Boots Chooses: Popular Picks for Toddler Toys and Gear

We're coming out of a Christmas- and birthday-gift whirlwind, so I thought I'd take a minute to share a few things that have been popular with the wee one. I think most of these would be engaging for children a bit younger than 2, and certainly for those older. I got a few of the ideas from observing what was popular in his classroom, and the kids in there range from about 15 months to over 24 months. Accordingly, I they'd be good gifts from about the first birthday onward. Obviously individual children have their own skills and interests, but I think these are widely appealing and generally unisex.

(I also wrote more specifically about popular toys around age one in this post.)

Toys 

(pictures are links)

dot stampers

 magnet tiles

        Magformers                                             MagnaTiles

 blocks and MegaBlocks

 "cut food" -- Melissa & Doug Wooden Cutting Food

(a couple other brands make something similar, too. As long as it has a kiddie knife, it's a hit)

 M&D cookies and birthday cake

 

 Pottery Barn Kids

wooden trucks, trains, and play sets

Railway Station train set

**A note about train sets: I recommend PBK, Brio, and/or Melissa and Doug. These are the classic wooden tracks and these brands' trains and tracks are compatible with each other. Chuggington trains and Thomas the Tank engine sets only work with their own tracks (Thomas trains work on wooden tracks, but other trains don't work on Thomas tracks). Jerks. Also, I invite their executives to explain this to toddlers.**

Safari Set

(PBK website says it's not currently available, but check back or look at similar items)

I love the sturdy (and safe) wooden construction, and that these are open-ended toys with a lot of play options as kids develop.

Finally, almost all kids love a kitchen set. Whenever we have play dates, the kitchen almost always factors in, even across a range of ages and with a mix of boys and girls. We have this one from Little Tikes,

 
 but Costco carries some good looking wooden ones at the best prices if you keep an eye out.

Gear and Supplies

This portion is more like "baby things we still use," so might be a handy guide if you are looking for a gift for parents of an infant, but really want them to get serious mileage out of it.

Aden + Anais serenity star

 

Still our white noise machine for sleep time. I like that it gives off enough light to see a little, but it's not too bright at all. It glows white normally, but will turn blue if the room temperature is too cool or red if it's too hot.

Precious Planet mobile

I first wrote about this in the 4 Month Faves post, so it has been with us for a while. We have used it only as the "light show" (projector) for a while. The batteries died recently, and I thought I could let it ride, but C asked me to "fix it." Yesterday when I went in to get him after nap, he was lying quietly and looking at the lights on the ceiling. He was so excited it was back and wanted me to lie down and watch it too. Great for extending crib time for a bit.

Motorola video monitor

 

still going strong.

Ergo

                                

Left: Original Ergo           ~               Right: Ergo 360

 My love for this is well documented, and I wrote a bit about it in the Gear post. But I just wanted to confirm that we still use it on occasion--most recently when walking downtown to a Preds game (it's a little too far and too traffic-y for me to feel comfortable with him walking on his own). He rides on BA's back and loves a "piggy ride." The original states it's usable up to 45 pounds.

And there you go. You will now be the best gifter at the baby shower, first birthday party, or other celebration. You can thank me with cash later.

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