Two-year-olds look at your face to work out how to react to something new, so your own delight on Christmas morning is part of the gift.
Many are also starting to pair toys up, like toy food on a toy plate. Gifts that invite that kind of play-along fun are waiting for her below.
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Arts and crafts
Round crayons roll off the high chair tray the moment she lets go.
The ten in this Honeysticks pack are triangular and stay put, and their flat sides give a little fist an easy hold while she covers paper next to your shopping list.
Vehicles
The BIG Bobby Car Classic gives a 2-year-old girl a sit-on car she moves with her feet.
Pushing toys around is her favorite game right now, and this time she rides along. On dry days she can take it out to the patio.
Games and puzzlesAges 1+
American brand
Big knobs on every piece make this jungle puzzle a fit for a girl still learning to lift and place shapes.
Each animal drops into its own cutout, usually with a roar or a squeak from her. A child already fitting jigsaw pieces together may find it too easy.
Dolls and figures
American brand
With no TV character attached, this bunny suits a girl who would rather have something soft to squeeze.
It is a sensory plush from GUND's Cozys line, sized to ride on her lap in the car seat and easy to hold onto for the length of any drive.
Games and puzzles
American brand
If she sits in the cart on every grocery run, these Learning Resources play fruits and vegetables put her in charge of the produce at home.
She can sort the pieces by color, stack each pile in its own spot and then sell you a handful.
American brand
This Laugh & Learn coffee machine gives a girl who watches the morning brew her own café.
Copying grown-ups is her favorite game, and here she gets to be the one pouring. Every order she fills then gets carried over to you on the couch.
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American brand
Every sofa crack in your house probably hides one of her toys.
Spike the hedgehog gives that poking and stuffing habit a better outlet: she can tug his quills loose and push them back in, one at a time. It keeps her hands busy, and the TV remote might finally stay where you left it.
Ages 2+
American brand
Unicorns turn up in half her picture books, and this Melissa & Doug puzzle puts one in her hands.
The thick wooden pieces are easy for small fingers to grab, and with only a handful to place, she can finish the rainbow picture before her attention drifts. Then out they come for another round.
Hape's Double Bubble bead maze gives a 2-year-old girl wire curves to follow with her fingers.
Suction cups hold the base steady on a smooth table, and the nesting beads add peek-a-boo play. She can slide the beads around while you wrap presents.
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Ages 1 to 5
Woodland make-believe travels well in this Forest Friends case from Fisher-Price's Little People line.
The toys pack away inside when playtime ends, so the game can come along to the park and back without a hunt for missing pieces. Pick it if she never leaves the house without a toy in her hand.
Unwrapped on Christmas morning, a small La Newborn baby doll from JC Toys gives her a baby to dress and care for like the grown-ups she watches.
A knit outfit, a hat and a pacifier come with it, which means clothes to change and a fussy one to quiet from the start.
Ages 1+
American brand
Sesame Street fans know Abby Cadabby on sight, and this GUND plush brings her off the screen and into the playroom.
Soft enough to hug and easy for small arms to lug around, Abby can take a seat beside her on the couch whenever the show comes on and watch along.
American brand
These New Sprouts baskets give a store-watching toddler girl a grocery haul to tote around.
She copies what lands in your cart using stuffed animals and blocks. Then she drops the full load at your feet to unpack.
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Ages 1.5+
Danish brand
This Duplo pet set suits a 2-year-old girl who loves animals and wants to build her own.
Its 24 big bricks snap into a dog, cat or rabbit, then come apart again. She can name each pet and carry it to the couch.
Infantino's Press & Stay blocks suit a girl turning two with a habit of stacking and knocking things down.
The maker labels them for 6 months and up, so she is well inside that range. Blocks snap together from any side, so she can build on the rug.
Ages 1.5+
85 pieces · set 10914
Danish brand
This Duplo brick box suits a girl turning 2 who stacks everything within reach.
Its 85 pieces give her plenty to click together while you wrap presents. Then she can knock the whole pile down and start again.
Ages 2+
10 pieces · set 10442
Danish brand
Duplo penguins and lions give a two-year-old who roars at every zoo picture her own animals to march across the rug.
Animal noises are her favorite game, so each creature she snaps onto its bricks gets a growl or squawk.
Hape's stacking block set suits a two-year-old girl who builds beside you and topples every tower.
There is no right way to stack them, so she decides when each tower comes down. On the living room rug, she sets a block on top of yours and waits for the crash.
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From 6 months
American brand
Before breakfast on Saturday, a toddler who bops to any beat can run a dance party from her own DJ station.
