10 Toddler Gifts To Encourage Creative Play

If you’re like a lot of aunts, uncles, grandparents and family friends this holiday season, you have a beloved toddler family member for whom you’d like to buy a gift, but you have no idea what to get. There are so many toys, and some of them seem like they limit kids, rather than helping them grow.

While video games are some of the best-selling toys, even for toddlers, agencies such as the National Institute for Health recommend limiting screen time. Meanwhile, you’ve surely heard of the body image issues related to popular fashion dolls.

If you’re looking, instead, for toys that will encourage active and creative play, and foster the growth of imagination, here are ten ideas to get you started.

1. Blocks

Blocks are, of course, a classic. If it’s classics, and naturals, you’re looking for, Melissa and Doug has you covered. This 200-piece set (above) and this 100-piece set both supply classic block shapes like triangles, cubes, and cylinders, in real wood.

If you’re seeking something more innovative and new, check out Squigz. They attach together by suction-cup ends, and can also attach to tables, walls, and any flat surface, for an endless variety of imaginative ideas.

2. Modeling clay, Play-Doh

Another classic, modeling clay and Play-Doh are excellent for any kid who is old enough not to eat it. Speaking of not eating it, this Play-Doh Sweet Shoppe Flip ‘N Frost Cookies set is one of our favorite creative choices. It includes cookie cutters, and can make sprinkles, frosting, and more, so that the possibilities for cookie-designing are limitless.

3. Dress-up

A dress-up trunk is a key part of pretend play. Providing kids with a few props and costume items helps them pretend to be anyone they choose. For this, we turn again to Melissa and Doug, simply because they provide a wide variety of costumes that are open-ended, rather than being defined as a specific character. Their veterinarian and astronaut costumes can even be personalized with your child’s name. Or, offer your child a variety of choices with a trunk full of hats (shown above) — including a cowboy hat, a fireman’s helmet, and a crown.

4. Play tents

Play tents let your child pretend to be wherever he likes. It’s easy to pretend you’re camping, exploring, or living in a castle with a tent that encourages the imagination. For toddlers, we especially like the Crawl ‘N Play — an EZ Twist playhouse that twists into a flat disk for storage, and, when opened, provides tunnels and a central tent for crawling through.

5. Trains with customizable tracks

Trains are awesome toys, and tracks that can be customized let your child decide where he, and his imagination, will go. There are almost as many options as there are kids, but this Airport Express Train Set, complete with table, from KidKraft is particularly exceptional. It has spiral track pieces, an airport, and a storage drawer built into the table for putting pieces away.

Looking for something impressive, but less expensive? KidKraft also offers this Figure 8 Train Set, shown above. It’s a great starter set for a child who may be interested in trains, and can be added on to not only with KidKraft sets, but with Thomas & Friends® wooden train sets and Brio® wooden train sets.

6. Doctor’s kits

Doctor’s kits are another classic. Kids love to fix up their sick dolls and bears, and pretending to be a doctor can help ease childhood anxieties about the regular checkups that are a part of childhood. There are a lot of options for this, from dollar store versions on up. Three of the most impressive options available right now are this one from Melissa and Doug, with a personalized lab coat, a face mask, a stethoscope that offers sound effects, and more, this Electronic Medical Play Set that includes several items that light up or make sounds, and this Dalmation Vet Kit shown above — complete with patient.

7. Musical instruments

Parents are cringing right now, and kids are squealing with delight. Buying kids noisy toys is a great way to drive their parents up the wall, but it also encourages creativity. Musical play improves cognitive function (the National Institute for Health says so), and has benefits for emotional intelligence as well. If you’re willing to risk the nerves of his or her parents, here are two band-in-a-box sets the child in your life will love.

The Hohner Kids Toddler Music Band set is great for its bright colors, xylophone, sea drum, and moving spinny parts. Melissa and Doug’s Band in a Box, shown above, (recommended for ages three and up) is cool for having all the classic instruments you never got a long enough turn with in the preschool classroom: maracas, tambourine, and more.

8. Learn-to-dress dolls

Remember those dolls with zippers, laces, and buttons you could really zip, tie, and fasten? You thought you were playing, but you were really beginning to learn to dress yourself. They’re still around, and they’re still a great teaching tool. For Sesame Street fans, it doesn’t get better than this Elmo from Gund. His outfit features shoes to tie, pockets to snap and velcro, and straps to buckle and button. The Learn to Dress Bearemy Doll from Genius Baby Toys is another great choice.

9. Play money and related items.

It’s never too early to learn to be careful with money, and these sets are good for teaching that skill to kids as young as two years. The Little Tykes Count ‘N Play Cash Register uses plastic bills (so no worries of chewing and ripping) and chunky plastic coins for sorting by shape, color, and size. Couple it with the Little Tikes Cozy Shopping Cart and your child will be ready to shop for herself, and take her doll along for the trip.

10. Toy kitchens and workbenches.

Toy kitchens and workbenches are some of the most exciting pretend play toys we’ve seen. They may also have the widest price variety. You can spend under $40, or over $200. Here are a couple from each end of the price spectrum. For under $40, the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Kitchen, geared for kids as young as 6 months. Also for ages 6 months and up, and in the same line, the Laugh and Learn Learning Workbench.

On the higher end, there’s the Home Depot Big Builders Pro workshop (above), complete with color-changing ‘paint’ items, working lights, and electronic drill. You’ll also love the Step 2 Lifestyle Grand Walk-In Kitchen, with electronic lights and sounds, floor and countertops that look like real oak, phone, and dine-in breakfast bar.

Creative play is growing play, and the toddlers in your life won’t even know they’re learning while they’re playing. Choose toys that encourage creativity and imagination, and you’ll be choosing toys that shape their lives.

[Photo credit: Protocol Photography]

10 Toddler Gifts To Encourage Creative Play