Great toys to engage your child
Toddlers are incredibly cute, extremely messy and have short attention spans. When you’re choosing a toy for a toddler, it’s best to find something interactive to catch their attention. Interactive toys use features like lights and sounds to engage young children and encourage them to practice their critical physical and mental skills.
These sorts of toys have come a long way in the past few decades and have many new features and technology. Whether you choose a water table, a workbench or a robot friend, you’ll be sure to find the right interactive toy for your toddler with this handy guide.
Types of interactive toys
Water tables
Water tables are great for hot summer days when you might not have access to a pool or have a small yard. Fill the table with water and let your kids splash away with different interactive features like rainfall or waterfall effects, spinners and buckets. It keeps the little ones cool and entertained; just watch out for splashes.
Activity tables
Activity tables have so many different fun and exciting features in the form of buttons, switches, knobs, spinners and dials. Lights, sounds and musical instruments like a keyboard can also be included. Some tables come with different activity levels that correspond with the age of your child or offer options in multiple languages such as Spanish or French.
Learning toys
Interactive learning toys have a specific focus like counting or learning the alphabet. More advanced learning toys like electronic books or laptops also include animals, colors, activities, songs and other fun and engaging options.
Kitchens
Toy kitchens are great for interactive play. They can provide hours of immersive entertainment as your children prepare meals with pots, pans, plates and cookware. Stoves feature lights and sounds like bubbling or sizzling. Some kitchens even have additional features like electronic keypads for the microwave or oven lights.
Musical Toys
A handheld toy guitar with working buttons and controls is great for the budding musician. A drum set with included piano will provide hours upon hours of interactive entertainment. Instruments are not the only musical toy option. Karaoke machines are an excellent way for toddlers to practice their speech by belting out the songs from the shows and movies they love.
Dolls and stuffed animals
Interactive dolls can eat food, drink water and even soil their diapers while others giggle, cry, give kisses and even speak. Some can even record and playback a message. Stuffed animals can also be interactive, like an owl that reads fairytales while his eyes light up and his mouth moves or a puppy that makes noises when pressed.
Interactive toys for toddlers cost
Interactive toys are fairly reasonably priced. A small musical toy or doll will be between $15-$20. An activity or water table could cost from $30-$50. Toys that use additional technology like a robot or big toys like a toy kitchen will start in the $50-$100 range.
Best interactive toys for toddlers
Best interactive water table for toddlers
Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table: available at Kohl’s
Our take: A mini-water park for toddlers, perfect for yards of all sizes.
What we like: This fun-filled water table comes with many bells and whistles including buckets, cups, water squirters, spinning pieces and maze pieces. With all of the fun options available, your kids won’t know where to begin. Use the rainfall effect by placing water in the upper level of the table with one of the many cups or buckets. Kids can also move the ramp and maze pieces to create their own waterfalls.
What we dislike: You will need a drill to put the table together securely.
Best interactive sorting toy for toddlers
VATOS Interactive Vending Machine Toy: available at Amazon
Our take: Two modes allow for automatic shopping or an interactive play experience.
What we like: Kids can load up the vending machine with cartons of milk, orange juice and water and use the included coins or credit card to pay for their beverages. This easy-to-operate talking vending machine is very budget-friendly at just under $20.
What we dislike: The machine appears slightly bigger in advertised photos.
Best interactive poster for toddlers
Vahome Talking Poster for Toddler Kids: available at Amazon
Our take: Perfect for teaching toddlers counting and the alphabet.
What we like: This easy-to-clean waterproof wall chart will help teach your children the alphabet and numbers from 1-10 with accompanying sounds and images. The thick vinyl chart also plays 10 children’s songs including Bingo, Five Little Monkeys and Old MacDonald. It can be used on a table, on the ground or even hung on the wall.
What we dislike: Some reviewers complained that some of the sounds were mismatched.
Best interactive doll for toddlers
Mealtime Magic Mia: available at Amazon
Our take: An incredibly lifelike doll that blinks, giggles when tickled and has over 70 words and phrases in her vocabulary.
What we like: Mia arrives with a tray full of 10 different foods including strawberries, peas and carrots and reacts with words and expressions. You’ll know what she likes and what she dislikes — she might even blow a raspberry if she’s displeased. After she’s finished eating you can burp her and then lull her to sleep with the included 2-in-1 pacifier bottle.
What we dislike: The doll requires five batteries bought separately.
Stefanie Hammond is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
