Educational Toys for 2-3 Year Olds

Toys are providing a lot more than just fun for kids of all ages. Especially for babies and toddlers, every new shape, color, texture, taste, and sound is a new learning experience.

So educational toys for 2 and 3 year olds are essential for fostering kids’ skills, improving their senses, sparking their imagination, and encouraging them to interact with the world around them.

Not every toy is the same. They are all made of different materials, features, and purposes. Considering that not all toddler toys on the market are beneficial for kids, it might be confusing for parents to choose the right ones for their kids.

In this blog, we’ve got parents covered with fresh information about the best educational toys for 2-3 year olds and made a long list in which you can find information about any kind of high quality, educational toys.

From their material to skills they improve, everything you need to know about top educational toys for 2 -3 year olds is here! Keep reading!

What Are Educational Toys?

Before diving into the top educational toys for 2-3 year olds, let’s discover what makes a toy educational for kids. Any kind of toy that helps kids learn about themselves, the world around them, or traditional academic skills, can be put into the educational toys or learning toys category.

Generally, open-ended, movement, construction, electronic, and sensory toys fall into the educational toys category by supporting a variety of skills and learning abilities.

Best Educational Toys for 2-3-Year-Olds

An educational toy for kids should be both fun and suitable for their age, developmental needs, and personality. Along with these, the best educational toys for 2 to 3 year olds typically include the following qualities:

• They inspire active play.
• They are well-made with sturdy materials.
• They lend more than one use.
• They challenge kids’ skills without frustrating them.

Checking online for toys with all these features and qualities might be consuming for parents. For this reason, we wanted to lead the way and compile the best educational toys for 2-3 year olds.

You can go with any toy that fits your kid’s personality from this list to support their skills, personal development, and learning ability.

1. MentalUP

Today’s kids were born with technology. So it’s normal that they enjoy playing with tablets and consider them as toys. Luckily, MentalUP, which is one of the best toddler apps, offers the simplest way to turn a simple tablet into a beneficial, educational toy.

The MentalUP app includes more than 150 scientific and educational games and activities for kids of all ages. By providing a safe learning environment with MentalUP, you can satisfy your 2-3 year old kid’s educational needs and support their cognitive development with games that improve their attention, memory and logic skills.

2. VTech-Smart Shots Sports Center

This is an electronic toy with both educational and physical aspects. So it not only supports kids’ motor skills, but also their physical development.

The toy is designed for kids to make them exercise while playing and learning new things. With this toy, kids can learn about shapes, colors, numbers and sports while enjoying more than 65 songs.

3. GIGI Bloks - XXL Building Blocks

This is an educational toy consisting of strong cardboard blocks and similar to all paper-based educational toys, it provides a blank canvas to help kids improve their creativity.

In addition to improving creative thinking, the toy benefits kids’ critical thinking, motor, and problem-solving skills.

This functional toy can be used to provide a variety of learning activities. Kids can color the blocks with chalk, and build houses, cars, and many other things. The possibilities are endless with it!

4. Hony - Electronic Interactive Alphabet Wall Chart

This is one of the most interactive educational toys for kids. It provides a fun and stimulating way to teach kids about the alphabet, numbers, animals, and foods.

Also, the toy helps kids improve their knowledge about shapes and colors and teach them word associations, spelling, and phonics.

5. Melissa & Doug - Wooden Foods Set

This toy set offers a chance for parents to teach kids about different kinds of foods and a well-balanced diet. It is designed to teach kids about all groups of foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products.

The toy can benefit kids' recognition, categorization, and attention skills. So, playing pretend play with it is a great way to encourage kids about healthy eating habits and improve their cognitive skills.

6. Joyjoz Baby - Musical Mats

Kids always enjoy playing with musical toys, especially the toddlers. So Joyjoz Baby’s musical math is a great option for improving kids' musical skills while letting them have fun.

This toy not only entertains kids, but also improves their memory, sensory, and creativity skills by including 25 built-in sounds.

