock down. Bowling is a classic game of cause and effect and teaches kids, “If I throw it this way, then that will happen,” Lyttle says. As your tot gets more skilled, have her stand further from the pins to roll the ball. It also comes with a carrying case, so you can easily take it on your next trip.
Recommended age: 2 to 4 years
Total weight: 2 pounds
Best Educational Toy for 2-Year-Olds
VTech Latches & Doors Busy Board
With latches, keys, doors to open and button galores to push, this busy board will do exactly as advertised and keep your tot busy for hours (or at least while you get dinner started). It also teaches an alphabet and a number song. The board has a handle for easy transport from room to room, too.
Recommended age: 12 to 36 months
Dimensions: 2.68 x 14.17 x 11.61 inches
Weight: 1.8 pounds
Best Art Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Play-Doh Modeling Compound 10-Pack
The smell alone will instantly transport you back to your own childhood. This classic toy helps promote creativity. The 24-pack comes with Play-Doh in every color of the rainbow for your tot to squish, squeeze and roll to her little heart’s delight.
Recommended age: 2 years and older
Size: 3 ounces per can
Best Outdoor Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Fisher-Price Bubble Mower
Here’s another fun plaything that’ll let your tot work just like Mom or Dad (and burn off plenty of energy running around). Of course, your 2-year-old will love this lawn mower way more than the one you use, since it blows out bubbles while she pushes it.
Recommended age: 2 to 5 years
Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.7 x 14.8 inches
Weight: 4 pounds
Best Bath Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Boon Chomp Hungry Whale
It’s a water play toy that will grow with your child: Your toddler can start by looking at the bright colors and fun shapes in the whale's mouth. And as her hand-eye coordination gets better, she can control it herself.
Recommended age: 10 months and up
Dimensions: 4.5 x 3 x 10 inches
Weight: 3 ounces
Best Sorting Toy for 2-Year-Olds
Melissa & Doug Nesting & Sorting Garages & Cars
Toys that mimic real-life activities help your little one learn and give a satisfying sense of accomplishment, which helps promote healthy self-esteem. By stacking and sorting seven cars and seven garages, your tot can pretend she's driving and parking — just like Mom does!
Recommended age: 24 months to 4 years
Total dimensions: 16 x 7 x 6 inches
Weight: 1 pound
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