When your sweet little muffin turns two, they become more and more excited about playing with friends, making social contacts, sorting shapes and colors, kicking balls, and throwing stuff. There’s so much energy flowing from those little guys that you just keep wondering whether they have self-rechargeable batteries, after all!
When choosing the best toys for 2-year-olds boys and girls, you, being a caring parent, aunt, uncle, grandma, or grandpa, have to be sure the toy you’ve picked will surely match their interests and help them discover something new, work on those fine motor skills and boost imagination. However, it’s not a secret that 2-year-olds just love playing with everything they find around the house or in the drawers – brooms, kitchen tools, dad’s wallet.
And now as these smart toddlers have mastered such important skill as walking, they really enjoy pulling wagons or dragging other nice things behind them. And when they practice speaking repeating words and saying full sentences already, they are also learning to engage with others and interact using pretend play. This is where our top list of best toys for 2-year-olds will be of great help.
If you are looking for more gift ideas and award-winning toys, check out our guides to the best toys for 6-month-olds, 1-year-olds, 3-year-olds, as well as these cool bath toys for everyday evening water fun. And don’t forget to share your ideas in the comments.
5 Best Toys for 2-Year-Olds Under $20
#1. Learning Resources New Sprouts Fix It!
New Sprouts Fix It! is a marvelous learning toys set for your beloved child. A plastic toolbox with five tools inside: hammer, wrench, saw, screwdriver, and drill. The buzzing drill will definitely come in handy for your little helper. Learning is a game!
These toys will help your kid to develop motor skills and the ability to find correct solutions, as well as consecutive thoughts and bright imagination. 100% safe for a toddler: gentle, durable material, the edges are softed. Not big, comfortable to carry. Let your precious child help you around the household!
#2. Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pounding Bench
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pounding Bench is the best musical toy for a 2-year-old kid and it will become one of the best gifts for 2-year-old boys and girls. Strong and durable wood. A mallet comes with it. The pegs move up and down alternately with making a peekaboo sound. Kids use a mallet to strike them, then another peg appears. This repeats on a loop keeping a kid guessing which peg will go up after that.
The pegs are not detachable (which is obviously an advantage, as you will not have to pick them up all over the flat after the game ends). Besides, a toddler will definitely like these adorable colorful smiley faces. At the same time, it is a perfect reason to learn colors and develop hand-eye coordination when playing. Let your kids free their imagination and enjoy this exciting game!
#3. Melissa & Doug Cutting Fruit
Melissa & Doug Cutting Fruit can provide your little kid with an interesting first cooking experience. One of the best educational toys for 2-year-olds, it consists of a wooden crate and a set of 7 fruits that can be cut into 17 chunks. A wooden knife comes with it. The toy is very lifelike: while you cut the fruit, which has sticky tabs, it’s crunching. It can be used to learn the idea of separating a whole, as well as some numbers and colors.
So, next time instead of distracting your child with a TV while you’re busy cooking dinner, ask them to join you! Cutting Fruit is worth its quality, but extra family time, especially such an engaging one, is invaluable!
#4. Learning Resources Spike The Fine Motor Hedgehog
Learning Resources Spike The Fine Motor Hedgehog is a wonderful plastic hedgehog toy with vivid colorful sticks that need to be put in holes on his back. You can store the sticks inside the hedgehog so that they won’t get lost after the game. Easy to store, easy to take with you wherever you need to entertain your child. Helps to improve coordination.
When playing with this development toy for 2-year-olds, a kid learns to recognize, sort, and count the pieces, as well as distinguish colors. Uncomplicated but extremely attractive. It’s just what kids love.
#5. Green Toys Car Carrier Vehicle Set
The car carrier vehicle set by Green Toys is the best learning toy for 2-year-old boys that can be used both indoors and outdoors. This set consists of five pieces and has three brightly colored small cars and a cab with a detachable trailer. This toy is super durable and safe as it is made from 100% recycled materials, is phthalate and BPA free, dishwasher safe, contains no dyes, coatings, and paints.
The set encourages toddlers practice their motor skills and creative and imaginative play and, thus, can be considered a unique gift for 2-year-olds.
5 Best Toys for 2-Year-Olds Under $50
#1. Learning Resources Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Set
Learning Resources Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Set is a great tool to teach your kid to distinguish colors, learn names of fruits and vegetables, and sort the items. The set provides a wide variety of products: five plastic baskets with 25 plastic food items in five colors (violet, yellow, orange, green, and red).
Baskets have labels with color names, and the pieces are well-detailed. Some unusual veggies and fruits (as for a toy set) included, such as yellow apple, eggplant, peach, pepper in three various colors, etc. Use this set to instill in your kid the love of healthy eating through a game.