And as a bonus, with its portable and compact design, it is a safe option to include in your kid's toy arsenal.

7. Melissa & Doug - Pattern Blocks and Boards

This is one of the most basic yet beneficial toys on the market. Designed for toddlers and older kids, it is a great option to help kids learn about colors and shapes.

This set of wooden toys encourages kids to think more creatively while improving their counting and math skills. So if you want your kids to improve their math skills in their childhood you can consider going with this one.

8. Monti Kids - Montessori Cooking Together Kit

As Montessori toys develop kids’ soft skills, like independence, fairness, adaptability, and positivity, they are highly popular on the market.

Of all the Montessori toys, the Monti kit provides a great opportunity to support kids' soft skills and help them build a positive relationship with food.

This educator-designed kitchen kit is suitable for kids as young as 18 months and is a great way to safely enjoy cooking together with your kids.

9. Lovevery Play Kits - The Investigator

This play kit is designed specifically for supporting kids' natural curiosity. This educational toy includes a variety of science-related tools and accessories for your kids to learn by experimenting.

The investigator kit supports both kids’ physical and mental development. While playing with this kit, kids can practice jumping, balancing, and tossing and easily improve their concentration, memory, and language skills.

10. Montessori Generation Busy Board

This Montessori toy offers a fun and effective way to expand kids' long-term potential in the early years of childhood.

Designed for kids from ages 2 to 4, this toy includes tools for various activity options to improve kids’ creativity, coordination, attention, memory and fine motor skills.

11. Fat Brain Toys - Shape Factory

This shape-sorting puzzle is a great educational toy for fostering kids’ special reasoning, fine motor, and problem-solving skills.

Shape factory is designed for kids to let them experiment with mixing and matching shapes. So it is also beneficial for helping kids learn geometric shapes at an early age.

12. LeapFrog - Story Time Buddy

This interactive toy includes five stories about Buddy and his friends to enhance kids’ early reading instruction skills.

Along with helping kids build reading skills, Story Time Buddy also contributes to kids’ knowledge about emotions, shapes, numbers, colors, and opposites.

13.LEGO - My First Alphabet Truck

LEGO’s alphabet truck combines creative playing, imaginative thinking, and learning the alphabet for preschoolers and toddlers.

This toy helps kids develop visual-spatial awareness and improves their vocabulary, self-expression, and language skills.

14. VTech - Mix, and Match-a-Saurus

VTech’s customizable dinosaur is a great educational tool for creating daily learning activities for toddlers and preschoolers.

The dino includes 3 emotion tiles, 3 music tiles, and 3 character tiles to make up to 27 combinations. So this toy encourages kids to dance, move and sing. Also, it helps kids learn about emotions and improve their cognitive and fine motor skills.

15. The Learning Journey - Matching Heads & Tails Flash Cards

This educational toy set includes two-piece self-correction puzzle cards to introduce familiar topics to kids.

Heads and tails matching flashcards contribute to kids’ pre-reading skills by enhancing their matching, categorization, and recognition skills. So if you want to help your kids practice essential skills, it is a great one to consider.

16. Step2 - Rain Showers Splash Water Table Playset

This water table playset is designed especially for kids to enjoy making showering splashes and waterfalls.

Although it looks simple, this toy offers many benefits for kids. It helps kids learn to pretend play and improves their STEM learning skills, like gravity, water flow, and cause and effect.

17. Little Tikes - Go & Grow Dino Ride On Toy

Ride-on toys are a favorite for every kid. With its cute look and functional features, Go & Grow Dino might be your little one's favorite.

This Ride On Dino benefits kids in many ways. It promotes kids’ gross motor, coordination, balance, and active play skills.

18. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Servin’ Up Food Truck

Fisher-Price’s fun food truck brings development into play. The toy includes a two-sided food truck with a variety of accessories for role play and hands-on activities.

This is one of the best educational toys for 2-3 year olds as it is highly beneficial for academic, collaborative, creative, and imagination skills.

