Our favourite toy is, and likely always will be, nature! We love getting outside, exploring the woods, or green space, or the mountains, or water. We love finding a park, or picking up and putting down rocks, or playing in the dirt. So just know, if you don’t have all the toys at home, sticks, and leaves, and grass make for great toys too!! That being said, you clicked on this post because you wanted to read about toddler toys, so let’s talk toddler toys! In previous posts, I’ve shared some of our favourite toys, crafts, and sensory play – many of our favourite things remain the same, so I will also refer back to those posts throughout!
Wooden Toys
Why do we love wooden toys? Well for one, they are wonderful for the environment, as they bring less plastic into the world. Along those lines, we are less worried about the toxins that can be existent in plastic toys. They are also absolutely beautiful, and I find very calming for children. We love to support some Alberta-local brands for wooden toys, like Little Bodhi Grey and Plaid & Pine, but we’ve also never met a Melissa & Doug wooden toy that we didn’t like!!
Puzzles
I’ve talked about 2-piece match puzzles in the past. We have now added in 12-piece or 25-piece puzzles that are fun to do together, and of course, fun to pull apart! And although we’ve been zoning in on wooden and cardboard type toys, I now must name a toy that is plastic, but also magnetic, and tons of fun! Tomons Magnetic Building Blocks get you being so creative, from building houses, and towers, to airplanes and more!!
Colouring & Painting (& Crafting)
We love to craft! I’ve shared about an easy way to colour with a young toddler in the past. Now, we love anything from colouring books, to plain paper, to construction paper, that we can colour with, practise cutting shapes, or toss pompoms on! Pompoms are a constant mess to clean up, but they are a blast. If your toddler is a little older, check out the different music crafts I share that you can make together, and then decorate with stickers!
Play Dough
Okay, my daughter is obsessed with Play Dough. She will ask for it every single day, I kid you not. You can make your own, buy generic, or support some local companies. We’ve recently been playing with Little Birds at Play from Alberta, and Play Makers and Co. from Washington!
Sports
Apartment life means everything from C’s Strider bike, to our mini hockey set, to soccer balls, and everything in-between are right in our main living space. They are fun to play outdoors, but if you have a space indoors that you can play sports too, I say, “go for it!”…it’s the toy that will get used again and again and again!
Baking
Have you ever met a kid who didn’t like to bake? Easy “toss everything into one bowl” type recipes are my favourite to do with C! I love especially to make the Healthy Cookies from my 2.0 cookbook, but here’s a freebie recipe that is quick and easy to make with your little, and delicious. If you’d prefer to not use a blender for the Primal Pancakes Recipe, so your kiddo can mash and stir, the pancakes will still come out great! As we are coming up on Christmas, if you want to get the little in your life any of their own gear for the kitchen, here’s some Pampered Chef Baking Gear, but in reality, you can probably get them a bag of chocolate chips and a coupon for a baking date with you!!
Books
Here I am saving one of the best toys for last! Books. Something I feel like you can’t have too many of…or at least that you can share, donate, and pass on the love for, once you’re done with them. To make toys more minimal in our house, I do ask that people gift C clothes in the size up, or books!! In the past, I shared some of our favourite books – check them out here and here for some Alberta-local love. I also have a Kid’s Book highlight on my Instagram if you want to click through for more of our favs!
Happy Playing!!