Toys

The 42 Best Educational Toys For 2-Year-Olds

Updated on 16 minute read

What Are Learning Toys & What Do Two-Year-Olds Need?

Learning toys are educational or instructional toys designed to help your child learn a new skill or understand a particular concept.

Educational toys for two-year-olds can teach them critical skills ideal for their developmental milestones:

  • Hand-eye coordination
  • Fine motor skills
  • Critical thinking
  • Math
  • Science – such as cause-and-effect toys (toys that make a sound when hit)
  • Matching (also teaches letters, colors, and numbers)
  • Language and speech

How Do You Mentally Stimulate A Two-Year-Old?

Some ways to encourage your child’s brain development:

  • Problem-solving toys like puzzles and shape sorters
  • Sensory toys that let them differentiate different textures
  • Musical toys or other things that make a sound when used (so they can learn cause and effect)
  • Toys for role play to let them use their imagination

Skills: Why Do Toddlers Need Learning Toys?

These educational toys can help in brain development and teach them the basic concepts:

  • Math
  • Literacy
  • Speech
  • Cognition & problem solving
  • Imaginative play
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Creative thinking and visualization

Do All Toys Have An Educational Benefit?

Many toys are made for a specific educational purpose, but any toy can still have some educational benefit to your child.

For example, you can teach a 4-year-old about numbers by counting their toy cars or colors by pointing to these on their ride-on toys.

The 45 Best Educational Toys For Toddlers

We grouped these learning toys according to the following categories to help you choose the best for your little one:

  • STEM & Montessori-inspired toys
  • Words, ABCs, numbers, & colors
  • Puzzles
  • Educational building sets & blocks
  • Matching toys
  • Imaginative play, role play, & pull toys
  • Musical toys
  • Creative & sensory toys for learning new skills
  • Toys for learning life skills

Learn more about each educational toy below.

STEM & Montessori-inspired Toys

Monti Kids Level 8 Montessori Box

  • Check Price Here
  • Best features: Teaches math concepts such as fractions and promotes creativity
  • Product safety: Non-toxic paint
  • Materials: Child-safe materials (certified for 0-3 years old)
  • Educational value: Creativity, cognition, memory, and fine motor skills
  • Age range: 29-36 months
  • Extra features: Includes mystery bags to help build memory skills and promote exploration
  • Certification: CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) International F-963 Toy Safety Standards, and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

Lovevery Play Kits (The Investigator)

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Lovevery

  • Best features: Science experiment kit, with lessons for volume and liquid conservation
  • Product safety: Free from phthalates and toxic heavy elements
  • Materials: Sustainably-harvested wood, other child-safe materials
  • Educational value: Problem-solving, creativity, cognition, memory, fine motor skills, and basic science and math concepts
  • Age range: 31-33 months
  • Extra features: Includes match-and-tap hammer box, memory game, board book, and countdown timer with color indicators
  • Certification: FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

Lovevery Play Kits (The Free Spirit Play Kit)

Shop At:

Lovevery

eBay

  • Best features: Play kit for language, independence, and social-emotional skills
  • Product safety: Free from phthalates and toxic heavy elements
  • Materials: Sustainably-harvested wood and other child-safe materials
  • Educational value: Problem-solving, balancing skills, learning numbers, imaginative play, and real-life skills
  • Age range: 34-36 months
  • Extra features: Includes a wooden counting box, land and sky puzzle board, wooden camper van, etc.
  • Certification: FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

KiwiCo Koala Crate

Shop At:

Kiwico

  • Pros & best features: Box with different arts and crafts, toys for imaginative play, and science activities
  • Product safety: Materials passed safety standards
  • Materials: Mixture of paper, wood, and cloth
  • Educational value: Imaginative play, fine motor skills, STEM learning, memory, and creativity
  • Recommended age range: 2-4 years old
  • Extra features: Random box with different preschool materials for hands-on learning
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: You can’t choose what items should be included in the crate.

