Yasmine Zachmeyer // Little Iowa Farm

As a homeschool mom, I enjoy getting gifts for my kids that are learning oriented and will grow with them. I struggle with meaningless “toys,” but I am also not an only wooden-Mentesorri toy mom. I believe there is a fine line.

This gift guide is perfect for ages 2-4. I got my daughter some of these gifts for her 2nd birthday, and she wasn’t able to use all of them the way they were intended, but she played with them in her own way while I worked with her on the learning aspect.

The links below are Amazon affiliate links. It does not cost you anymore to order from them, but it does give me a little extra income as a stay-at-home-mom. I will only share links of products I personally recommend that I have tested or used myself. 

Toddler Flashcards – My daughter struggled with her speech, and these flashcards helped her learn to name and identify common objects. She is now 2 ½ and knows most of her colors and shapes with the help of these cards. These would make a great stocking stuffer!

Fine Motor Tool Set – If you are a sensory bin mama, these are a must! Perfect for adapting those fine motor skills in our hands. It says ages 3+, and I will say there are some that Journee wasn’t able to use at 2 when we got it, but she has grown into it.

Farm Animal Figurines – We live on a farm, so of course, these are a must for us. However, there are SO many variety packs of animals available. Think of your child’s interest and go from there. Realistic animals are great for development and learning animal names and sounds. This also encourages “small world play.”

PlayDough – A family favorite of ours. Get a variety pack as a stocking stuffer! Add a playdough tool set, and you’ve got endless hours of fun. Did you know playing with Playdough encourages language, literacy, science, and math skills?

Mega Blocks – Need a break? Get some Mega Blocks. This is a very good independent toy. They are fairly easy to put together, and once your toddler figures out how to build high towers (and knock them over), they’ll be hooked!

Magnet Tiles – These are not the true “MagnaTiles” brand, but they work just as well. These also came with number pieces that fit inside the tile and a little drawstring bag for easy clean-up. Win-win!

ABC Acorns – If you get anything on the list, PLEASE get these!! I absolutely love these little acorns. They are perfect for letter memorization, alphabet learning, word recognition, etc. Each acorn has a capital letter on the outside, and the acorn “lid” has the corresponding lower case letter. It also comes with 26 figurines that correspond with the letter. For example, the letter A has a tiny apple that goes inside, and the letter Z has a tiny zebra.

Melissa & Doug “My Daily Calender” – Who doesn’t love Melissa & Doug? I added this calendar to Journee’s Christmas gifts this year. Miss Rachel has one for “Circle Time,” and she absolutely loves following along with her on YouTube. I think this will be perfect to implement into our “homeschool” routine.

Melissa & Doug Animal Stamps – Told ya, I love M&D 😍 Journee recently started getting stamps at our local library after “Wiggle Time” and she was obsessed. So, I added this set to her gifts this year. I had bought her a few stamps from Hobby Lobby, but this set includes a TON (30) of stamps for way cheaper than you can buy them from there. Plus, these would be great for a homeschooling activity as she grows!

Woodland Animal Figures – Last, but certainly not least, another animal figures set. These woodland animals are so cute and not typically a pack you’d find at the store, so I added these to Journee’s stocking this year! I plan on using some of these as a homeschool lesson in the future to show what animals could be predators to our poultry since thar relates to our farm!

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading along! I hope I was able to give you some insight on toddler gift ideas. Please let me know if there are any other gifts you’d recommend in the comments or on social media.