Best Educational Toys for Infants, Toddlers, and Young Children
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Best Educational Toys for Infants, Toddlers, and Young Children

Want to help your child develop motor skills, reading skills, and more? These educational toys are sure to be a hit!

Updated November 14, 2024

by Katie Sproul

Pediatric Occupational Therapist
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Baby Chick editors choose all items on this page, and the opinions are our own. We may earn a commission through affiliate links, helping keep our content free for readers.

As a mom with a background in occupational therapy, I always love toys that keep the kids busy and entertained and teach them or help them develop specific foundational skills. While our children love all toys, parents appreciate the ones that will help their children develop and learn. I’ve personally used many of these products with my kids and OT clients and give them two thumbs up! Here are my favorite educational toys for children (from infancy to young childhood).

Best Educational Toys for Children

1

Educational Toys for Infants

Playskool Busy Poppin' Pals Toy

A Playskool pop-up educational toy with three animal figures - a purple monkey, a white panda, and an orange giraffe. Each figure is housed in a colored compartment with buttons and switches of various shapes and colors at the base.

The First Years Stack Up Cup Toys

A set of colorful nesting cups in various sizes, arranged in a stack next to three individual cups. These educational toys are brightly colored in shades of pink, orange, purple, yellow, blue, and green.

SpinAgain Stacking Toy

This vibrant educational toy features a white central rod with multicolored gears stacked on it, including blue, green, yellow, orange, and red pieces. Designed to stimulate learning through play, it rests on a sturdy blue base.

Indestructible Books

A colorful book cover titled "Baby, See the Colors!" by Ekaterina Trukhan. It shows a boy flying a kite and a girl sitting on grass against a blue sky with a sun. This educational toy is indestructible, chew proof, rip proof, nontoxic, and 100% washable.

Chew Cube

A black, plastic, open-frame cube with geometric cutouts encloses a smaller, solid white cube. The design features raised dots along the edges of the black cube, adding texture. This innovative educational toy also has some black markings on the inner white cube's surface.

Surprise What's Inside Toy Box

A soft cube toy with "What's Inside?" written on the side, surrounded by various colorful educational toys like a house, caterpillar, bee, butterfly, boat, turtle, cat, dinosaur, and sun. The cube features a flap on top for storing these delightful and educational toys.

Baby Paper

A piece of Baby Paper with black and white stripes. The crinkled paper features a yellow band around the center that says "Baby Paper" and includes an illustration of a baby. A small tag with "Baby Paper" text is attached to one side, making it a perfect educational toy for sensory development.

Taf Toys Tummy Time Activity Book

A baby book is displayed, featuring various designs and illustrations, primarily of koalas. The book stands tent-like with a koala image on the front. This educational toy set includes multiple designs, and one shows a baby looking into a mirror within the book.

Tummy Time Water Mat

Inflatable blue turtle-shaped water mat with a smiling face. Inside, colorful sea-themed graphics include fish, a whale, starfish, and other aquatic creatures. As an educational toy, the turtle features blue flippers and a rounded shell to engage curious minds in aquatic exploration.

Kingtree Squeak Blocks

A set of colorful baby learning blocks featuring various animals and shapes. The educational toys are stacked and scattered with illustrations of cows, chicks, leaves, suns, and more. A mesh storage bag containing more blocks is seen in the background.

Merriam-Webster's 150 First Words

The cover of "Merriam-Webster's 150 First Words" by Claire Laties Davis, illustrated by Kasia Dudziuk, features an illustrated child eating cereal, surrounded by images including a cat, banana, shirt, toy car, bib, baby, cup, and bowl of cereal—making it the perfect educational toy for early learners.

Britannica's Baby Encyclopedia

Cover of "Britannica's Baby Encyclopedia" with the subtitle "For curious kids ages 0 to 3." The cover features illustrations of a red car, clownfish, red apple, sunflower, rainbow, and zebra. Like an educational toy in book form, it's written by Sally Symes, illustrated by Hanako Clulow, with expert consultant Dr. Amanda Gummer.
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Playskool Busy Poppin’ Pals Pop-Up Toy: This educational toy is a classic! It’s terrific for babies because the large buttons are great for little hands and help develop early fine motor skills. Your baby will love making the little animals pop up again and again!

The First Years Stack Up Cup Toys: Another classic your baby will love! They can practice nesting the cups into one another, and they’ll love stacking them up and knocking them over! Plus, these cups have differently shaped holes in the bottom, making them a blast during bath time.

