As a busy mom of four kids ages 2-5, as well as full time preschool teacher, I have seen my fair share of kids toys! This list is my own personal opinion of toys my kids (and I) have loved and engaged with and withstood the test of time! These are all toys we have actually bought and used, plus a few that we are going to buy this year!
1. Elmo’s Letters on the Go
This letter suitcase basically is how I taught my kids their letters. No joke! Learning is only fun if you MAKE it fun! We started small- focusing on the letter of their name, then G for Grandpa, D for Dada, M for Mama, etc and slowly added on more letters. At first I would hand them the letter, say the letter (“This is M for Mama!”) then point to where the M goes and say “M goes here” and have them try to put it in. Whether they can do it or need help, we always celebrate (“Yay! You did it!”) and then can move on to another letter, as long as their interest holds. I have started this with each kid between 12-18month and they love it. My 4 year old STILL gets a kick out of it! It’s fun to watch them grow in independence on this one too- and the puzzle is obviously great fine motor too!
2. Picasso Tiles/Magnatiles
These are SUCH a favorite in my house AND my classroom! We’ve used them starting from toddler stage and beyond. We have a mix of both Magna-Tiles and Picasso Tiles. While Magna-Tiles are double the price, I personally have not found much difference in them at all. We also have a Picasso Race Track and Car set that is SO cool and is a great extension! When your kids are little it’s fun to have them just stack, or take turns building and knocking down as you build their language skills “can you put here? Knock it down! Uh Oh! Again! More?” etc. I love that my kids can stick them to the side of our fridge, oven, fireplace, and garage! Oh the magic of magnets! So many fun ways to play with these toys! And if you put the effort in when they are little, they will love them too and this blossoms into an AWESOME independent toy your kiddos will just sit and play with while you sit back and drink your coffee (or wine).
3. Garden Building STEM Toy
I first discovered this toy when I started teaching preschool. My students LOVED it! So we got it that Christmas for Evelyn just before she turned 2. She would sit and build and create the cutest little gardens! As Barrett got older he got in on the fun, too! We also love to add these into sensory bins, or use with Playdoh and kinetic sand for an extra layer of fun. It’s such a great toy for building hand eye coordination, creative development, as well as fine motor skills! We’ve lost some flowers over the years so we are buying another set this year for the twins to add to our existing set! And this newer version comes with a storage box! Note: there are some small stamen pieces but you can easily just take those pieces out if you are worried about choking.
4. Play Kitchen
We LOVE our play kitchen! We got this off our local Buy Sell Trade Moms group on Facebook for $50 (and totally assembled!) and it MADE my daughter’s 2nd Christmas nearly 4 years ago and we still use it just about every day! It is so fun to add different foods and holiday themed accessories. We’ve made it a witch’s potion station for Halloween, a Thanksgiving Feast, Cookie baking station around Christmas, a restaurant etc! Just hit up the local Dollar Tree around each different holiday for easy, cheap decor to spice it up! I love building their imagination with the play kitchen!
5. Buckle Toy
Ooooh Bucky, our beloved Buckle toy! Another classic toy favorite! This has been a great go-to for us for church, restaurant, or at home! It’s a great fine motor, hand- eye coordination and color matching toy, too! If you’re going on a road trip or flight, I also recommend the busy board buckle toy too!
6. Interactive Books
I LOVE getting my kids excited about reading and what better way than to give them a job to keep them engaged?! These books are all tried and true favorites in the Lewis household for toddlers! They either get to poke a dot, lift the flap, slide and seek, or add (and eat) cheerios! How can you NOT love it?!
7. Peaceable Kingdom Board Games
We love games! Before kids, Dan and I would often have friends over for drinks and a game of Catan or Ticket to Ride, so of course we were excited to introduce board games to our kids! It’s such nice family time. I love these Peaceable Kingdom Games because they are all about cooperation and team work- no competitive fighting between siblings which I GREATLY appreciate since my older two LOVE to win 😅 We started with Mermaid Island when Evelyn was 3 years old. Even though Barrett was 2, he also was able to play! Last Christmas we got them Dinosaur Escape and it also was such a hit and so much fun! This year we’re getting them Hoot Owl Hoot and Count Your Chickens and I’m excited to try them out!
8. Religious Toys
We got the Beginner’s Bible when the twins were baptized and my kids have asked for Bible stories every night before bed since! We do a few Bible Stories then some Magic Tree House stories every night for Evelyn and Barrett! It’s a great way for them to learn about the Bible and their faith. The Little People Nativity is always a holiday favorite. We gave it to the kids one year on St Nicholas day so then they had it to play with all December leading up to Christmas and now we bring it out every year on St Nick’s Day! They get to play with their own nativity so they don’t touch my Fontanini Nativity set 😅 We also love the Noah’s Ark set! It’s another one that’s a favorite in my home and in my class, too! It’s great for pretend play, but also for matching, and it’s a puzzle!
9. Water Table
To say we love our water table would be a BIG understatement! Whether the kids are splashing, and filling and emptying water cups on a hot day, playing with bubble foam, dissolving bath bombs or ice molds for science experiments, making flower soup in the spring, or giving pumpkins a bath in the fall- you cannot ever go wrong with a water table! It’s my go-to first birthday gift for friends! Our exact table is no longer available, but this is a similar one!
10. Roller Coaster
Another amazing find from my local Facebook Moms group- got it used for like $50! We LOVE this outdoor coaster! I love how it is such a hit for kids from a variety of age groups! My 2 year old twins always have a ball with it! The other day we had 2 other couples over and thus 11 kids all in our backyard and kids ages 1-8 were ALL having fun! We were building walls with blocks for the coaster to crash into and it was so much fun. In the summer it's fun to have the coaster go into a sprinkler- perfect for a hot day!
