Best Toddler Toys
Buying Guide and Recommendation
Wondering what kind of toddler toys you should get for your little one ? Wonder no more !! In this page, you will find recommendations on
buying the best toys for your toddler. Many recommendation in this page also make a good first and second birthday gift.
I believe that the best toddler toys are the one which are fun, safe, age appropriate and support the physical, emotional, social,
cognitive and language development of toddlers.
So, what are they ?
To answer this question, let's look at the developmental profile of a toddler.
Toddlerhood is a stage where young children learn to walk properly, which is typically started at about 12 month up to 36 month. You will
notice that this is the time when your child becomes much more active and strives to be independent (and consequently much more stubborn too
!!).
Below is the recommended toys for toddler which are useful for helping toddlers to grow optimally. You can think of my recommendation as
my version of the 'creme de la creme' of toddler toys. So please understand that they are not necessarily the 'hottest toys' or 'top toddler toys' of the year. Nor
are they necessarily the same toys recommended by some award-giving organization, like Oppenheim, Parent's Magazine, and so forth.
Toddler Toy Recommendation
Or just simply shop from a variety of online toddler toy stores.
Toddler toys which aid cognitive development and fine motor skills.
Nowadays, there is a lot of toddler toys designed to optimize child's brain development and they are collectively known as toddler
educational toys. These toddler ntoys will help your toddler to master these following concepts and skills in fun ways: color, size, shape,
basic counting, matching, sequencing and problem solving. In addition, these toys are usually suitable to develop your toddler's hand-eye
coordination and find motor skills.
The best toddler toys I recommend for this purpose are:
- stacking toys such as stacking rings, nesting cups, and stacking blocks.
- shape sorters.
- toddler jigsaw puzzles
- simple construction toys
- building blocks.
- activity center toys.
Below are specific recommendation for those.
1. Stacking Toys.
Nesting Cups
Between stacking rings, nesting cups, and stacking blocks, I recommend nesting cups the most. Nesting cups consist of cups of different
colors and sizes so they can be either stacked or nested.It's the cheapest and most open-ended stacking toys you can get. Not only it works
as an educational toddler toy. It can also be used to increase hand-eye coordination and pretend play.
The best ones are made of plastics of different solid colors and consist of more than 5 cups. It should be available locally, but if you
have difficulties locating them offline, you can get them online inexpensively here
.
Stacking Rings
Stacking rings consist of rings of different sizes and colors which are placed in a cone. They are very educational and can be used for color
and size recognition activities, hand-eye coordination practice and for pretend play. You should not find any trouble getting the plastic
stacking rings from local department store. However, if you prefer wood, you may have to shop online. One company which makes wooden stacking
rings is Melissa & Doug 
.
Just be aware that with the wooden stacking rings, the paint can chip off and when stored in humid condition, the rings can get stuck to
each other. Finally, if you want a more fancy stacking rings which contain other fun developmental activities, then have a look at Tiny Love Musical Stack & Play
Stacking Blocks.
Stacking blocks are either wooden or cardboard cubes of various sizes which can be stacked on top of each other. When they are stacked, these
blocks can be as tall as your toddlers. The most attractive and durable ones are cardboard stacking blocks made by eeBoo, which wins Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
Platinum Award.
2. Shape Sorters
Shape sorters usually appeal to younger toddlers and is used best for matching activities (matching the hole shape with the piece shape),
shape and color recognition, as well as for hand-eye coordination. My kids often use the pieces as part of their pretend play, too. One
caveat when shopping for this toy: some shape sorters have design flaw so that small kids can still put through the pieces through the
incorrect hole, e.g. triangle pieces to square hole.
Again, these toddler toys are abundant in department store. However, if you want
a more fancy shape sorter which is not in a form of bucket-style shape sorter, try to get this toddler toy online. For the youngest toddler,
you can have a look at Fisher Price Shape Sorter
which although is of bucket style, has big pieces which give out sound when they are put into the right hole. They are also easy for the
youngest toddler to use because the pieces are big and can be put through the hole and taken out of the bucket easily. For more practice on
hand-eye coordination, you can get the non-bucket style Infantino Jumbo Shape Sorter
or Battat House Shape Sorter Toy
which have their own unique way to get the shape sorter pieces out of the container.
