The Best Wooden Toys for Toddlers
Based on Age and Development and Why they Work
The Block Set by Lovevery
These solid wooden building blocks and shapes are so much more than a pretty set of blocks. As with everything Lovevery does, they are meticulously and thoughtfully designed to grow with the child. The 70-piece block set comes with a tidy storage box (which can also double as a house, the body or a car, or a drum) and a play guide, the latter providing caregivers 20 play and activity prompts to engage children starting at 18 months clear through age 4.
Shape Sorting and Stacking Toy by Wood City
This columned puzzle provides opportunities for brain work while a toddler is playing. Little kids can practice shape sorting, counting, color recognition, and advanced hand-eye coordination as they carefully work to assemble and stack the puzzle pieces.
14 Piece Percussion Instrument Set
Ehome’s 14-piece wooden musical set contains instruments from tambourines to castanets, from a xylophone to a bird whistle, and more. The instruments vary in sounds, which can inspire creativity through auditory stimulation and movement. This is a wonderful set that can engage toddlers, children, and adults of all ages to cooperatively play together.
Pikler Climbing Triangle
This modifiable climbing structure is a gift that will be used for years to come. With more than 10 possible arrangements, the structure can be anything from a basic climbing cube for younger children to a 5 to 6-year-old’s climbing wall and slide. Bonus, it’s foldable, so this indoor play structure easily packs flat to save you room when not in use.
Wooden Farm Harvest Game
This colorful and engaging sorting game has seven different sized vegetables and fruits that correspond to seven different sized holes. Toddlers can first clutch the felt tops of these wooden pieces and “harvest” them. Later, as their hand-eye coordination develops, the toddler will be able to “plant” the vegetables back in their spots. This fine motor game provides wonderful opportunities for language development as the caretaker and toddler engage in conversation about foods and how they grow, and abut color, shape, size, and process.
Toddler Race Car Ramp
A sturdy wooden version of a classic toy, this exciting ramp racer set includes four cars that toddlers can send down a zigzagging ramp. They will watch the vehicles smoothly flip from front side to back, harnessing a young child’s desire to understand the mechanics of how things work. In addition to hand-eye coordination, this is an early STEM toy that explores the concepts of gravity and motion.
Wooden Busy Board
This interactive busy board for toddlers provides fun at home or on the go. Its 10 activities are designed to develop fine motor skills such as working with locks, latches, zippers, gears, and more. This practice will help toddlers with skills they will use in the years to come, such as getting dressed and opening doors, helping them engage with the world around them.
Balls and Cups Sorting Game
This colorful game, which includes 12 wooden balls, 12 wooden cups, a wooden bowl, a wooden spoon, and a linen bag for storage, is an exciting and interactive way for young toddlers to not only develop motor skills but to engage with the concepts of color, shape, size, classification, and comparison and regulation skills, like perseverance and focus, all in an authentic way.
Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Xylophone
This classic toy from HAPE is a multi-functional musical instrument. The removable xylophone can remain in the toy as children use the hammer to tap the balls onto it, making various sounds as the balls roll down the instrument. The xylophone can also be removed to be played independently, allowing the toddler many opportunities for musical development, exploration, cause-and-effect, and hand-eye coordination.
Wooden Wobble Balance Board
A wooden balance board is a wonderful way to engage a child’s imagination. The rocking board can become whatever they imagine it to be: a bridge, a race track, a chair, and iceberg, and so much more. It is a toy that grows with a child and is even suitable for the adults in their life. While practicing gross motor skills on it, the board helps stimulate the vestibular, system allowing the toddler to strengthen their muscles while practicing balance.
City Construction Building Blocks
This brightly colored set is composed of building blocks with windows, doors, arches, building signs, and many other pieces, so toddlers can use their imagination to design a city of their own. They can mix and match, stack and sort, build and re-build the pieces unlimited times to create unique locations all on top of a play mat.
Manhattan Toy Tree Top Adventure Activity Center
This treetop adventure wooden toddler toy is filled with motor activities great for a young one’s hands, eyes, and mind. With spinning dials, bead runs, shape recognition opportunities, little gliders, and so much more, the colorful and detailed graphics and manipulative toys will provide hours of fun.
Sensory Bin Tools and Tray
This wooden sensory bin includes tools such as scoops, tongs, small containers with lids, and more. Just add rice or dry beans, oats or dry pasta, and allow the toddler to practice transferring, pouring, and the opportunity to practice many real life skills all while playing.
Galt Pop-up People Toy
Galt’s Pop-up People toy includes four different people figures on top of hidden wooden springs. as the toddler pushes down on one it immediately pops back up teaching children about both cause and effect as well as early color recognition. And it's sure to make a toddler laugh in the process.
Hape Walk-A-Long Puppy Pull Toy
A pull toy seems almost a right of passage for a toddler who has learned to walk. This one fosters a thrilling experience for a young child to have as a cute little puppy tags along behind them on their new upright adventures. This pull toy can do tricks too, like sitting, standing, and rolling.
BRIO My First Railway
A perfect introduction to the wonderful world of trains, Brio’s My First Railway set has everything a toddler will need to experience the joy of engineering: two trains with reversible magnets (setting young children up for success), a bridge, ramp, and multiple wooden rail tracks. And of course, like all Brio sets, it is compatible with the pieces they will want in years to come.
