The Best Gifts for 2-Year-Olds

The struggle is real when trying to keep up with the ever-moving two-year-old. With their rapidly developing motor skills, advancing language skills and expanding social awareness, they are into everything and always looking for something to do. Fortunately, littles learn through play so when searching for a great gift idea, you're also enhancing all those developmental milestones with an added dose of fun.

Whether you're looking for ideas for your own kiddo or grandkid or searching for gifts for children of friends and family, we've narrowed it down to the best gifts you can get for the two-year-olds in your life.

Best Building Blocks Gift

Legos are one of my all-time favorite gifts, no matter the age, and I love getting them started at a young age. This set comes with 65 toddler-friendly bricks, including people, flowers, a car, a roof and a window, to ignite their imaginations.

Best Riding Toy Gift

My kiddos will personally attest to the entertainment this riding toy provides. Our house was full of smiles and laughter as they scooted all over our floors (including the hardwood ones without having to worry about scratching them). The three-click folding system allows you to store it away and tote it with ease.

Best Pretend Play Gift

This ice cream cart has been a big hit for toddlers and preschoolers since it came out (it has more than 4,000 five-star reviews!). Kids use the magic scooper to magnetically grab scoops of ice cream and serve them to their friends or grown-ups, who pay with the included coins and bills. The scooper even calls out the flavor of the ice cream and the cash register sings a memory-building song. The only thing you need to check before buying it is if they already have one.

Best Active Gift

While toddlers may not be able to do loops at a theme park yet, they'll get plenty of thrills on this at-home roller coaster. Indoors or out, kids hop on the coaster car and zoom down the track, which quickly comes apart for easy storage. With more than 400 positive ratings, grown-ups have a lot of praise for this fun toy.

Best Race Track Gift

We bought this for our nephew for his birthday, and it was an instant hit. Easy for little hands to catch on quickly, they set the flippable cars at the top of the tower and let them go to watch the cars flip back and forth down the zigzag tracks.

Best Play Kitchen Gift

Around age two is when my kids starting exploring the play kitchen we owned, so if you're looking for a bigger gift, this is always a win. This super-cute set has realistic electronic lights and sounds on the stovetop, a microwave, refrigerator and oven with opening doors, and plenty of accessories for making and serving up a pretend meal.

Best Educational Gift

This was another favorite in our household. Kids match the chunky buttons up with the 10 art templates to create colorful pictures. Not only does it work on hand-eye coordination and creative thinking, but it also keeps them busy for more than two minutes, which is no small feat for a constantly moving two-year-old.

Best Bath Toy Gift

When I had toddlers, it felt like we could never have enough bath toys. Whether to keep them entertained while you're washing hair or simply to let them have fun with water play, we were always picking up a new toy. These adorable little penguins are stackable, floatable and wobble. Plus, a little slide suctions to the side of the tub for kids to send them down.

Best Outdoor Toy Gift

The Cozy Coupe is a pure classic. Originally released in 1979, it was designed by Jim Mariol, a former car parts designer for Chrysler and continues to be a top-selling toy decades later. The foot-powered toy car allows your two-year-old to pretend to start the car with the clicking ignition switch, driving around town and filling up their gas tank. It's recommended for children older than 18 months with a max weight of 50 pounds.

Best Subscription Box Gift

This is the gift that keeps on giving each month. Each box comes with two to three STEAM projects, centered around a fun topic, such as rainbows, the ocean, a doctor's visit and camping. Give kids hands-on learning and fun with these boxes that introduce them to new materials, tools and concepts.

Best Artistic Gift

Get those creative juice flowing with this double-duty easel. Flipped up, it's the perfect height for kids to stand in front of and attach paper for drawing or painting, or use the magnetic dry erase board. Flipped down, it transforms into a desk. The piece includes tons of built-in storage: four bins, a tabletop caddy and shelves on the back for books, paper and folders.

Best Portable Gift

Having a few toys that travel well is always handy because a hotel or vacation home may not have a collection of toys to keep your little one entertained. This sweet playset has everything needed to imagine, tell stories and play, and it all stores inside the charming treetop.