SpinAgain Stacking Toy: Stacking rings are a popular infant toy, but this is a unique “spin” on the traditional ring stacker. The rings spin onto the post, which will thrill your little one! They’re so much fun to watch, and it’s even more fun to turn the stack upside down and watch them spin off again! The fun, bright colors will surely grab your baby’s attention.

Indestructible Books: This series has a wide variety of books, but my favorite part about them is that they are truly indestructible. Even the most rambunctious of babes can’t destroy these! They’re chew-proof, rip-proof, non-toxic, and washable!

Chew Cube: This toy is a modern take on a classic teether. It was created by a mom and made of 100% food-grade silicone. Its flexible, textured edges will soothe babies’ sore teething gums, and the size and shape allow your baby’s hands to grip easily.

Surprise What’s Inside Toy Box: Baby will love exploring this box to discover what’s inside! The box is machine-washable and has eight sensory toys for kids to explore. The opening on top of the box is large enough for little hands to easily reach in, feel around, and grab what’s inside.

Baby Paper: This is hands down one of our favorite baby toys in our house! The outer layer is a black-and-white contrast fabric, the perfect visual for a baby’s eyes. Inside is paper that makes a crinkly sound when a baby plays with it. It is non-toxic and compact for easy travel — stuff it in your diaper bag to take it on the go! Plus, it’s machine-washable so that baby can play with it repeatedly!

Taf Toys Tummy Time Activity BookTummy time is so beneficial for babies! It is an important precursor for crawling and helps strengthen a baby’s core and postural muscles for sitting up.1 Tummy time can be challenging because some babies don’t enjoy it for an extended period, so it’s essential to keep the baby interested and engaged as much as possible. This activity book has high-contrast pictures and a baby-safe mirror for lots of opportunities for play!

Tummy Time Water Mat: More tummy time fun! This playmat has been loved by all three of my babies, and I’m sure it will also be a hit for your baby! The mat can be filled with water and sealed for your baby’s safety, and they will be thrilled to watch the fish and other ocean animals float and move around as they play!

Kingtree Squeak Blocks: Block play is beneficial for developing a baby’s motor skills.2 In the earliest stages, your baby will love the look of the bright colors and pictures these blocks offer. Then, they will begin banging the blocks together using their hands, and finally, they will use the blocks to build structures like a tower. These blocks have a bonus feature — they squeak when they are squeezed! These blocks will be loved for years!

Merriam-Webster’s 150 First Words: This book is a fun and interactive way to teach your baby their first words. With 150 words and short phrases, this book is an excellent addition to the bookshelf. You can incorporate it into your daily routine with your little one.

Britannica’s Baby Encyclopedia: This board book covers many topics, including Earth, animals, plants, music, numbers, food, and more! There are beautiful illustrations that your little one will love to look at. In addition, there are sound words to make it a fun reading-aloud experience.

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Educational Toys for Toddlers

Button Art Activity Toy

Two children are playing with colorful pegboards, an engaging educational toy. Each board has assorted shapes and colors, including circles and triangles. The pegboards feature fun designs with patterns and googly eyes, creating a cheerful indoor setting around them.

Lacing Alphabet Toy

Plastic alphabet letters with holes for threading laid out in a pile. These educational toys are colorful with blue, green, red, and yellow pieces. Three letters ("a," "b," and "c") are threaded, and multicolored strings are placed at the bottom of the image.

Wooden Number Puzzle Sorting Toy

A shape sorting game set features a wooden board with cut-outs for numbers and shapes, colorful wooden shapes and numbers, and stacking rings. This educational toy comes in a packaging box that showcases the assembled set and its components.

Wooden Personalized Name Puzzle

A wooden name puzzle spelling "WILLOW." Letters "O" and "W" are removed from the puzzle and placed next to it. The last letter "W," shaped like a rainbow, adds a colorful touch. This educational toy has a smooth, polished finish, making it both fun and perfect for learning.

Battat Pretend Cutting Play Food Set

A plastic basket contains various colorful toy fruits and vegetables, including a cucumber, corn, onion, tomato, strawberry, grapes, carrot, orange, watermelon, pear, banana, and apples. This set of educational toys also includes a plastic knife and a green cutting board.

Kidoozie Ball Drop

A colorful plastic ball drop toy featuring a spiral tower, this educational toy includes multiple tiers in blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. With small balls enclosed at various levels, its designed for infants to drop balls from the top and watch them spiral down.

