As a parent, there are many things you have to buy your kids: clothes, food, shoes and so forth. But when it comes to toys, you get to choose something you want them to have. Something you know they’ll love. Something that meets your parental values, and which will hopefully keep them amused for hours. Here are our top recommendations – and a guide to the crucial information you need to know before you buy.
You'll find our bite-size buying guide below, followed by our pick of the best toys for one-year-olds. Skip on over to pages 2 and 3, and you'll find our top picks for two- and three-year olds. Whatever age of child you're buying for, chances are you'll find something here that fits the bill.
How to buy the best toys for your kids
What makes a suitable toy?
Different toys have different recommended ages, and it’s not just about safety. Children won’t be drawn to playthings that don’t match their developmental stage. There’s not much point buying a Star Wars fighter pilot Lego set for a two-year-old boy; he’ll be more interested in opening the packaging and scattering the pieces all over the floor than appreciating its fine details.
How do you know a toy is safe?
If you’re shopping online, it’s easy to end up browsing toys that are manufactured and distributed from outside of Europe. This means that familiar safety regulations might not apply: play it safe and check for the CE symbol, which confirms that the toy is intended to be sold within the EU, and meets its manufacturing standards. For extra confidence, look for BS EN-71 certification – a British standard that declares that any toy (or other item) intended for under-14s won’t choke, poison or otherwise harm your child through careless design.
What other potential dangers should I be aware of?
Even if your toy is fully certified, there are some safety issues you need to consider. Babies and toddlers love to stick things in their mouths, so small parts can be a hazard. That also applies to button batteries that could fall out of powered toys: if swallowed, one of these could burn a hole through a baby’s intestine with very serious results. So remove or replace any scruffy or faulty toys that use them.
Finally, think about cords: pull-along toys usually have a length of string on the end, and if this is too long it could get entangled around a child’s neck. It’s surprising how much they love wrapping themselves up in things.
The best toys for a one-year-old
At a year old, babies are busy working out how to go from crawling and “cruising” (pulling themselves up against sofas, trouser legs and unstable pieces of furniture) to standing and staggering about – so toys that can be pulled or pushed along are starting to become fun. Patterns and shapes are starting to make sense too, so kids may take an interest in very simple picture books. And they’re beginning to twig that things can fit into other things, be it little buckets inside each other or a grubby little sock inside your handbag.
1. Sophie la Girafe: Best toy for teething
Price when reviewed:£15
Ah, la girafe. Serving red-cheeked little dribblers since 1961, this is still the best teething toy on the market, for kids from four months to three years. Sophie is made from soft natural rubber and dyed with food-grade paint, so she’s nicely squidgy and easy to clutch, and kids can chew on her to their hearts’ content. However, she’s also easy for babies to drop, so keep an eye out when you’re out and about – my one-year-old is currently on his third.
Key features – Materials: Natural rubber; Weight: 82g; Age Range: 4m+
2. Nuby Octopus Hoopla: Best bathtime toy
Price when reviewed:£7
A friendly addition to any bathroom, this floating octopus makes bathtime extra fun as your baby squidges it and splashes with it. It looks great in the bathroom and is easy to clean. One-year-olds will love its smiley face and friendly design, while older siblings can enjoy trying to throw the little hoops over its legs. And you’ll love the distraction while you wash their hair.
Key features – Materials: BPA-free plastic; Weight: 185g; Age range: 1.5 years upwards
3. Little Scholastic Old MacDonald Hand Puppet Book: Best travel toy
Price when reviewed:£7
This book-cum-puppet-show is a brilliant way to provide easy entertainment whenever the kids need cheering up or distracting. In truth, you don’t really need the book that’s attached to the palm – they’ll be happily transfixed by your fingers as they transform into singing farm animals. Guaranteed to make a one-year-old giggle, the only drawback is that once it’s on your hand, it’s hard to take off, as kids generally want to hear extended variations on the farmyard-noise theme.
Key features – Materials: Cotton, cardboard; Weight: 135g; Age range: 0+
4. Galt Toys Dr Miriam Shape Sorter: Best developmental toy
Price when reviewed:£14
Developed in partnership with “parenting guru” Dr Miriam Stoppard, this simple wooden toy encourages shape recognition and develops manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination. It’s made from renewable-sourced wood, and features six different shapes, in different colours, to fit into each hole. You can start by placing the shapes halfway in, allowing your child to bash them in; in time they’ll get the idea and start trying to post the shapes in for themselves. At this stage they’re learning to mimic, and there’s nothing cuter than when they give themselves a little round of applause for getting it right.