#2. Learning Resources Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register
Learning Resources Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register will help your toddler get to know the idea of money existence and develop the simplest counting skills. When a child gets older, he/she can even practice adding and subtracting with it. The plastic cash register has 40 pretend coins, along with a credit card and 30 life-size U.S. bills. Made from high-quality materials. No batteries are required as the calculator is solar-powered.
The register makes that satisfying characteristic ‘ding’ sound while opening. You can play house or imagine you are in a grocery store/ bank/railway station, or just whatever you can possibly think of! It may not really be an age-appropriate toy for 2-year-olds, however, it develops so many skills and makes a perfect gift.
#3. LEGO DUPLO My First Number Train
LEGO DUPLO My First Number Train is a plastic building kit that will help your 2-year-old son or daughter to learn numbers faster! 13 pieces + 10 bricks with big colorful numbers. At the end of the building process, you’ll get a marvelous train and three figures of a boy, a girl, and a cat. You can use them for role-play as well.
Your kid will improve his coordination skills while building a train and develop substantial creativity while finding ways how to rebuild it into something else. This set is perfect for encouraging toddlers to learn numbers and will be a perfect 2-year-old birthday gift for girl and boy!
#4. Playskool Sit ‘n Spin Classic Spinning Activity Toy
Among toys for 1 to 2-year-olds, Playskool Sit ‘n Spin is a good old but still a super fun thing. We bet you’ll even get jealous! Just sit, spin, and enjoy getting a little dizzy. No, not you, but your child! Putting it together is a piece of cake. It takes only three screws (which are included) and a minute of your time. It is well-sized, not too big so that it will fit in any tiny apartment. Apart from having an exciting and entertaining time with a favorite toy, your toddler will learn to balance and improve hand coordination as well.
#5. Radio Flyer Scoot 2 Scooter
Radio Flyer Scoot 2 Scooter will become a fantastic tool for encouraging your child to play active games and is a great outdoor toy for 2-year-olds. The scooter offers two options: a kid can ride it standing up or stay in a seated position. In the second case, there will also be some extra space to carry some toys and stuff with them. The scooter is made from safe and durable plastic. It can be used both inside and outside, so it comes in handy the whole year.
One of the best gifts for 2-year-olds, this scooter instills in your kid the love for sports, as well as gives an opportunity to play whatever they want! For example, a kid can play shop and pretend to be a delivery person or imagine being a racing driver, and what not!
3 Best Toys for 2-Year-Olds Over $100
#1. Rockin’ Rider Lucky Talking Plush Spring Horse
This is the best toy for 2-year-old boy or girl who love plush animals. Rockin’ Rider Lucky Talking Plush Spring Horse is a toy that kids can’t help hugging non-stop! Made from soft plush, it has a steel frame. In its ears, there are buttons to press, and then a song, some phrases, or sounds start to play. The horse is moving its mouth in time to the music or phrase. The volume is alterable.
There are dozens of ways to play with this horse. Kids also love to take care of it as if it is a real pet. They stroke it, brush its tail and mane, talk with it and pretend horse racing. Let your kid’s imagination run wild during this game!
#2. Step2 Unicorn Up & Down Roller Coaster
Step2 Unicorn Up & Down Roller Coaster is almost a portable amusement park (home version) which makes it rank high among top presents for 2-year-olds! Made from high-quality plastic. All the details are well-designed for a 100% safe ride. Using it always involves a lot of physical activity, as well as develops coordination and balance skills.
The roller coaster should be preferably used outside so that your kid could spend much more time in the open air. It can also contribute to kids’ social skills, as it is practically impossible to play without a will to invite friends or neighbors to come to join you! As the ‘car’ implies only one rider, kids will have to learn to negotiate, take turns, wait patiently, and respect each other.
#3. VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe
VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe is the best 3-in-1 interactive learning desk you can ever choose for a toddler! 5 activity pages offer 200+ touch&learn spots. With their help, you can teach your kid to recognize letters, count, learn some colors, etc. There is also a talking mobile phone and a pretend music player that allows you to listen to amusing melodies.
The display demonstrates how to write numbers and letters. It can also be easily transformed into a chalkboard. Then, you can attach a sheet of paper using a clip – and a chalkboard becomes an easel! The desk provides extra space to store pencils, brushes, rulers, paint sets, etc. The stool comes with it. Additionally, you can purchase some or all of the 8 extra packs which offer even broader opportunities.
Final Words
We hope you’ve found our list of top toys for 2-year-olds handy. Whatever toy you’ve chosen for your 2-year-old child, you have to mind such characteristics as safety, durability, and absence of small parts. Remember, they have to encourage practicing the already mastered skills and develop the new ones, build logical thinking, spark kids’ imagination, and help with problem-solving.
