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Ellie’s Favorite Things — Top Toys for Two-Year-Olds

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Black Friday is almost here! With that in mind, I thought it would be a great time to share all of the toys that Ellie loved throughout the past year. Here is our list of top toys for two-year-olds, 2023.

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1. A Cute Purse

Ellie is a purse girl! She loves stuffing anything she can into a purse, putting it on her arm, and walking around with her pretend cup of coffee. This one from Officygnet also comes packed with all of the pretend adult essentials — keys, phone, brush, credit card, compact, and lipstick. Unfortunately, between her non-stop use and a destructive dog, all of the inside pieces of the purse got destroyed throughout the year, but we already have a new one ready to go for this Christmas!

2. Woodpecker Toy

This Top Bright Montessori toy is one of Ellie’s favorite toys to play with when she visits her occupational therapist. The woodpecker and worms are magnetic, and you use the woodpecker to pull the worms out of the tree. You then feed the worms to the baby bird in the center of the tree. This works on hand/eye coordination as well as hand, finger, and wrist control.

3. Poke-a-Dot Books

Ellie loves these Poke-a-Dot books from Melissa and Doug! These books keep her entertained for long periods of time, and they help with developmental skills. The popping dots encourage finger isolations, and the content of the books as a whole help with counting and language development.

4. Fidget Popper Toy

Another popper toy that Ellie loves is this Dimple Digits Fidget Toy. It is much sturdier than a typical fidget popper, and it is good for working on numbers and colors as well as finger isolations.

5. Toddler Table and Chairs

This is not exactly a toy, but Ellie gets a ton of use out of her table and chair set. She loves to do her art projects here, and she automatically takes her snacks to her table to eat without us asking. We actually got our set for our boys when they were little, but here is a similar Melissa and Doug table as well as a Delta Children version.

6. Play Kitchen

This Step2 play kitchen is one of the toys that Ellie has used most over the past year. We initially got this at our PT’s suggestion to help Ellie reach up and stand on her tiptoes. Even when she’s not playing with the kitchen portion, she is carrying around some type of bowl, cup, or pan that came with the set. While we ended up with the Step2 kitchen, we debated getting a wooden one such as this one from Best Choice Products.

7. Pretend Laptop

Ellie loves to pretend that she’s grown, and we often find her typing on this Leapfrog My Own Leaptop like her mom and dad. She honestly hasn’t used the learning features on it yet, but I’m hoping that she’ll become more interested in these soon.

8. Button Art

This Geekper button art toy is great for matching colors and working on hand/eye coordination and strength. We use this both at home and at OT. However, Ellie is only allowed to use this in our presence because the buttons are a choking hazard if she decides to put them in her mouth.

9. Peg Puzzles

When looking for puzzles for Ellie, our occupational therapist wanted us to find a set that had small pegs so that she could work on her pincer grasp while matching the pieces. These puzzles do the trick. They are also great for working on numbers, letters, and shapes.

10. Picasso Tiles

Any toy that comes with a bunch of pieces is a hit for Ellie! She hasn’t quite gotten to the point where she is building castles with her Picasso Tiles, but she loves to sort them by shape and stack them, especially because they are magnetic. You can also do color sorts, and they stick to the refrigerator or garage door!

Bonus: Toniebox

So what is Ellie getting this year for Christmas? A Toniebox! I have heard so many great things about this toy, and I can’t wait to give it to her! Language is the developmental area in which Ellie has the most struggles, and some of the other moms in our Down syndrome community have stated that this is helping with their children’s speech. Each toy for the box plays different songs and stories, which equals screen-free time with kids’ favorite characters. We are getting the princess bundle with add-ons of Anna and Elsa, but there are many other options such as Paw Patrol, Minnie and Mickey, Disney favorites.