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A Little People carry case in the Forest Friends line, used to stage pretend woodland play and pack the toys away afterward.
Why we like it
In a doctor's waiting room, a toddler who invents little stories can open this case and begin a new one.
The Forest Friends set hands her a ready cast, and it all closes up again when her name is called. She can line the characters along the chair arm and let each one take a turn talking.
A shape sorter box where blocks are matched to their openings, pushed inside, then retrieved so the sorting can start over.
Why we like it
Janod's wooden shape sorter gives a gap-posting toddler boy a box made for exactly that habit.
Janod rates it from 12 months, so the matching is well within his reach. A sorting round at the coffee table fills the wait before dinner.
A set of building blocks that press onto each other to make towers and other shapes, then pull apart so the building can begin again.
Why we like it
Infantino's Press & Stay blocks let a 2-year-old girl new to stacking push pieces into towers.
The maker labels them for 6 months and up, so a toddler her age is well inside that range. Once a tower gets tall, she tugs the pieces off and starts again on the rug.
A Corn Popper toy car from Fisher-Price that rolls across the room, ready to push, chase and fetch during everyday floor play.
Why we like it
Scooting after anything that moves, a busy boy gets a Fisher-Price Corn Popper car he can launch down the hallway and fetch.
He can shove it toward a parent at the far end, then scramble to grab it on the way back. When it wedges under a door, he can crawl over and fish it out.
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A Barbie medical playset for acting out doctor visits and checkups with dolls, settling each patient in at a pretend clinic.
Why we like it
Sick dolls need a hospital, and the Barbie Care Clinic makes room for a preschooler who patches up every patient.
Its maker labels it for ages 3 and up, so her own memories of waiting rooms become stories she directs. Her crayon chart of cured patients ends up taped beside the playset.
A Bluey picture matching game from Ravensburger where players turn over pieces to find pairs and remember where each character sits.
Why we like it
This Bluey memory game puts a familiar face on every card for a preschool boy who quotes the show.
He can name the whole cast without help, so each flip lets him call out who just appeared. On a family vacation, he can deal the cards across a hotel bed and challenge a parent to keep up.
Sticker activity books with puffy stickers to press onto the pages, building pictures and making up stories along the way.
Why we like it
Pages in these Melissa & Doug books fill up with puffy pieces that a four-year-old places wherever she likes.
Telling tales about her toys is how she plays now, so each sheet becomes a stage for her next plot.
A LEGO City building set that clicks together into a police motorcycle for staging pretend chase scenes at home.
Why we like it
A boy who pins a paper badge to his shirt and hands out tickets can build a patrol bike for his rounds.
At four, he wants the officer's role for himself, and with 65 pieces the build he snaps together turns straight into his ride on duty. The finished bike parks beside his ticket book between shifts.
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A picture guessing game in which the player whose turn it is sketches a secret word and everyone else races to name it.
Why we like it
Pictionary Air drops the paper: the artist draws in midair with a light pen, and the sketch shows up on a phone or tablet screen.
This edition puts kids on one team and grown-ups on the other, which gives a quick guesser a whole living room of adults to beat.
Handheld radios for passing messages back and forth by voice between rooms or around the yard, with each radio powered by AA batteries.
Why we like it
From the far end of the yard, he can radio a friend on the porch with Retevis walkie-talkies and hear the reply right away, no shouting across the grass needed.
On a camping trip, the same radios keep two tents in touch after dark.
A mermaid-themed craft set for putting together a small terrarium, planting it and arranging a decorated scene to keep on a shelf.
Why we like it
Planting comes first in the Mini Garden from Creativity for Kids, then she arranges a mermaid scene around her new plantings.
Mermaids and muddy hands come in one small project, and keeping the terrarium watered afterward gives her something to look after.
A Nerf football for playing catch outdoors, thrown back and forth across a yard, park or open field between friends or family.
Why we like it
Whistling through the air on every long pass, the Nerf Vortex makes a backyard throw sound like a big play.
The grip is shaped for easy catches, and a tail helps it fly farther, so the routes he draws up at recess work just as well at home.
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A set of collectible plush characters to hold, swap around and line up together on a shelf or desk as a display.
Why we like it
These Micromallows bring a 10-year-old Squishmallows collector a fresh batch of characters for her growing set.
She picks which character comes along to a sleepover and which ones stay home with her collection.
A K'NEX construction kit for building several different amusement park rides, with pieces that come apart and go back together as the next ride.
Why we like it
Should the boy you have in mind turn spare parts into machines, this K'NEX set gives him a carnival attraction.
At his age, he sticks with a long project across several sittings, then strips it down for a fresh design. His finished carnival attraction claims a corner of the bedroom floor until the next version goes up.
An electronic virtual pet toy that someone looks after day by day, checking in on it and keeping up with its everyday needs.
Why we like it
Not ready for a hamster?
A Tamagotchi Original puts a digital creature in her care, a good fit if she feeds the goldfish without being reminded. Its needs pop up through the day, so the pet rides along in her backpack for check-ins at recess.
An electronics building kit in the Snap Circuits range, used to put together circuits and explore how electricity flows from part to part.
Why we like it
The SC-100 makes sense for a boy who keeps asking what goes on inside the TV remote and the toaster.
Here those questions turn into layouts he connects himself, swapping a piece to see what changes. Spread across his bedroom floor, a finished design waits for a parent to come check whether it works.
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