The 30 BEST Toys for 2-Year-Olds (2023)
Looking for the best toys for a 2-year-old?
I have some amazing learning and play toy ideas that will be a HUGE hit!
It’s the best feeling to give gifts to kids that they will enjoy and use repeatedly.
Let’s get started with my list of The 30 BEST Toys for 2-Year-Olds!
#1: Vtech Desk
This educational toy for 2-year-olds couldn’t be cuter. Your kids will love sitting at their own desk to explore everything it has to offer.
This desk can transform into a chalkboard or even an art easel for your kids to create with! I love it!
Features of this product
1. This desk set comes with a chair and 5 different activity pages for your kids to learn and explore! Kids can touch the desk, and it’ll talk to them and teach them
2. Your 3-year-old can learn the alphabet, numbers, and shapes with this desk!
3. It also transforms from a desk into an easel & chalkboard and includes storage space for art supplies! I love all the different options it has.
4. The activity center features 100+ vocabulary words, 20+ activities, and 20+ songs and melodies.
RELATED: Ways to Teach Your Child Numbers
#2: Elmo’s On The Go Letters
Want more of a hands-on toy for your little one? We use these letters for so many learn and play activities!
In my experience with teaching my children, being able to touch and play with letters is the BEST way for kids to learn their ABC’s.
Ways to Play
1. Puzzle play– Take all the pieces out and have your little one find where it belongs! I love this method because they see the pictures underneath the letters, which starts the connection to the letter.
2. Search and match– This activity is my kid’s favorite! I hide the letters around the house, and they have to search for them. Once they find one, they have to tell me the letter; then they place it in the right spot.
3. Sensory play– These letters are PERFECT for sensory play activities since they can be placed in water. We did an activity called Alphabet Soup, where I placed them in water, and the kids had to find specific letters for each recipe!
RELATED: Teaching Resources
#3: Little People Farm
Little People toys are so wonderful for 2-year-olds! They are the perfect size for kids to hold, carry around, and play with.
We have multiple Little People sets, and the kids still love playing with them!
Ways to Play
1. Free play– Let them explore the farm, move the characters around, and ask any questions they want to about the farm and the animals! While playing, talk about the different sounds the animals make and what they like to eat!
2. Sensory play– Create a sensory bin activity with these animals! The kids will love getting to play around with the different sensory items and the toy animals! We created a sensory bin with our farm toys using several different sensory fillers! I used corn, chocolate pudding, and oats for the kids to play around with!
3. Baby animals– A big part of the preschool curriculum is talking about baby animals! When playing with each of the animals, talk about what the baby of each animal is called.
#4: Toniebox Audio Player
A toniebox is an audio player that tells stories and sings songs. This is such a fun toy for 2-year-olds!
There are also different Tonieboxes available. I just love these Disney characters, so I chose this one!
Features of this product
1. When you put a character on top of the Toniebox, it starts telling a story! Each character has their own themed story and songs.
2. This set comes with the audio box and 5 Tonies (Simba, Pooh, Woody, Lightning Mcqueen, and the dog content Tonie.
3. You can also collect other Tonies separately!
RELATED: Gift Ideas for 3-Year-Olds
#6: MEGA Bloks
Mega Bloks are the perfect toy for 2-year-olds! They are bigger building blocks and easier for kids to be able to build structures.
It’s a great beginner block toy for toddlers and preschoolers.
Ways to Play
1. Play– Let your little ones explore the blocks! They can build whatever structures they want! See how tall they can make a tower without the blocks falling!
2. Creating towers– Place some painter’s tape up on the wall at different spots. Have your little ones use the Mega Bloks to build a tower up to the specific spot where the painter’s tape is.
3. Matching alphabet letters- Cut white labels into thirds. Write the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet on the labels and place them on the blocks. Then, have your little ones match up the correct upper and lower case letters!
I also saw this awesome building table that goes along with the Mega Bloks that I had to mention!
#7: Learning Puzzles
If you are looking for an educational toy for 2-year-olds, this is it. The classic puzzle.
Puzzles are how my kids learned their letters, numbers, colors, and shapes as toddlers. I don’t like to brag about this, but I am very passionate about telling you what works so you can do this at home with your kids.
This set is the best because you get three puzzles, and they are all Disney-themed! You can’t beat that.
