Parents always ask me which toys I recommend to help their kids’ development. Here I’ve compiled a list of my favorite brain building toys. Included here are only toys that have been tested and loved by my own children (the ones they don’t actually play with didn’t make the cut).
Toys for building smart brains:
Gross Motor
Balance Pods: I stumbled across these when I was actually considering buying these balance stepping stones. The balance pods get the job done with the same amount of fun but for half the price of the stepping stones. My 3 and 5-year olds love to build obstacle courses and hop across them and to play “river bears” and use them as rocks to hop across the river. The 1-year-old loves the bumpy texture and likes to throw and chase them. (bonus: you can use them for workouts if you can pry them away from the kids)
Gymnasium Playset: this one is a splurge, but it’s absolutely my favorite. My older kids use it to make obstacle courses (combined with the balance pods), forts, and with their Ikea tumbling mat to practice gymnastics. They are the perfect size to create a tiny indoor playground for the 1-year-old on rainy days.
Yoga Cards: My girls got yoga cards and these yoga mats for Christmas one year, and they have been a huge hit. There are poses, breathing exercises, and fun games included. The girls like to do poses and breathing exercises before naps or bedtime; and we play the high-energy games throughout the day.
Fine Motor
Blocks: Blocks are such an excellent learning tool. They can be stacked (to help with fine motor skills) and also sorted by size or color (cognitive skills). Any blocks will do. I love these (maybe mostly because they’re pretty).
Zip/Lace/Tie/Buckle/Button/Snap Board: There are lots of pinterest ideas if you want to DIY this one, but my kids have loved this puzzle (I used a glue gun to attach the pieces to the board so they wouldn’t get lost!).
Pop-up toy: Occupational therapists love this toy. It helps babies work on the fine motor skills of pushing, twisting, sliding, and pressing.
Safety Kitchen Knives: Helping in the kitchen builds interest in helping make healthy meals, kitchen confidence, and independence. Using a safe set of knives can help your child learn knife skills in a safe way.
Learning Chopsticks: These serve the dual purpose of honing fine motor skills and making meal times more fun.
Communication
Touch and Feel Flashcards: Reading is absolutely the best thing you can do to help your child’s communication skills. When they are first learning words, it’s also important to just say the one-word name of objects, so they can clearly understand where the word begins and ends. These flashcards are very helpful for expanding vocabulary, and babies love being able to feel the tactile sections of the cards. My kids also have the animals and colors and shapes sets.
First Words Board Books: These books are helpful for the same reasons as the flashcards- they help babies focus on the one-word name of objects so they can effectively expand their vocabularies.
Cognitive/Problem Solving
Magnetic Tiles: I’m pretty sure these are on every “Best Toys” list ever made…and for good reason. These are beloved by my children. Every time I walk into a preschool classroom there is a crew of kids clustered around these. They are so much fun and help build creativity/problem solving as well as fine motor skills.
Gear Building Set: My kids love making beautiful mesmerizing creations with this gear building set. It helps build problem-solving skills as they plan how to achieve their desired outcome.
*This page contains affiliate links. I make a small percentage of each sale at no extra cost to you. I would never recommend products I haven’t used or found to be useful or products that are not in support of AAP-recommended safety guidelines.
