Looking for the best 2nd Birthday Gift Ideas for soon to be 2 year olds in your life? This list of fun gifts for 2-year-olds are ones that all three of my boys have loved since they were 2 and continue to love! These fun gift ideas are great for birthdays, Christmas, or any occasion!
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2nd Birthday Gift Ideas Basics
The best gifts for a second birthday include toys that encourage pretend play, baby dolls, wooden toys, help them develop their problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, and encourage open-ended play. Two year olds will start to graduate from solitary play to spectator play where they’ll watch what others are doing but won’t engage with them. Think of this developmental milestone as you consider the best toys for a perfect 2nd birthday gift!
Giving toddlers educational toys with vibrant colors and different shapes will help pique their interest and further their development.
LeapFrog Scoop and Learn Ice Cream Cart
This LeapFrog ice cream cart looks like so much fun! I wish we would have had it when our kids were younger. Ok, to be honest, my 6 year old just asked for it for Christmas. Haha! Really though, it’s created for kids ages 2 years old and up to help them with fine motor skills, colors, talking about flavors, different shapes, and so much more.
Play Kitchen
Play kitchens aren’t just for little girls anymore, my three sons love their play kitchen! This is great for imaginative play and dramatic play.
There are so many different things to do within the play kitchen, pretending to wash dishes, baking in the oven, and putting things in the fridge. Children can also pretend to cook on the stove and there are even lights and sounds that make it sound like they’re actually cooking.
This kitchen is designed for kids ages 2-years-old through 10-years-old.
We have one similar to this and our twins started using it by looking in the kitchen and oven, as well as holding onto it for support while standing, around age one or so. They still love it at age 4 and my 6-year-old still loves using it as well.
Play Food
While the kitchen above, and many like it, do come with play food, we’ve found more is better in that aspect. Our boys love using a pretend knife to cut the velcro-type foods open and then matching them back up. This set even has a pizza and an apron for a great time of pretend play!
Our kids love making pretend meals for each other, guests, and even our cat! Our cat isn’t as excited to get the pretend food but it’s cute how much they want to include her and how they love pretending to make food and help others.
Toy Coffee Maker, Toaster, & Kettle
Our boys loved sitting and pouring each other coffee in the morning. They’d just sit there and keep offering each other “coffee” it was so cute. I suggest putting the coffee maker on a large cookie sheet to reduce mess from spills, because spills will happen. It’s worth it though, it’ll keep them busy, they can practice pouring, sharing, and it’ll look adorable.
The tea kettle and toast are great additions as well. Your kids will enjoy making each other toast and tea as well, or if you have just one child I’m sure they’ll love using it on their own as well.
Years later, my little guys in this photo still love to use this toy coffee maker to be little helpers and pretend to bring me or our cat coffee and other treats. It’s really cute! Goes to show that even older kids like these toys!
Play Camping Tent
Our boys absolutely love this pop up tent they got for their 2nd birthday! It’s so cute, all 3 of them can fit in it, it comes with camping accessories, and folds down when not in use.
Ride on Toys
Our boys LOVED their ride-on toys. They continued to ride on anything they could to get around until they outgrew them. As little guys though, ride-on toys were great to get them confident in using their legs.
Some of the ride-on toys we had even had the option for being a walker which was great as they grew. Ride on Toys help little kids develop their gross motor skills such as their legs in this case!
These are great for indoor or outdoor use, I just wouldn’t go between the two.
Marble Run
Our kids love watching things go and this marble run does exactly that! It has fun colors, can make two towers (perfect for twins!!), and comes with balls that make a tiny bit of noise but not to the point it’ll get annoying.
They love seeing how the balls react differently based on where the holes are lined up on each level and seeing which one can get the ball down quicker than the other.
Be sure that if you purchase a marble run for 2 year olds that the marbles are large such as the one below. At age two there are still concerns of children putting things in their mouths and smaller marbles could be a choking hazard.
This larger marble marble run has been really fun for our two year olds.
Duplos
Duplos are Legos for little kids. There are many different sets to choose from for endless fun and possibilities. Duplos are great for helping your little one develop their fine motor skills as they are the perfect size for little hands and pushing down to connect them strengthens their muscles. Building toys like Duplos can help young children with imaginative play by providing open-ended play opportunities to build what interests them, put different colors together, and more.
Duplo Number Train
The Duplo Number Train is fun to put together, take apart, and learn with!
Duplo Mickey & Minnie Birthday Train
The Duplo Mickey & Minnie Birthday Train is full of fun colors, numbers, and even a cupcake with a candle on it! Mickey, Minnie, Pluto are along for the ride as well!
Duplo Block Set
This basic set is great to let one’s imagination go! There are some pieces that have eyes or faces on them, among other things, that help build a story into what you’re building. Help kids learn colors and patterns as well.
Duplo Space Shuttle
The Duplo Space Shuttle Mission set is perfect for any little one interested in space! My kids, and husband, love space so this set is perfect for us! My husband has a Lego space set and the kids can play with this set that is similar but not as delicate (or expensive!!)!
Little Tikes Basketball Hoop
The Little Tikes Basketball Hoop with 3 balls is great for ages 1-1/2 to 5-year-olds and can adjust as your children grow. Our 8 year old still loves it. We have two of these, at two different heights and the boys love them. We have them outdoors but they could be indoors as well if you have the space.
As our boys have gotten older and nearly the same height, we have ours at the same height and have them on either side of our patio to make a basketball court. It’s pretty cute to see them play each other.
This is a great toy for active play and can be adjusted to the right size for young kids and raised as they grow.
Want to know more about why we love the Little Tikes Adjustable Basketball Hoop? Read the blog post I wrote all about it by clicking here.
Cozy Coupes
Our boys LOVE their Cozy Coupes…in fact, we have a few different variations. Not all are available at this time but I’ve included some of what we have and love below. These are great for outdoor use, I wouldn’t suggest them indoors, but that’s just me.
Cozy Coupe Classic
My sons have loved these Cozy Coupes for years. Even my 7 year old still loves the Cozy Coupes! It’s so fun to see the kids drive around like their parents! Our kids have loved driving their Cozy Coupes around for years now since they got them around two years old.
Cozy Gas Pump
You can’t have Cozy Coupes without a Cozy Gas Pump! Your kids will love riding around and then getting gas, just like mom and dad. My kids love when I draw a pretend road on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and make a little area that is a gas station.
Create an Amazon Wishlist
Did you know you can create an Amazon Wishlist that you can share with friends and family? We have one for each child, and ourselves! We add items to the list all year and give the links to family who buy the kids birthday and Christmas presents. It’s great because as people buy from the list it disappears so no one buys a duplicate. To add an item to the wishlist, just click on “Add to List” on any Amazon product page then select the list you’d like to add it to.
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.