Great Gifts for Toddlers & Preschoolers: Fun, Educational, and Parent-Approved Ideas

Finding the perfect gift for toddlers & preschoolers can feel like a delightful challenge. After all, these little ones are curious, energetic, and growing faster than ever. The best presents spark joy while encouraging creativity, learning, and play. Whether you’re shopping for a birthday or holiday, choose age-appropriate toys and treasures. This ensures smiles all around. In this guide, we’ve compiled thoughtful and parent-approved ideas. These ideas balance fun with developmental benefits. It is now easier than ever to pick a gift they’ll truly love.

Creative Arts & Crafts Gifts to Inspire Imagination

• ‘Aaron Slater’s Big Project Book for Astonishing Artists
  • If kids are fans of The Questioneers series of books, they’ll love the big project books that go along with each one. Aaron Slater’s Big Project Book for Astonishing Artists, for example, has everything an aspiring illustrator needs to be inspired, including prompts, coloring pages, art history and calls to look carefully at what’s in the world around you and interpret it through art
• Kid Made Modern Confetti Crayons
  • These crayons are  (and, bonus, keeps them from rolling onto the floor). Kids will love making art with them. They’re a mash-up of different colors in the same tones. This gives all their masterpieces a multi-hued twist.
• Water Doodle Mat
  • For those rainy days when your kids can’t go outside, this mat comes with stencils and fun shapes to trace. The mat is activated by water. There are no paints or inks to stain their clothes or your furniture. Kids have the option to color with the included markers (dip them in water to use on the mat). They can also “paint” with wet fingers.
• Melissa & Doug Double-Sided Tabletop Easel
  • Inspire endless creativity with this double-sided tabletop easel. It features a magnetic dry-erase board on one side. There is a chalkboard on the other!
• Squishmallows 12″ Bluey Stuffed Animal
• Klutz The Best Ever Book Of Lanyard, Scoubidou & Boondoggle Craft Kit
  • A Crafting Kit That Appeals To Her Need To Accessorize

Creative Play: Toys and Activities That Spark Imagination

• Black+Decker Kids Workbench
  • Play kitchens are all the rage due to their encouragement of imaginative play and social-development skills. But play workbenches deserve the same amount of love. The workshop comes with a working vise. It also includes a miter saw and a drill. These tools function realistically and emit battery-powered sounds. The entire thing has more than 50 parts. It includes a flashlight and a phone. It has everything else a kid needs to fall in love with home repair.
• BRIO World Dinosaur Adventure Set
  • There are dinosaur toys, There are train sets. What this BRIO offering asks is: Why not both? The set comes with two Brachiosauruses figures. They can pick up dino eggs using the power of magnets. There is also a pteranodon, a lava cave, a wagon, and plenty of tracks to send them around.
• Disney Princess Dress-Up Trunk
  • Dressing up has never been so enchanting with 4 different Disney Princess outfits to choose from, your child will have hours of fun dressing up as her favorite characters (Dress up pieces fit sizes 4 – 6x)
• Goodyear Kids Car Engine Mechanic Repair Play Set
  • It comes with the toy car plus a pretend open wrench, socket wrench, screwdriver, and drill. 
• Hot Wheels Ultimate Dual Dragon Transporter
  • these dragons can be played with together, or separated for twice the fun. The blue dragon has a feature where it can gobble up the cars, and it also can flap its wings. The fire emerging from the red dragon can sweep the cars from side to side, and it also unfolds into a two-lane track, plus has storage on the side for cars