Key features – Material: Wood; Weight: 499g; Age range: 6m+
5. VTech Move and Crawl Ball: Best toy to buy you time
Price when reviewed:£37
When turned on, the VTech Move and Crawl Ball moves itself around, with flashing lights, animal sounds and inviting little knobs and buttons to press and twist that have different results. Provided your child isn’t overwhelmed by it, they’ll follow it around the room trying to work it out – and this buys you precious time to do the washing up, eat that sandwich or make a cuppa, making it an incredibly useful addition to the house. Just watch out for older siblings picking it up and throwing it: at 635g, it’s not exactly lightweight.
Key features – Material: Rigid plastic; Weight: 635g; Age range: 3 months to 10 years
Toddlers love repetition, simple problem-solving, things that tire them out, toys that they can ride on and stuff they can control (such as buttons, flashing lights, music and so forth). They also love to throw things around – so whatever you buy them, make sure it’s robust, as it will get hurled across the room or hit against the table at some point.
Another thing toddlers love is moving things from one place to another: pouring juice from one vessel into another and back again gives them immense satisfaction. If you have a garden, now’s a great time to make a little mud kitchen outside for them to play in, so they can pour and fill to their heart’s content. All you need is a few sacrificial pots and pans, some scruffy clothes for them and a firm hand when it comes to taking shoes off at the door.
The best toys for a two-year-old
1. Gowi Toys Watermill: Best toy for bathtime
Price when reviewed:£15
This chunky and robust set of swirly-patterned waterwheels is hypnotic for a one-year-old, delightfully functional for a two-year-old and a great source of experimentation for a three-year-old. Its three suction pads stick it to the tiles of the bathroom, so you can position it safely away from the edges of the bath. Kids top it up with water, and watch it pour through and move the cogs and the tipper. Once they figure out the little valve that opens and closes to control the flow, you’ll have trouble getting them out of the bath.
Key features – Material: Plastic; Weight: 454g; Age range: 1yr+
2. Little Tikes Gas ‘n Go Mower: Best toy to buy you time
Price when reviewed:£23
Kids love playing at being grown up, and that includes pretend housework. As they push this toy mower along – either on your real lawn or simply on the living-room carpet – a bunch of little coloured beads inside a plastic window start to pop, like a mini dome from The Crystal Maze. There’s a start-up key that clicks into place and a pretend petrol cap for them to play at filling up. Real petrol-powered lawnmowers may be on their way out, but it’s going to be a long time before your kids need to worry about that.
Key features – Materials: Plastic; Weight: 1.4kg; Age range: 6m+
3. Pocket Dinosaurs: Best toy for travel
Price when reviewed:£15
Prehistoric lifeforms never looked so cute as these highly portable wooden minisaurs. They come as a complete set of 12 jolly brontosauruses, iguanodons, stegosauruses and more, plus four little trees and two volcanos. Children will love making little worlds with them, and can play together without territorial battles – brilliant for cousins who don’t see each other often. They’re also safe to have around when babies are on the loose, as there are no swallowable parts. And the gender-neutral colours and design will be a welcome relief for parents who are starting to develop a nervous tic at the sight of anything pink.
Buy Pocket Dinosaurs from Jo Maman Bébé
Key features – Materials: Wood; Weight: 0.4g; Age range: 18m+
4. Lego Duplo: Best to start them building
Price when reviewed: Sets from £9
Foster a lifelong love of creativity with Duplo, the chunky, toddler-friendly version of Lego that’s specially formulated to be safe for young children. My First Rocket is a great introduction to how the bricks fit together, although you’ll probably find your two-year-old spends most of their time deconstructing your perfectly assembled designs (come on, we all know the real reason we buy kids Lego). We also love the Number Train, which comprises four wheel-along carriages, quite a few bricks – some marked with the digits one to nine – plus a little driver and a cat or dog to sit on top, which adds a personal touch.
Key features – Material: Plastic; Weight: various; Age range: 18m+
5. Brio First Railway: Best investment
Price when reviewed:£41
Don’t think for a second that trains are just for boys. Any toy that can be assembled and disassembled will appeal to boys and girls of this age. And Brio’s railway sets are so popular that cheaper brands such as Ikea and BigJigs make their own sets with compatible connectors. The wooden construction may look retro, but it’s a durable material that will last for generations – and it’s FSC-certified, so you know it’s responsibly sourced. This set, consisting of two trains, ten pieces of track, six connections and a tunnel, isn’t the cheapest out there, but if it’s your first set, you may as well splash out. It also makes a perfect present, because if the child ends up with two sets it doesn’t matter – that just means more trains and track to play with.
