Looking for the best toys for multiple ages? Here’s a roundup of toys that all of my kids have played with for many years. They’re great for entertaining a wide range of ages and perfect for keeping siblings entertained!
Hi friends!
When you have 3 kids, you find toys they all love out of necessity. No matter how much space you have, there’s simply not room for everyone to have all their own toys. A common question I get from parents who just had their second or third kid is for a list of toys that all of my kids play with.
I put together a list of my favorites. These are forever toys. The ones you can buy when your first kid is one or two and save until your youngest kid is heading to middle school! Some are expensive, but I think the fact that you can keep them around for many years gives them a lot of bang for their buck!
If you want more gift ideas, check out these posts:
- Small Business Gift Guide
- Kid Gift Ideas {Ages 4-7}
- Gift Ideas for Babies & New Moms {Baby’s First Year}
- Toddler Gift Ideas {Ages 1-3}
- Kitchen Tools For Kids
- Gifts For New Moms
- Gift Ideas for Buys Moms
- Best Gifts For Husbands
- Best Gifts For In-Laws (or Parents)
So, here are my top 10 recommendations.
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*Originally posted 10/2019. Updated 11/2023*
10 Best Toys for Multiple Ages
Play Cushions
We got this when my older two kids were 4 and 2 and have used it daily since. I even have a whole Instagram highlight of the different ways we’ve used it. It’s great for obstacle courses, forts, watching tv, saving your couch cushions, monster truck ramps, and endless other things!
Magnetic Tiles
Magnatiles are my absolute favorite.
I always recommend people splurge on the name-brand ones because I feel they work the best…and also splurge on the 100 pack because you’re going to want as many pieces as possible. But if you’re on a budget, Picasso Tiles works fine too and they do work with Magna-Tiles – we have some of each kind and use them together.
I also recommend a magnetic board to build on (aff link). If you’re on a budget you can use an old cookie sheet!
Building Block Toys
These really depend on the ages of your kids. I recommend skipping Megablocks and going straight to Duplos. With my kids, Duplos were great for the middle years – ages 2-5 – because they’re easy to stick together.
It can be tricky to move to smaller legos with older siblings while you still have younger ones that they can be a choking hazard for. My oldest was happy playing with these until he was about 5.
Starting around age 4 or 5, smaller lego sets can be a better choice.
Other options: Playmobil — Erector Set — K’Nex
Blocks
Jumbo Cardboard Blocks – a pain to assemble but once you only have to do it once. They’re sturdy and
kids will love to build with, knock down, crash into, jump over etc!
If you want something smaller, go with standard wooden blocks.
Fort Builder
Ultimate Fort Builder – We love this one from Lakeshore Learning and love it. This one from Amazon is similar. These are easy to snap together.
The only thing to consider is that to make some of the designs in the booklet that comes with it, the red connectors need to be oriented a certain way (there are arrows on them) so I often need to help my kids (almost 3 & 5) set them up.
If they just want to build a big square or rectangle, or their own design, they can connect them however they want. Just throw a sheet over the top and voila!
If you want something easier, consider an Air Fort.
Train Tracks
Wooden Train Tracks – Most of the wooden tracks – Brio, Obrium, Melissa and Doug etc are interchangeable so I’d look for whichever brand you can find the best deal on and you can add more later!
You can set them up in endless patterns and can easily add to your first set to make longer and more complex tracks. They’re also great for traveling. I always pack a ziploc bag full in my suitcase with a few trains because you can set them up anywhere.
Play Kitchen
Step 2 Play Kitchen – There are tons of different models out there so you can browse around and find a design you love, one to fit your decor etc.
We got ours when my oldest turned 1 and all my kids still play with it daily. I highly recommend adding some food, this shopping cart and cash register to the mix as well.
And then you can save your food and diaper boxes and set up your own grocery store like I did here.
Doll House
Hape Doll House – I found mine on FB marketplace…a great place to look for any of this stuff, but both my older kids use it.
I’ve found it’s a common thing to have in preschool classrooms and both of my kids started playing with ours at home more after they were introduced to it at school.
Ours was from Plan Toys but this one from Hape is also great.
Occupation Toys & Dress Up Clothes
My kids love their doctor kit, vet set and all of their dress up clothes (order slightly big so they can grow into them and use for multiple years).
They also love their pretend tools, cleaning supplies and explorer set (binoculars, compass, flashlight, etc).
Obstacle Course Equipment
In addition to our Nugget, we also use a balance beam and floor dots to make homemade obstacle courses. You could also add rings, cones and bean bags!
If your kids are slightly older and you have the space, a ninja course can be great for multiple kids.
Sensory/Fine Motor
- Playdough – use it by itself, give them some scissors or butter knives to cut it with, use a rolling pin and cookie cutters etc
- Sensory bins – fill them with kinetic sand, water beads, dried beans or noodles, water, scoops, cups, spoons etc and let them go to town
- Whiteboard and dry-erase markers
- Spray bottles
- Water/Sand table
Arts and Crafts:
- Pipe cleaners
- Clothespins
- Straws
- Pom poms
- Washable paint
- Balloons
- Popsicle sticks
- Paint Brushes
- Kwik Stixs Solid Tempera Paints – perfect for when you need something bolder than a marker but want it to dry quicker than regular paint
- Do A Dot Art! Markers
- Glue Sticks – I like the disappearing purple ones because they can easily see where they’ve spread the glue
- Markers
- Crayons
- Butcher Paper – for me this is so much easier than single sheets of paper because you can tear off as much or as little as you want each time
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Hole punches
- Hot Glue Gun
Physical Activity
- Mini trampoline
- Bounce house
- Roller coaster
- Scooters
General
- Vehicles – dump trucks, cars, construction vehicles, hot wheels…anything with wheels that you can build roads/garages/houses for
- Puzzles
- Balls
- Wooden blocks
- Dolls and barbies
- Little people and toy animals/dinos
- Marble Run (aff link)
- Board games
Want to save these ideas? Pin this post for later!
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
Need more ideas? Check out these Toddler Gift Ideas geared at ages 1-3, Kids Gift Ideas {ages 4-7} Or my Small Business Gift Guide.
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