 

Montessori Generation Busy Board

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Walmart

  • Best features: Bag filled with various activity options, including buckles, snap pockets, laces, buttons, and zippers
  • Product safety: High-quality, child-safe materials
  • Materials: Cloth
  • Educational value: Creativity, coordination, attention, memory, and fine motor skills
  • Age range: 1-4 years old
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

Words, ABCs, Numbers, & Colors

 

Melissa & Doug ABC-123 Abacus

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Walmart

  • Best features: 36 pieces of abacus wood blocks with ABCs and numbers or figures
  • Product safety: Free from lead and phthalates
  • Materials: Sustainably sourced wood
  • Educational value: Learning ABCs, math concepts, colors, patterns, and fine motor skills
  • Age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: Different illustrations include animals and common objects or food items
  • Certification: FSC, US, and EU conformity certificates
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some parents complained about their kids’ fingers getting stuck between the blocks while turning them.

 

Battat Wooden Activity Cube

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Different activity options on each side
  • Product safety: Sturdy and smooth construction
  • Materials: Wood with water-based, non-toxic paint
  • Educational value: Cognitive and problem-solving skills
  • Recommended age range: 1+ years old
  • Certification: EU, US, and Canadian safety standards
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Having too many activities to do in one toy might overwhelm your child.

 

Fat Brain Toys Shape Factory

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  • Pros & best features: It’s a unique shape-sorting puzzle that lets your child mix and match the slots to change their shape.
  • Product safety: Meets US product safety requirements
  • Materials: Child-safe plastic
  • Educational value: Problem-solving, spatial reasoning, and learning shapes
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some customers think it’s too complicated for a two-year-old.

 

Fat Brain Toys Count & Sort Stacking Tower

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Color-coded stacking and sorting tower for learning about numbers and colors
  • Product safety: Child-safe materials that meet international, US, and European safety standards
  • Materials: Wood
  • Educational value:Cognition, sequencing, memory, counting, number recognition, and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: Number tiles with a stacking peg and 45 color-coded discs
  • Certification: ASTM, CPSC, European Safety Standards Commission, and International Council of Toy Industries
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: The brand doesn’t offer spare parts, so you can’t get new rings if you misplace any.

 

Leapfrog Storytime Buddy

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eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Cute plushie with light-up tag button that makes Buddy talk and sing
  • Product safety: Soft cloth plushie
  • Materials: Soft cloth and certified RoHS-compliant plastic (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances)
  • Educational value: Early reading, role play, and cognitive skills
  • Recommended age range: 2-5 years old
  • Extra features: Comes with five read-along books.
  • Certification: RoHS
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some complaints about the toy’s sound breaking down after a few days.

Puzzles

Hape Farmyard Peg Puzzle

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

 

  • Pros & best features: Puzzle with easy-to-grab pegs
  • Product safety: Passed quality and safety tests, including bite force, small parts, sharp points, and drop tests
  • Materials: Wood with water-based, non-toxic paint
  • Educational value: Cognitive and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 18+ months
  • Certification: ASTM
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: The manufacturer doesn’t sell replacement parts for lost pieces.

 

BeginAgain Cat Family Color Names Puzzle

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Amazon

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: It’s a 3D puzzle
  • Product safety: Non-toxic, child-safe materials
  • Materials: Sustainably harvested rubberwood with water-based stains
  • Educational value: Cognitive and problem-solving skills
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: The colors also have labels for identification.
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some parents complained that the puzzle pieces were smaller than expected.

Educational Building Sets & Blocks

 

Montessori Generation Rainbow Block Set

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Best features: Rainbow-shaped block set with little people figures
  • Product safety: High-quality, child-safe materials
  • Materials: Wood with non-toxic paint
  • Educational value: Creativity, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, logic, and problem-solving skills
  • Age range: 1+ years old
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

Lego Duplo My First Alphabet Truck

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Block set with a toy truck and small people
  • Product safety: Non-toxic, BPA-free plastic (bisphenol-A)
  • Materials: ABS plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), a scratch-resistant, non-toxic plastic
  • Educational value: Cognitive skills, learning ABCs, and role play
  • Recommended age range: 1½ years old
  • Extra features: 36 block pieces
  • Certification: EU and US standards
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some customers complained about duplicates and missing letters.

