Christmas gifts for a 2 year old: 46 picks from a paediatric OT
Here are my Christmas gift picks for two-year-olds, grouped by type of play. Lots of them are inexpensive, and every one gives little ones a chance to build skills while they play.
Check the age rating. Always follow the advice on the box. Many toys have small parts and may be rated three years and over, or need close supervision. Always choose based on your own knowledge of your child.
Prices checked October 2026, and they change often. Some links are affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. More at the bottom.
Books
5 giftsBooks are an underrated gift. They tend to be inexpensive, and with so many people buying toys, a lot of kids don't get many books at Christmas.
A cute touch and feel book. The textures add an extra interactive bit that keeps little ones engaged in reading.
A famous one, with over a million copies sold. Cheap, and a book they'll ask for again and again.
A timeless classic with a matching soft toy. Using the toy to act out the book makes reading interactive and engaging. A beautiful gift.
A classic for good reason. Simple language, lift-the-flap fun, and it travels everywhere.
A bedtime story about a little dragon who counts down the ten minutes to bed. Good to read once they're already in bed.
Cause and effect
7 giftsCause and effect is a big skill from about 12 months to two. It just means I do an action and it leads to a reaction: I hit the peg and it goes down. Toys built around it are a great pick at this age.
The simplest version: hit the peg, it goes down. It's also early tool practice, which helps later with colouring, drawing and holding cutlery.
Pour the water and watch it fall through and spin the windmill. It sticks onto the side of the bath, or use it in any water play.
Push it along and watch the balls pop out. Great for early walkers: exciting, motivating, and simple.
For kids who love fiddling, picking things up, pressing buttons and doing all the things.
Hammer the ball, watch it drop through and roll away.
Perfect for toddlers who love movement. Balance, coordination and body awareness, plus lights that come on when they step, hop or roll something onto them. Cause and effect that toddlers adore.
A super engaging sensory toy. The airflow, movement and popping balls encourage experimenting, and it grows with them. Great for little engineers in the making.
Crayons, dough and first tools
3 giftsA tool is anything you hold in your hand to do a job. I don't mean Bunnings power tools. Practicing now helps later with colouring, drawing and holding cutlery, plus hand-eye coordination.
It might feel like a stationery staple, but fat grip crayons are perfect for kids just getting started. They're easier to hold, and little hands don't tire out while those muscles are still building.
I can vouch for this 100%. A similar water magic book is a core item in my kids' travel kit, because every time I tested it, this was the one kids kept coming back to and spent the longest on. And it's reusable.
I don't know many kids who don't like Play-Doh, and $15 is a great price for four colours plus the tools. Creating, making, and building hand strength and fine motor skills.
Character toys
3 giftsIf you've heard me talk about pretend play, you'll know I'm a big fan of character toys without lots of tiny accessories. There's lots of research on what pretend play does for development, and at two a lot of kids are starting to make up characters and talk through them.
Perfect for adding to any pretend play, and a toy they won't outgrow for years.
Characters they already love, with years of pretend play in them.
Chunky animals for pretend play, naming and animal noises.
Pretend play at home
6 giftsKids learn from what you do around the house, and that's what they play out. Cooking, eating, cleaning and caring for babies are usually the first scenes, and these sets fit straight into bigger scenes as their play grows.
How cute is this, especially if you've got a coffee machine at home.
Pram, bed, feeding bits. Opens up all the looking-after play, which some kids will do for hours.
Great if your little one likes baby dolls, especially if they're seeing young babies around them or have a younger sibling.
A well-stocked play kitchen gets used for years. Cooking, serving, running a cafe, feeding the dog.
Six soft, huggable babies with different skin tones, in a basket ready for play. Beautiful for nurturing play, early language, and seeing the whole world reflected back in their toys.
Building blocks
4 giftsDUPLO is a great introduction to more complicated building, with pieces big enough for small hands, and a step towards LEGO later on. I like sets where what they build becomes something to play with. First people, then a town to put them in: that's how pretend play tends to develop.
I really like this one at two. What they build is usable: it becomes a train for pretend play, and it comes with little people, which ticks my character toy box.
Really like this one. It has the characters, the ice cream stand is a simple first build, and the car gets used in so many kinds of play.
A great next step in building, with a fun sensory element. They can enjoy squishing and feeling the blocks as well as building with them.
Really love this. Once they've got people, building a little town gives them bigger scenes to play out, which lines up with how pretend play develops.
Stacking, building and puzzles
4 giftsThe next step on from wooden blocks: things to stack, interlocking pieces and a first proper puzzle.
Open-ended and only $15. Build a tower, nest them, use them as buckets or hats in the sandpit and bath, make mountains, or hide toys under them.
Big floor pieces sized for little hands. Working a puzzle on the floor adds crawling and reaching, so the whole body joins in.
If your child can do peg puzzles with the little knobs, this is a good next step. Problem solving, hand-eye coordination and visual perception. Name the animals and colours, make the animal sounds, or use the pieces in pretend play. I love the animals in this one.
Great if your child is into building and stacking. A nice step from wooden blocks to interlocking pieces that are big enough for two-year-olds to master.
Water, sand and sensory play
7 giftsFor kids who love water and sand play, this really fills their cup. A summer Christmas helps.
Silks for play are one of the most underrated toys. Peek-a-boo, dress-up, dancing, sensory exploration. Endless uses.
Bluey and her family as bath pourers. Fill them, tip them and watch where the water goes.
Fill a bin with rice, dried pasta or kinetic sand and add these. Scooping, pouring, tweezering things out.
A hammock swing that wraps around while it moves. One for kids who like swinging and being squashed. Hangs from a doorframe or beam.
It's so cute that the characters can swim around the lazy river on the outside. Play out beach days and bring in some pretend play too.
It looks like it holds a bit more water, for those summer days when you don't mind getting wet.
Ride-ons and active play
5 giftsFor kids who are always on the move. These are all reasonable picks, so it comes down to budget and how far you walk.
Hopefully they'll ride it all the way to the park and back, but you may end up carrying it. Who knows?
Rock on your own or with someone facing you. Two kids have to find the same rhythm, which is half the entertainment.
Starts as a trike and becomes a balance bike, and it's wooden.
Great for riding around the backyard. It's been around forever, so it's clearly a classic.
Music and stories
2 giftsI talk a lot about rhythm and how it can be calming. Babies hear Mum's heartbeat in the uterus, and that's one suggested reason rhythm is so grounding for a lot of kids.
If you can handle the noise, I think it's a really great pick. Instruments let them dance along to their favourite songs and express themselves.
Really popular. I don't have one myself, but I've seen countless parents rave about it. A great screen-free way for kids to listen to music and stories.
Next: Christmas gifts for a 3 year old →
Some links in this post are Amazon affiliate links, and Kidera earns a small commission if you buy through one. It costs you nothing extra and it doesn't change what makes the list. Nobody has paid to be here. Prices were read off Australian retailer pages in September and October 2026.
Brittany has been registered with AHPRA for nearly nine years and has run her own practice for five, working with kids and their families across homes, schools and her clinic. Clinical days are Monday to Wednesday. Thursdays and Fridays she builds Kidera, the child development brand she founded in Perth.
What she doesn't do here: diagnose anything, or tell you what your particular child needs. If something about your child's development is nagging at you, the person to talk to is someone who can actually watch them play, your GP, your child health nurse, or an OT who can do a proper assessment.
Kidera is at kidera.com.au.
