Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift or a need to keep your own toddler entertained at home, you can’t go wrong with an educational toy. Learning and play at the same time? Yes, please!
To help you navigate the many choices out there, we’ve compiled a list of the best educational toys for toddlers. Learning toys — toys that are research-based and designed to help kids meet their developmental milestones, are one way to ensure that your toddler stays engaged while reaping all of the educational benefits.
So browse through these toys that will help your kids grow cognitively, emotionally, socially, and physically — but will still fill that fun quotient, too.
What to look for when buying early childhood education toys
Best education toys for 3+ year olds
These toys will expand your toddler’s understanding of the world through pretend play, art, sensory exploration, and science education.
4. Lego Duplo sets
This toy has withstood the test of time for a reason. Each set encourages pretend play within a specific theme, and gets kids practicing both fine and gross motor skills.
5. All-Around Easel for Two by Step 2
This art center was rated “Best for Toddlers” by lifestyle blog The Spruce, and features a white board, chalk board, and magnetic letters, numbers, and shapes. Little artists can get creative and practice role-play while enhancing their fine motor skills.
6. Career-based Costumes by Melissa and Doug
Encourage pretend-play and schema building with costume sets such as a chef, construction worker, astronaut, and more!
7. Make-believe sets
Provide opportunities to create make-believe situations with toys like the Fun With Friends Kitchen by Step 2, or the Scoop and Serve Ice Cream Counter by Melissa and Doug
Kids can re-enact what they see in real life, build customer orders, and pay with play money.
8. Tactile play toys
Toys like Sensory Bins and Kinetic Sand are a great way to engage your child in tactile play and STEM learning. “Sensory exploration helps children build the basic science skills of observing what is happening and using words to describe what they sense,” according to the Boston Children’s Museum. Kids can explore, learn, and create within specific themes such as Outer Space or Bake Shoppe.
9. Cook books
Engage toddlers in a deliciously fun STEM activity through cooking! Elements of math, science and technology are incorporated in even the simplest of recipes, and Kids in the Kitchen by Amanda Grant has 50 healthy recipes, accompanied by step-by-step photos of real kids cooking. Most importantly, cooking involves parent-child interaction, and no learning toy can beat that!
