Gift Guide For 2-Year-Olds – Eco Friendly And Captivating Toys And Materials Your Kid Will Love

Are you keen to gift something exciting to a special 2-year-old person in your life? Well, let’s examine what he or she is up to at this stage of growth and development. This way we can be sure that the child will have great moments of play with joy and purpose.

When we choose to gift sustainable and eco-friendly presents from the very start, we set an example of sustainable living that brings more mindfulness and satisfaction in life. When children are not accustomed to seeing toys break and being tossed in the bin all the time, when they have the opportunity to play with toys that last, they learn to appreciate their possessions and are able, later on, pass them to others gaining the satisfaction of giving away something that was once dear to them.

Let’s see what 2-year-olds are up to

  • They are learning to use language to communicate their needs and ideas with adults.
  • The child is gaining more and more independence to move around and explore his or her surroundings.
  • They watch adults very carefully and try to imitate everything they do. They watch and listent to the way adults speak with great attention.
  • Their emotional state can be very fragile and it is generally due to many external factors.
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At this age, it is best to give toys and materials that don’t have sharp ages, that are large and easy to hold and grasp, blocks that are sturdy, and materials that can be easily wiped and cleaned as children don’t generally pass the mouthing stage until they are 3, 4 years of age.

Here are my gift recommendations for children between the ages of 2 and 3

Melissa & Doug House Cleaning Set

You can easily assemble a cleaning set by visiting your local shop but it is rare to find wooden items, plus this stand makes it very easy for little ones to access the tools they need to clean their spills and eating spots.


QUOKKA Toddler Puzzles

These are great for improving fine motor skills, eye-to-hand coordination, associative thinking. The puzzles will help to learn vocabulary through touch and experience.


Nature Gear Window Bird Feeder

Now, this is an amazing gift for any age. 2-year-olds are gaining more and more fascination with the world they are beginning to discover. Watching those birds in cooler seasons find shelter on your window will be an amazing way to entertain a wiggly 2-year-old.


Snuggle Stuffs Basket of Buddies

This gotta be a must-have for children. This collection of diverse dolls will help your toddler learn about diversity and inclusion as they grow to love each doll.


My Toy Button Dressing Frame

Teach them to wear and take off clothes, and help them develop independently. These are great for exercising hand-eye coordination and improving the control of hand muscle movement.

You can find other styles of dressing frames for little ones here.


Tegu Magnetic Wooden Block Set

Curiously attractive and perfect for those seeking toys supporting open-ended play.
These blocks help enhance fine motor skills, balance, sense of scale, imaginative play, problem-solving.

Make sure that all magnetic toys you own can’t be opened up and have no small parts.


Tengzhen Wooden Building Blocks

These are just stunning, aren’t they? Children are developing their appreciation for beauty. Toys with intricate details will satisfy this stage of their development.


Rainbow Pebbles Sorting and Stacking Stones

Children will be fascinated by these smooth, transparent, and odd-shaped stacking pebbles. They’re great for using with lightboxes. Just make sure to remove all pebbles that are too small to fit into a child’s mouth.


Amazon Basics Music Case Pack

This set seems to be one of the most appropriate for little toddlers as it includes a variety of small-sized play instruments: oval-shaped xylophone, maracas, solid drum with a drum stick, concertina, and percussion clapper instrument.


Xylolin Wooden Rainbow Peg Dolls

These are wonderful as they encourage the child to practice hand-eye coordination, teach color and shape recognition, develop fine motor skills, creativity and imagination.


Mztdytl Wooden Sorting & Stacking Toy

These blocks are made of large enough wood by hand polishing process to create a smooth and burr-free surface, suitable for small hands of a toddler.


Making Faces: A First Book of Emotions by Abrams Appleseed

Just what little toddlers need! This book introduces five essential expressions: happy, sad, angry, surprised, and silly. Each expression is introduced with a large image of a baby’s face.


The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This book has been a well-loved classic addition to the children’s bookshelves. 2-year-olds will have special fun flipping through the pages.


My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy

This book comes with big, sturdy board pages which are perfect for little hands. Children will discover bright, bold photographs of all different kinds of animals, from pets to farm animals to birds.


Farm animals always have a special place in toddlers’ hearts. They will enjoy learning the names of all the friendly animals in this beloved barnyard board book.


My Face Book by Star Bright Books

Toddlers will love looking at other children and their charming little faces smiling, frowning, laughing, being silly.


Uandme Baby Figures Wildlife Creatures

Animal figurines are a perfect way to help little ones broaden their vocabulary.

Here are my book recommendations Our Favourite Books For Montessori Toddlers.


Amazing Handmade Toys for 2 Year Olds

  1. Leos Toys Natural Play Dough Kit – Super fun sensory and learning activity set. Toddlers will enjoy playing with each tool in their own way. Once they grow a bit older, making prints on playdough will make for a great exercise for hand and finger muscles.
  2. Little Felt Foodie Felt Play Food Sets – such beautifully made and colorful felt foods – perfect for little ones who can tell the difference between real food and play food.
  3. Reggio Baby Sensory Toy with Natural Feathers – children will enjoy examining all the intricate details.
  4. Knitty Vet Colorful Bracelets – have you noticed how much 2 year olds enjoy putting on women’s bracelets? These are perfect as they won’t scratch their gentle skin and will look bright and gorgeous.

gift guides for other ages

learning resources you might find helpful in your classroom

About Anastasia - Anastasia is an early childhood teacher and the founder of Montessori Nature - a blog about Montessori living and learning and nature-based explorations. With many years of experience working in a Montessori environment and homeschooling her children, she directed her passion for all things Montessori and nature into creating educational resources. You can learn more here and browse her printables on Teachers Pay Teachers.