 

Lovevery The Block Set

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

Lovevery

  • Best features: 70 block pieces, including toggle strings and threading blocks
  • Product safety: Water-based paint and finishes
  • Materials: Sustainably harvested FSC-certified wood
  • Type of toy: Educational
  • Age range: 18+ months
  • Extra features: Includes little people figures, pieces to create a cart, and a drawstring bag
  • Certification: FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It’s pricier than plastic block sets. For example, a Mega Bloks playset (80 pcs) costs $19.99.

 

Melissa & Doug 100 Piece Wood Blocks Set

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Amazon

Walmart

eBay

  • Best features: 100 pieces of solid wood blocks in nine shapes and four colors
  • Product safety: Free from lead and phthalates
  • Materials: Sustainably sourced wood
  • Educational value: Early math concepts, engineering skills, color and shape recognition, fine motor skills, and dexterity
  • Age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: The box converts into a carrying case
  • Certification: FSC, US, and EU conformity certificates
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some parents complained about the block pieces being smaller than they expected.

Matching Toys

 

VTech Mix and Match-a-Saurus

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Cute dinosaur toy with puzzle spikes for matching
  • Product safety: BPA-free
  • Materials: ABS plastic
  • Educational value: Cognitive and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 2-5 years old
  • Extra features: Dinosaur moves around and makes sounds (requires batteries)
  • Certification: US and European safety standards
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: There are some complaints about the dinosaur playing the same song even with different puzzle combinations (it’s supposed to make different sounds with the different combinations).

 

The Learning Journey: Matching Heads & Tails Flash Cards

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: 15 self-correcting puzzle pieces
  • Product safety: Eco-friendly recycled paper
  • Materials: Cardboard
  • Educational value: Cognitive and problem-solving skills
  • Recommended age range: 2-5 years
  • Extra features: Child-friendly illustrations
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some customers complained that the pieces don’t click or fit snugly together.

Imaginative Play, Role Play, & Pull Toys

 

Step2 Rain Showers Splash Water Table Playset

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Two-tier toddler water table designed to make showering splashes and waterfalls
  • Product safety: Free from phthalates and heavy metals
  • Materials: Polyethylene and/or polypropylene plastics
  • Educational value: Pretend play, sensory exploration, social development, and STEM learning (e.g., cause and effect, gravity, water flow, volume, etc.)
  • Recommended age range: 1½ years old
  • Extra features: Can be cleaned using household cleaners or disinfectant wipes
  • Certification: ASTM
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: The lack of pre-drilled holes can make assembly difficult.

 

Little Tikes Go & Grow Dino Ride On Toy

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: It’s a dinosaur ride that can grow with your child.
  • Product safety: Free from BPA, latex, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and/or phthalates
  • Materials: High-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, & polypropylene
  • Educational value: Imaginative play and gross motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 1-3 years
  • Extra features: Oversized back wheels for stability
  • Certification: CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act)
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some customers complained that it’s too small for their two-year-old.

 

WowWee Pinkfong Baby Shark Song Puppet

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Puppet that sings the popular “Baby Shark” song
  • Product safety: Not made of plastic
  • Materials: Soft plush fabric
  • Educational value: Pretend play
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: Kids can control the tempo by fast or slow they open the shark’s mouth
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: The shark’s mouth has to be moved so the song will play at normal speed; otherwise, it’s too slow and sounds like it’s running out of batteries.

 

TOP BRIGHT Car Ramp Racer

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Colorful ramp with toy cars
  • Product safety: Child-safe, BPA-free plastic
  • Materials: ABS plastic and beechwood
  • Educational value: Learning about colors, cause-and-effect, gravity, numbers, and colors
  • Recommended age range: 18+ months
  • Extra features: Two-direction cars so they can move forward or backward
  • Certification: ASTM and European EN71 standards
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some complaints about toys getting stuck on the ramp.