3. Toddler Jigsaw Puzzle
The benefit of owning this toddler toy is enormous.Fortunately toddler puzzles are abundant in second-hand market, so it's easy to own
several of those without breaking the bank. So what are the best toddler puzzles ?
If your toddler is still young, start out your
toddler with a wooden peg or knob puzzle where what she has to do is to match the picture of the puzzle pieces with the picture at the bottom
of the hole in the board. This means, you should get the toddler puzzles which have full-color pictures underneath each puzzle piece. Melissa and Doug chunky wooden puzzle
and Puzzibilities Level 2 are beginner wooden puzzle series from Melissa & Doug and Small World Toys,
respectively, which are perfect for young toddlers.
Once she masters that, you can get the more advanced one-piece peg puzzles where she can match the puzzle pieces with the hole shape on
the board.In this kind of puzzle, the base of the hole in the board does not have any picture, so when you remove the pieces, what is left is
blank hole. Puzzibilities level 3 are designed exactly for that. For more fun and challenge, try the magnetic wooden puzzle put out by Melissa & Doug where the child can pick the magnetic puzzle pieces using either the tow, the bug
catcher net or the fishing pole which come with the puzzles.
Finally, once your toddler masters the one-piece puzzle, yOu can then challenge your toddler to solve two-pieces puzzle, like the one put out
by Infantino 
or other easy puzzles, for instance the bear family dress-up puzzle
.
4. Construction Toys:
COnstruction toys are one of the best toddler toys because they increase toddler's hand eye coordination, spatial capability and
imagination. For toddlers, the best toddler construction toys are the ones with big chuncks. So look for the big Mega Blok or Lego Duplo
construction sets. In addition, toddlers may enjoy chunky magnetic construction set, like the one produced by Jumbonetics.
5. Building Blocks:
Like construction toys, building blocks are one of the most versatile and open-ended toddler toys you can buy. For small toddlers, soft
building blocks works best. You can increase their play value by choosing blocks which have other activities embedded in them, such as the
IQ Baby Knock Knock Block. The blocks are colorful and some of the blocks have rattles inside, peek-a-boo flaps and material which
will crinkle when squeezed. You can get them for 20% MSRP here.
You can also introduce your older toddler to the joy of playing with the old style ABC blocks. The ones which are perfect for toddlers are
the classic Uncle Goose ABC blocks
.
Finally, don't forget that toddler loves giant building blocks, most notably cardboard building blocks or cardboard brick blocks. There
are three size of giant building blocks: small, medium, and big. The big ones are the most stable ones and easiest to stack, so they are best
for toddlers. However, these toddler toys are hard to come by locally, so I suggest you to buy these online here
(for the biggest size blocks only) or here
(for mixed size of giant building blocks).
6. Activity Center Toys :
Activity center toy is one of the educational toddler toys which is nice to have. You may not need one if you have a variety of toddler toys
already. However, I find that activity center toys are good for exploration activities and can provide a lengthy quiet time because there is
a lot of variety there. I recommend either the cheaper but good IQ Baby Busy Box or the fancier Busy Zoo by Battat
which is currently offered at 40% off here
.
Toddler toys which aid gross motor development.
The newly-acquired ability to walk enables toddlers to become much more active and independent than before. You will find that your
toddler will love to play outside and do physical activities such as running, jumping and crawling. All these activities improve their gross
motor skill.
So which toys are suitable for aiding the development of toddler's gross motor skill ?
If you're on a tight budget, I recommend you to get balls, a push toy and a ride on toy. Let's talk about them one by one.
Ball.
Ball is a cheap, yet very versatile toddler toy to have. Size-wise, I recommend a ball which has a diameter around 5 inches. This size is
ideal because it's not too big and not too small for a toddler to play with.
Toddler Push Toy
The benefit of having this toddler toy is obvious - it helps your toddler to perfect their walk in a fun way. If you are looking for a
toddler push toy to help your toddler to both stand up and walk, I recommend you to get the one which is heavy enough to prevent the
toy from tipping over when your toddler reaches it. Two well-made push toys which are very stable, yet manouverable are: Haba Walker Wagon (the best one)
and Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon (second best)
.
In addition, since these push toys are wagons, they can be used for transporting toys or your toddler's favorite books.
If you are looking for a more light-weight and cheaper push toy for a toddler who only needs to perfect their walking, you can get either a
plastic or wooden push toy which has other functionalities such as wagon and blocks, or wagon and shape sorter. That way, you get at least
two toddler toys in one.
