Toys for 2 year old

[purpleme12]

I am thinking of my little girl's birthday and Christmas coming up and wondering if anyone can give ideas of what are some good toys for a 2 year old. To last her from just turning 2 to up to 3 years old.

Something from the Duplo or Lego ranges, as there is a vast selection and they 'grow' with the child, and can be added to for many years.

Children need books at this age, to start to encourage a love of books, leading gradually to early reading skills.

Jigsaw puzzles, craft activities, child-safe scissors to cut up junk mail or brochures, and a scrap book to stick pictures into.

At 2 our DS was 'playing' on our Yamaha organ, and within a couple of years was playing music properly. So if you can afford it, a Keyboard can be the start of a lifelong involvement in music; not a 'toy' one, but 61 full size keys.

If possible AVOID screen based toys at this age, or DVDs. (Plenty of time for those when she is a lot older.)

Thank you :-)

Duplo, playmobil 1-2-3, threading beads, toy food, happy land, cars, diggers, colouring books and crayons, books books books.

Brio train set. Mine have used from around 12 months and still play with approaching 6 years

Thanks everyone. X

DD had this food set when she was 2 and played with it for a couple of years.

What does she like to play with at playgroup?

Scooter, then balance bike closer to 3.
Little trampoline
Sand/water table
Art supplies: paint, brushes, apron, pens, crayons, chalk and blackboard, stickers, glue, coloured paper
Toy till and toy food
Dressing up 'props' rather than full costumes, eg firefighter hat, crown, fairy wings & wand, basket, cape
Train set
Cars, possibly toy garage if she likes them
First games: simple matching games like 'red dog, blue dog' and lotto, also pop up pirate and Mr potato head
Little world (like Happy land) and duplo/megabloks seem to popular at this age although my DD isn't very interested in either

Oh, and a child sized table and chairs is really great at this age: somewhere to do drawing / play shop etc. Really comes into its own.