Ways to Play
1. Learning– For your child to learn best with these puzzles, you need to work with them and do them quite often. I suggest at least once a day! Even if you just pick one to work on each day, going over the letters, numbers or shapes daily will help teach your little one.
2. Independent play– Once your child knows some of the letters, numbers, or shapes, see if they can figure out where each puzzle piece goes!
3. Games– Hide the puzzle pieces around the house and have your little ones search for them. Once they find a piece, they can bring it back to the puzzle and place it where it belongs!
RELATED: The BEST Learning Toys for Toddlers
#11: Play Kitchen
This toy for 2-year-olds is wonderful because it will grow with them for years! I love toys like that.
I love this specific play kitchen because it’s wooden and looks really nice. It could go right in your kitchen and look wonderful!
Features of this product
1. One cool feature of this kitchen is that there is a chalkboard on one side of the kitchen that the kids can write and draw on.
2. There is a pretend ice maker, microwave, phone, 3 utensils, 2 pots, and one lid. It also has a fridge, freezer, and dishwasher! The accessories can stay on the shelf, too.
3. Your kids will love playing with this for years to come. This is such a fun set for them to imagine and play with. Make sure to grab some fake food, too!
#12. Musical Instruments
Kids love playing with musical instruments! It’s entertaining to listen to the different sounds each instrument makes.
This set is awesome because it includes various instruments, and they are all easy for 2-year-old children to use.
Ways to Play
1. Explore– Let your little ones explore the instruments. Talk to them about what each one is!
2. Sounds– Each instrument will make a different sound. Discuss the differences like higher or lower pitch or what sound it makes!
3. In this set, you get a xylophone, harmonica, triangle with the striker,2 maracas, 4 shaker eggs, 2 castanets, a tambourine, 2 sleighs, a rainbow bell stick, 1 bird whistle, rainbow column, wood sounder, speaker, and jingle stick.
#13: LEGO Duplo My First Number Train
This toy for 2-year-olds is a wonderful way for kids to practice numbers, counting, and building with blocks!
They have numbers on them, so this is a great way to work on number recognition skills. If they can start building with them, great! If they struggle with putting the blocks are the train, it’s a great toy to GROW with your kids.
It has blocks that connect to make a train and has numbers on the blocks so toddlers can learn how to put them in order!
How you can help your child learn with this toy
1. Tell your child what each number is on the blocks when they are playing with it.
2. Put a few number blocks in a line and ask them to find a specific number.
3. If your child is old enough and knows how to count, have them count to ten while putting the number blocks in sequential order.
4. If your child knows how to count and knows their numbers, have them try to put the numbers in order!
RELATED: SIMPLE Number Recognition Activities
#14: Interactive Vocabulary Book
This is one of my favorite toys for 2-year-olds. It’s a wonderful way for kids to learn about the world around them.
Kids learn through repetition. By playing with this interactive book daily, your child will learn 100 words!
Ways to Play
1. Explore– Your little one can go through the pages and press on all the different pictures! When they press on one, it tells them what it is! This will help them learn about everyday objects.
2. Search– Ask them to find a specific picture on a page and have them point it out to you! They can also play this game by using the magnifying glass. I used to like doing this, along with my son, to see what he knew!
3. Opposites– In the back of the book, there are a few pages of opposites. Discuss why they are opposites and the characteristics of each thing!
#15: Sprinkler Splash Pad
This is the cutest splash pad that I have seen! I love the fact there are letters on this pad! My mind is racing with all the fun learning possibilities that can happen with this toy!
Your toddlers and preschoolers will love splashing around on this little splash pad on warm summer days.
Ways to Play
1. Letter search- While playing outside with this toy, practice some letter recognition! While they are playing, ask them to stomp on certain letters. Some other ideas are to have them find the letters of their name, and you can even have them find the letters of the alphabet in order!
2. Cover the letters- With some water toys, have your little one cover up the letter you shout out! They will love searching for the letters through the water. For beginners, start in one section and just do a few letters that are close to each other. For older toddlers, you can say any letter!
3. Animal sounds- Practice animal sounds by having your little one step on the animal, you say. When they step on it, have them pretend to be that animal by making the sound or even doing movements!
