My daughter is 17 months old and is busier than ever. Not only is she incredibly bright but she is constantly on the move. These two characteristics make for a toddler who needs to be constantly challenged and have good problem solving activities.
With all this said, I know I am not the only mama with a smarty pants toddler on the move. To help you combat all the energy, I have put together some of Millie’s favorite toddler toys that help keep her occupied and offer some problem solving as well.
Egg Matching
This adorable game was given to Millie from her Auntie Em and Uncle Kev for Christmas, and we LOVE IT! There are a dozen eggs in a carton, each with a different color and number on the inside. Not only do you match the correct colors together but the numbers as well. Amelia is learning how to match things correctly and is learning her colors at the same time. This game will continue to be one of her favorites for a while!
Bear Matching
Another matching game for the win! This game has 24 matching bears in hilarious outfits that you put into pairs. Since Millie is too young for the memory matching game, I instead lay them all out face
up and have her match all the pairs together. She loves it, and can match all the pairs perfectly now. I love that we can play with this game now but as she gets older she can play memory with it.
Blocks
Blocks are a staple toy for any toddler! Although we bought ours used with a few blocks missing, they are originally from Pottery Barn and we love them! Millie’s blocks have letters and animals on them. For now we do animal noises but as she gets older she can use them to spell words. Millie has loved stacking blocks for a while now, but especially these days. We once watched an episode of Daniel Tiger stacking blocks and since then, blocks are an everyday activity. I am so proud of this girl because even at just 15 months old, she could stack 6 blocks all by herself and she is only getting better! If you don’t have blocks for your toddler, you should probably do yourself a favor and get a set today!
Books
Out of all of her toys and puzzles, books are by far Amelia’s favorite activity. We have always made books a big part of Millie’s daily routine. We always read at least one book before nap time and bedtime and who knows how may in between. Millie has recently started “reading” to herself and her stuffed animals, which is so fun to see.
Books are also how I get a shower in during the day. I can leave pile of books with Millie on our bathroom floor and she is perfectly content looking at them while I jump is shower! (Side note: because I don’t have enough space for all the books she loves, we go to the Public Library at least once a week and pick out new books for her. This gets us out of the house and new and books into our hands weekly!) If your toddler is a book lover, I recommend getting yourself a library card!
Play Kitchen
We bought Amelia an adorable kitchen from Ikea for Christmas this year. She loves being in the kitchen while I cook, and I usually give her a bowl and a spatula for her to “stir” with, so we figured her own kitchen would be fun! Her little kitchen allows her to start pretending and she loves to make us cups of coffee with her tiny Keurig. This kitchen is so fun and is something that keeps her busy and helps her imagination grow.
Making sure your toddler has plenty of fun and challenging toys can be a tough battle to overcome. As a parent, we want to make sure we are giving our children what they need to learn and grow. I hope that my small list of Millie's Favorite Toddler Toys has given you some fun new ideas! I would love to know what other toys you use for your kiddos, comment below and share some of your favorite go to toys!
Abby is a Mom and an amazing team member of Baja Baby. She lives in Colorado with her husband Alex, their beautiful daughter Amelia Grace, baby boy Amos Lee and Maple the dog. You can find Abby on Instagram by clicking here.
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