My toddler seems to have a very mechanical mind. He loves to look at machines and see how they are built and how they work. With this type of thinking I like to get him toys that involve building and working with his hands. Here is a list of our top 10 building toys for toddlers that we enjoy or are on our wish list this holiday season.
Top 10 Building Toys for Toddlers
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1. Wedgits – We have a couple sets of wedgits and I love that they are an open-ended building toy but they are different from traditional wooden blocks which makes them more interesting.
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2. Duplo Cars set – Caden has a set of traditional duplo blocks but he wasn’t playing with them very much. But given his love of all things cars I picked up this set and he loves them! He will sit and play with these for longer than any other toy he owns.
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3. Mega bloks – Mega bloks are great for young toddlers! Because of their large size, they are easy for them to build with. They are also safe for kids who still mouth toys because they do not pose a choking hazard.
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4. Lincoln Logs – My brother and I loved to build with our Lincoln Logs! I can’t wait to give Caden his own set for Christmas! Shhh don’t tell him. 😉
5. Nature Blocks – Nature blocks are a unique building toy to have in your collection! We made Caden a set from a branch that fell in our yard. Read all about how easy it is to make your own set.
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6. Wooden Train set – A wooden train set is a toy that every little boy should have. Caden has enjoyed playing with his simple train set for a while now. We have fun setting up the tracks in different layouts.
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7. Gears – This gears set is a lot of fun! Both Caden and I enjoy building different movable things like cars, a caterpillar or a lawn mower.
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8. Color Blocks – These blocks with different colored windows are so cool! I have admired them since my days working at childcare centers. They can be a lot of fun to play with on a light table or just in a brightly lit room! Dyan from And Next Comes L shares how she made her own DIY Color Blocks using materials from the Dollar Store.
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9. Battat Take Apart Crane – Caden loves to play with his pretend play power tools. But they don’t really do anything. I think Caden would love to build the crane over and over with these cool power tools!
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10. M&D cardboard bricks – Caden loves to play with these blocks at the library. These look like so much fun to build with! You can build life-size castles or roads for toy cars! The possibilities are endless!
For more Top Ten Holiday Lists please check out these posts from my co-hosts!
Building Toys for Boys and Girls ~Top 10 Lists: Building Toys for under 3 year olds ~ Top 10 Building Toys for Preschoolers ~ Top 10 Building Toys for Preschoolers ~ Top 10 Preschool Building Toys ~ Top Ten Building Toys For Preschoolers ~ Top 10 Building Toys From Our Childhood ~ Gifts for Future Female Engineers
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I love that take-apart crane! There is a similar set from Lakeshore Learning I’m trying to decide whether to get for Christmas this year!
Great list! And thank you for the shout out!
What a nice list! I enjoyed the fact that we approve of the same building toys!
We have a few of these, but some we don’t have. I’m definitely adding to my daughters wish list. She loves building!
Great list of ideas! It made me all nostalgic, I used to love playing with Duplo!
I bet all of these are fun for lots of ages too! Great collection!
Thanks for the list! I’m in line to become a mechanical engineer myself, and having been a little girl in the 80s meant no building toys or train sets for me, and that was very sad. My own little girl is two now and really enjoys toys with moving parts, so I wanted to give her the gift of exploration that I never had. Your list will help me do that, so I’d like to send along both my heartfelt thanks and a reminder to all parents that it’s 2016, and it’s not just little boys who pine for trainsets!