Shopping for toddlers can be easy if you just search “Toys for *insert age*”. However, most of these toys will only entertain your little one for so long and will inevitably end up broken, cluttering your home, and part of the forgotten junk pile. I have made it a goal of mine to buy things for my toddlers that are useful, can be used in multiple scenarios (ie home, traveling, on the trail), and help expand his mind. I am sharing those in this list of 30 best gift ideas for toddlers.
So while some of these gifts might not seem as exciting as a shiny new toy, I guarantee you everything on this list will be something your kid will use for years, and/or be able to be passed down to other kids.
I have sorted these gifts by price to hopefully cater to any budget. I have also listed the price of the gift next to the name. However, prices of course fluctuate so there is of course a chance the price may rise (or may be even lower!) by the time you read this.
*Some of the links shared in this post may be affiliate links meaning I make a small commission off of your purchase (with no extra cost to you). This allows me to continue to create free content for my readers. Thank you for your continued support!
GIFTS UNDER $25
Melissa and Doug Water Wow coloring pad
Melissa and Doug Water Wow coloring pad: These are reusable coloring pads. You just fill the pen with water and when you draw, the colors appear. They are great for road trips or quiet time and make basically no mess.
Magna-Qubix magnetic building blocks
Magna-Qubix magnetic building blocks: These small magnetic blocks are lightweight and one of my favorite purchases of 2022. We brought them on our trip to Europe and my toddler played with them on the airplane, at restaurants, and at our airbnb. Magnetic toys are completely open-ended and great for all ages, even adults!
Kids Headphones
Kids Headphones: A good pair of over the ear headphones are great if you have any travel plans, or you have multiple kids. These have amazing reviews and I know multiple people who’ve had them for years. We got them for our toddler for our plane ride to Europe and they were great! He didn’t mind wearing them at all and they are built well. I like that they have a metal connecting piece.
REI Merino Wool socks
REI Merino Wool socks: Wool socks are a necessity for myself when hiking and as my toddler is hiking more and more on his own, I wanted his feet to have the same courtesy as mine. Merino wool keeps you warm even when wet, helps reduce blisters because of the moisture wicking properties, and are odor resistant.
Hear Bear Roar Animal Sound Book
Hear Bear Roar Animal Sound Book: This is one of our favorite books and keeps my toddler entertained for a long time. It is the animals from the “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” book. The animal sounds are very life like and the illustrations are beautiful. Because there are so many animals, I would ask my toddler where a certain animal was and he would look and then push the button. I feel like it really helped him learn animal noises.
*This is not a board book, the pages are paper. If your little one is on the destructive side, It could easily get ripped.
Key and Car Locks
Key and Car Locks: These are a fun activity to keep your kid’s brain occupied. Matching the keys to the right car lock is fun on its own, and the locks looking like cars just adds to the game options.
Walker Family Lil Louie Sling Bag
Walker Family Lil Louie Sling Bag: This mini fanny pack is not only adorable, but also functional! My toddler can carry around his own toys and snacks and get them out whenever he wants.
*Discount Code: Hailey15 for 15% off
Wooden Train set
Wooden Train set: A wooden train set equals to hours (or at lest 30 minutes) of fun. This is a smaller set but sometimes it’s nice to not have 100 pieces to store and have to pick up every time. This set is a perfect size with some fun different pieces like the bridge.
Carhartt Kids Beanie
Carhartt Kids Beanie: This was the first beanie I got for my baby. We got dozens of compliments on it and it kept his head nice and toasty.
Skillmatics Flashcards
Skillmatics Flashcards: These flashcards are fun and educational, a great combination for little growing minds. We pull these out on an afternoon spent inside. It’s helpful to work on basic things like letters and counting with my toddler in a visual way. He will pull these out on his own all the time, dump them out, and find his favorite animals or whatever.
Baby Doll
Baby Doll: A baby doll is such a great way to teach kids great emotions like compassion, kindness, and empathy. It’s also a great way for them to expand their imagination.
