55+ Best Toys for Toddlers on Amazon | Toddler Toys that Encourage Play, Creativity, & Imagination

Hi friends & welcome back to the blog! Today I want to show you the top 55+ toys for toddlers on Amazon!

As a former preschool teacher, nanny, and elementary school teacher (with a Masters in Teaching), as well as a mom of a 2-year-old, I feel like I have quite the quality selection of toys for toddlers (as well as activities) for my son at home.

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At any given time, I can make an “activity” by pulling out 2-3 different toys or manipulatives and placing them on a tray (these trays are my favorite – trays help with concentration, attention span, and neatness).

I also feel confident that the toys for toddlers and activities I have for my son are ones that will last him well beyond his toddler years (that was the intention behind purchasing the ones I have).

I’ve recently run into a lot of Facebook Groups and real-life groups of moms asking “what are the best toys for my two year old?” or “what are the best toys for toddlers I can buy on Amazon?” and because of this, I decided to write you all a post listing out exactly what we have at home (and also clue you in as to why we have it).

These toys for toddlers and activities are of the highest quality (I know because we own every single toy or activity listed!) and will encourage creativity, imagination, conversation, thought, play, and independence in your 2- to 5-year-old child. In fact, many of them will spark these things well beyond age 5 (depending on the child).

Be sure to check out these other toy “round-up” posts I’ve done recently. You will love them:

• Best Toddler Travel Toys
• Top 10 Outdoor Toys on Amazon for Toddlers
• 13 Best Construction Toys for Toddlers

Now, without further ado, here is my list of the 55+ Best Toys for Toddlers on Amazon | Toddler Toys that Encourage Play, Creativity, & Imagination. Enjoy!

55+ Best Toys for Toddlers on Amazon | Toddler Toys that Encourage Play, Creativity, & Imagination

Blocks (and Similar Toys)

Blocks (and similar toys) are great because there are so many things a child can do with them. A one-year-old may enjoy tearing down blocks, while a two-year-old may enjoy stacking them; a 3, 4, or 5 year old may enjoy pretending that the blocks are people, vehicles, or food. The possibilities are endless when it comes to blocks as toys for toddlers. Here are my favorite kinds:

1. Melissa & Doug Blocks

2. Picasso Tiles

3. Duplos for Toddlers

4. ABC Blocks

5. Jumbo Blocks

Bonus: Rainbow Stacking

Figurines & Houses

It kind of goes without saying that doll houses (or any kind of pretend houses) and figurines are great for sparking imagination and creative play in toddlers. It’s fun to see how their play changes from 2- to 5-years-old with houses and figurines. The figurines and houses as toys for toddlers below will last you and your child a long time, and are really high quality ones at that:

6. Little People

7. Jungle Animals (or Sea Animals)

8. Hape Wooden Doll House

9. Real People Figurine Set

10. Fisher Price Big Helpers Home

Breakfast Invitation Supplies

Breakfast Invitations are something that Beth from “Days with Grey” came up with to introduce to her toddler first thing in the morning (as she was getting her coffee and breakfast ready). This was meant to be something that would help her child work on important skills (such fine-motor skills or pincer-grasp skills) and entertain them while she took time to “wake up” over her morning coffee.

I now do these with Harrison 2-3 times a week and we both love them. *Update: Now that Harrison is a little older, we do homeschool preschool every morning. You can read more about that here. Still love breakfast invitations though as we sometimes do these on the weekends.* They are very low-cost and you typically only need a manipulative (see further below) and these three supplies to do them:

11. Butcher Paper

12. Painter’s Tape

13. Markers

Make sure you check out Days with Grey online as well as Instagram (Instagram is where I go to get breakfast invitation ideas).

Coloring & Drawing

I am naturally a creative, artistic person, so encouraging that in my own child came naturally. However, I know not all parents are. If you are one of those that is not, these are the types of things to make sure you have on hand and encourage your child to use regularly (at least once or twice a day).

There are countless reasons as to why coloring is important for small children, and this is a great post that goes over exactly what those reasons are.

In the meantime, these are the most important supplies you need on hand in order for your toddler to engage in coloring daily:

14. Coloring Books for Toddlers

15. Crayons for Toddlers

16. Colored Pencils for Toddlers

17. Markers

18. Sketchpads

19. Pencils for Toddlers

Crafts

Again, I’m a naturally creative person, so crafting was something I knew I would encourage Harrison to do from the beginning. We recently set up a craft cart and it has really helped so much in encouraging him to make things even more than he was before.

Harrison knows that the craft cart is “grab and go” service, meaning he may grab one to three items at a time, take them to the table, and begin making a craft at any point. He does not need our permission to do so (this helps with his independence and creativity so much).

Within the craft cart, I always keep a certain amount and type of supplies. Always. Sometimes, I place things inside that are special for a particular craft or holiday, but the following supplies are always inside his craft cart:

20. Glue for Toddlers

21. Glue Sticks for Toddlers

22. Pompoms

23. Pipe Cleaners

24. Googly Eyes

25. Construction Paper

26. Scissors for Toddlers

27. Tissue Paper

28. Washable Paint

Manipulatives

I mentioned manipulatives previously in regard to breakfast invitations, but manipulatives can be used a nearly-infinite amount of ways. My only caution with manipulatives is that you ensure your child is out of the “putting things in my mouth to explore them” stage before introducing them.

