Are you looking for the best toddler basketball hoop that your child will love for years? We were too and found our favorite one that has an adjustable basketball hoop, comes with basketballs, is durable, and will last from the time you have young kids to older kids.
Best Toddler Basketball Hoop
Our sons have come to love basketball, well anything sports related, but that surely includes basketball.
Basketball is a great sport for kids to help develop fine motor skills, large motor skills, encourage outdoor play, hand-eye coordination, social skills and teamwork. Even younger children can benefit from basketball!
Basketball hoops can be played with alone, practicing making baskets, or with others, encouraging teamwork.
Why We Love This Mini Hoop
The ultimate best toddler basketball hoop that we’ve used is the Little Tikes Easy Score basketball set that is adjustable and comes with 3 balls!
We love it so much we have two of them on our back patio making our own basketball court, mini size. We love this toddler basketball hoop because it grows with our children and can easily be adjusted to the size of the child.
The toddler basketball hoop can also be used for indoor play, just make sure that your kids won’t accidentally knock anything over with the basketballs or break anything. I personally suggest using this mini hoop for outdoor play.
Below you can see our set up with the adjustable basketball hoop that makes it easy to make slam dunks and play basketball games with each other.
Features of the Toddler Basketball Hoop
The Little Tikes Easy Score basketball hoop set is an adjustable basketball hoop that will grow with your child, making it the perfect size for a wide range of ages, plus kid-sized basketballs. The adjustable height ranges from 2.5 feet to 4 feet which will last your children well into their school-age years. Our 8 year old still loves our basketball sets! As your children grow, they can practice slam dunks and bank shots!
This basketball hoop has an oversized rim which makes it easier for kids to make baskets, which is a plus for easy success and helps encourage them to keep playing!
We use our Little Tikes basketball hoop set outdoors but it can be used for outdoor use or indoor use.
I recommend deciding whether to use it indoors or outdoors early on, I wouldn’t recommend going from indoor use to outdoor use and back again as you may bring in bugs and other critters.
That’s completely up to you though!
How the Mini Hoop is Adjustable
The mini hoop is able to be adjustable to 6 different heights taking it from 2.5 feet to 4 feet tall. The adjustable height stays in place with a small latch that can be popped out and back in again depending on how tall you want the hoop to be.
We’ve used this for our kids from ages 1.5 to 8 years so far, and are still using it. It’s been great for little kids and bigger kids!
As you can see here, my oldest son is school age and still a good size for this adjustable basketball hoop.
How We Use Our Toddler Basketball Hoop
Over the years we have raised the adjustable basketball hoop up as our children have grown. They love playing outdoor games including basketball games with each other and with my husband and me.
In addition to the small basketballs that the mini basketball hoop comes with we have also used larger basketballs that aren’t full sized adult ones but an in between size that fit our young children well.
We have two basketball hoops with a toddler-sized basketball hoop on each side of our deck/patio in the backyard. We have each toddler basketball hoop facing each other to make our own basketball court in our backyard on a flat surface. This could also be done on a driveway, we just got sick of chasing the basketballs down the hilly road!
6 ADJUSTABLE HEIGHTS. Raise the height to increase difficulty as your kids grow. Basketball Set can be adjusted from 2.5 to 4 feet
OVERSIZED RIM. Designed with an oversized rim making it easier for kids to score baskets
INDOOR AND OUTDOOR USE. Little Tikes' basketball hoop for toddlers is sturdy and water-resistant so kids can use it outdoors or inside
Safety with the Adjustable Basketball Hoop
Safety is always important when it comes to anything to do with children. This toddler basketball hoop will tip over if it isn’t weighed down. It’s important to fill the base of the adjustable basketball hoop with about 40lbs of sand so it stays put and doesn’t fall on anyone during basketball games or when there is a strong gust of wind.
We’ve tried other methods such as just putting a heavy rock on the back of the stand but nothing else besides sand seems to work, so keep that in mind when you’re buying this. The same can be said for any toddler basketball hoop as the base is going to likely be empty so you can fill it with sand otherwise it’ll easily fall over during basketball games.
Also be sure that you teach your children to make sure that when playing basketball games with others that they make sure the person they are passing the ball to are actually looking so they don’t accidentally get hurt.
Our children know this but there are still times when they end up throwing it at someone when they’re not looking, which isn’t ideal, to say the least. Or they stand too close to the hoop or even worse, under the basketball hoop and end up getting a basketball to the head. Oh boy. You can only do so much as a parent sometimes.
One time one of the twins accidentally was wearing his bike helmet while playing basketball since he had been riding his bike recently, this actually ended up being a good thing as he was under the basketball hoop for some reason and got hit in the head with a basketball. Luckily, with the bike helmet on, he barely felt it! Not saying a bike helmet should always be worn but…it can help!
Best Adjustable Basketball Hoop
In our experience, the Little Tikes adjustable basketball hoop is the best one out there. It actually stays up when you adjust it to the height that you want, it is a great size for young kids and bigger kids, it’s great quality, has an oversized rim making it easier for kids to make baskets, it’s perfect for indoor play or outdoor play, and great for basketball games.
Having kids play basketball from a young age helps them develop large motor skills, small motor skills, hand-eye coordination, social skills, teamwork, and a sense of self confidence as they get better at playing basketball.
We’ve found that waiting to raise or lower the adjustable basketball hoop until our kids ask for it has gone well. If we try to raise it too quickly they would get frustrated that it was too hard.
6 ADJUSTABLE HEIGHTS. Raise the height to increase difficulty as your kids grow. Basketball Set can be adjusted from 2.5 to 4 feet
OVERSIZED RIM. Designed with an oversized rim making it easier for kids to score baskets
INDOOR AND OUTDOOR USE. Little Tikes' basketball hoop for toddlers is sturdy and water-resistant so kids can use it outdoors or inside
Different Basketball Games
With toddlers, we’ve found it’s best to start working with them on the basics of basketball games such as tossing the ball into the basketball hoop. With the adjustable basketball hoop it’s easy to do this at their level!
You can teach your small children different games such as how to play “horse” or “pig”.
Then of course moving up to teaching them the basic rules of the game of basketball.
My husband and I aren’t huge sports people but our kids sure are! This has led us to need to learn a little more about different sports, such as basketball, so we can better help them understand how to play. Of course, we know the basics, but personally I find Google to be very helpful!
Before long, your kids will be playing basketball games and having all sorts of fun like ours do!
The Way it Really Is
As I mentioned earlier, my kids are school-age now but still play with their adjustable height toddler basketball hoop almost any time they go outside. It’s so great to have outdoor basketball hoops they can play with in our own yard making our own basketball court.
I’m a little surprised they still like these toddler hoops but we’re going with it! It’s great! They get great exercise, and it’s a great way to work on their motor skills, teamwork, social skills, and hand-eye coordination.
My 3 boys enjoy playing different games including PIG, HORSE, CAT, and basketball games. They’ll often ask my husband and me to play as well, which is easier for me as I’m just 5’1″ whereas my husband is 6’1″. He still manages to make it work though!
The Little Tikes adjustable height basketball hoop has been really great for our family, especially having two of them to set up our own basketball court. It’s the first thing two of our boys run to whenever they go outside (the other one prefers the swings at first).
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.