She watches grown-ups pick the songs at home, and this lets her be the one choosing. The whole setup waits by the sofa for her next set.
When the toddler you are buying for bounces to every song, this VTech Zoo Jamz tambourine lets her join in.
Toddlers bob to any tune they hear, and tapping a hedgehog gives that dancing a rhythm of her own. This spiky toy sits in her basket between songs, ready for the next one on the kitchen speaker.
American brand
LeapFrog's toy keyboard gives a two-year-old who mimics every grown-up her own instrument while the family sings carols.
Copying what adults do is how she joins in right now, and a racket of her own puts her in the chorus. Her loudest made-up carol gets repeated until everyone in the room picks up the last line.
Half-sung songs fill a two-year-old girl's day, and the Hape Mighty Echo gives them a microphone.
She repeats the bits she knows, so holding a mic turns each repeat into her turn to perform. Out on stroller walks, she can hold it up and sing to every passing dog.
Kitchen dance parties are her favorite game, and VTech's Bark and Bop pup hands a toddler her own DJ.
She bobs to every beat, so a pup that answers her taps with songs puts the party in her hands.
American brand
LeapFrog's Learn and Groove saxophone puts a horn in the hands of a two-year-old who toots along to every song.
Two-year-olds copy every grown-up move they see, so an instrument shaped like a real one lets her be the musician. The horn heads straight to her lips whenever a song comes on.
Hape's Beaded Raindrops gives a 2-year-old who loves noisy toys a wooden rainmaker of her own.
Each flip sends beads pattering, and she decides when the next shower starts. During a Christmas song, she can hold it up and join in.
American brand
If the toddler on your list hums made-up tunes to her stuffed animals, this LeapFrog player gives her real ones.
Toddlers copy every chorus they hear, and having her own lets her choose when the next round begins. Her own dance routine, made up on the kitchen floor, gets shown off to whoever walks in.
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Ages 2+
American brand
Each peg in the Melissa & Doug Pound-A-Peg goes down under her whacks, meeting a two-year-old's urge to bang on every tray.
Labeled by the maker for ages 2 and up, it gives her table drumming a spot where banging is welcome. The flattened row waits on the playroom shelf until she wants another go.
Arts and crafts
American brand
Most two-year-olds mash every color together within minutes, which is why twelve cans of Play-Doh beat a single tub.
When the first batch turns into a brownish blob, a fresh Jewel Colors can is waiting to be pressed into pancakes and poked full of finger holes.
Arts and crafts
American brand
Crayola egg crayons suit a 2-year-old who wants to scribble like the grown-ups.
The rounded shape fills a whole palm, so a small fist can hold on. She can cover paper at the table while you wrap presents.
Books
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a picture book for a 2-year-old who likes being read to.
The maker labels it for ages 2 and up. She can sit in your lap and point at the pages as you read.
Books
American brand
After lunch in your lap, a toddler who calls out every dog and cup she spots has LeapFrog pages to point at.
Labeling everything is her big project now: she taps a picture, you name it, she shouts it back. Her favorite page soon gets flipped open and held up for you to see.
Vehicles
Swedish brand
On the hallway floor, a two-year-old who sends toy cars skidding everywhere can push a BRIO train along its own track.
Anything with wheels holds her attention right now, and rails turn those wild shoves into a path she can follow. The loop she helps piece together stays laid out by the wall for her next trip.
Vehicles
The VTech Drop and Go truck hauls whatever a two-year-old piles aboard, then dumps it at her feet.
Dumping out whatever she gathers is her favorite game now, so a toy she can push gives it wheels.
Outdoor and sports
Little Tikes Easy Score belongs with a toddler who flings everything she can lift at the laundry basket.
Her throwing has no target yet, and a hoop of her own gives every toss somewhere to go. The set waits in a corner of the living room for her next shot.
Electronics
A two-year-old who flips every box to peek underneath gets the same fun from this VTech cube.
Her fingers want to know what hides around each corner, and every turn shows a new face to jab. Her favorite side ends up pointed toward her, ready for the next round.
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Yes. The BIG Bobby Car is a sit-on car she scoots along with her feet, and the BRIO train set gives her a track to push a train around the hallway.
Half-remembered songs get a stage with the Hape Mighty Echo microphone, while the LeapFrog music player lets her pick when the next song starts.
Grocery runs come home with the Learning Resources produce set, where she sorts play fruit and vegetables and sells you some. For pretend caregiving, the JC Toys doll gives her a baby of her own to dress and look after.
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Chosen by our team from store data and what readers pick, not hands-on tests. Nothing is paid to be on this list. Recall notices checked . How we pick
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