Games That Build Skills and Spark Joy

• Melissa & Doug Yellowstone National Park Grizzly Bear Games
  • Kids get to tap into their wild sides. They put on these bear headbands and paws. Then, they compete in tossing, catching, and seeking games. They can catch the salmon, hunt for huckleberries and learn more about the wildlife in Yellowstone.
• World of Disney Eye Found It Board Game
  • You’ll need to clear off a lot of space for this game — the board is six feet long! But when it’s unfolded, set the timer and head off to seek out as many of a certain item as you can find in the extra-large scene (bells, flags, cats, apples, etc.), challenging players on their memory and matching skills. It’s the perfect family board game, because , so if one player wins, everyone wins! There’s also a  with a smaller board.
• Peaceable Kingdom Feed The Woozle
  •  it’s funny and it helps develop gross motor skills and coordination. They also learn about turn-taking, patience and cooperation along the way. The simple game tasks kids with feeding the monster his questionable meals, including toenail toast and booger chili. The catch: they have to balance the food on a spoon as they walk it to his mouth
• Story Time Chess
  • Using storybook characters and a picture book, this is an award winning toy ffor teaching chess
• Candy Land Disney Princess Edition
  • Ask almost anyone, and they’ll say one of their very first board games was Candy Land. With this version, your 3-year-old will still learn her colors. She will also get some counting practice. Her princess makes her way along the rainbow path through eight magical lands.
• Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes
  • Join the Cupcake Chase. Help Pete the Cat and his friends find the missing cupcakes. This is a delightful mystery game inspired by the popular book!

Building Toys: Hands-On Fun That Boosts Creativity and Problem-Solving

• VTech Drill and Learn Toolbox
  • Fix and play with the Drill and Learn Toolbox by VTech; open this toddler-friendly toolbox and get ready for role-play fun with the included electronic fix-it tray, working toy drill, hammer, wrench, nails and screws
• Clixo Rainbow Pack
  • Clixo’s award-winning multi-sensory, magnetic building pieces ignite your child’s imagination like never before! With flexible shapes and secure magnetic connections, kids can click, snap, fold, and flex their way to endless creative builds. They can create anything from animals to abstract designs. This promises hours of engaging, hands-on fun.
• Lego Duplo Number Train
  • The LEGO DUPLO My First Number Train – Learn To Count toy features 10 DUPLO number bricks carried in the carriages of the push-along train toy
• Magna Tiles Castle DLX 48 Piece Set
  • Imagination reigns supreme with the MAGNA-TILES® Castle DLX set! Open the working Drawbridge and step into a world of magnetic wonder or soar through the skies with an exclusive Dragon figure.. You can also get it in a space version
• Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! 100-Piece Deluxe Building Set
  • Invite “little engineers” to explore a world of building possibilities while developing critical thinking and problem solving skills

Dolls & Plush Toys: Comforting Companions for Play and Cuddles

• Just Play Disney Junior Ariel Groove & Glow Doll
  • It’s a Mermaid World. Take a deep dive into royal family fun with the Disney Junior Ariel Royal Family Figure Set. This set features Ariel, Ayanna, Alanna, King Triton, and Ursula figures.
• Gabby’s Celebrion Dollhouse
  • For preschoolers who worship Gabby and her friends, this four-story rainbow dollhouse is an especially exciting gift. The house comes with a Gabby figure and dollhouse furniture. It also includes ten accessories such as a kitty-themed toilet and a piano/DJ table. There’s an elevator and a secret attic as well. For even more fun, you can purchase additional figures. They snap onto the house.
• American Girl Bitty Baby
  • A first baby doll teaches kindness your little one will carry forever. Bitty Baby inspires sweet playtime moments of feeding, rocking, changing, and strolling—and a love that lasts.
• Ms. Rachel Speak & Sing Doll 16”
  • Sing along to 4 songs, like “Icky Sticky Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum” & encourage your child to repeat signature Ms. Rachel phrases such as “I’m so proud of you” & “Can you say…?”
• Jellycat Bashful Tiger Stuffed Animal
  • Does your little one love the zoo? Bashful Tiger is a loyal companion for any young animal lover. It has deliciously soft black and orange stripes. Its snow-white muzzle, ears, and belly add to its charm. Chunky paws and a bean-filled bottom give this friendly feline a huggable personality!