My First Smart Pad Library

A product image of "My First Smart Pad Library" by Eric Carle. The packaging features an orange electronic activity pad with alphabet buttons and animals, and it includes 8 interactive books. This educational toy is designed for children aged 3 and up.

Learn the Alphabet Mats

A person's arm is holding a flashcard with the letter "A" and a frog illustration. Several additional flashcards, these educational toys featuring different letters and colorful animal illustrations, are spread out in a semicircle above the held card.

Tuddler Toddler Peg Board

The image shows a multi-colored pegboard toy set with pegs of various colors and sizes placed on a green board. In the background, there is a beige drawstring bag with the words "tuddler" and "early learning toys" printed on it. This educational toy promotes developmental skills in young children.

Magnetic Letters/Numbers Set

The image shows an assortment of foam letters in various colors, including green, blue, red, yellow, and pink. Each letter features a star pattern. This educational toy set contains 192 pieces, as indicated by the text "192 PCS" in multicolored letters at the bottom.

My Feelings Rainbow Fidget Toy

The image shows a "My Feelings Rainbow Fidget" educational toy by hand2mind, designed for children aged 3 and up. It has a smiling face and contains multi-colored glitter flowing through a clear, wavy frame. The packaging beside it describes it as an engaging way to explore emotions.

Coogam Wooden Magnetic Fishing Game

A wooden alphabet fishing game set includes a wooden board with alphabet letters on it, colorful fish pieces with letters, and two wooden fishing rods with magnets. This delightful educational toy is designed for engaging and educational play.

Wooden Alphabet Tracing Board

Two wooden alphabet tracing boards showcasing uppercase and lowercase letters. Colorful beads fill the grooves of certain letters on the boards. A wooden stylus lies next to one of the boards, making these educational toys both engaging and instructive. The brand name "Blue Ginkgo" is visible in the corner.

Upper and Lower Case Alphabet Letters Wooden Puzzle

A child is placing a letter piece into a wooden alphabet puzzle on the floor. This educational toy features colorful letters, each with images of animals or objects. Additional letter pieces are scattered nearby, making it one of the most engaging educational toys for playful learning.
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Button Art Activity Toy: Toddlers learning color recognition and matching will love this toy! It features 50 buttons and 18 pictures for children to complete using the large snap pieces that click into place. This was one of my favorite types of educational toys as an occupational therapist because it helps develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Lacing Alphabet Toy: This is another great educational toy! Stringing items together is an excellent fine motor activity, and this set has large lowercase letters that are perfect for beginners and little hands.3 Besides stringing, your kids will also be practicing letter recognition. All these great learning opportunities are hidden in a fun play activity!

Wooden Number Puzzle Sorting Toy: It’s no secret that puzzles benefit your child’s development, but this one is great because it has multiple puzzle features. Your child can work on numbers, counting, shapes, colors, and sorting, all in this one puzzle form! There are also two color choices — a bright rainbow option and one with more muted neutral tones for anyone with a particularly chic playroom!

Wooden Personalized Name Puzzle: Our kids LOVE these puzzles, and they are perfect for beginners to learn the letters of their names! The puzzle teaches them the correct spelling of their name, too! You can customize this one with up to nine letters.

Battat Pretend Cutting Play Food Set: For the little chef in the family! This food set features a variety of foods that Velcro together so your little one can cut the foods easily with the toy knives included in the set. This is an excellent way to practice fine motor skills as they become more proficient with self-feeding. If the knives are too tricky for them at first, it is also beneficial for them to match the pieces together and take them apart using their hands.

Kidoozie Ball Drop: Here’s a great toy for helping your child develop fine motor skills and work on their hand-eye coordination. The multicolored balls make a rattling sound, making them great for sensory play! As they drop the balls at the top, baby can watch them roll down the tower and learn about cause and effect.

My First Smart Pad Library: This is another favorite educational toy of ours! This set includes multiple books that pair with the interactive smart pad. Your child can read along in the books and press the buttons to learn the alphabet, colors, opposites, animals, and more!

Learn the Alphabet Mats: Dough is one of my favorite educational toys as an OT. There are countless ways to incorporate it into educational play, but this one is one of the best! This set includes 26 reusable mats with the upper and lower case alphabet. Your child can use playdough (Play-Doh is my favorite — is there any better smell?) to form the letters. This is a great hands-on way to work on letter recognition through fine motor play.

