Opinion Posts

What to buy a 2-year-old boy

I am on a lot of mom groups on facebook and I have several mom friends with kids that are about the same age as mine that is always asking for gift ideas. My friend’s son is going to be turning 2 in the next couple of weeks and when your little one has a birthday right after Christmas you might be racking your brain on what to buy him that he didn’t already get. Below is a list that I put together of toys/books that my 2-year-old loves. Please keep in mind that my 2-year-old is a second child, so he’s always trying to keep up with big bro. Some of the suggestions I have below are actually recommended for older kids, however, my 2-year-old still loves them.

My Big Dinosaur Book (My Big Board Books)

This book is a board book which is nice because he can look at it and I don’t have to worry about him destroying it (You’ll notice below that some books I have recommended are not). My little one is really into dinosaurs and not the cute cuddly dinos, he wants them to look realistic! It’s hard to find books that have realistic pictures but this one does the trick.

Pressman Toys Shark Bite Game (2-4 Players)

This game is recommended for kids 4 and up but both my 2 and 4-year-old love it! This game is not only fun as a game but also just as a toy to play with. Kids love surprises and the surprise of the shark popping up to bite you is what both my kids enjoy the most.

MacGregor Multicolor Basketballs

My husband plays a lot of basketball, so both of my boys naturally want to play too. However, the basketball that my husband uses can knock a kid out. These basketballs are smaller and just the perfect size for kids. I also like the fun colors so you don’t have kids fighting over which ball is theirs.

All-New Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet, 8″ HD Display, 32 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case

I love LOVE love my Kindle Fire Tablets for my kids. I’m not the type of mom that says no to technology (bad mom I know – you can save the side eye looks for someone that cares), so both my kids have these tablets. We do a chart which allows our boys to earn tablet time and while we have an iPad, I like these tablets for kids so much better.

Reasons, why I like the Kindle Fire Tablets for kids, is because it comes with a 2 year no questions asked warranty, which I have had to use and they also come with a subscription to 1 year of FreeTime Unlimited. This gives your kids access to over 20,000 popular apps and games, videos, books, and educational content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and more. FreeTime is easy for kids to use and it doesn’t allow them to click on spam, which they do ALL THE TIME on my iPad. I also like that the video content on FreeTime is more educational than the typical mind-numbing videos they seem to find on YouTube. I could go on and on about how much I love the Kindle Fire Tablets for kids but I don’t want to bore you to death.

Outee Toddler Kids Rain Boots Rubber Waterproof Shoes Cute Printed with Easy-On Handles

I live in the country, have 2 boys and chickens… These boots are a MUST! My son can actually put these on and take them off all by himself which is a big help for as often as he wants to go outside. You have to make sure you get the boots with the Easy-On Handles though because I cheaped out and got some without the handles and it was bad news bears. Handles! Handles! Handles!

Crayola Bathtub Markers and Crayola Color Bath Drops, 60 tablets – Bring Creative Fun to Bath Time – Non-toxic

I’m going to brag a little bit because my 2-year-old is already starting to learn all his colors. I guess maybe that’s not THAT big of a deal, but my oldest wasn’t even talking until 3 so to have one that can talk and point out colors it’s a little shocking to me. These bath dropz and Markers are great when learning colors. Both my boys love them and when they are complaining about taking a bath I just ask them what color they want the water to be and they instantly get excited.

Play-Doh Modeling Compound 36-Pack Case of Colors, Non-Toxic, Assorted Colors, 3-Ounce Cans (Amazon Exclusive)

Play-Doh is a kid’s best friend. My kids love to create stuff all the time. Since my son is so into dinosaurs he loves to create trees and rocks for his plastic dinos to play on (link to plastic dinos below). At first I tried really hard to not have my kids mix colors, but now I don’t even care because when you can get a 36-pack of Play-Doh for this price I’m fine with mixing and letting it dry out because seriously that’s a lot of Play-Doh and I’m not opposed to throwing some of it away if needed.