Stainless Steel Water Bottle
Stainless Steel Water Bottle: Can you ever have enough water bottles for your toddler? I love having a few around the house so my toddler can get a drink on his own and I don’t have to keep getting him a cup of water every 20 minutes. I like the 17oz size.
Badger Balm Kids Sunscreen
Badger Balm Kids Sunscreen: This is my favorite sunscreen for my kids (6 months+). It has clean ingredients, is reef safe, and it smells really good! And while it is a zinc mineral sunscreen, it doesn’t leave their faces white.
GIFTS UNDER $50
Bentgo Kids Lunchbox
Bentgo Kids Lunchbox: While a lunchbox may seem less exciting than a toy dinosaur, it is something your toddler can use daily and will make your life easier. It has rubber seals so the food stays fresh and is *almost completely leak proof. (dips and thicker liquids like peanut butter and jam don’t leak)
Picasso Magnet tiles 60pc or the 100pc set
Picasso Magnet tiles 60pc or the 100pc set: As I said with the other magnetic set, magnet toys are my favorite open ended toys. I can play with my toddler for an extended period of time building car garages, towers, birthday cakes, houses, you name it. This bigger set is perfect to have in your toy room or living room.
Reima Toddler Fleece Jumpsuit
Reima Toddler Fleece Jumpsuit: A fleece bunting/jumpsuit is a must (or at least an extremely nice thing to have) for any outdoorsy kid. I love throwing this on my toddler when we are out in cooler temperatures–around camp, on the trail, running around the neighborhood. He can get it dirty and it washes up great. And I don’t have to worry about him getting dirt down his pants and it keeps him warmer than just a jacket because there is no draft.
*Discount Code: Hailey20 for 20% off
Toddler Digital Camera
Toddler Digital Camera: My toddler loves taking pictures on his little camera and I love it because he doesn’t ask to take them on my phone. It’s a simple design and he mastered it when he was just 2.5. And the pictures he takes are extremely fun to look back at.
Wooden Balance Board
Wooden Balance Board: This is actually something we are getting my toddler this year for Christmas, so I haven’t used this one myself! But I’m excited to have this in our house because of the endless option it offers. A ramp for his cars, a rocker for his baby doll, balancing on it himself, a tunnel..there are endless ways to play with it.
Reima Mittens
Reima Mittens: Mittens in the winter are a necessity. These mittens are rated for down to 20 to -20 °F, are waterproof, and have a cinch to keep on. Cold hands when playing outside are a quick road to meltdowns or having to turn back early so don’t skimp on mittens for your little ones.
*Discount Code: Hailey20 for 20% off
Black Diamond Wiz Kids Headlamp
Black Diamond Wiz Kids Headlamp: This is another item we are getting for my toddler for Christmas. He absolutely loves wearing mine and my husbands headlamps so it’s time for him to have his own. This headlamp is designed for kids, is lightweight, isn’t too bright so they won’t be blinding anyone, and simple to use.
Lucky Bums Tobogan Sled
Lucky Bums Tobogan Sled: Sledding is one of our favorite winter activities so be sure to pick up a sled before they sell out! I love a sled that has edges because we hike up the trail a ways and often times will pull my toddler in the sled. So having an edge for him to rest on or brace his feet against is very helpful.
GIFTS UNDER $100
Yoto Player Mini and Yoto Player
Yoto Player Mini and Yoto Player: This screen free audio device has become one of our favorite forms of entertainment. If you haven’t seen it before, you insert a card into the top and it plays whatever is recorded on it. There are cards with music, stories, and sounds on them. The knobs control the volume and which track you want to play. My almost 3 year old can almost completely control it on his own. Before, he still really enjoyed it, but needed help choosing the track.
We have both the mini and full size. We love the full size at home but the mini is really nice when traveling.
