Best Toddler Toys

Toys for toddlers bring a variety of choices such as kids’ activity tables, arts and crafts, electronic toys, building blocks, puzzles, push and pull toys and stuffed animals. More are available and at the same time easy to find at all toy stores and department stores. But while these toys are abundant, finding for that perfect toy for your toddler is not a simple task.

As parents, we want the best toys for our children not only to make them happily occupied for hours but also learn new skills that will help them prepare for their future. One way to achieve this is through educational toys designed to help our kids develop their creativity and imagination, letter and shape recognition, language development, fine motor and cognitive skills, as well as social and emotional development that are essential to a child’s early development stage.

In order to make easier your shopping on toddler’s toys, thus saving time and energy in searching and finding the most appropriate toy for your toddler, here is a great selection of some of the best toddler toys for 2010 that are fun, safe and childproof and, at the same time, encourage learning through play.

Toddler’s building blocks and construction toys that include wooden blocks, cardboard blocks, soft blocks make great toys that help jumpstart your child's early developmental skills. Building blocks might be common toys but these are the kind of toys that are tried and tested and are highly effective in stimulating your child’s senses and developing early child’s learning skills, including creativity and imagination, hand-eye coordination, logical thinking, spatial awareness, color and shape recognition, fine motor skills and even language skills.

Young kids get to experience the best of creative and constructive play with toy blocks. With just a simple set of building blocks, they can build and create their own towers, bridges, houses and buildings, vehicles and many more! The possibilities to create and construct things are limited only to your child's imagination!

When shopping for building blocks for your toddler, you can find a huge variety available. It is important to note, however that some of the building blocks being sold in stores may contain smaller pieces that are inappropriate for young children. So look for those larger blocks with no sharp corners and edges made especially for toddlers. Your best bet for building blocks is the range of Melissa and Doug Wooden Blocks that are carefully hand crafted and made with non-toxic and lead free paints to make sure they are childproof and safe for younger kids. In addition many of these blocks teach ABCs, farm animals, shapes, letter and number recognition.

But if you are looking for lighter building blocks, then you should take a look at the line of MEGA Blocks Building sets for toddlers made of lightweight and durable plastics which also come conveniently in carrying cases and can be easily transported anywhere. The MEGA Blocks Build'n Go Table, in particular, is the best selling when it comes to Mega Blocks Toys for toddlers. The Build'n Go Table comes with 3 in 1 feature; the table serves as storage for the blocks and folds into a portable, carrying case. The set includes 22 large, colorful and bright building pieces – great for toddlers and young children, aged 1 – 4 years old.

Toddlers in nature are fun-loving and love to explore their surroundings, and what a better way to properly guide them than to provide them with their own activity table that will keep them occupied for hours, as well as help them stimulate their social and emotional behavior, creativity, problem solving, motor skills and hand-eye coordination skills. Moreover, Toddler’s activity tables also make it easier for parents to store and organize their children’s toys and stuffs.

While there are a huge variety of children’s activity tables available, including wooden and plastic play tables, the most popular choices are those interactive, educational play tables that often include advanced features, such as songs, sounds, flashing lights and more!

If you are looking for a great, interactive activity table for your toddlers, the LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Activity Table would be a great buy. This electronic music table offers lots of fun activities, along with over 40 songs to keep any young kid, singing and dancing for hours!

If it is classic toys you are after for your child, then you’ll love the huge offerings from Melissa and Doug Wooden toys. Melissa and Doug Toys offer a full line of toys for babies and toddlers, including toy blocks, wooden puzzles, play food, magnetic activities, musical toys, pretend play items and accessories, as well as puppets, plush animals and stuffed toys.

Unlike other toys sold in the market which are made of cheap plastic and questionable materials, the Melissa and Doug Toys are mostly made of solid wood construction and made with childproof, non-toxic paints so that you can get only the best quality and safe toys for your child to enjoy playing with for years. What parents love about Melissa and Doug Toys is that each of their toys is unique and is based on different themes which help encourage every young learner to learn new skills or gain knowledge in a wide variety of subjects.

One of the children’s most popular products among the Melissa and Doug Toys include the wooden building blocks and wooden puzzles which are made of the highest quality hardwood material and come in different themes, including the alphabets, numbers, figures and shapes, colors, farm animals and many more!

Melissa and Doug also offer some of the best quality plush animals and soft toys available in the market toys which are crafted with the same quality as their wooden toys. Their plush stuffed animal collection include dogs, teddy bears, giraffe, alligator, zebra, panda, lion, tiger, sea turtle, penguin, elephant, horse, deer and many more! All of these toys are made from premium quality soft plush materials that are sure to be adored and loved by every little ones.

