Five toys my toddler loves right now - with great gift ideas for two and three-year-olds
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Puzzles
My son is obsessed with puzzles and I think a good toddler-friendly jigsaw is a great gift for this age. This Peter Rabbit™ 4-in-a-box puzzles set from Orchard Toys (£10) keeps him busy for ages and having a set of four means he never gets bored with it. From a 12-piece puzzle up to a more tricky 24, each jigsaw set has a different colour on the back so it’s really easy for you and your toddler to find the pieces you need. If you’ve got a Peter Rabbit fan in the house, this is a great choice.
We also love the 25-piece Who's in the Jungle puzzle from Orchard Toys (£11.25), which contains larger jigsaw pieces and is great to identify all the different animals once it’s complete.
Digital camera
Another big hit in my house at the moment is the Groov-e Kidz Digital Camera (£24.99). It’s designed for kids aged four and above but my almost three-year-old loves it and it goes everywhere we do. He’s so proud of the pictures he’s taken at the local farm, of mummy and daddy and his little brother, and of puzzles he’s completed. Obviously, there’s also been a lot of pictures of the carpet and the ceiling, but it’s really easy to go in and delete them to save space.
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The camera holds 50 photos and you can add an SD-card for more storage, plus it comes with a charging and data transfer cable, so it’s easy to transfer images to your phone. There’s also special features including 28 photo frames and 16 fun filters like moustaches and glasses.
This is a great gift for happy snappers, and it’s lovely to sit and go through the pictures they’ve taken and see how delighted they are to have captured their memories and loved ones. I’ve got a feeling this camera is going to last us years.
Duplo
This LEGO DUPLO Classic Brick Box Building Set (£19.99) is another big hit - and my son will sit and play quietly for ages, building huge towers (which his younger brother inevitably knocks down).
It comes with a booklet showing a dozen different set ups, and he loves copying these to try and recreate the different scenes. You can build a street with a toy car, a bakery, a small toy house, a tree and a flower archway, and it comes with a big Lego-brick box to store it all away when you’re done playing.
Colouring
These Magic Painting Books (£6.49) bring hours of fun, all you need to do is fill the magic pen with water and let your toddler get colouring. It’s a great alternative to screen time, and it will keep your little one focused as they use the water pen to make the colours appear on the page.
After a while when the pages are dry, it returns to a blank slate so your toddler can discover the pictures all over again. We loved this so much we got three - and we took them away on holiday as the perfect activity for some down time.
Balance bike
We’ve had this Didicar Diditrike Ride-on-Toy (£45.99) for a while now, and it’s been an evergreen hit with our eldest. Our 18-month-old is a fan too. It’s great for scooting around the garden and taking to the park, and sets them up really well for learning to ride a bike.
If you’re looking for a special gift for your 2-year-old, this would be a great option. There’s also a range of two-wheel balance bikes which would suit a 3-year-old, like this Ultra Lightweight Micro Balance Bike (£79.95).