We asked and you answered: what are the best gifts for toddlers? These are some of the first toys your child will ever have and it's sort of like going back to Toys 101: the Basics. Here are ten reader ideas for toys toddlers will love:
1. Trains (like the Nuchi Oval Train Set, $29.99, YoYo.com): When my son was two I started shopping for his first train set and got lots of helpful feedback from readers. The great thing about train sets is that most brands will work together. so start with a small set and it they really fall in love you can expand with more tracks and accessories over time.
2. Play Kitchen (like the French Kitchen from WH Swiss, $116.99, Oompa): Toddlers love doing or at least imitating what mom and dad are doing and play kitchens are a fantastic venue for this instinct. Buy one or take a look at over 80 DIY ones for inspiration.
3. Blocks (like Kubix 100 Blocks, $35, Giggle): Blocks are one of the most classic toys around and for good reason. Toddlers start with simple stacking and later will integrate them with all kinds of other toys like cars, animal and people figurines, etc.
4. Books (like Animal 123 and Animal Spots and Stripes by Britta Teckentrup $12.99 each): You no doubt already make frequent trips to the library with your toddler, but a home library is important too. Toddlers are graduating from board books to picture books and there are so many wonderful ones to choose from (consider favorites from your own childhood.)
5. LEGO DUPLO (like the DUPLO Brick Box, $14.99, Ty's Toybox): DUPLO, the junior version of LEGO, was a popular reader suggestion. This inexpensive starter box is the perfect introduction to the universally loved LEGO family of toys.
6. Dress Up Clothes (like Crowns and Swords, $15.98 - 19.98, Magic Cabin): A dress up or costume box can be incredibly fun to put together. Start by pulling things from around your house (scarves, hats, for example) and keep your eyes open at the thrift shop. If you're looking for something more specific (fireman's hat, tutus, etc.), turn to your local toy shop or online.
7. Dolls (like Lola and Otto by Blabla Kids, $52 each, My Sweet Muffin): Dolls are an important part of imaginative play for toddlers and they can also become objects of comfort.
8. Ride-on Toy (like Wheely Bug Bee small, $59.99, Fao Schwarz): toddlers are on the move and if you have room for one, ride on toys are great fun for them and a good way to burn off energy indoors during the winter months.
9. Cars (like Wooden Wind Up Cars (set of 6), $24.98, Magic Cabin): Cars, especially small ones that fit in their hands, are a hit with toddlers. My son has his dad's vintage Matchbox collection, but you could also start with a greener option like these wood cars which wind up and move on their own.
10. Doll Stroller (like Baby Stella Doll Stroller, $24.55, Target): A stroller of their own is a great gift for new walkers. They gain confidence walking behind it and, for reasons I still don't understand, love hauling their stuff init from one place to another.
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These are all such great choices! I love the dress up clothes!
While I think these are thoughtful gifts, I think that generally kids don't appreciate 'design' gifts that you see at a lot of indie gift shops. They would rather play with mass produced crap, frankly. Disappointing, but true.
It's sad when a person has such little faith in what children might like. I own most of the list plus some ( like play silks) and the daycare kids I care for daily don't have a problem... in fact they are glad "grandma" doesn't have massed produced plastic crap ( I don't do legos at all). I have toys that make one use their imagination and are open ended
I second the blabla dolls. My daughter hasn't gone anywhere without "Doll" since she got her for her first Christmas. They wear really well--she's even survived having two of her hands chewed off by our rescue pup. And because my daughter drags Doll everywhere with her, she gets tossed in the wash at least once or twice and week and washes up great.
This is a great list, my son loved/loves most of these. I defintiely second the cars that are small enough to fit in their hands comments. My son had almost no interest in bigger cars and they take up so much more room. He has a lot of the Disney Cars, which have held up sooo well. They're a bit bigger than Hot Wheels and he prefered them so much more than any other cars he had. The ones from the Disney Store are JUNK though, the ones from Target and all those stores are the best.
Got my baby the blabla Mr. X for Christmas, I'm really excited about it, hoping he loves it.
As for the comment about "design" toys. In my experience kids do like mass produced toys. Sometimes more the ones we like. But they like the cool ones too. Kids like to play. With whatever, pretty much.
Yes on that box of Duplos - still getting played with daily, five years later! And yes on the doll stroller and play kitchen.
Yes on the ride-on, but no on that bee. The ones with a steering mechanism (like the Radio Flyer Tony Trike style) are the ones to get. That bee (which I have) just goes straight; the kid has to stand up and shove to go left or right. Ditto for round steering wheels; not an obvious concept. But bike-style steering...played with for years!
And thanks for the cars, haven't seen those yet!
I think a play kitchen is a wonderful toy that will be used for years. We own the one pictured. It is great and my daughter loved it from 1.5 on. But, Now my daughter is 5 and my son is 2.5 and I really wish we had a larger play kitchen. This one is really big enough for older kids or multiple kids. So, if you have the room, get a larger play kitchen that your kids can grow into. Also, my kids ask for and love their junky plastic movie character toys and play with them for about a day. But its toys like those pictures (the play kitchen, blocks, and train set) that they come back to again and again.
I think the wheely bugs are great for little toddlers, my guys could use it to walk before any other walking toy because it's more stable, and they can get around on it much more easily than the ride on bike we have because they just push where they want to go instead of having to turn something.
I could see that for older kids a bike could be better, but so far for 8-16 months it can't be beat
I agree that the play kitchen #2 is a great gift. We got one and it is well used and loved. It's also cheaper through Amazon than through the store link posted above.
For older toddlers, I stand by Automoblox as a genius toy. Everyone we give it to, loves it.
I agree that there is a lot of "design-store" stuff for babies and kids these days that is really more about adults. But that doesn't apply to any of the things in this post. These are all great classic toys that are also not unattractive. And legos are an amazing combination of mass-produced (affordable and readily available) and completely open-ended (as long as you get the basic ones and not super-specific sets).