My 5 Absolute Favs: Toddler Edition

After doing my Absolute Favs: Baby Edition, I realized I should also put together a toddler version before Jack hits his new designation of “preschooler” in a couple weeks! Much like the baby version of this post a few weeks ago, everything on this list is something that I truly LOVE and use with Jack all the live-long day. So, if you have a toddler of your own, or are shopping for one for an upcoming birthday… I hope that this helps!

Jenga Blocks
Sure, there are tons of stacking blocks out there for your kid to use… but most of them are SO expensive. After Jack found a Jenga game at one of our friends’ houses over the summer, we realized it’s awesome play potential and I picked one up at the store (I actually got a generic ‘stacking blocks’ game at Walmart for super cheap). For less than $10, Jack has had hours and hours and hours of fun building towers, knocking them down, building car garages, knocking them down, building tow truck garages, knocking them down… get the drift? We’ve even colored on them with crayons and markers. These blocks are the best!

Musical Instruments
At our house we have family dance parties pretty often. I actually posted one on my Instagram feed recently:

Our typical round-the-kitchen-table dance party, of course. With a grand entrance by my galloping booty. Lol. #toddler #fun #danceparty #yeah

A video posted by pocketfulofjoules (@pocketfulofjoules) on Jan 3, 2015 at 1:44pm PST

Well, everyone knows you can’t have an awesome dance party without some musical instruments! We started our collection from various Citrus Lane boxes and now have this tambourine, this cage bell and this harmonica, along with a few more instruments. They are AWESOME. Buy a few and give them to your favorite toddler for their birthday. Or Christmas. Or Easter. You’ll be their favorite person EVER!

Barefoot Books
As a parent, you read a lot of books. Actually, I should rephrase that – you read books a lot. Meaning, you will probably read the same book over and over again. It helps to have books you actually LIKE to read! My absolute favorites come from Barefoot books: I took the Moon for a Walk , The Prince’s Bedtime, and Starlight Sailor. I’ve probably read each of these books dozens of times, but I still love them. Now, that’s pretty amazing. I wish there was a Barefoot Books subscription box, because I’d sign up for it in a heartbeat!

Kids Easel
We got Jack the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel for Christmas and he plays with it almost every single day. One side is a chalkboard, the other is a white board and there is even a roll of paper that flips over the top so you can use paints, crayons and markers too. (Quick tip, get the Accessory Set when you buy the easel) Add in a pair of kiddo scissors and it’s the perfect gift for any toddler, or preschooler. Or, whatever they are called after preschooler.

Chuck Taylor Sneakers
I don’t know what took me so long to jump on the ‘little boys in chucks’ train, but now that I’m on it you’re never getting me off! After seeing another little boy rocking his Chucks with his ring bearer outfit at my friend’s wedding, I came right home and ordered a pair for Jack to wear. They literally make every single outfit cuter and the plastic toes are even additional protection for clumsy kids. Add on that I have almost the exact color in my size and it’s shoe perfection. See, adorable:

Do you have a “go-to” toddler gift that you always give? Do you have an item that your kiddo couldn’t live without that needs to be added to this list?

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