Manipulatives are the kinds of toys that will last well beyond the toddler years. I have used manipulatives in math with children ages 5 to 11 in elementary school, so I know first-hand how much use you can get out of them.

There are so many manipulatives out there. A good place to get them is Lakeshore Learning. But, outside of Lakeshore Learning, these are my favorite manipulatives to have on hand:

29. Counting Bears for Toddlers

30. Gears Manipulatives for Toddlers

31. Bristle Building Blocks

32. Rainbow Sorting Color Manipulatives

Beads

Beads could probably go in the crafting section, but I decided to give them their own section. Reason being: there are some children out there (from my nannying experience) who do not like to craft, but who do like to work with beads.

There are two different types of beads: beads used for crafting, and beads used for play/manipulation. We have both at home. These are our favorites:

33. Connecting Beads

34. Crafting Beads

Playdoh, Etc.

Playdoh, and more recently, Kinetic Sand, are the types of handheld activities you want your child to have access to regularly. They help so much with sensory-related skills, social skills, and even pre-writing skills. You can read more about this here if you would like.

My favorite Playdoh, Kinetic Sand, and tools for both are here:

35. Playdoh

36. Kinetic Sand

37. Tools for Both

Puzzles for Toddlers

Harrison is not the biggest fan of puzzles (and honestly, I have never been, either) but we still have them on hand for him and encourage him to play with them regularly. This is a great list of the many reasons why puzzles are developmentally beneficial to toddlers and small children.

These are our favorite puzzles to keep on hand:

38. Fill-In Puzzles

39. Puzzles with Sound

40. Large Puzzles

41. Standard Puzzles

Dress-Up & Pretend Play

If your toddler isn’t engaging in dress-up or pretend play yet, don’t worry: they will be soon. In my experience, dress-up and pretend play really starts more around ages 2.5 to 3 years old, and gets intense at around ages 3.5 to 4 years old (but continues well beyond that).

Dress-up and pretend play are crucially important for your child’s development. Not only does dress-up and pretend play help with speech and language, but they also help with confidence and social skills. Here’s a great article about why they are both so important.

These are our favorite dress-up and pretend play toys (the baby doll stroller is my son’s favorite!):

42. Doctor Kit for Toddlers

43. Baby Doll Toys for Toddlers

44. Baby Doll Stroller

45. Baby Doll for Toddlers

46. Tool Kit for Toddlers

47. Cleaning Kit for Toddlers

Bonus: Play Kitchen for Toddlers

Vehicles

Despite (un)popular belief, vehicles are excellent toys for both boy- and girl-toddlers to have on hand to play with. Here’s a great article on why vehicles are truly important for your toddler’s development.

These are our all-time favorite vehicle toys:

48. Trains for Toddlers

49. Train Set for Toddlers

50. Cars for Toddlers

51. Remote-Controlled Cars for Toddlers

52. Hotwheels Starter Set for Toddlers

53. Car Tracks for Toddlers (use with Hotwheels)

54. Garbage Truck for Toddlers

55. Vehicle Rug for Toddlers

Outdoor Toys

As long as you weren’t born yesterday, you have heard and know of the fact that outdoor play is essential to a child’s development. Heck, it’s essential to us as adults, too!

These are our all-time favorite outdoor toys (the balance bike is Harrison’s favorite!):

56. Balance Bike for Toddlers

57. Scooter for Toddlers

58. Ride-In Wagon for Toddlers

59. Pull-Behind Wagon for Toddlers

60. Sidewalk Chalk

61. Basketball Hoop for Toddlers

62. Baseball Set for Toddlers

63. Bean Bag Toss for Toddlers

64. Construction Trucks for Outdoor Play

65. Trampoline for Toddlers

Legos for Toddlers

*Updated Section* After much thought & consideration, I decided to add in a section here just for Legos for toddlers.

My son loves Legos – and I know many toddlers & preschoolers & even older kids who do, too.

Legos spark so much creativity and also have a STEM-like component to them, enabling a child to practice some very early engineering skills.

These are our favorite Legos, so far:

66. Duplos Classic Set

67. Legos Classic Set

Take Aways

Well, friends, that’s all for today’s roundup of the best toys for toddlers. I hope you found some toys, crafts, and activities that you will be buying for your toddler. There are so many great ones above!

Again, like I mentioned earlier, these toys and activities are ones we actually have at home and ones that I know will last well beyond the toddler years.

Since we have these at home, I know them well enough to recommend them!

Next Steps

If you are new here, welcome! Be sure to read more about me by going here!

I’ve done quite a few product reviews of toys lately, so be sure to check those out here:

• Top 10 Travel Toys for Toddlers
• 13 Best Construction Toys for Toddlers
• 12 Awesome Inflatable Pools & Water Slides for Kids

If you are a stepmom, or know of one, please head to The Stubborn Stepmom – a section on my blog devoted to stepmoms and unique struggles we have being part of blended families.

If you’re a blogger, like me, or in the social media business, check out Leslie W. Business Babes – a section on my blog devoted to helping businesswomen start or maintain their blogging & social media businesses. So many resources there (free ones too!)

Well, that’s all for me today friends! I hope you enjoyed this. Make sure you sign up for my email list below so that you never miss a blog post by me – I love doing these product reviews posts so be sure to check in for more of these later!

Take care & as always, thanks for reading!