*Discount Code: Haileyoutside10 for 10% off
Fjallraven Kanken Mini backpack
Fjallraven Kanken Mini backpack: Originally, I bought this backpack for myself before I even had kids. But now it is my toddler’s backpack for all of our trips. It fits a good amount of stuff! He loves to wear it when we are at the airport or walking around the house. The 19 piece Magna-Qubix set I shared about earlier fits perfectly in the front zipper as well!
Lovevery Block Set
Lovevery Block Set: Yes, this an expensive set of blocks, I get it. However, we have put it through the ringer and it still looks brand new. There is so much you can build and the case the blocks store in can be turned into a car with pieces it comes with. You will never need to buy another block after you have this one.
Strider Balance Bike
Strider Balance Bike: Do yourself and your kid a favor and get them this bike. This is a sure fire way to get our toddler outside. He absolutely loves riding his bike and he can seriously fly down the street on this. It is designed to help them learn to balance and ride a bike, vs having training wheels limits their mobility and getting the feel of riding a bike. We haven’t yet tried switching him to a pedal bike but I think it will be a smooth transition with no need for training wheels.
Morrison Outdoors Toddler Sleeping Bag
Morrison Outdoors Toddler Sleeping Bag: I have used these sleeping bags since my oldest was a baby. We upgraded to the Big Mo when my toddler was about 2.5 and he loves to put it on at night. It’s extremely warm and true to its temperature rating. They have both a 40°F synthetic filled bag and a 20°F down filled bag. If you plan on camping mostly in the summer then the 40° bag will be sufficient. But if you are camping in early spring or late fall, you will likely need the 20° bag. I have both and while we mostly use the 40° bag, there are some trips where it is in the 30’s and we need the warmer bag.
*Discount Code: Haileyoutside for 10% off
Trail Magik Toddler Carrier
Trail Magik Toddler Carrier: This is an amazing piece of gear to have if you are backpacking with your toddler, or even double carrying your kids on hikes. It’s intended to carry your toddler on the trail when their legs need a break. You can strap it to any pack that has load lifters. It’s such a great design, lightweight, and minimal.
*Discount Code: HaileyOutside10 for 10% off
Toddler Trampoline
Toddler Trampoline: My in-laws have a little trampoline in their basement and it is the first thing my toddler runs to. He loves to do “tricks” on it and bounce his toys on it. It’s a great way for him to exert some energy even if we can’t get outside.
GIFTS $100+
Reima Winter Snowsuit
Reima Winter Snowsuit: This is the snowsuit I have picked out for my toddler this winter. I have multiple friends who have it for their kids and it is the best! So cute, extremely warm, and waterproof. If you live in a snowy location and want to spend time outside with your toddler this winter, a snowsuit is a must.
*Discount Code: Hailey20 for 20% off
Iksplor Merino Wool Base Layers
Iksplor Merino Wool Base Layers: I will rave about merino wool until the end of time. There are so many incredible benefits: it’s temperature regulating meaning even when it’s warm it will help keep you cool, it is odor resistant, it keeps you warm even when it’s wet, and it’s moisture wicking. This is the only material I dress my kids in when we are out on winter hikes. If they have an accident (pee/poop/spit up), get sweaty, snow gets down their snow suit, they spill on themselves, I want to make sure they have a good material against their skin to help prevent hypothermia. (If you’d like to know more about how I dress my kids for winter hiking, check out this post)
I also use these as pajamas when we camp (and even at home) for the reasons I listed above. I’ve already passed down multiple sets to my baby which goes to show that they are high quality.
*Discount Code: HaileyOutside for 10% off
Lovevery Play Kit Subscription
Lovevery Play Kit Subscription: While this is last on my list, it is definitely not something to be overlooked. You could just order one of these and your shopping is done. We love our Lovevery play kits and I get them for both my kids. They come every few months and have multiple, high quality toys perfect for your child’s age. They are Montessori inspired toys that are open-ended and inspire free play.