RELATED: Outdoor Toys for Toddlers
#16: Sand/Water Table
This toy for 2-year-olds is a must-have! It will provide your kids with hours of play.
My kids always want me to add water to our sand table because we don’t have a special area for water like this one. This is the one I would get if I were to do it all over again.
Features of this product
1. This is a great sand table because it can also be a water table! I love this set also because it comes with an umbrella, which will help get your kids out of the sun.
2. Add sand and water in separate areas, and the kids can mix them when they need to create!
3. Also comes with a sand shovel, two water ramps, 2 boats, and a cup. There is a green cover to place on top when they are done playing!
#17: Radio Flyer Tricycle
If you’re like me, you won’t be able to wait for your kids to start learning how to ride a bike!
This is the perfect toy for 2-year-olds because they can practice at first by your steering them with the handle.
Features of this product
1. I love the feature of the handle push because it can help the kids learn how to steer the tricycle and pedal. Then, when they are ready, you can remove the handle, and they can do it alone.
2. The seat is able to adjust so that when your child grows, it can be moved so they can ride it longer.
3. There is also a small storage bin in the back, so they can bring along special toys and place some fun items in the back of their tricycle.
#18: Letter Learning Popsicles
Aren’t these learning popsicles the cutest? This is a great toy for 2 year olds to start learning the alphabet.
What a fun way to work on upper and lower-case letter matching! I love the bright colors on the popsicles as well.
How to help your child learn with this toy
1. First, choose one letter to focus on. Have your child identify that letter! Then, place 3 potential matches in front of them. Have them try to figure out which one is the match!
2. Explain to them that there are upper case and lower case letters. They may see either of them when you read stories to them. Even though they may look different or smaller, they are still the same letter.
3. For older kiddos, you can have them make the sound that each letter makes as well when playing!
RELATED: The BEST Toys for 3-Year-Olds
#19: Bubble Wand Set
Toddlers love bubbles! This bubble wand set is the perfect starter kit for your kids to play with.
We still play with our fun bubble wand set and the kids are 6 and 9!
Ways to Play
1. Strike the bubbles- This is a HUGE hit at my house. I use the larger bubble wands to create a ton of bubbles, and the kids chase them and hit them with their own bubble wands or hands. As simple as it is, I promise that it’ll be a winner!
2. Blowing bubbles- Let the kids have fun exploring all the different types of bubble wands! They will enjoy checking out the differences between the bubbles that each wand will make!
3. Counting bubbles- Sometimes, toddlers have a hard time blowing bubbles. If you blow the bubbles for them, they can attempt to count how many they see! This is a fun way to work on counting skills.
#20: Train Table
Our train table has been one of our most beloved toys throughout the years. Even now, we have transformed it into a LEGO table since my kids are older now.
The best part is, is that this train table comes with a bunch of accessories and storage.
Features of this product
1. This train table is made out of wood, so it is nice and sturdy! There is a colorful illustrated tabletop that kids will love to build and play on.
2. The set comes with 20 pieces of track, cars, buildings, trees and signs. The trains can connect using magnets. This set can also use different train track pieces from other brands if you choose to use something else.
3. It has a working crane and a mountain pass for kids to play with their trains on!
RELATED: The BEST Open-Ended Toys
#21: Vet Play Kit
Kids love imaginative play! This vet kit is adorable and is a great open-ended toy for 2-year-olds.
I love open-ended toys because kids can play something different each time they get this toy out.
Features of this product
1. This vet kit is a 24-piece set with a stuffed animal dog and cat, pretend play vet medical equipment, and a tote bag for easy storage.
2. This vet set includes a stethoscope, thermometer, syringe, ear scope, tweezers, clamp, cast, bandages, “treatments,” “ointments,” and a reusable double-sided checklist for office visits.
3. Kids can even use the doctor tools for other imaginative play!
#22: Art Easel
An art easel is a wonderful art toy for 2-year-olds to grow with! They will continue to use this gift for years to come.
This is a great art easel because there are multiple ways that it can be used!
Features of this product
1. This art easel is double-sided! It has a blackboard and a magnetic whiteboard. There is also a paper roll at the top!
2. It comes with the paint pot holders, too! This is great for kids to use because it helps keep the mess contained.
3. Kids can draw, paint, write, learn, and create with this fun art easel!
RELATED: Kids Painting Ideas
#23: Ice Cream Play Set
How adorable is this ice cream play set? This is a cute toy for 2-year-olds to learn and play with!