If you can afford it, I recommend you to get a wooden push toy since it tends to be heavier and therefore more stable. One good quality and
affordable light-weight wooden push toy which comes with building blocks is toddler walker from Plan Toy which is currently offered at 20% MSRP here
. Please note that you should only use this toddler toy with toddlers who are walking or close to walking. This toy is not stable enough for
the toddler to lean on.
Plastic push toy is usually cheaper than the wooden kind and most department store carry them. However, plastic push toys tend to be very
light, even when compared to the light-weight wooden push toy such as Plan Toy wooden push toy mentioned above. So use them with caution.
Plastic push toy is more attractive to both toddlers and parents since it usually has many toys and activity center embedded on it. V-Tech,
Hasbro, Chicco and Fisher Price - each has toddler push toy which can be converted into a ride-on and are quite well liked. For a more basic
(and much cheaper) plastic push ride on toy which is well-made and co-incidently also wins Dr. Toy award, have a look at Little Tikes Push & Ride Racer
.
Riding Toy
Riding toys are one of the toys toddlers need to further their physical coordination skill. Since most toddlers can't pedal, you would have
to find either a battery-operated riding toys or a riding toy which moves by pushing feet to the floor. I choose a non electronic riding toy
any day because it exercises toddler muscles. When choosing one, remember to look at the dimension carefully since you would want to get a
ride on toy which is low enough for your toddler. In addition, look at the gliding capability for fun factor.
Again, you have a choice of either a wooden ride on or a plastic ride on. For a stable and good quality (durable) ride on toy with a good
gliding capability even on a carpet, I recommend Radio flyers product: either the Radio Flyer 777S Turbo Turtle
or the Radio Flyer Classic Tiny Trike
.For a basic and cheaper, but well-made plastic ride on-push toy combo, I recommend the award winning Little Tikes Push & Ride Racer
.
Others
In addition to the toys I listed above, if you have extra money, you can get these following toys to further exercise your toddler's muscle
and improve their coordination and balance: climbing toys , toddler pull toys, swinging toys,
play tunnel,
slides, sport-inspired toys, and rocking toys (including toy rocking
horse)
Toddler toys which aid emotional and social development.
Toddler is at the stage where they are still happy to play alone or, when other children are present, to play in parallel with them
(instead of playing together). Almost any toy can be played in parallel with other children, especially toys such as car toys, train toys,
theme play set, dolls and stuffed toys. When playing these toddler toys in parallel with friends, toddlers can learn to share toys.
In addition, these toddler toys can be used to improve your toddler's language development. The key to success lays in you as the primary
caregiver. Play with your child and talk to them about the toy. For instance, you can talk about the feature of your child's doll, or
introduce a lot of verb (rolling, spinning, pulling, and so on) when your child is playing with her toys.You may find it easier to talk to
your child while playing with a theme play set, like barnyard animals set, doll house set, etc. This way, you can tell your child a story and
let the animals or dolls in the play set illustrate it.
Stuffed toys, be it a doll or stuffed animal, are also very good toys to support emotional development of your child. They can be hugged or
stroked or even talked to when your child is sad or in need of comfort, for instance during illness.
Finally, open-ended play with toddler toys listed above is the best recipe to stimulate your toddler's creativity and imagination. This is
the play period where children are left to play without adult interference so that they can be in their own imaginative world. Doll, stuffed
animal, construction toys, toy car, toy train, and play-theme set are the best toys for this purpose.
Simple art and craft which are free of 'right and wrong results' can also be provided to encourage an open-ended exploration.
Therefore, the best toddler toys to aid toddler's emotional, language and social development as well as imagination are:
- car and train toys..
- theme play set.
- stuffed toys.
- dolls. For baby dolls, nothing is better than the soft Eden dolls, whereas for adorable and innocent (as in
not glamorous) girl soft dolls, you can have a look at either the entire line of Co
rolle or Furnis doll (NOTE: Furnis produces anatomically-correct doll which may
bother some. We have the Furnis girl dolls and so far, it's been worth it.)
- art and craft.
- building sets.
More Articles on Toddler Toys.
Toddler Toys for Cognitive Development
Toddler Toys for Physical Development
Toddler Toys for Social Development
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