 

Melissa & Doug Animal Magnets in a Box

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Colorful animal pieces your kids can move around on magnetic/metal surfaces
  • Product safety: Durable construction, no plastic pieces
  • Materials: Wood and magnet with non-toxic paint
  • Educational value: Pretend play
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years
  • Extra features: Your kids can still play with these toys (such as guessing games) even without metal surfaces.
  • Certification: CPSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: The wood box doesn’t have a cover.

 

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Servin’ Up Food Truck

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: It’s a pretend food truck with an activity-filled dashboard and food preparation area.
  • Product safety: Child-safe, bio-based plastics
  • Materials: Sugarcane-based plastics
  • Educational value: Pretend play, learning songs and sounds, social skills, counting 1-20, ABCs, etc.
  • Recommended age range: 18-36 months
  • Extra features: Comes with a toy cash register with menu cards
  • Product recall: Recall
  • Cons: Some complaints about the lack of storage compartments for smaller items.

 

Green Toys Ambulance & Doctor’s Kit

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Pros & best features: 10-piece set encourages
  • Product safety: Free from BPA, phthalates, or PVC
  • Materials: 100% food-safe recycled plastic
  • Educational value: Imaginative play, motor skill development, and pro-social behavior
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: The ambulance has a flip-up handle (using the lights) for your child to create a unique carrying case for their doctor’s kit.
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Printed with soy inks (some kids might be allergic to soy)

 

Madame Alexander My Little Girl Doll

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Realistic doll with a weighted bottom, soft body, and molded legs, arms, and head
  • Product safety: Free from PVC or phthalates
  • Materials: Mixed materials
  • Educational value: Pretend play
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: Available in light, medium, or dark skin tone
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It’s pricier than other dolls.

 

Constructive Playthings Dressed to Nest Cloth Dolls

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  • Pros & best features: Playset with five culturally-diverse cloth dolls
  • Product safety: Eco-friendly materials
  • Materials: Cloth
  • Educational value: Imaginative play and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: Each doll features a different learning skill (e.g., zipping, tying, buttoning, etc.)
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some parents complained about the nesting dolls being too complicated for their two-year-olds.

 

Folkmanis Polar Bear Cub Puppet

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Amazon

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Cuddly hand puppet with movable mouth
  • Product safety: All materials meet safety standards
  • Materials: Plush cloth
  • Educational value: Pretend play
  • Recommended age range: All ages (as a plushie for younger children)
  • Extra features: Other animals available
  • Certification: CPSIA, ASTM, and EU EN71 standards
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be too big or heavy for use as a puppet for younger kids.

 

Brio World Classic Figure 8 Set

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Amazon

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Train set with a figure 9 rail track
  • Product safety: 100% FSC-certified beechwood
  • Materials: Wood
  • Educational value: Imaginative play and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 2+ years old
  • Extra features: Some trees, a train station, and a switching track bridge
  • Certification: FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some complaints about the tracks not fitting properly.

Playmobil My Take-Along Noah’s Ark

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Toy boat with animals and two people figures
  • Product safety: Child-safe plastic
  • Materials: ABS plastic
  • Educational value: Imaginative play
  • Recommended age range: 1½+ years old
  • Extra features: There’s a handle at the ark roof to convert this into a take-along toy.
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some complaints about the ramp not staying in place because the hooks are too small. The toys don’t float and can take in water that you can’t drain out without dismantling the pieces.

Fisher-Price Little People Friends Together PlayHouse

Fisher-Price Little People Friends Together PlayHouse

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  • Pros & best features: Dollhouse with different figures and furniture pieces
  • Product safety: Child-safe, bio-based plastics
  • Materials: Sugarcane-based plastics
  • Educational value: Imaginative play and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range:1-5 years old
  • Extra features: Some activation points (e.g., a toilet that “flushes,” light switch, etc.)
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some complaints about the music not playing in their dollhouse.

