The time between birth and age 3 is a very impressive and special period in child development, and the best educational toys for toddlers do take advantage of this by helping these kids to enhance their curiosity and to help them to learn while playing.
Even though companies are constantly releasing new electronic toys and gadgets that promise to turn toddlers into early readers or mathematicians, do not be fooled by the hype. The best options for this age group are the straightforward, simple toys that do not require any batteries.
Here are the 10 best educational toys that your toddler will enjoy:
Mega Blocks 80-Piece Big Building Bag
The imagination of a toddler is the only limit when it comes to these colorful and simple building blocks. The Mega Blocks Big Building Bag is a great gift for children at all stages of development, as there are numerous ways to build, stack and play.
Fisher-Price Baby's First Blocks
Fisher-Price Baby's First Blocks are straightforward, simple, colorful toys meant for toddlers. There are 10 different colorful blocks in five different styles and shapes, and the box comes with a sorting lid where the toddlers can drop the pieces through, thus improving their problem-solving skills.
VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe
If you are searching for an activity desk that is jam-packed with educational content, you do not need to look far and wide. The VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk Deluxe has a great array of content for toddles 2 and up, and it also comes at a reasonable price.
Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Peg Puzzles
Once your child enters the toddler years, it is a great time to start thinking about adding a puzzle to their toy repertoire. Puzzles can teach toddlers a whole range of things like spatial awareness, motor skills, shapes and more. This puzzle is a favorite from Melissa & Doug, as it provides three different puzzles which can help teach toddlers about counting, the alphabet, colors and more.
VTech Little Apps Tablet
The VTech Little Apps Tablet has an amazing color-changing screen, a piano keyboard, and alphabet buttons. All of these features can help teach different skills. There are 12 learning activities about counting, letters, matching, music, math and more. All of these learning activities will help keep toddlers entertained with sound effects and cute animations.
Melissa & Doug Solid-Wood Building Blocks
This kit comes with 60 different natural wood pieces, all of which are smoothed down in order to prevent splinters, and a wooden storage crate is also included. There are more than just rectangles and squares. Toddlers can make and knockdown complex buildings with the kit's arches, circular pillars, half circles and numerous types of triangles.
LeapFrog Scribble and Write
LeapFrog Scribble and Write has an attached stylus made for little hands, and the screen lights up in order to help toddlers trace both uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and numbers. Kids will start out on the first level. It is where scribbling is encouraged as they get used to holding the pencil, and then they will slowly progress to the second level, where the goal is letter accuracy.
Teach My Toddler Learning Kit
This learning kit includes puzzles, flashcards, posters and board books in order to help keep things interesting and fun for young children. Kids can improve their preschool skills, spatial reasoning as well as their hand and eye coordination while playing with the kit. It is also a great way to get toddlers away from the TV and incorporate some time away from the screen.
Hape Dynamo Kid's Wooden Domino Set
STEM toys are all the rage because they help teach children a lot of different skills relating to technology, science, engineering, and math. This domino set is suited for kids ages three and up, but it will help teach them cause and effect as they line up the dominoes and watch them tumble down.
Melissa & Doug Top and Bake Play Food Set
This amazing pizza-making set is for those over 3-years-old and it will have them cooking up their own pizza pie in just seconds. The importance of pretend play is to act out scenarios that adults do, so this can help inspire your toddler to be a budding chef.