For those of you who spent last week shopping for yourself, it’s time to think about playing Santa (if that’s how you do it!). To spark some ideas, here’s a massive list of my boys’ favorite toys that make great gifts for kids ages 2 through 10!
Gifts For Kids Ages 2 – 10
Our Favorite Toys For Kids
I like to focus my gift guides on activities that provide as many hours of entertainment as possible! The point of toys is to make my children happy but also keep them occupied. The more independent they can play (or play with each other) the happier we all are. While I’m usually in the room getting the games started, once they get going the best toys keep them busy for a good long bit and I can step away and work on dinner, laundry, etc.
We love arts & crafts, STEM kits, creative play, board games, dress up costumes, tinkering and building, Lego sets, and even video games (sometimes!).
This year, Thomas and I made a list of gifts for the kids and we went to our local toy store to shop all in one swoop. There’s a reason toy stores were invented – it sure was nice to get most of what we needed all at once! We even opted for their gift wrap for a few things.
Browse Here, Shop Local
I thought I’d share some of our tried-and-true favorites if you’re looking for ideas – toys that have lasted through two generations or are well-loved in our house. Click the links and go buy some household supplies on Amazon. And then go to your local toy store to shop <3
Wheels
Birch loved his scooter all summer – it was Mazen’s! And this helmet has been great for a little toddler head. We have a balance bike too. And the Greatest of All Time is our “go go car” aka the cozy coupe that our neighbors gifted us. It’s going on like 10 years of continuous use!
Last year Birch got this bike after he fell in love with it at a friend’s house. I love that we can push it before he rides it on his own.
This Tonka truck was a hand-me-down from our neighbors and a huge hit all summer! It’s metal and indestructible and the boys love to push each other around in it! And the excavator B got earlier this year has been a huge hit – loads of fun!
This garbage truck was Mazen’s and now it’s one of Birch’s favorites.
Cooking
Our play kitchen is 50% off right now!! Play food is a much-loved activity in this house. We have this pizza set that has gotten SO much use. My niece has this ice cream set and I loved playing that with her. Hape makes a ton of great food – so does Melissa + Doug. I love this farmer’s market set too.
Games
Sushi Go! is one of our favorite card games, and it’s easy enough for Mazen. He also loves UNO!
Zingo is one of the few games that we can all play together. It’s created with pictographs so you don’t need to know how to read or count to play. Plus the tile dispenser is super fun!
We have a similar animal matching game to this, and Birch likes to play it with the animals up. He finds one and I find the other and we match. When he’s older we’ll be able to play the memory version. They also have a dinosaur version!
We also have this Montessori-style matching game, and he loves to set it up and match! These would make great stocking stuffers.
Art
Magnadoodle for the win! Ours is still going strong. We also love Water Wow (Birch is getting more of these!). And our Play-Doh is going on its second round of fun. These new tools will spark lots of creative ideas!
I love all the mess-free painting supplies: Everything Color Wonder – the colors appear magically! Melissa and Doug Paint with Water (these are basically starter water colors and are not totally mess free). Anything Imagine Ink.
These are Mazen’s favorite watercolors. Also a cool optical illusion coloring book for him. He also has – and loves – this How to Draw Pokemon book.
Mazen received a similar tabletop easel to this one a few years ago and it has gotten a ton of use! It’s a chalkboard on one side (great for Birch) and dry erase on the other (great for Mazen school or when he holds a “sale” in our yard). We also use this to play Win, Lose or Draw!
The Young + Wild Kits are fabulous for bringing out on rainy days!
We also love water beads! They make for a full day of fun (especially in the bathtub).
KiwiCo is the best experience box for kids, and they have both subscriptions and a la carte boxes. Plus holiday themed crafts!
We love the paint by numbers that come in neon colors. Makes great wall art when you’re done!
Shout out to Mom’s art too! Her art is perfect for children’s rooms and nurseries.
Science + STEM
Mazen loves stem kids, and this crystal growing kit has been a fav. He also LOVES anything dig – dig for gemstones or fossils.
Birch loves puzzles – this is our all-time most-loved floor puzzle with all the vehicles. We love the box sets for travel / restaurants as well. This one is great because of its unique shape!
KiwiCo has so many great STEM kits for robotics, electronics, and anything science-y.
Books
Books are always on my list of great gifts for kids! Where Legos and reading intersect – this is on Mazen’s list. I also found this book at the recommendation of a friend, and it’s great for when the instruction booklets get lost. Also shout out to the Kindle Kids – one of our MVPs! I can get library books for Mazen through Libby! Game changer.
This is my favorite kid’s book of all time! And this one is a close second.
This is Birch’s favorite book ever – a popup Wheels on the Bus.
And Mazen has read every single Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid book!
Music
Hands down our favorite new toddler toy of this year has been the Toniebox. Birch LOVES listening to Lion King and Jungle Book, and it’s been great for quiet time as well.
Every house needs a keyboard amiright?! Both kids play on this thing.
Play
These horses are one of our boys’ favorites. Kids love putting them back in their stalls!
Shout out to Grammie for all the money she spent on Brio Trains over the past eight years. They are getting a huge encore by Birch, and they’re also a great toy for ages 2 and 8 to play together. (Someone is going to be very lucky when we grow out of them and get to pass them on!) This is a great starter set.
I’ve mentioned this fire station a few times. Everyone loves it!
Need some bath time incentives? These bath capsules were a favorite of mine as a child, and I recently bought some for Birch. HOURS of bath fun! He loves to “clean” the sponges!
Lovevery is one of our favorite places to buy toddler toys. Their subscription boxes are great for developing motor skills and we’ve loved all of the sets that have come – from the camper van to the big epic block set.
Birch’s Jellycat Koala is his favorite animal, but we have a TON in our house. Jellycats are super soft!
We have so many Melissa & Doug costumes and the boys get them out randomly for creative games!
I hope you all have a lovely holiday week!
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