Top Ten Favorite Kids Toys for Ages 2-4

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Are you shopping for a preschooler or toddler? There are so many choices on the shelves and online when shopping for young children that it can be a bit overwhelming. With the help of our two younger children, I have compiled a list of our ten favorite toys to go along with our list of stocking ideas.

Fisher Price Little People

These make for fantastic toys for children. They come in a variety of types from Disney Princesses to people of various careers. Over the years they have changed from the ones I had when I was a child to larger plastic ones today. They even changed the design a bit from when we first started collecting them for our son to when our daughter was born.

Thomas Toys

There are a variety of toys that are geared for younger kids in the Thomas the Train line. While the wooden and metal trains may be better for kids a little older, there are larger plastic trains based on the television show characters.

 

Board Games

Many board games are geared towards children ages 4+ or older but we have found that we can easily adapt some simpler board games for our younger daughter. Those that are easier for her to understand (and to play as a 3- and 4-year-old) include Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Raccoon Rumpus, and Koala Capers.

Blocks

Wooden blocks make for excellent toys for younger children. You can purchase alphabet ones to work on educational goals or just simple ones for them to build and create cities. Or you can purchase a set of plain wooden blocks like Brain Blox. These allow for a lot of creativity since they are not painted and do not have a design on them.

Lego Duplo

All kids love to build with Lego and their Duplo line is perfect for little hands. They come in a variety of sets from ones with instructions on how to build as well as just sets to allow your child's imagination to roam free.

Plushes

A great toy for younger children is a plush. Because they are soft, they can be played with at most any time. They make for the perfect companion for a car ride or for when they are not feeling well (although I recommend ones that are washable for those sick days).

And if your child has one favorite plush, I recommend buying more than one of the same in case it gets lost. We are lucky that our two younger children have tons of favorite plushes but every time they want to bring with them on a road trip, I worry about them losing a favorite toy.

Crayons & Paper 

Even at very young ages, children enjoy coloring and drawing. You can provide them with just scrap paper or pick up coloring books for them. Our children have moved from wanting to color in coloring books to drawing their own pictures on plain paper.

Balls & Outdoor Toys 

Getting to spend time a lot of time outside is a bonus for us since we are homeschooling. There are a variety of toys that are great for playing with outdoors—like balls, hula hoops, chalk, and bubbles. Some of these might require more help and supervision to enjoy than others but most younger children enjoy using them on a sunny day.

Books 

For younger children, board books might be the way to go. The pages won't tear and the books tend to be sturdier for rough hands. And there is such a wide selection of board books! You can pick ones that have actual stories or ones that just teach words, colors, or numbers.

Indoor Tents & Tunnels 

Another way to encourage fostering imagination and creativity is to provide them with indoor tents and tunnels. Your children can pretend they are camping outdoors in the woods or the outback. If you can connect lots of tunnels, they can create their own 'underground' home.

Do your young children have any favorite toys they would add to this gift list?

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Building Problem Solving Skills: A Review of Bugzzle

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Working on problem-solving skills is very important to include in one's homeschooling day—especially for younger children. And don't forget the desire to introduce fractions, symmetry, patterns, and sorting skills. How can parents and homeschoolers do this in a fun way?

Fat Brain Toys ® has a fantastic educational puzzle bug, Bugzzle, that is included as part of the 2019 Timberdoodle Kindergarten Curriculum Kit. It is also available separately for purchase. Our family was given the opportunity from Timberdoodle to review Bugzzle with our four-year-old and six-year-old. Both kids have had a fantastic time working through the different pattern puzzles (there are 40 of them!) using the 18 semi-circular plastic puzzle pieces.

What is Bugzzle? 

Bugzzle is a problem-solving educational toy that is perfect for a single child. It is recommended for ages 3-8. (Or you can adapt it like we did for both our children to play with it at the same time.) There are 18 BPA-free plastic pieces that are dual color that your child will use to recreate the patterns pictured on the 40 challenge cards. The puzzle pieces fit into the a cute, green bug puzzle tray.

Everything fits very neatly in the box which makes storing it a breeze. The fact that everything fits so nicely makes it very easy to find out if you are missing a piece. We had a few hours where one of the pieces went missing in our house and it was great to know exactly which piece was missing because of how all the parts fit in the box.

Everything fits away so neatly!

Bugzzle is part of Timberdoodle's 2019 Kindergarten Curriculum Kit and Non-Religious 2019 Kindergarten Curriculum Kit. But you can also purchase it individually if you are looking for a fun, educational toy for your child. 

How Did We Use Bugzzle in Our Homeschooling Day? 

Our four-year-old daughter was very eager to start using Bugzzle when it arrived at our house. As soon as we took out the pieces, puzzle tray, and cards, we knew exactly how to use it. Along with the 40 challenge cards is a 'how to play' card with brief instructions. "Can you recreate the pattern on each card? Use the double-sided pieces to complete each puzzle." (I love an educational toy that is very easy to understand from the moment the box is opened.) 

