Choosing educational toys for toddlers isn’t easy. Parents have to consider what their kids like and toys that will be durable enough to last them years of playtime. On top of that, there are many learning toys for toddlers today that are marketed as educational but are really not. Parents have to find a balance between toys that young kids will like to play and cost-efficient toys worth buying.
There’s no doubt that shopping for educational toys for toddlers and preschoolers online presents numerous options. However, parents must also do their homework in knowing what the best educational toys for child development are. If you’re reading this because you, too, want to see the best options you have, we’ve compiled a list of the best educational toys for toddlers you and your child can get your hands on today below.
Wooden toys for toddlers
Wooden toys are always great starter toys for kids because they’re chunky and sturdy. Young tots can easily hold on to them, and the material itself can withstand the punishment of carefree usage. Here are some toys your child can start with:
Children as young as two years can start playing with these wooden building blocks. It’s always a fun toy for toddlers and preschoolers alike. Psychologists and educators say that blocks are powerful educational toys for children’s development because it helps stimulate the brain and improves fine motor skills, spatial reasoning, hand-eye coordination, cognitive flexibility, and encourages creativity.
Another great toy to introduce wooden toys to young children is this wooden bowling toy set. It sets the tone for fun learning. Here, children aged two and three can start learning about numbers and counting. This game of bowling also helps improve their motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Play with your kids and see who is the bowling master in the family!
Memory toys for toddlers
Memory toys help children improve their memory, which makes it an excellent brain exercise. These educational toys for toddlers age 3 and up can be played alone or played competitively with others.
Young kids like to explore textures because they like experimenting with their senses, as well. This toy actually hits two birds with one stone. Not only does this game develop sensory perception with the 10 different textured cylinders, but kids will also learn how to match and associate the cylinders to the appropriate holes. Additionally, it’s a good way to enhance problem-solving skills in toddlers.
After textures, your toddler can now work on a memory game that involves picture association. The magnetic boards included in this toy feature numbers, shapes, words, weather, flags, fruits, things, and many more. This toy also has 20 magnetic pieces that cover the pictures. The child will remove the magnets to reveal the picture underneath, and then the memory game begins. No peeking because the magnets stay in place!
Puzzles for toddlers
Puzzle toys are always one of the top educational toys for toddlers because it builds three skills: physical (fine-motor skills), cognitive (problem-solving), and emotional (patience). Puzzles can be challenging, which is why you should choose the age-appropriate puzzle for your little one.
This early learning puzzle game is a good puzzle for young kids to start with. It’s very simple and easy to do. There are three themes for this puzzle game: fruits and vegetables, traffic, and animals. What makes it a great introduction to puzzles is that toddlers are pretty familiar with the photos already. This makes it easier for them to solve puzzles and build their confidence to try more challenging ones.
Make every learning and playtime count with these wooden educational boards. These boards come with puzzles where children have to associate pictures of objects, letters, numbers, etc. This improves hand-eye coordination, cognitive ability, problem-solving skills, picture and word recognition, fine motor skill development, and spatial skills. There are 17 boards to choose from!
When talking about puzzle learning toys for age 3, you cannot ignore tangrams. Tangrams can also be intimidating at first, but with this puzzle box, toddlers are well-guided picture cards. Children can start copying what’s in the pictures first to be more familiar with tangrams. Later on, you’ll see that your child will naturally explore his/her imagination and start creating his/her own puzzles!
Brain exercise toys for toddlers
Brain exercise toys provide more challenges to young tots. These toys train the mind as they’re encouraged to think more critically and analytically to complete the task in front of them. It is vital that parents guide and play with their children at first. Otherwise, the challenge can be too overwhelming that they might not play with such toys anymore.
In this game, kids have to think about how they can put the pieces together properly while still maintaining its balance. This educational toy will help improve hand-eye coordination in children as well as problem-solving skills, practical reasoning skills, and more importantly, instill patience in young children so they won’t be afraid to keep trying!
This brain trainer poses a unique challenge for toddlers. They have to navigate through the limited space to achieve the same position of the circles or fruits on the picture. This brain exercise toy teaches logical thinking and pattern recognition. Similar to the Tetris puzzle, young tots will learn to be patient and not easily frustrated (if they don’t get it right) through this game.
Musical toys for toddlers
Musical toys are believed to help develop and enhance the emotional side of toddlers. While listening to music makes them calmer, playing with musical toys can help release their pent-up emotions so they can feel better. Additionally, toddlers get that satisfaction when they make their own sound or music.
One of the favorite musical toys for toddlers is the xylophone. It plays beautiful sounds that are gentle enough for young children’s ears. They learn how to hit softly and loudly and what sounds corresponds to that. They will also learn more about patterns and rhythm. This musical instrument comes with a songbook, so parents can teach their children about reading and following notes, too.
Creativity toys for toddlers
There’s no better time to motivate your toddler to be creative than now. Their imaginations are limitless! These toys will help tap into that creativity.
Introducing the concept of art early on is always a good thing. Toddlers are already learning about shapes, objects, and colors, so making art is the culmination of putting those things together. This magnetic art easel can set the pace. They can either use the magnetic pictures to create a scenario on the magnetic board or write and draw on the blackboard. This double-sided easel provides double creative fun!
If your child loves working with wooden blocks, then this is the perfect toy to amplify his/her creativity. These boxes come in different themes: construction set, mosaic, domino race, spinning tops, 3D puzzle cubes, and pick-up sticks—all of which present an opportunity to be creative with a child’s creations. Best of all, it comes in a box so you can bring this anywhere with ease!
Fun educational toys for toddlers
All educational toys are fun, but these toys offer a different kind of fun to the learning experience. There’s competition involved and for some kids, this means the stakes are higher. They try to do their best all the time and develop a competitive spirit. But more importantly, they learn both the value of winning and losing.
The domino is a timeless game, but unfortunately, kids nowadays don’t always know what it is and how to play with it. This domino learning game teaches toddlers to recognize patterns and matching pictures. They can play this alone and exercise creativity by creating a structure made of dominos. On the other hand, dominos are always more fun when you’re playing against someone. So parents, enjoy this classic game with your little ones!
Fishing games are always extra fun. Competing with other people to see who catches more fish makes the game more interesting. But what parents and children may not realize is that this simple game explores and develops various skills, such as cognitive thinking, strengthening motor skills, mental skills, problem-solving, and teamwork.
There’s always something special when kids play something that mimics real life. Like when they see mom cooking in the kitchen, they always wonder how a carrot can go from hard and unpeeled to a tasty and soft carrot in a stew. Satiate that curiosity with these wooden cutting fruits and vegetables that recreate their own cooking experience. It’s a great way to learn about fruits and vegetables and also about practical life.
What are the best educational toys for toddlers? The answer is to listen to your little one. And when we say little to your toddler, that means considering his/her interests as well as assessing the best learning pace for your child. When you find that balance, you’ll see these learning toys working at full capacity.
There is no single best toy for a child because each child learns differently. Parents play a huge role in early childhood development, and that means putting huge importance on selecting the right educational toys a child will truly benefit from. This is the time to cast aside the devices and gadgets and just focus on authentic learning. These options above are all great choices because nothing beats fun and education together!
