When it comes to Ace, I prefer wooden toys over plastic any day of the week. His wooden toys are sturdy and timeless while still being colorful and educational. With many of the plastic, electronic toys, they make blaring, annoying noise at will. Most of our wooden toys are nice and quiet. For toys like Ace’s wooden instruments, the sound is much more tolerable and simply stops when he stops. They don’t make phantom noises from the bottom of the toybox hours later and they don’t require batteries, which we never seem to have.
As far as wooden toy brands, our favorites are Hape and Melissa and Doug, but we have others that we really like too. Here, I’ll give you a rundown of some of our favorites and what we deem to be the best wooden toys for toddlers.
Hape Rainbow Xylophone
– Ace is able to associate different sounds with the different sizes of the keys. And he gets practice naming his colors. He plays the heck out of this thing but it looks as good as the day we got it.
First Act Discovery Junior Bongos
– Let’s be honest. Ace will make a drum out of anything that even remotely resembles one. We went to a drum show and demonstration a couple months ago and he lost his mind. So let’s just say these bongos are one of his favorite toys.
Hape Park and Go Garage
– This one of our lasting favorites. Ace uses the two cars and the helicopter that came with it but he also uses all his other mini cars on it too. It also helps develop his motor skills. There is an elevator which is operated by a twistable knob and simple pulley system. There are ramps that connect the different levels that rest on elastic band which sit in grooves on the back of the ramps. Its a super simple system, but it gives Ace something to concentrate on and a sense of accomplishment when he puts them back on. Lastly, there is a little gas pump on one side that fits right into the back of the cars. Again, it takes some concentration for him to get them attached just right, but he loves it.
Melissa & Doug Wooden Flip and Serve Pancake Set
– Ace loves cooking and helping me out in the kitchen. So when he got this pancake set as a birthday gift I knew he would love it and I couldn’t have been more right. All the pieces are wood and have little velcro dots that help keep them from sliding all over the place. There’s a griddle, a “knife”, a spatula, two pancakes and all sorts of butter, blueberries and chocolate chips for toppings. The box it came in has a plate and place serving printed inside. He loves this thing. He flips and flips and serves and then takes them back and cooks and flips the pancakes some more. I think we have a budding chef on our hands.
Hape Bamboo Mighty Mini Racer Toy Car
– Ace has a ton of toy cars, but he calls this the “good one”. It’s form factor and rubbery wheels grip the ground much better than his other cars. So it rolls faster, quieter and straighter than his other cars.
Areaware Cubebot
– Ace’s 2nd birthday party was at the Robot Garage, a building block workshop for kids. So when he got this Cubebot as a gift, it was a perfect extension of the party. I don’t know if it’s completely unbreakable, but he plays with it all the time and hasn’t managed to put a blemish on it yet.
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I’m sure I’m missing some, so feel free to make it known in the comments. What are your favorite wooden toys for your toddlers?