Leapfrog Scoop & Learn Ice Cream Cart

Leapfrog Scoop & Learn Ice Cream Cart

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  • Pros & best features: Cute ice cream food cart with different toppings and designs
  • Product safety: FDA-approved non-toxic ink
  • Materials: Certified RoHS-compliant plastic
  • Educational value: Memory and sequencing, cognitive, role play, and motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 2-5 years old
  • Extra features: It’s also a push toy.
  • Certification: RoHS
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It requires assembly. There are customer complaints about the music not working despite having fresh batteries.

 

LEGO Duplo Bath Time Fun Toy: Floating Animal Island

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features:A 14-piece bath toy with a floating island, floating ring, four animals, and an activity bucket
  • Product safety: Meets global and US safety standards
  • Materials: Polyethylene made from sustainable sources (elements from sugarcane)
  • Educational value: Promotes imagination, fine motor skills, and creativity
  • Age range: 1.5+ years
  • Extra features: The floating island can convert into a container for keeping the toys when they aren’t in use.
  • Certification: FSC and US quality standards
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn 3-in-1 Smart Car

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Interactive ride-on car with a smart learning system
  • Product safety: Child-safe, bio-based plastics
  • Materials: Sugarcane-based plastics
  • Educational value: Imaginative play, gross motor skills, and learning ABCs, numbers, and colors
  • Recommended age range:1-5 years old
  • Extra features: The interactive dashboard features songs, sounds, and lights
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: The steering doesn’t actually have steering capabilities

 

Step2 Heart of the Home Kitchen

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Kid-sized mini kitchen playset designed with real shelves and cabinets
  • Product safety: Free from phthalates and heavy metals
  • Materials: Polypropylene and/or polyethylene plastics
  • Educational value: Pretend play, social development, and life skills
  • Recommended age range: 1½ years old
  • Extra features: Also teaches about recycling and caring for pets
  • Certification: ASTM
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Adult assembly is required, but some parents complained about experiencing difficulty in assembling the product due to the lack of pre-drilled holes.

 

Musical Toys

 

Hape Pound & Tap Bench With A Slide Out Xylophone

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Amazon

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Musical toy with different play options (xylophone or pound & tap bench)
  • Product safety: Passed quality and safety tests, including bite force, small parts, sharp points, and drop tests
  • Materials: Wood, metal, and water-based paint
  • Educational value: Musical toy, cause-and-effect, and memory skills
  • Recommended age range: 12+ years old
  • Extra features: Pounding on the bench also causes the xylophone to make a sound.
  • Certification: ASTM
  • Product recall: Recall
  • Cons: Some complaints about the toy being out of tune.

 

Vtech KidiBeats Kids Drum Set

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Amazon

eBay

Walmart

  • Best features: Freestyle drums or play along with nine preset melodies
  • Product safety: Meets US and EU safety standards
  • Materials: Child-safe materials
  • Educational value: Musical creativity, visualization memory, coordination, auditory, sensory development, and phonics
  • Age range: 2-5 years
  • Extra features: With lights to teach ABCs and numbers
  • Certification: ASTM, EN71, and Canadian Hazardous Products Regulations
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some parents complained that the toy is too small.

 

Plan Toy Solid Wood Drum

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Wooden drum
  • Product safety:
  • Materials: Rubberwood
  • Educational value: Auditory perception, pretend play, coordination, auditory, and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 18+ months
  • Extra features: Allows free play with a drum that isn’t too loud on children’s ears
  • Certification: ASTM and EN-71
  • Product recall: Around 2,100 units of the solid wood toy drum were recalled over safety issues on November 06, 2003. The three rubber feet at the bottom of the drum could detach, posing choking hazards. The manufacturer changed the design afterward. This recall is no longer active. (1)
  • Cons: It had a recall. Some complaints about the drumstick easily breaking apart if your toddler bangs the drum too hard.

