Ultimate Gift Guide Of Montessori Toys For 2 to 3 Year Olds

Choosing montessori gifts for a 2 year old is a great way to engage little hands and minds. While the montessori method was intended for schools and Dr. Maria Montessori never created any official educational toys for the home, these are the best montessori gift ideas for 2 to 3 year olds that fall in line with the montessori philosophy encouraging independence, a deep focus and problem-solving skills, as well as challenging their growing bodies!

What is a montessori toy?

A montessori toy is typically a simple toy that encourages a deep concentration on a single skill rooted in reality and practical life skills. Colors are typically muted with a focus on natural elements.

With that said, Dr. Maria Montessori created a pedogagy, not toys and her name was never trade-marked. Thus many toys market themselves as “montessori” when they are in fact not.

What a montessori toy is NOT:

First and foremost, montessori-friendly toys are never battery powered electronic toys that offer an overstimulating experience of lights and sounds. With that said, montessori toys are also NOT expensive all wooden toys and natural materials!

In fact, often times the most montessori items today are plastic! That's right!

I saw a brand suggesting this cleaning set; and while it's beautiful, it's not functional. A true montessori approach to educational toys is rooted in the real world and would focus less on role play and more on real life use! No need to buy a wooden squirt bottle for $35, when you can give your child the real thing for $2 and they can *actually* do practical life activities alongside you! Now if you love the aesthetic and heirloom toys, that's totally ok to get wooden set, just wanted to offer some tips to help you navigate the marketing of montessori gifts today with young toddlers!

How to choose the best montessori gifts?

Montessori is a child-centered approach, meaning you ideally choose montessori-inspired toys based off your 2 year olds interests. The right toys will always capture your kids attention deeply. The ultimate goal, and best toys for toddlers, always cultivate their concentration and focus first and foremost, quickly followed by toys that encourage confidence and independence in their real life skills.

Discover our most used montessori toys for 2 to 3 years old that we've actually owned and gotten a TON of use out of! It's broken down by price point (use the table of content drop down for easy navigation!).

After this, be sure to check out Montessori Baby Toys For 0-6 months, Montessori Gift Ideas For 6 to 12 Month Olds, and my Montessori Friendly Gift Guide For 1 Year Old to 2 Year Olds!

Best Montessori Toys For 2 to 3 Year Olds

Montessori Toys Under $20

Child friendly knife

Montessori is all about introducing practical life skills for everyday life and providing young children with age and skill appropriate tools to do so.

Toddlers can start practice chopping and spreading with a child sized knife. All of these make great options depending on personal preference:

NOTE: If you prefer a nice kitchen set for toddlers, think montessori heirloom toys, then this set is gorgeous! Additionally, Lovevery offers a feeding bundle too which is more for tableware, but we get DAILY use out of!

2 and 3 piece puzzles

We LOVE these 2 and 3 piece puzzles from Learning Journey.

They feature photographs of real animals and objects and are great for teaching loads of concepts. They work fine motor skills too.

You can choose whichever puzzle based on your child's current interested. We usually stout 5 to 10 sets of puzzles for her to pull out and sort and do. I also recommend these for travel. Just toss 5-10 puzzles in a bag to take them with you!

If you already have these, then check out more of the best toddler puzzles here!

Parents will love this great set too as it gives two year old toddlers the chance to practice the practical life skill of getting dressed, without the pressure and rush of leaving the house!

These are a great twist on the classic montessori dressing boards. You can even take these on the go in the car as a busy board of sorts. My daughter would work on the buttons, zip, and snaps for such a long time during this sensitive period.

And trust me, you'll be grateful the sooner your kid masters this!

We find the peg shape sorter with the different shapes provides just the right amount of challenge making it a great option for young 2 year olds. To encourage use of this toddler puzzle, I suggest setting it out on a montessori shelf undone with the pieces in a basket next to the wooden puzzle frame.

NOTE: there are similar options that are rectangular, those are easier than the square wooden puzzle base which we recommend as it continues to provide a challenge a little longer!

They also encourage working on a pencil grip, hand-eye coordination, and provide a different sensory experience than a typical paint and paint brush.

Montessori Gifts Under $50

While many people love the brand Schleich, it is the most expensive and I found this life cycle set that we personally own and it looks exactly like the Schleich ones. The paint on mine has worn a little, but that's also consistent with the Schleich reviews I read as well.

As kids get older you can use the cards to teach about the different teeth too!

It is pretty well made overall (ours has dropped a ton of times and has no wear), but the screws can get a little loose, so just retightening regularly and be mindful if you have a baby around.

