Best Playful Toys and Gifts for 2 Year Olds

If you’re looking for toys and gifts for 2-year-olds that will provide hours of imaginative pretend play time, develop fine and gross motor skills, practice preschool skills, and more, keep reading!

I love giving gifts that help entertain kids while helping them grow and learn.

Give these rewarding toys, games, and books to your kids, grandkids, friends, and neighbors. They’ll thank you!

Best Toys and Gifts for 2-Year-Olds

Monkey Around
From Peaceable Kingdom, this game is a fun game for gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, imitation, vocabulary, and social-emotional skills through play! Toddlers will do the prompts that include movements like hugs to high fives to simple gross motor skills like balancing, hopping, and marching.

Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
My kids LOVE this book so much — and repeated readings were no problem because so did I. The parents implore their spunky young child to please behave, PLEASE. Great use of repetition and so relatable to 2 year old children …and their parents.

Radio Flyer Push and Play
This classic push walker doubles as an activity center for motor skills. Kids love these!

Cupcake Truck
How fun is this truck?

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney (book and plush)
Kids adore this classic rhyming story about a little llama who is struggling to go to sleep without his mama.

LeapFrog Choppin’ Fun Learning Pot
Play with veggies and put them into the pot to hear sound effects and words. Four buttons describe the foods and colors and play a song.

Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas
We are addicted to Ready for Fun –it’s a great book for reading together and practicing your silly voices.

Farm Puzzle with Knobs
Develop hand-eye coordination with this colorful puzzle with knobs perfect for two-year-old hands.

LEGO Duplo My First Puppy & Kitten with Sounds
Buy on LEGO.com
2-year-old toddlers put two bricks together to make each pet, then care for them, play with them and listen to their needs. Adorable.

The Napping House by Audrey Wood and Don Wood
One of the most beloved picture books EVER, certainly by my family if not the world, The Napping House is a gentle, rhythmic story about the inhabitants in a sleepy house slowly falling into slumber– then, waking back up again. As the snoring granny, dreaming child, a dozing dog, a snoozing cat, and a slumbering mouse settle in for sleep, they’re unexpectedly awakened in a surprising chain reaction of events. Muted blue-toned illustrations enhance this book’s perfectly sleepy ambiance.

Pineapple Soft Stacker Toy
2 year olds will sort, squeeze, shake, and stack pineapple rings to help encourage sensory, fine motor, and problem-solving skills in this fabric-covered stacker with a rocking base, squeezable rings, crinkle leaves, and fabric ribbons.

I’m Brave by Kate & Jim McMullan
Firefighter fans will love to read about the life of a brave (and good-looking) fire engine driving through smoke and heat to a blazing fire. Filled with lots of delightful sound effects: CLANG, HONK, WHOOSSSSSH, and EEEEEEOWOOOO for young children. Gift this to your 2 year old readers– they’ll love hearing all the fun sounds.

Little People Surprise and Sounds Home
Can you believe the longevity and fun of Fisher-Price? Buy this pretend home that makes sounds, songs, and phrases and watch your kids experience hours of pretending. Little People always offers high-quality, fun toys for kids, this one is no exception. A TOP gift your 2 year olds will love.

Wood City Car Ramp Set
Watch the cars race down the ramp. Develops hand-eye coordination and visual tracking.

Pop & Count Cactus
Build hand strength, coordination, and other preschool fine motor skills. Pop in Carlos’s spikes and flowers, then count them up!

Go Tots Bus
Won’t this make a great toy for your 2 year olds to roll, stack, and hold the wooden bus and put four character discs in the bus for pretend play?

Mixaroo
From Educational Insights comes a mix-and-match creature that you can create with 12 pieces like an elephant trunk, lizard spikes, dragon wings, and more.

Little People Food Truck
A push-along musical toy food truck flips open to give people an outdoor dining area. Push the driver’s seat for songs, sounds, and phrases.

100 Dogs: Playful Pups to Count by Michael Whaite
“Small dog, tall dog, playing with a ball dog, big dog dig dog, burying a bone.” Kids will love all the different kinds of dogs in this colorful, inviting book that is sure to be a favorite read-aloud!

Melissa & Doug GO Tots
Put the friend discs in the cars and push the wooden cars on any flat surface.

Orijin Bees Fro Zizzy Bee Doll
This doll has curly hair, and the line of dolls comes in a variety of black and brown skin tones.

LEGO DUPLO Wild Animals of Asia
Buy on LEGO.com
This playset will give your children hours of imaginative play. You’ll get a foldable playmat and 11 animals plus a sound brick and 117 pieces to snap together.

HABA My Very First Games
Work together to harvest all the fruit in the orchard before the raven gets them. A cooperative game to help kids develop social skills for 1 to 4 players.

Burrow Bunny
Long floppy ears and huggable materials, this is a soft toy rabbit for snuggles.

Little Tikes First Slide
We had this exact slide in the living room for EVER so that my kids could get movement and have fun at home in the winter months. It’s totally the perfect beginner’s slide, sized especially for younger kids. And it folds down without tools for compact storage and moving. (Move it outside to end in a little inflatable pool– that is also a blast.)

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner, illustrated by Ben Clanton

Laurie Berkner’s popular song is now a super cute picture book. As you read the song lyrics, follow along with Dax as he and his friends go exploring, marching, picnicking, napping, and roaring. Clanton’s animated illustrations with cartoon-like dialogue bubbles make these dinosaur friends inviting and friendly. Get ready to sing your way through this delightful book making it one of the best books for 2-year-olds.

Step2 Rain Showers Splash Water Table
A water table is one of the best investments you can make for your home. It literally will last you years and give your kids hours and hours of open-ended play and exploration. It’s SUCH a good investment — you will thank me later, I promise.