‘Tis the season for toy shopping! I have always loved picking out toys for not just my kiddos, but any kiddos!
I love finding toys that combine learning AND fun! I have rounded up the top educational toys for 2-year-old boys! Happy Shopping!
What makes a toy educational?
Okay, so you’re looking for an educational toy, but what exactly makes a toy educational?
An educational toy should teach or reinforce a skill or lesson that the child was not fully understanding beforehand. The good news is that for 2 year olds, there are so many skills that they are learning and improving, that most toys for this age group are educational!
Educational toys should fulfill one or more of these:
- Emotional development
- Social development
- Cognitive development
- Formal learning development
- Physical development
The toy should still also be fun or well..it’s no longer a toy!
What do 2-year-old boys like to play with?
Two year old boys like to play with cars, trucks, racetracks, books, stuffed animals, blocks and balls! You ca’t go wrong with any of these items, but two-year-olds are also typically interested in household items as well.
What types of educational toys do 2 year olds need?
Two year olds need toys that they can:
- Pretend with
- Build with
- Make music with
- Count and sort
- Sit quietly with
Good examples of these are things like kitchen play sets, blocks, various musical instruments, manipulatives and books.
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How do you decide what type of toys your 2-year-old will enjoy?
Knowing their personality can be very helpful when determining what a 2 year old will enjoy. Some 2 year olds love toys that they can pretend with, while others may enjoy making things.
It’s also important to know what type of 2-year-old you are dealing with. Can the 2-year-old you are buying for handle a paperback book without destroying it? If not, a plastic interactive book may be a better option.
Why do toddlers need educational toys?
Children learn best through play, so making sure that they have toys that fill both needs is very important. Educational toys are a tool that if used correctly can serve your little ones well!
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Best overall educational toys for 2-year-old boys
Farmer’s Market Color Sorting Kit
Learning how to sort is very educational for little ones! This set even goes a step further because you can also help your little learn to identify different fruits and vegetables!
Poke A Dot-Who’s in the Ocean?
Ocean animals have always been a fascination for my little ones! This cute little book can help them learn new creatures and learn to count!
Busy Board
Busy boards are great for keeping toddlers, well..busy! These boards are great for road trips, doctors’ offices, or quiet time at home!
Magnetic Tiles
I love these magnetic tiles for building and making fun shapes! You can keep them on the fridge for easy access or in the little bag it comes with!
Best Montessori Inspired Educational Toys
Wooden Building Blocks
Do you remember these blocks as a kid? I loved building with these blocks and knocking them down! HA!
Melissa & Doug Cleaning Set
Little ones love to help, and this Melissa and Doug set is perfect for your little! It has all the essentials to be a big helper!
Wooden Fruit Set
Your tiny chef will love cutting fruit and veggies up beside you in the kitchen! This set is perfect for a curious little one that wants to be just like you!
Wooden Garden
If your little one is garden obsessed, he will love this wooden garden. I love that it even has little worms which makes it double as a nature lesson!
Stacking Wooden Dinosaurs
How neat are these stacking wooden dinosaurs?! I love that this fun toy teaches kids about balance!
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Best Educational Puzzles
This name puzzle is a neat and unique way to teach your little one to identify the letters of their name!
Wooden Peg Puzzles
I love a good set of wooden peg puzzles! I love that this set has a variety of different puzzles!
Spring Themed Wooden Puzzles
How adorable is this spring set of puzzles?! These puzzles have larger pieces which makes it easier for little hands to grip onto.
Wooden Vehicle Puzzle
These vehicle puzzles are a must for little boys! The pieces are a little larger which makes them easier to grip and put together.
Chunky Dinosaur Puzzle
I am loving this chunky dinosaur puzzle! Perfect for the dino obsessed 2 year old in your life!
Best educational toys for building
Picasso Magnetic Tiles
Picasso magnetiles are the perfect way to get your little one building and creating. I love that these tiles will grow with them. I even love to build with these!
Stacking Building Blocks
These stacking blocks are really neat! I love that they can learn to balance with these and build unique objects!
Bristle Blocks
Do you remember these blocks?! I loved building with these as a kid! They are perfect for 2 year olds and older!
Magnetic Building Blocks
I think it is really neat that these blocks are magnetic! They make it easier to build for littles that might still be a bit clumsy!
My First Legos
Every little man needs a set of legos! These are big enough that they cannot be choked on if your little still likes to put objects in his mouth!
Best books for 2-year-olds
Sesame Street Manners Books
Manners are a must for 2 year olds, and these Sesame Street books make it fun for little ones!
Exposing little ones to different words is essential for language development and reading! Books like these are great for them to hear words that they may not have before.