Tuddler Toddler Peg Board: There are tons of pegboard sets on the market, and there are several great ones, including this set from Tuddler. It comes with 30 stackable pegs in various colors, allowing kids to sort, count, and play. This classic educational toy lets your child work on their fine motor skills and color matching!

Magnetic Letters/Numbers Set: What sets this one apart from all the other sets of magnetic letters? This one has uppercase and lowercase letters and comes in fun colors and patterns. My kids put the magnets on the fridge and their magnetic easel (see the easel on the list below). You can practice spelling words, learning the alphabet, you name it! There are so many fun ways to learn and play with these!

My Feelings Rainbow Fidget Toy: This fidget tube is a great sensory toy for children to learn about emotions. It features a cloud with a happy face and one with a sad face, helping kids recognize these feelings. The clouds are connected by liquid with bright colors to calm and entertain little ones.

Coogam Wooden Magnetic Fishing Game: Great for developing fine motor skills, this fishing game helps children learn the alphabet as they match the magnetic fish to the appropriate letters. It can also help with color recognition and hand-eye coordination as kids learn to use the mini fishing poles. We also love that it’s made with non-toxic paint!

Wooden Alphabet Tracing Board: This double-sided tracing board features uppercase and lowercase letters. It comes with a stylus kids can use to trace the letters, or they can trace the letters with their fingers. Besides teaching letter recognition, it’s also great for developing hand-eye coordination.

Upper and Lower Case Alphabet Letters Wooden Puzzle: Here’s another great toy for learning the alphabet! This 52-piece Melissa & Doug alphabet puzzle has coordinating pictures underneath the letters, such as ice cream for “I” and a violin for “V.” Kids can match the letters to the correct spots and even trace them for more practice.

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Educational Toys for Young Children

Take-Apart Toys

This educational toy construction set features a yellow dump truck with interchangeable parts. It includes a yellow toy drill, removable wheels, and other components for assembly. The truck has a realistic design with visible screws for demonstration purposes, making it both fun and instructive.

Stomp Rocket

Image of a Stomp Rocket toy box featuring three stunt planes for ages 5-12. The package highlights kid-powered flight with loop, glide, and flip abilities. A picture of a child playing emphasizes STEM learning benefits, showcasing this as an exciting educational toy.

Magna-Tiles

The image shows a set of colorful Magna-Tiles, an educational toy, including various shapes and sizes such as squares, triangles, and rectangles. The tiles are used to create a castle-like structure. The product box in the background indicates this is a 100-piece set.

Little Partners A-Frame Art Easel

A dual-sided childrens easel serves as an educational toy, featuring a chalkboard with a house and sun drawing and a dry-erase board displaying a similar colorful doodle. Two storage bins beneath make it perfect for organizing art supplies.

LeapFrog LeapReader Reading and Writing System

The LeapFrog LeapReader pen, an engaging educational toy, boasts a white and green design with blue accents. Equipped with buttons for power and audio control, this tool is perfect for interactive reading activities that make learning fun.

ThinkFun Rush Hour Traffic Jam Game

The image shows the "Rush Hour Traffic Jam Logic Game" by ThinkFun. The game box displays the title, 40 all-new challenges, and an age suitability of 8 to adult. Below the box, the game board with various colored car and truck pieces is visible—an exceptional educational toy for sharpening young minds.

Pop the Pig Game

Packaging of the board game Pop the Pig, an educational toy featuring a cartoon pig chef with a hamburger and spatula. The text reads, Even Bigger & Better! Watch him get bigger and bigger until he pops! Suitable for ages 4+. Warnings are included.

Edx Education My Gears Animal Set

A toy construction set box labeled "Animal Set" by My Gears. The box includes instructions for 8 models and contains 122 pieces. In front of the box, an educational toy figure with wheels and colorful plastic parts is displayed.

Space Explorers Reusable Activity Mats

The image shows the box of a children's educational toy named "Space Explorers: Write and Wipe Activity Mats" by Skillmatics. The box includes playful space-themed illustrations and mentions a special feature of a board game activity. It is designed for ages 6-9 years.

Manhattan Toy Making Faces Set

An illustration showcasing three cartoon faces with various facial expressions on colored square backgrounds. Surrounding the faces are additional facial features like eyes, mouths, and eyebrows, making it an interactive educational toy that lets kids customize each face's expression.

Kids Play Tunnels

A colorful play tunnel for children in an X-shaped configuration, this educational toy features vibrant tunnels in purple, blue, pink, and green. Crafted from fabric with bright yellow edges, it offers both fun and learning through active play.