 

Creative & Sensory Toys For Learning New Skills

 

Easy Clean Finger Paint Station

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Amazon

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Easy-clean finger paint set
  • Product safety: Non-toxic coloring materials in bold hues of red, blue, and yellow
  • Materials: Washable
  • Educational value: Creativity, sensory play, and fine motor skills
  • Recommended age range: 1+ years old
  • Extra features: Comes with a finger-painting case
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Although it isn’t a choking hazard, it requires supervision to ensure your child doesn’t try to eat the paint set.

 

 

Step2 Flip and Doodle Desk With Stool & Easel

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Amazon

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: Your little artist’s activity center with medium and large-sized bins to keep art supplies
  • Product safety: Free from phthalates and heavy metals
  • Materials: Polyethylene and/or polypropylene plastics
  • Educational value: Creativity and visualization, fine motor skills, coordination, and self-expression
  • Recommended age range: 24+ months
  • Extra features: The easel also flips down and turns into a desk
  • Certification: ASTM
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: Some complaints about the difficulty of trying to assemble this activity center.
Imagine Childhood Eco-Dough

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Amazon

eBay

  • Best features: Child-safe, organic playdough
  • Product safety: Eco-friendly and organic
  • Materials: Organic rosemary oil, flour, cream of tartar, vitamin E oil, soybean oil, salt, coconut oil, potassium sorbate, and citric acid
  • Type of toy: Playdough
  • Educational value: Imaginative play, creativity, and sensory play
  • Age range: 2+ years
  • Extra features: Five colors in each tub, with coloring materials sourced from natural extracts (e.g., spinach, paprika, beets, red cabbage, purple sweet potato, carrots, blueberries, and tomatoes)
  • Certification: ASTM and CPSIA
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricier than non-organic playdoughs.

 

Honeysticks Originals

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Walmart

  • Pros & best features: 12 jumbo crayons for little hands
  • Product safety: 100% natural, non-toxic food-grade ingredients
  • Materials: Beeswax
  • Educational value: Creative learningand imagination
  • Age range: Suitable for all ages
  • Extra features: Difficult to snap by your little one (reduced choking risk)
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

Toys For Learning Life Skills

Monti Kids Montessori Cooking Together Kit

  • Check Price Here
  • Best features: Real cooking set (it’s a child-sized cooking set that can be used for real food preparation) designed for child safety, even for a toddler
  • Product safety: Child-safe design for the cutting tools
  • Materials: Wood, stainless steel, food-grade silicone, and non-toxic paint
  • Educational value: Promotes cooking experiences, fine motor skills, coordination, and life skills
  • Age range: 18+ months
  • Extra features: Child-sized food-grade silicone cutting board, stainless steel pitcher, three stainless bowls, and other cooking utensils
  • Certification: CPSC, ASTM, and FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

Lovevery The Helper Play Kit

Shop At:

Lovevery

  • Best features: Independence kit
  • Product safety: Free from phthalates and toxic heavy elements
  • Materials: Sustainably-harvested wood, other child-safe materials
  • Age range: 25-27 months
  • Extra features: Includes bio-based cups and plates, felt flowers for “planting” in a row, washable painting sticks, etc.
  • Certification: FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

 

Monti Kids Montessori Toilet Learning Kit

  • Check Price Here
  • Best features: Real set designed for a less-stressful potty training
  • Product safety: Non-toxic paint
  • Materials: Child-safe materials and cotton rope (basket)
  • Educational value: Promotes potty training through an educational approach
  • Age range: 18+ months
  • Extra features: Comes with a basket for toiletries and a faucet extender
  • Certification: CPSC, ASTM, and FSC
  • Product recall: None
  • Cons: It can be pricey.