I love that kids can use their imaginations to play with this toy. They will love creating ice cream for you.
Features of this product
1. The best part about this product is that kids can learn about colors, build memory skills, sequencing, and numbers!
2. Kids can build their own ice cream, or they can listen to the monkey and create what they ask for! This is a great way to build color recognition and learn numbers.
3. It can be easily pushed around from place to place around your house!
#24: Dress-Up Kit
Your kids are going to love this fun dress-up kit! This is a set they will love to use for years to come.
It’s great to play and imagine with these costumes. They can even be used as Halloween costumes!
Features of this product
1. There are 6 costumes that come in this set. Kids can dress up like an astronaut, firemen/women, doctors, scientists, construction workers, or pirates!
2. It also comes with a storage box, so you can place all the costumes in one place for them to easily grab and play with.
3. This is a great way to also encourage dressing themselves! They can help get the costume on and put it together.
4. The costumes each come with their own accessories, too! It’s a great value for all the costumes together.
#25: Mess Free Coloring Books
This mess-free coloring book set is a great toy for 2-year-olds. It’s perfect for an on-the-go activity.
I can’t tell you how many times we took these books in the car, on the plane, or even just to a restaurant.
Features of this product
1. You get three books in this set! They are all fun Nickoelon-themed shows (Blues Clues, Baby Shark, and Paw Patrol)
2. Comes with three markers in each pack, which is great because then they can also use the other colors for the other books if they want.
3. Each of the markers, when you uncap them, is clear, and it only shows colors when they color on the special paper of the coloring books.
#26: Foam Ball Pit
How adorable is this foam ball pit toy for 2-year-olds? They will love playing in this pit! It’s such a great sensory toy.
There are two sizes available. I love the larger one because a few kids can play in the ball pit at once.
Features of this product
1. The ball pit is made out of memory foam, so it’s durable and won’t pop or cave in like other ball pits.
2. It has a washable cover, which is really nice to have! It just unzips, and you can place it in the washer.
3. The plastic balls are not included; here is a great set for the ball pit!
#27: Bath Toy
Bath time is one of the best times of the day for your little one! This bath toy for 2-year-olds is so much fun!
They will love playing in the tub with this toy each time they are in. It has some fun features.
Features of this product
1. The water fills up in the submarine, and then kids can just it to spray and play! They can also use cups to watch the water flow through the toy.
2. When water is sprayed through the top, the eyes start to roll, water squirts out of the small holes on the red and white bar, and the other features can spin!
3. Kids will explore cause and effect through this fun bath toy! The submarine just suctions to the bottom of the tub for easy setup.
RELATED: Best Bath Toys
#28: Bluey Play Tent
This Bluey-themed play tent is the perfect toy for 2-year-olds. They will love having a little space just for themselves.
It pops up very easily. Kids will love playing in their tent and bring their special items inside!
Features of this product
1. The door can easily roll up for kids to get in and out easily. It has easy rods that can pop up quickly and be taken down fast.
2. There is a hole that the kids can pop their heads out of at the top of the tent!
3. Kids will love imagining and playing with their own play tent!
#29: Wooden Car Race
I love how bright and colorful this car racing toy for 2-year-olds is!
Your kids are going to love exploring this educational toy.
Features of this product
1. In this activity set, you get the car racing ramp, 7 colorful cars, and a spot to park a few of the cars!
2. It’s made out of wood, and the cars are built sturdy for play!
3. This is a great educational toy to talk about colors and numbers.
#30: Counting Toddler Piggy Bank
I have such great memories of this counting piggy bank toy. Both my kids loved this when they were toddlers.
This is a great educational toy for 2-year-olds. They can practice building fine motor skills, counting, colors, and numbers.
Features of this product
1. This set comes with a piggy bank and 10 colorful coins.
2. Each coin has a number on it, 1-10. Practice looking at the numbers and placing the correct number in the piggy bank.
3. The piggy talks to the kids when they are playing. It counts when they place the coins in the piggy bank.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
I hope you were able to find some great toys for 2-year-olds in this article! I’d love to hear what your favorite gift is for this age.
Happy Shopping!
Deena