We also found that Bugzzle was perfect for our daughter to use while I was busy elsewhere in the house during the day. She could take out a challenge card and work on recreating the pattern. If she was having trouble, sometimes her six-year-old brother was able to help her.  

I also found that Bugzzle was perfect for our six-year-old son to work independently. It was very easy for him to set up everything at the table and choose a challenge card to complete. Yes, there were some he had more trouble with but the solutions are on the back of the card so he could use them to help guide the recreation of the patterns. 

How Did We Adapt Bugzzle? 

I would have both our younger children sit together at the table and we would take turns completing the challenge cards. I split the cards into separate piles based upon the difficulty level. I started our daughter with the easier cards (which are marked with one bug on them) and she would take a turn to recreate the pattern. Then our son would choose a more difficult card (of at least level two but mostly level three) to complete. They then took turns until they had each completed about four or five bugzzles. 

Our children took turns using the different challenge cards.

What Did We Think? 

I really like the high quality of the plastic pieces. Having the pieces be dual-colored is a great idea. And I love the fact that everything fits nicely and neatly in the box. I would recommend Bugzzle to parents looking for help their children work on fine motor skills, problem-solving, visual-spatial thinking, and logic. Even if a family does not homeschool, Bugzzle would be a good fit to help their young children.

I think Bugzzle is an educational toy that will also be useful for a number of years. I can see us having timed contests in the future to recreate the patterns on the challenge cards. We can also use the pieces to discuss fractions more in depth as our two children get older. 

Our daughter loves Bugzzle. She likes trying to make her own puzzles without the cards. Her favorite pieces are the pink ones (pink is her favorite color). She said, "I also like the orange." 

Our son likes everything about Bugzzle. He enjoys being able to complete the puzzles (and use the pieces for other games that he invents). 

The solutions are shown on the back of the card so we can check our answers to make corrections.

Do You Want to Learn More? 

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Building a World of Fun: A Review of Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks

Sometimes the best way to learn is through play. Our family has been playing with Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks for the past several weeks. During the review period, we have been building our own versions of the suggested towers, bridges, walls, trains, and houses along with using the wooden planks to create corrals for toy animals and furniture for dolls. Almost every day since Brain Blox arrived, our two younger children have had them out and incorporated them into their day somehow.

Note: I share a lot of photos in this post to show off our children's fun designs and use of the Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks.

Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks are available in three different size sets: 100, 200 (which we received to review), and 300. With the 200 precision-cut wooden planks, we received a red drawstring bag to store the planks and a color idea booklet which helped our kids get started on building awesome builds. It was very easy for me to go to the Brain Blox website and download their free resources to provide additional ideas for our kids. We used the idea cards and Brain Blox World eBook to stretch our imagination and build new things.

Brain Blox is a family-owned company whose "mission is to empower families to be more conscious & intentional with one another." Through the development of toys, games, and journals, Brain Blox hopes that children will live happier and healthier lives by turning off the screen and engaging in the world around them. In addition to the Natural Wooden Building Planks, they also have Fun Family Chess for families (the Homeschool Review Crew also had the chance to review the chess set).

How Did We Use the Wooden Building Planks in Our Homeschool? 

This was one item that I really just let our younger children play and use on their own without a lot of instruction from me. They played with them every day taking them out to either build towers or other buildings as suggested by Brain Blox or they incorporated them with their other toys.

They used the wooden building planks to build roads for their cars or toys, enclosures for their toy animals, and whatever else struck their imagination. They even built an ice hockey rink.

The ice hockey rink with nets built of Brain Blox.

I had lots of fun building towers with our children, too!

What do we think? 

I love educational toys and these fit the bill. Our kids worked out problems (like how to create ramps and balance the wooden blocks to build higher towers) and also worked on cooperation as they designed race tracks for their cars and zoos for their animals.

We made paths with the planks and then used the planks vertically to create the enclosures for the animals.

They designed a bridge to be part of their car tracks.

Our son designed this flower. 

I like the fact that it comes with a drawstring bag and all the planks fit neatly into the bag which closes up nice and tight. No loose wooden planks laying around. The bag also enables our kids to put the wooden planks away alone or without too much assistance. One child can hold the bag open while the other picks them up and drops them into the bag. I love seeing my children cooperate and work together. 

When asking our six-year-old son his opinion, he said, "I like pretty much everything." He likes making houses. His future plans for building including making airplanes from the Wooden Building Planks.

Our daughter enjoys using them for creative play. She incorporates them into her kitchen play as well as building towers and houses. She likes stacking them. She said, "I love making really tall towers up to the roof and making train tracks."

My husband thinks Brain Blox give our children a lot to do because they are versatile. They have a lot of fun with them.

I would recommend Brain Blox to families. They definitely foster imagination and allow kids to show their creativity!

Do you want to learn more about Brain Blox? 

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Because the Wooden Building Planks are so versatile, please be sure to check out the rest of the reviews to see how different children were able to use them to foster their imagination.