19. Green Toys - Ambulance & Doctor’s Kit

Along with improving kids’ cognitive and essential motor skills, this educational toy also helps kids overcome their anxiety about doctor visits.

Kids can enjoy playing imaginative games with Green Toy’s Ambulance & Doctor’s Kit and get familiar with the idea of seeing a doctor in a fun and beneficial way.

20. Constructive Playthings Dressed to Nest Cloth Dolls

This eco-friendly educational toy is one of a kind in the market. The playset includes five culturally diverse cloth dolls and each doll features a different learning skill.

Kids can enjoy tying, buttoning, zipping, and nesting together these dolls’ clothes while improving their seriation, categorization, and recognition skills.

21 .Vtech - KidiBeats Kids Drum Set

This drum set includes nine musical melodies in play modes for improving kids’ musical and categorization skills.

In addition to that, this educational tool enhances kids’ musical creativity, improves their visualization and coordination skills, and supports their sensory development.

22. LeapFrog- Learning Friends 100 Words Book

LeapFrog’s word book is an educational toy that is specially designed for kids to improve their language skills.

This bilingual toy comes with English and Spanish options and includes 100 words from a variety of topics like animals, body parts, colors, food, and nature. So it is a great choice for parents to support their kids’ language development with toddler-appropriate language words and phrases.

23. Miniland - Marble Run

This 41-piece marble circuit offers endless possibilities and hours of fun with its colorful tubes, rails, and small modules.

As it both keeps kids entertained for a long time and improves their creativity and engineering skills, it is one of the top educational toys for 2-3 year olds in the market.

24. Fat Brain Toys - Timber Tots Tree House

Timber Tots Tree House is a portable educational toy for 2-3 year olds. It comes with a tree house including a variety of accessories like characters, cars, beds, tables, and stickers.

This flexible toy offers a customizable adventure for kids while improving their fine motor, imaginative play, creative thinking, and naturalistic skills.

25. Tomy - Mortimer The Moose

This cute moose toy is one of the best sensory toys for toddlers. It comes with colorful, satin, knotty legs and multiple textures that crinkle and jingle.

It is also a developmental toy that fosters kids’ visual development by teaching them about shapes, colors, sounds, and textures.

26. Melissa & Doug - Take-Along Farm Play Mat

This educational toy is a versatile, colorful play mat featuring an illustrated farm scene in bright, eye-catching colors with different textures.

The play mat comes with multisensory features to promote constructive playing for kids. With its simplistic yet beneficial design, it nurtures kids’ early vision, focus, and color awareness and promotes fine motor skills.

How to Choose the Right Educational Toys for 2-3-Year-Olds?

So far, we have learned what makes a toy educational and the best options that you can find on the market. Of course, when it comes to toys, there are plenty of options to choose from. The important thing for parents is to learn how to choose the right toys for their kids.

Below, we’ve listed all the qualities you need to look for in educational toys. By considering these qualities, you can support your kid's personal development in a fun and safe environment:

1. Material: Toys with toxic materials can be harmful to kids. Thus, it is best to choose a non-toxic, sturdy toy that is not easily broken.
2. Skills: Not all toys on the market are made to contribute to kids' intelligence. So if you want to support your kid's personal development, you should choose from toys that foster kids' movement, language, and social skills.
3. Interest: Kids' interest in toys might change according to their personalities. By observing which toys your kids play with more, you can choose the toys that will keep them entertained for long amounts of time.
4. Safety: Safety is one of the most critical issues when it comes to choosing a toy. To ensure a toy is safe, you should always read the labels carefully.
5. Age range: Kids’ educational needs vary according to their stage of development. This means supporting kids' intelligence requires providing them with age-appropriate toys. All you need to do is check the age range carefully before buying a toy.

Frequently Asked Questions About Educational Toys

When it comes to choosing from the best educational toys for 2-3 year olds, normally a lot of questions arise. To help parents out with educational toys, we wanted to answer the most common questions in every parent's mind.

Here you can find frequently asked questions about educational toys for 2-3 year olds with their answers.