Are you wondering what to buy your 2-3-year-old this holiday? Let us make it easy for you! As Speech-Language Pathologists, we are often asked what toys to buy to target speech and language through play. We decided to put a list together so that parents will have the right toys to encourage language development this holiday season. We want to help YOU! Please enjoy this free holiday gift guide download.
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We know there are so many options out there! Remember that you can target speech and language with almost anything just remember to keep it FUN. Here are the 5 things we recommend for your 2-3-year-old.
During this phase your 2-3 year old should begin or continue to:
- Know what is safe and what is dangerous
- Social play becomes more important
- Have good hand-eye coordination and can build
- Put words together to make simple sentences
- Follow simple instructions and recall what to do
- Put their own toys away
Toys that are appropriate for your 2-3 year old includes:
- Ride on toys/slow battery powered toys
- Wagons, climbing gyms, large toy trucks
- Pretend play sets, simple puzzles, building blocks
- Water toys
- Stuffed animals and dolls
1. Magnetic Puzzles
These puzzles are a huge hit in our clinic. They are great for targeting hand-eye coordination and perceptual skills in space. I love to have children hide the bugs or sea creatures in my room to extend this activity beyond just the puzzle. The bright colors and shapes are great for using describing words!
2. String a Farm
You can’t go wrong with this toy for language expansion. You can name all the animals and what sound they make, sing ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’, and also model short action phrases such as put on, slide down, push in, etc. There are many variations of string beads but I prefer this one to the plain beads- after all a plain red bead can’t say “bahh”.
3. Lego Duplo My First Number Train
The vocabulary words you can target with this toy are endless! Try words such as open, close, in, out, top, bottom, name the objects on the blocks! This toy really allows children to be creative. Model creativity with them and use your imagination- Where is the train going? Who will be there? So many ways to target expressive language with this toy.
4. First 100 Words Book
We love introducing early literacy skills with this book! Start by introducing the parts of the book- cover, title, pages, front, and back. Each page has a different vocabulary category to teach- colors, things that go, bedtime, food, outside, clothes/toys, pets/farm animals. I keep this book close to me at all times and whip it out when I notice a child has a special interest in something!
5. Ice Cream Scoop and Serve
If you only buy one thing on this list make it the ice-cream shop! Who doesn’t like ice-cream? Children love to pretend with this toy. It is so great for pretend play and social role development. Who is going to be the customer? Who will be behind the ice-cream counter? Take turns and roll play the scenario. Be silly! What happens if you surprise your child and say, “I would like a monster flavored ice-cream please?” I can only imagine the silly conversations you can have.
We hope that this list is helpful to you! Find the free download for the 5 gifts we recommend for your 2-3 year old below. Send it to family members to make their lives easier this year! Need more ideas? Check out our gift guide for 12-15 months, 16-24 months, 3-4 years, and 4-5 years. What toys are YOUR favorite for your 2-3-year-old? Please share so we can add to our list!