Fisher-Price DoodlePro, Trip, (Red)

These DoodlePros are great for in the car. You can buy large ones and small ones and it seems my kids enjoy them. I personally like them in the car because they are mess free and you don’t have to worry about someone stepping on them. When I keep them in the house that’s why they get damaged.

Prextex Realistic Looking 7″ Dinosaurs Pack of 12 Large Plastic Assorted Dinosaur Figures with Dinosaur Book

These Dinosaurs are great because they are “realistic” looking and can take a lot of wear and tear. My son is really into battles so he likes to set up two dinosaurs and have them battle, which is basically just running into each other. We also let him play with these in the bathtub and with his Play-Doh. If your son isn’t into dinosaurs then I would recommend getting plastic animals like this that are zoo animals or farm animals.

LEGO Juniors/4+ Jurassic World Raptor Rescue Truck 10757 Building Kit (85 Piece)

Remember at the top when I said that my 2-year-old is always trying to be like his big bro? Well, currently big bro is really into Legos, which means my youngest is also. I recommend these Lego Junior sets because they are easy to build and it’s something that both boys can work together on.

Backyard Discovery Timberlake All Cedar Wood Playhouse

I do not own this playhouse… yet, however, it’s at Sams Club and my kids spend a lot of time playing in it when we are there. I have several family members that ask if they can go in on big gifts together (LOVE THIS IDEA) so I always like to give them some bigger options to purchase. This is one of the options I’m thinking about giving them because anytime I can get my kids to want to play outside it’s worth the money.

Backyard Discovery Oakmont All Cedar Wood Playset Swing Set

This is one of the big gifts that several of my family members went in on and got for our kids. We’ve had this for about 3 years now and it’s still holding up for the most part. I do live in Nebraska so we have some pretty harsh winters here, but the only thing that’s gone wrong with it is the door came off the hinges (so I just took it off). I also made the little area under the clubhouse into a sandbox. This is a great set and a pretty good price too! However since I live in the country, I sometimes wish I would have paid more and gotten a bigger set. This set is PERFECT for someone in town that doesn’t have a ton of room. Also, my husband and I were able to put this together by ourselves and we are still together so that should tell you something.

National Geographic Kids Ultimate Dinopedia, Second Edition

I originally purchased this book for my oldest about a year ago, but every time my youngest gets a chance to look through it he does! This book is VERY colorful and grabs his attention for long periods of time. He doesn’t really care for me to read it to him because it’s all facts over dinosaurs but he loves flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures. This is a book for older kids so you might have to keep an eye out on younger ones to make sure they don’t rip the pages otherwise, you’ll have a book with a bunch of taped up pages.

National Geographic Kids Dinos Sticker Activity Book: Over 1,000 Stickers! (NG Sticker Activity Books)

Dinosaurs plus stickers… what else could a kid want? I purchased several of these books (they come in dinos, farm animals, horses, etc) because my kids love to look at the pictures (once again very colorful) and also put on the stickers. This book is a great road trip book too because then you don’t have to worry about stickers being placed all over your house.

Playskool Heroes Chomp Squad

These Chomp Squad toys are very heavy duty but I wouldn’t expect anything else from Playskool. We have the T-Rex one and my son loves going around and making him bite/pick-up stuff with his mouth. It also has some sounds and lights with it so that is always an added bonus for any toddler.

Peg Perego John Deere Gator XUV, Green

This Gator was one of the best “investments” I’ve made for my kids. I purchased this (along with my MIL) when my oldest was 2. I don’t even know how many miles have been put on this because it is used almost every day in the summer. It works out PERFECTLY for both of my boys to drive around in it. It also has a dumpbed which has come in pretty handy when we are trimming trees and need the small branches taken to the burn pile.

Yizeda Dinos Toy,(14+23) Dinosaur Building Blocks Figures Toys

Do you notice the Dinosaur theme yet? These are a cheap version of the Jurassic Park lego dinosaurs. I purchased them because they were cheap and figured if my kids didn’t like them I wasn’t out a ton of money. My kids ended up loving these. They do have small parts to them so you might want to superglue the small parts so they don’t lose them (pegs in the arms and legs). They are interchangeable also, which allows your kids to image/create different kinds of dinosaurs.

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