This sing the alphabet book is perfect for little readers. Each page has a button that they can press to listen and sing along!
Best Imaginative Play toys for 2-year-old toys
Play Kitchen
Play kitchens are so fun for little ones! There is so much that can be done in a play kitchen and little ones love them!
Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Playset
Your 2 year old will love serving you up different ice cream combinations with this set! You can request different flavors and see if they can tell which is which!
Boys Dress Up Clothes
Who doesn’t love having different outfits to dress up in?! I know my littles do!
Pirate Ship
This pirate ship is perfect for 2 year olds to pretend with! Whether they are sailing the seas or looking for treasure, they will have so much fun!
Best Splurge Worthy Educational toys for 2-year-old Boys
Toddler Alarm Clock
Teaching your 2 year old appropriate times to be awake and asleep is beneficial for the both of you! This smart alarm clock is durable and MELLA uses colors and facial expressions to teach your kids when it’s time for bed and time to wake up. Half an hour before it’s time to wake up, MELLA will glow yellow, signaling it’s almost time to start the day. When MELLA turns green, it’s time to wake up!
Smart Teddy
Smart Teddy is a huggable audio player for preschoolers, that helps them turn the learning process into a fun game and discover the world from different perspectives.
Hide N Side Ball Pit
This bright vibrant ball pit playhouse obstacle course playset will keep children entertained 4 hours! Super cool TARGET DART WALL takes the FUN to a whole new level!
Smart Shots
Score goals with the 2-in-1 interactive sports center; shoot free throws into the toddler basketball goal or kick goals into the toddler soccer net.
Best Gross Motor Toys for 2-Year-Old Boys
Step2 Up & Down Ride-On Roller Coaster
Thrill-seeking toddlers will go wild for this Step2 Up & Down Ride-On Roller Coaster that features a coaster car ride-on and hilly track.
Game Time Sports Climber and Slide
This playset is perfect for the 2 year old that loves to climb, shoot basketballs and slide!
Little Tikes T Ball
If your little one is into baseball this t-ball set is perfect for him and wonderful for gross motor development as well.
Sit and Spin
Remember when you discovered how to sit, spin, and giggle yourself silly. Well, now it’s time for YOUR little one to enjoy the winning spinning fun of this classic sit on spinning activity toy.
Toddler Golf Set
Whether used indoors or outdoors, this Kids Golf Set delivers superb gameplay as it introduces your children to a realistic, challenging, and fun sport.
Harley Davidson Tricycle
How fun is this Harley Davidson tricycle?! Your little one will look so cool cruising around in this tricycle!
Kids Mini Trampoline
This indoor trampoline is perfect for toddlers to burn off energy and features a large jumping surface and handlebar for stability.
Whack A Frog
Whack-A-Frog can help fine motor skill development and encourage the development of your toddler’s hand-eye coordination and attention span. This game also encourages toddlers to cooperate and take turns.
Mini Bike
The balance bike is a great gift for 2 year olds! Littles can ride the balance bicycle on wood floor, carpet or concrete!
Radio Flyer Scoot to Scooter
2 year olds start by using this toy as a ride-on, scooting from the seated position and easily convert to a 4-wheel scooter by flipping the deck. The durable 4 wheels allow beginner riders to build confidence and balance as they learn to scoot on their own.
Best Musical Education Toys for 2 Year Old Boys
Electric Drum Set
Besides introducing and developing music skills, this beautiful set will help children develop fine motor skills while enhancing their attention span and memory at the same time.
Musical Rhymes Book
This musical rhymes book is fun and perfect for little ones to learn the sounds of various instruments!
Pull & Sing Puppy
Push or pull the playful kids toy puppy using the cord to activate music, words, and other fun sounds while building gross motor skills.
CocoMelon Singalong BoomBox
This Cocomelon toy has built-in music and a microphone for toddlers makes it easy and fun to sing along to their favorite Cocomelon songs!
Classic Xylophone
This classic toddler toy is fun and noisy which keeps 2 year olds interested! It also helps to build hand eye coordination which is a huge plus!
Best educational toys for 2 Year Old Boys to encourage creativity
Crayola Mess-Free Coloring Packets
Baby shark is a favorite in our house! I love the idea of mess free coloring for little ones!
Your toddlers can express their own ideas in the drawings, practice letters and arithmetic through doodles. An ideal toy gift for your preschoolers!
Doodle Mat
The drawing doodle mat is a great toddler toy, which can stimulate children’s imagination and creativity, allowing them to learn ABCs, shapes, colors.
Figurine Painting Kit
10 different white dinosaur figures and colorful paint will spark hours of creative and imaginative and get the painting & creative fun as your children play with legendary creatures from prehistoric times.