I also love that it comes with a tray you can use for other activities on your child's play shelf!

My toddler LOVES her timer so much, she even brought it to the park with her to show her friends!

It's a simple concept to deepen their sense of the world. Set the timer to let them know how much time they have until a transition (e.g. 2 minutes until the TV goes off!). It starts to lay a foundation for time management, helps manage expectations, and keeps things running more smoothly with 2 year old children in my experience.

You can also ask a protesting toddler how much more time they need (good news: they usually only say 2 or 5 minutes at this age) and set the timer accordingly. They'll appreciate being heard, parents will appreciate skipping a fight.

They can use them for pretend play or to help out alongside their caregivers. My daughter's favorite items are the broom, dust pan, squeegee, and squirt bottle.

Melissa + Doug make two sets I highly recommend: the dusting/sweeping stand up set, and then a squirt + squeegee under the counter set. They sell at a ton of retailers for you to choose from too:

It comes with sequencing cards for your toddler to replicate the pattern. Then you can just use an old shoelace or waistband drawstring as a lacing string with the beads.

And the dowel set up can come in handy for a lot of at home activities with toilet paper rolls, ring tosses, and all sorts of other stuff.

With that said, if you've ever owned a Melissa & Doug pretend play house like this, you know the printed paper on the plywood can wear pretty quick and their items aren't always the most durable. While the reviews were overwhelmingly positive, a few reviews I came across said the locks and corners did wear faster than expected.

I had gotten the Manhattan Toy Company one but decided to return it. I didn't like that the button didn't press down and while the removable lenses are great in theory, I know we'll lose them so fast and they pop out a little too easily for my liking.

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Instead I got the kiko + gg one with a working button, two neck strap options, a built in kaleidoscope lense with a yellow filter attached. 10/10 recommend it!

Under $50

Of course you are paying more for a wooden set, so for the mom and baby animal matching we prefer this puzzle instead which is only around $15.

They have a wide variety of options ranging as low as $7 to as much as $60. They sell DIY mix, packs of play dough jars, and then also themed play dough kits for the holidays, birthdays, and pretend food. My daughter personally LOVES a good play dough sensory board and these kits come complete with all the accessories you'll need to bring a play dough pizza or birthday cupcake to life!

$75 and up

I've covered all things Lovevery here – including individual play kit reviews, FAQs, and Amazon dupes.

Balance Bike

For the best balance bike to grow with your child, we highly recommend the Woom. Their bikes come in 40% lighter than the average bike, making it the easiest bike to learn how to ride in our experience. They also have options to grow with your child from balance bike to pedal bike.

We suggest going from the Woom 1 balance bike straight to the Woom 3 AUTOMAGIC which has an automatic gear switch built in for kids that has been a game changer for my daughter!

The HOMER app is my daughter's absolute favorite learning app! They have a Black Friday deal right now too where you can get 35% Off HOMER's Annual Plan + Contixo V10 Kids Tablet Bundle through 11/28 when you click here!

With that said we want to bring your attention to a few:

• The Hape All-in-One Wooden Kid’s Art Easel with Paper Roll is a fan favorite for good reason — it offers longevity, comes with a magnetic whiteboard, black chalkboard, and has built-in storage for the paper roll on top and paint pots with holders below all at a moderate price point.
• For small space the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Double-Sided Tabletop Easel is the perfect choice. It's affordable and easy to storeaway, travel with, and use!
• The KiwiCo Marble Run + Art Easel offers a truly unique experience for old toddlers with one side featuring a double sided chalkboard and dry erase panel and the other side featured a marble run (pieces included). The height is adjustable and this is a favorite in our house with our kids and friends up to 12 years old!

My daughter has been OBSESSED with having her own little table/bench set up and it's a smaller footprint than our previous kitchen tower.

I have an entire buying guide on choosing the right kitchen learning tower here – we personally got a second one because we get SO much use out of the first, and wanted something for the bathroom too.

More Montessori Gift Lists

I've shared the Best Montessori Baby Toys For 0-6 months with tons of gift ideas that grow with your baby through 6-9 months and 9-12 months and some even beyond that! Plus my favorite montessori toys for 6 to 12 month olds here!

But one of my absolute favorite gift guides is my montessori gifts 1 to 2 year olds! It covers items that really act as a cornerstone to any montessori home, and will last for YEARS! Many of the great gift ideas in there can even be introduced as early as 10 months old, like a toddler kitchen helper.

Originally published 11/8/21; Updated 10/30/23