Other popular toys in the Melissa and Doug wooden toy line are the Pretend Play Toys and Wooden Play Food sets which provide young children many hours of fun, creative and imaginative play.

Electronic toys and learning game system are perhaps one of the best ways to give your kids a jumpstart on learning. These interactive toys make it easier for young children to start a lifelong love of learning early through a variety of fun, educational games and activities designed to teach many different skills, including color and shape recognition, the alphabets, language and vocabulary, fine motor and cognitive skills, as well as help boost their self-esteem and confidence. When it comes to electronic toys for toddlers, Leap Frog Toys currently dominate the market.

Leapfrog toys offers a great selection of electronic toys and learning game system of which many are marketed toward toddlers and young learners as early as 12 months old. Some of the most popular Leap Frog Toys for toddlers include the Leapfrog Learn and Groove Musical Table, an interactive, bilingual activity center complete with sounds and music, twinkling lights and many different learning activities;  the Leapfrog Tag Junior Book Pal, an advanced touch reading system that aids in teaching kids to read books at an earlier age through interactive songs and sounds and other book-based activities; and the Leapfrog My Pal, an interactive stuffed toy that can be customized according to your child's personality. The toy comes with 5 pre-loaded songs and can be connected through the internet to access new songs and personalize it with your child's name, along with their favorite things.

Toddler’s first doll can be a great educational and learning experience. Aside from providing fun playtime, dolls make great interactive toys that help stimulates child’s mind and senses and also aids in expanding their motor skills, creative thinking, imagination, social and emotional, and cognitive skills through pretend play.

Some of the most popular dolls for toddlers this year include the line of Fisher-Price Sesame Street Dolls based on the Children’s favorite Sesame Street's characters. Sesame Street dolls are available in plush toys and interactive dolls that move, talk, sing, dance, laugh, tell jokes and many more! There are many Sesame Street's characters to choose from such as Elmo, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby dolls. But the Elmo dolls, in particular, are the most popular of all which consistently rank as one of the hottest selling toys and top toys wish list every holiday.

You can get Elmo dolls in many different versions. There is the Elmo Live Encore which comes with fun, realistic features - Just with a tickle or a squeeze to Elmo’s foot, tummy, back or nose, the doll will magically come to life, as he sings different classic songs, play games, tell stories and jokes while crossing his legs, waves his arms, sits and stands. The Elmo doll’s mouth also opens and closes, and moves its head forward and backward whenever he speaks, just like what Elmo does on children’s favorite TV show! Then there is the T.M.X. Tickle Me Elmo which will bring your kids many hours of fun and laughter. Just hit Elmo’s chin, tummy or foot, and then it will start to laugh, giggle and make funny comments, slap his legs, fall forward, roll around the floor while laughing at the same time.  He even sits and stands up on his own self! You will find it hard to resist the laughs that the toy brings.

Other best-selling interactive toys for toddlers are the Webkinz Plush stuffed animals which come with a tag attached, printed with a special code that can be used to gain access to the Webkinz World website wherein kids can adopt virtual pets, access online games and many other fun activities; and the cute and adorable Zhu Zhu pet hamsters which have the look and feel of real hamsters. These toy hamsters come with many different accessories that include Hamster Wheels, tracks and ramps, costumes, vehicles and other pet accessory kits.

These toddler’s soft toys make great interactive toys that will keep every young ones entertained, as well as learn through fun, creative and imaginative play.

Looking for a great toy that makes a perfect play companion for your toddler? Then push ride-on toys is just the perfect toy.  Toddler’s ride-on toys are extremely popular among young children. These toys do a great job in strengthening your child’s gross motor and fine motor skills as well as their muscle control and physical strength in a fun and entertaining way. Young kids will surely enjoy the independence and the freedom to explore their surroundings that ride-on toys can bring.

There is a huge range of ride-on toys available for toddlers such as push ride on cars, pedal cars, trikes and bikes, tractors and wagons. There are even battery powered ride-on toys made for a toddler size, so you can surely find that perfect ride-on toy for your child regardless of his taste or preference.

Some of the best sellers in toddler ride-on toys include the line of the all-time favorite Radio Flyer Wagons, Little Tikes Cars and Fisher Price Power Wheels Lil Quads which are all available in various colors, styles and designs made to suit every child’s needs and preference.