Pom Pom Pictures
Use pom poms to create animal designs on the front and fun designs on the back! Simply insert pom poms into the pre-punched felt to create designs you will want display or complete this craft again by just pushing out the pom poms!
Best Educational Alphabet Toys for 2-Year-Old Boys
Spin and Sing Alphabet Zoo
Explore learning the alphabet with each spin of the wheel. This toy introduces letters A-Z and animal names and sounds!
On the Go Letters
Does your little one need something that is quiet and easy to take along on trips or outings? This on the go letter set is the perfect toy!
Fishing for Letters Game
This simple and adorable magnetic fishing game was designed to help toddlers develop important aptitudes such as hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, color recognition, and letter recognition.
Magnetic Letters
These magnetic letters are a great budget friendly gift that will be well loved for years to come!
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Best Educational Toys for learning math skills
Count ‘Em Up Popcorn!
Help your 2 year old learn numbers and counting with food you can play with! Build number sense, recognition, and practice counting with this fun popcorn set!
Educational Pop It
I love this giant numbers pop it! It is great for 2 year olds to learn counting and just get exposure to numbers, but it is also great as they get older for addition and multiplication!
Stacking Dinosaurs
These building blocks are bright and have a cute dinosaur design! Perfect for a toddlers small hands to pick up, sort and stack.
Stacking dinosaurs are a great teaching toy to develop fine motor skills, build color recognition, tactile perception, hand-eye coordination and counting math skills.
Balancing Monkey
Monkey Balance is perfect for children ages 2 and up! This toy is great for teaching the idea of balance and matching to a photo!
Best fine motor toys
Play dough is fantastic for letting little ones be creative and also building the tiny muscles in their hands and wrists which will benefit handwriting in the future!
Bee Matching Game
Your little one will be building fine motor and matching skills with this adorable beehive game!
Spike the Fine Motor Hedge Hog
Build fine motor skills with chunky, peg-shaped pieces that fit to the back of this friendly hedgehog.
Wooden Magnet Board
Kids use the magnetic wands to move the beads through the maze and drop them into each paint can, counting as they go! Plus, the permanently sealed top keeps everything contained!
Poppin’ Pipes
Poppin pipes are a fun (and noisy) fidget toy! They are even able to connect to make one long pipe! My kids love these!
Best tech toys to encourage education
Little ones will about the alphabet and pretend play on their laptop just like you! Tap away in 4 learning modes—ABCs, Messages, Games and Music—and bop along to 16 songs and melodies
Send and receive pretend emails, learn letters and animal names, and sing along with 16 songs and melodies
Toddler Flash Cards
These 4 flash card sets will teach your 2-year-old the Alphabet, Math, Language and other Basic Skills.
Little Genius Kit
This beautifully designed and packaged gift of learning would be loved by both boys and girls. The books & toys inside are age appropriate. Not only is the little genius kit educational, but it is also provides for hours of screen-free time.
Touch and Teach Word Book
This educational toy book for toddlers features 12 incredibly detailed and touch sensitive pages that help teach children over 100 words is six categories.
Best Educational Toys for 2 Year Old Boys When You are on a Budget
Glow in the Dark Race Track
Keep kids excited with hours of STEM building toy games! This set of rainbow race car tracks easily connects in a snap!
Wooden Car Ramp
This wooden racetrack is just a simple but fun toy. This racetrack is great for encouraging the development of your toddler’s hand-eye coordination.
🏎️ BEST GIFT FOR TODDLER: Suitable for toddlers playing at home indoor or outdoor activity,
Interactive Dinosaur Book
This interactive sound book is fun to play with, while providing knowledge and fun facts about these prehistoric beasts. Each page has fun facts and a little piece of history about each dinosaur.
Push & Pop Dozer
How fun is this push bulldozer? Push the handle to roll the bulldozer across the floor and watch it pop balls out of the chimney into the bucket or press the buttons to learn colors, numbers, phrases and music!
John Deere Tractor and Dump Truck
Durable construction toys are great for both indoor and outdoor play and your 2 year old will spend hours moving dirt with this combination!
What should your budget be when shopping for educational toys?
Educational toys are available for all budgets! I have made sure to get a good mix of toys at different price points to fit any budget.
Remember, it isn’t about the cost but the love behind the gift.
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Why should you care about Just Simply Mom’s Top Choices?
I am a mom of 3 little ones, and I have had a 2-year-old boy! I have several years of gift-giving experience in my veins. It is my joy to take the time to scour the internet for the best deals around – so you don’t have to!
I hope these gift options gave you some great ideas! Did I miss any must-haves for educational toys for 2-year-old boys? Let me know in the comments below!