Key features – Material: Wood, metal on train wheels, plastic features on accessories; Weight: 680g; Age range: 18m+
Three-year-olds are beginning to grasp reason and logic (albeit their own peculiar kind), so toys that require a bit of thought – jigsaws, stacking stuff, building blocks etc – all suddenly become appealing. They’re getting the hang of brushing their teeth and doing up buttons, so toys that require dexterity, such as modelling, painting and other crafty stuff starts making more sense. They might be starting to recognize their own name, so now’s the time to start investing in letters, whether fridge letters or otherwise. Imaginary play is also big, so think about toys that facilitate little chefs, waiters, doctors, hairdressers and astronauts. This can be in the form of costume, props, games or everyday living. And don’t throw away that massive cardboard box the new washing machine came in – cut a couple of holes in it and it becomes a castle or a space rocket!
The best toys for a three-year-old
1. Bathtime Buddies Wet ‘n’ Stick Alphabet: Best toy for bathtime
Price when reviewed:£7
Now your child is starting to recognise numbers and letters, it’s a great time to start exposing them to alphabet-themed toys. As long as you’ve got clean tiles, these bathtime letters are a great way for them to discover words without feeling that they’re being taught. They’re easy to stick and pull away from the wall, and they dry out well in situ. There are 65 letters in this set, and while the “i” and “j” are irritatingly missing their dots, it’s still the best toy around for learning lower-case letter shapes.
Key features – Materials: Foam; Weight: 181g; Age range: 3years+
2. Little Tikes Cook ‘n Store Kitchen: Best for playing grown-up
Price when reviewed:£60
Little Tikes creates a brilliant pretend-grown-up world for children to play in, with toys including the Gas ‘n Go mower and those ubiquitous red-and-yellow cars. The Cook ‘n Store Kitchen is a similar price to the popular Ikea play kitchen, but it comes pre-assembled, and weighs about a third less, being made mainly of plastic. It’s coloured in a neutral red, white and beige, so it doesn’t create an eyesore in the corner of a room, and features a microwave, stove, oven, fridge, sink and washing-up stand. It’s even big enough for several children to play with at once, though this may not work out in practice...
Key features – Materials: BPA-free plastic; Weight: 5.4kg; Age range: 18months+
3. Jojo Maman Bébé Picnic Basket with Wooden Food: Best toy for fantasy play
Price when reviewed:£32
There isn’t a three-year-old alive who doesn’t love to spread the blanket, pour the tea and dole out the rations (whether real or imaginary). This traditional-looking picnic set from Jojo Maman Bébé has everything: a gingham tablecloth, a thermos flask, Cornish blue-striped mugs, 20 wooden foodstuffs and a wicker-style basket. Children absolutely love it, and it contains plenty of healthy play-fruit and sandwich options as well as two little cupcakes. The paint is child-safe, so you don’t need to worry about it being chewed by younger siblings: it should withstand as many picnics as you want to host.
Key features – Materials: Wood, plastic, cotton; Weight: 1.22kg; Age range: 3years+
4. Djeco Jigsaw Puzzle: Best developmental toy
Price when reviewed: from £10.75
Toddler jigsaws are largely exercises in remembering what goes where. But at three, kids are starting to employ logical thinking and actually work out for themselves which pieces fit together. Djeco’s jigsaws for three- and four-year-olds are excellent for experimenting with, as they’re made from strong cardboard and are easy to fit together and break apart. The artwork is beautifully painted, and the subjects are highly engaging – knights and dragons are always a big hit with three-year-olds. Although this one’s officially recommended for ages four and up, my son was able to put it together from his third birthday onwards – he just isn’t very respectful when it comes to breaking it apart yet.
Buy the Dieco Jigsaw Puzzle from Bird Kids
Key features – Materials: Cardboard; Age range: 4+ (but can be done by 3-year-olds)
5. LeapFrog/VTech LeapPad Ultimate Tablet: Best toy for learning technology
Price when reviewed:£110
If, like many families, you’re trying to keep your child away from handheld electronics for as long as possible, then you can ignore this entry. But if you’re happy to embrace technology then a child’s tablet is a real parenting hack. Want a lie-in on Sunday morning? Long car journey looming? This tablet from LeapFrog may be the solution you’re looking for. It’s a perfect first tablet for ages three and up, with access to more than 800 games and apps and a kid-friendly browser that lets them discover the world of the internet without running into anything dodgy. Crucially, it can also withstand drops and impacts.
Key features – Materials: Plastic; Weight: 540g; Age range: 3years+