Holiday Toy List for Toddlers

Play is the foundation for skill development connected to all domains of physical, sensory, cognitive, and social development.  Selecting the appropriate toys for your child is key in supporting his learning and growth.  Many skills develop during the toddler years and do so at various paces. Each child is unique and therefore develops at their own speed.  There is a wide range of what is considered typical development.  With this in mind, it is important to choose toys that best fit your child’s skill level, rather than sticking to an age range that you may see on a box.  Additionally, you may want to buy toys that have longevity, those that will foster emerging skills your child is displaying.  Below you will find toy suggestions suited for toddlers in various developmental stages from infancy to age three.

12 – 24 months

Socially, one to two year olds mostly engage in solitary play.  As their awareness of peers evolve, some social interactions between children begin to emerge. Cognitively, they discover the functional and constructive use of toys and objects.  They throw, stack, dump, fill, put together, take apart, open, and shut. They recognize and are interested in cause-effect relationships.  Physically, their balance improves and they start walking, squatting, climbing, throwing, and running.  Fine motor skills start to develop that allow them to point, push, and manipulate smaller items such as pegs, blocks, and crayons. Toddlers learn about their bodies in space from sensory motor experiences. They explore with kinestetic and prorioceptive sensations like standing & falling, pushing & pulling toys, and having adults turn them upside down and whirl them around.  A toddler’s attention at this age can best be described as very fleeting (a few seconds to a few short minutes).

Here are some suggestions to support the development of skills 12 to 24 months:

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn: Learning Piggy Bank
PlaySkool Explore and Grow Busy Ball Popper
Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby’s First Blocks
Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Corn Popper Push Toy

24 – 36 months

During this next stage, toddlers mostly engage in parallel play and transition into more associative play.  Gross motor skills you will start to see include the development of more complex, whole body movements like jumping, standing on one foot (briefly), running around obstacles, climbing larger apparatuses, standing on tiptoes, and maybe catching a large ball.  Fine motor skills become finer, especially isolated motions of fingers and eye-hand coordination that allows for success with small knob and basic interlocking puzzles, crayons, and stringing beads.  More advanced coordination of both sides of their body develops, as to assemble a screw toy using one hand to stabilize and one to perform the action.  Dramatic play starts to pique and you will see actions like imitating adult routines (i.e. kitchen sequences, playing doctor) and personifying dolls (i.e. feed doll, pat it, put to bed).  Attention to task ranges but can last up to 30 minutes!

Here are some suggestions to support the development of skills 24 to 36 months:

Alex Toys Wooden Stringing Set
Smart Snacks Sorting Shapes Cupcakes
Melissa & Doug Alphabet Express Floor Puzzle
Fisher Price Little People Fun Sounding Farm

Toddlers across the board like BOOKS, so you can never go wrong with gifting books.  When they are younger stick with the cardboard page ones (little ones love to make a mess and tear up the pages).  Dolls, puzzles, musical instruments, bath toys, and ride on toys are all great ideas too.  I have just selected a few toys and there are SO many more!

Happy shopping and don’t get rid of all those boxes that your deliveries come in so quickly, as toddlers love to get into just about everything!

Please note that I have no financial connections to these products or the companies that sell them. To offer easy access for readers I have created an Amazon Store where they can be purchased.  If you purchase an item in this store I receive a small percentage for advertising fees. Any earnings collected are continuously donated to various charities that support children with special needs.  So, if you choose to shop in this store please know that you are also donating a small percentage to a bigger cause.