The Floor Is Lava Game

The image shows the box of the game "The Floor is Lava!" featuring a cartoonish illustration of two children jumping from furniture to avoid lava on the floor. The box includes age and player information, a warning about small parts, and emphasizes the game’s fun, physical nature as an educational toy.

Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course

Image of a children's outdoor obstacle course set. The set includes a blue swing, a blue rope ladder, various blue climbing holds, a blue slackline, a blue training line, and connectors. A child is shown playing on the educational toy equipment. All items are laid out neatly.
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Take-Apart Toys: There’s something about taking things apart that is incredibly entertaining for kids, am I right? These toys are some of our son’s absolute favorites! This particular set comes with a battery-operated drill that doubles as a remote control for the truck once it is assembled. Your child will have so much fun taking it apart and reassembling it. This kind of play is excellent for working on motor planning, bilateral coordination, and problem-solving. This educational toy will be a hit with your little one!

Stomp Rocket: Is it ever too early to give your child a fun-filled physics lesson? I think not! These rockets are an absolute blast to play with . . . in fact, I don’t know who enjoys them more — the kids or us? Your child can launch the rockets by stomping or jumping on the launch pad, and the rockets can soar up to 100 feet! The stand has a flexible tube to place at multiple angles so kids can experiment with heights and distances.

Magna-Tiles: These are some of my favorites for imaginative play. There are endless ways these can be assembled into whatever your child creates! I know some families who have had their Magna-Tiles for several years, and their kids still get a kick out of them! If you’re looking for a fun new way to use your Magna-Tiles, you can turn them into puzzles or even use them to work on letters and spelling.

Little Partners A-Frame Art Easel: Art easels make great gifts because they will be used for years! This one has a chalkboard and a whiteboard on opposite sides of the easel. There is plenty of storage for all of their art supplies!

LeapFrog LeapReader Reading and Writing System: Do you have a budding reader? They’ll love this educational toy! As kids read one of their stories, they can touch this tool (which is rechargeable!) to the pages to help them sound out words and play games. This is a fun and interactive way for your child to improve their reading skills!

ThinkFun Rush Hour Traffic Jam Game: This game is like a cross between Tetris and a Rubik’s Cube. There are different puzzle cards your child uses to set up the cars, and the object is to slide the cars around on the grid to allow the ice cream truck to “drive” out. This is an excellent game for working on problem-solving skills and spatial reasoning. It’s perfect for the critical thinker in your house! This is a much more pleasant traffic jam than the one we all end up in during school pick-up and drop-off.

Pop the Pig Game: I know many therapists and teachers who have this in their arsenal of educational games! It’s an excellent game for beginners to learn turn-taking, and kids can practice color recognition and counting. This game will entertain our kids for a long time! Or at least long enough for mommy to enjoy her coffee while it’s still hot . . .

Edx Education My Gears Animal Set: This gear toy set has many creative possibilities and will have their imaginations going! This educational toy teaches children that actions and design can affect outcomes. It has 122 pieces and instructions for eight different models they can make. 

Space Explorers Reusable Activity Mats: These fun activity mats teach your child about the wonders of space! They will learn about things like gravity and can even design a spaceship. This will provide hours of interactive fun! 

Manhattan Toy Making Faces Set: This 34-piece set helps kids learn to recognize facial expressions and emotions, which can be great for their social development. They’ll have so much fun using the magnetic pieces to create faces expressing different feelings. It’s both silly and educational!

Kids Play Tunnels: From Hide N Side, this colorful four-way tunnel will make a great gift for kids. Depending on how you want to configure it, you can even fold one or more of the sides to make the tunnel smaller. It’s a great way for your children to get some physical activity, whether they take it inside or outside the house.

The Floor Is Lava Game: This board game also provides physical activity and loads of fun! It comes with colorful foam pads (representing stepping stones) for kids to jump on to avoid touching the floor’s “lava.” It’s an excellent way for them to develop coordination and balance.

Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course: An obstacle course can be excellent for children because it helps develop their physical and motor skills. This one allows your kids to swing, climb a ladder, go on monkey bars, and more. It’s also weatherproof and UV resistant, so you can set it up outside and let them explore all 10 obstacles!

And that’s my list of the best educational toys for infants, toddlers, and young children! These are sure to keep your little ones happy and entertained. You will also feel good knowing your child is learning something new and practicing their skills as they play. Cheers to smarter playtime!

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