Toys my kids actually play with (ages 1 & 3-boys)

If you’re anything like me, you’ve bought toys for your kids that you thought they would love or that they begged you to buy… only for them to end up at the bottom of a toy bin or the back of a closet a few days later. These are the toys my kids actually play with- consistently. I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old so this list is very toddler-mom approved

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2. Play-Doh

Play-Doh is one of our most used activities, but it’s definitely for older kids. My 3 year old loves creating things, while my 1 year old still tries to taste it.

• Best for 2+
• Encourages creativity and fine motor skills
• Easy activity they can do while you tidy up
• Affordable
• CHECK CURRENT PRICE ON AMAZON

3. Easy pull back nerf gun

My kids have a lot of older aunts and uncles who enjoy nerf gun wars but typically the guns are too hard to pull back. I found this gun that is easy to pull back and my 3 year old can load, pull back, and shoot all on his own. My 1 year old loves to hold it but obviously is not quite strong enough to pull it back yet.

• Best for kids who are a little bit older/stronger
• Great for active play
• Requires supervision and simple rule reminders (No shooting in the face)
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Best Toys for Imaginative Play

These are the toys that get pulled out day after day in our house. These are the ones my kids come back to on their own, play with for long stretches, and use in new ways as they grow.

1. Lego Duplos

These are probably our most used toy. They stay in our living room and are played with multiple times throughout the day. I love watching my kids build and use their imagination to create new things each day.

• Easy for little hands to build with and the blocks grow with your child
• Encourage creativity, fine motor skills, and independent play
• There are multiple “add-on” duplo kits you can buy.
• CHECK OUT THE BASIC SET HERE

2. Picasso Tiles

These magnetic tiles are the best for open-ended play. There are so many possibilities. My kids build roads, houses, towers, garages, etc. I also typically pack these in our bag to take with us to church.

• Great for both ages. My 1 year old stacks while my 3 year old designs complex builds
• Recently took with us on a 20 hour car ride and was a great entertainment for that long drive
• Consistently keeps their attention
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3. Hedgehog Blocks

These blocks are simple but very engaging. I originally bought them for my 3 year old but my 1 year old plays with them just as much. The chunky pieces stick together easily making it nice for younger kids to build.

• Encourage fine-motor skills and creativity
• The different bright colors makes it easy for my kids to build different designs and let their imagination rule their play-time
• VIEW CURRENT PRICE ON AMAZON

4. Little People House

My one year old is absolutely obsessed with this house. It makes noise and plays songs which engages him for long stretches at a time. My three year old is able to use his other little people characters to play “house.”

• Interactive buttons with sounds and songs
• My 1 year old loves pushing the buttons and dancing to the songs and my three year old loves using his imagination to play house.
• CHECK OTHER REVIEWS HERE

Best Toys for quiet time

These are the toys I pull out for quiet time, early mornings, or when I need my kids to play independently for a little while. They keep little hands busy without a lot of noise or mess- and they are used almost daily.

1. Tonie Box

The Tonie box is great because it can be made custom to each kid. There are hundreds of different characters to choose from, all different age ranges. They even have personal tonies where you can create your own. We made a playlist on our phone of our three year olds favorite songs and then recorded it on the Creative Tonie. Now our three year old has his own soundtrack tonie.

• Great for all ages with many chracters to choose from. From lullabies to non-fiction stories
• Simple to use, screen free, and perfect for winding down
• My three year old fell asleep to the Curious George tonie almost every night and my one year old loves the lullaby tonies
• CHECK CURRENT PRICE ON AMAZON

2. Crayola Color Wonder (Mess Free)

This is one of my favorite toys because my kids love to color and I don’t have to worry about crayon or marker getting all over my walls and furniture. This is a great activity that we often take to church as well.

• An activity that is screen free
• Gives me peace of mind knowing the colors will only show up on the paper
• SEE ON AMAZON

3. Monster Jam Big Monster Truck and Monster Jam Small Monster Truck

These trucks are played with every single day. My kids love to use anything they can find to build roads and ramps. We have a bucket of these monster trucks and my kids can pull them out and drive them around. It’s usually a quiet activity that keeps them entertained.

• I love that these trucks encourage imagination without overstimulation
• Different sizes of trucks with many different truck characters

Toys they love to play with together

• Little Tikes Slide

It’s amazing how many creative things my kids turn this slide into. Not only do they use it as what it is intended for, a slide, they also use it as a ramp, a ladder, a fort, etc. It’s a great way to encourage shared play and movement indoors.

• Can be used for much more than just a slide
• Encourages taking turns
• Great toy for before bed- get their energy out
• CHECK OUT PRICE ON AMAZON

• Play Kitchen

This is played with daily and it is so fun watching them interact and play together. Whether they are cooking, serving food, or cleaning up together, this toy naturally invites collaboration and imaginative play. It’s a toy that grows with them and works well for multiple ages.

• Great for multiple ages
• There are so many different things to do that they aren’t fighting for control
• Easy for them to play together and honestly we play restaurant as a family quite often
• VIEW ON AMAZON

• Hot Wheels Little People Race Track

If I could recommend one toy from 2025 it would be this. This toy is so fun for my boys, they absolutely love it. They shoot the cars off the track and enjoy having races to see whose car is going to win or whose car goes the furthest on the ground.

• #1 recommended toy from our house
• There are two spots for cars so they can play together and each place cars on the track without having to fight for control
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