More Toy Options To Try

    1. Leapfrog Smart Sizzlin’ BBQ Grill
    1. Melissa & Doug Mine to Love Jenna Baby Doll
    1. VTech Touch and Swipe Baby Phone
    1. Green Toys Tool Set
    1. Green Toys RV Camper Set
    1. Green Toys Doctor Kit
    1. Melissa & Doug Deluxe Jumbo Knob Puzzle
    1. Learning Resources Learn-A-Lot Learning Avocados
    1. Fisher-Price Bubble Mower
    1. Fisher-Price Elsa’s Enchanted Lights Palace by Little People
    1. Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets

Factors To Consider When Buying Educational Toys for 2-Year-Olds

Most of the factors you consider in buying toys for 1-year-olds also apply to choosing educational toys for your two-year-old:

Educational Value & Child Development

    • Early learning (ABCs, numbers, colors, shapes, etc.)
    • Dexterity
    • Problem-solving skills
    • Imaginative play
    • STEM
    • Fine motor skills
    • Hand-eye coordination
    • Ride-on toys that promote gross motor skills but also used for imaginative play

Safety

    • Choking hazards
    • Harmful chemicals
    • Product recalls

Materials

    • Child-safe, organic materials are preferred

Age Range & Educational Milestones

Preschool kids (2-5-year-olds) have different needs from 1-year-olds or 7-year-olds.

Interests

Kids have different interests. For example, some 3-year-old boys might like train sets or wooden blocks, but others prefer crayons or musical instruments.

Quality & Durability

Some kids can grow along as your children age.

Although many toys might need adjustments, others (especially crayons and high-quality wooden toys) can be used by any kid, from 2-year-old boys to 8-year-old girls.

FAQs

What Are Appropriate & Must-Have Toys For A Two-Year-Old?

Developmental toys can make playtime interesting but also education for your little one. Some examples include:

    • Wooden puzzles
    • Shape sorters
    • Building blocks
    • Toys for pretend play

What Should I Gift A Two-Year-Old Boy?

Some gift ideas for boys this age:

    • Train sets
    • Toy cars
    • Crayons

How Do You Explain Gift Giving To Your Two-Year-Old?

    • Tell them what it means to share and how it can establish a connection with others.
    • Share how gift-giving can make you feel happy, kind, helpful, or even proud of yourself in a good way.

What Age Is Play-Doh For?

Because it can be a choking hazard, Play-Doh is only recommended for kids three years old and above.

Where Can You Buy Educational Toddler Toys?

There aren’t any restrictions or specific rules over where you can buy the best educational toys for your little ones. Many shops on Amazon and other online stores also offer high-quality toys.

We recommend these sites for the best gifts of educational toys for kids:

    • Montikids.com
    • Lovevery.com
    • Kiwico.com
    • Melissaanddoug.com
    • Learningresources.com
    • Fatbraintoys.com

What Does The Average Two-Year-Old Know?

Some developmental milestones for two-year-olds: (2)

    • Most two-year-olds know how to talk, have a vocabulary of around 50-100 words, and can string two to three words to create a short but understandable sentence.
    • They can identify at least two body parts and explain their basic function.
    • Knows basic problem-solving skills, such as matching the correct shapes in sorting toys or completing a simple puzzle (2-10 large puzzle pieces).
    • They can run, kick a ball, and walk (not climb) up the stairs without help.

What Should A Two-Year-Old Know Academically?

Kids this age typically know: (3)

    • Numbers 1-10
    • Some letters of the alphabet, particularly A, B, and C
    • Basic colors
    • Basic shapes
    • Some concepts of time but usually vague or incorrect (for example, their “yesterday” might mean anytime in the past, even several days ago)

Should I Get Advanced Educational Toys For My Toddler?

Although it’s tempting to get your kids advanced educational toys, it might just frustrate them if they don’t understand the concept or know how to use the toy.

You can get the idea from Montessori toys, which are simple but lets your kids understand the concepts behind each one.

According to Monti Kids, kids may not grasp the essential elements of a certain activity if a toy offers too much information. (4)

 

Toy Recalls To Monitor

 

REFERENCES

(1) https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2003/cpsc-brio-corp-announce-recall-of-toy-drums

(2) https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-2yr.html

(3) https://www.understood.org/en/articles/developmental-milestones-for-typical-2-year-olds?_sp=cc14166c-a0b2-4e36-a09b-769fbeb19f8d.1648518052600

(4) https://montikids.com/montessori/what-makes-toy-montessori/

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