Walking into a the toy section of a big box store, the choices for toddlers can be overwhelming. Should I go with this electronic toy that lights up and plays the worst earworm music imaginable? Or this brightly colored plastic play set with a million pieces that will most definitely end up strewn all over the living room floor for me to step on barefoot?

But as any parent will tell you, kids really don’t need much to be entertained, especially at this young age. How many times have you ordered some fun new toy online, and when it arrived, your toddler was more excited about popping the bubble wrap and playing with the cardboard box it was shipped in?

A lot of these complicated-looking toys will claim to help teach children essential skills like counting or the alphabet, but there’s been news reports recently that children are entering school without having developed the fine motor skills to properly grip a pencil because they’re not practicing those physical strength skills enough at an earlier age!

It is so tempting to get your child the flashiest, coolest-looking toy on the market.

Or to hand them an iPad for entertainment because let’s face it, iPads are magical babysitters. But it’s also important to provide your children with many opportunities to develop those fine motor skills. The following list may include Amazon Affiliate links, which cost you nothing but could earn me a tiny commission. Read more about this in my Privacy Policy.

 

Here are my favorite eco-friendly toys for toddlers that can help them practice those important fine motor skills:

 

Latch Board

 

This particular wooden and metal board that we have at home is made by Melissa & Doug, and has actually kept my kids interest from age 1-5. Some of the latches are easier than others, which is great because you don’t want them being able to do all of them on their first go. This challenges them to keep trying as their fingers gain dexterity.

There’s also a subtle counting and color component which they’ll discover as they get older. At age one my son loved the rattling noise this board made. At age two my daughter likes undoing the latches (half of them anyway) and naming the animals inside the doors. By three my son named the colors. At four he counted the animals. And now at five he can open and close all the latches and enjoys showing his younger sibling how it’s done.

You can also make your own latch board using scrap wood and any combination of latches you find at a hardware store. I know one inventive mama who brought her homemade latch board on an overseas flight to Asia and it was a big hit both with her little one and the flight crew!

 

Nesting / Stacking Blocks

 

There are lots of nesting/stacking block options out there on the toy market. My kids and I prefer this cardboard set for a few reasons. I like it because, obviously, it’s biodegradable including the cardboard storage box. It also has a little story written on each cube, plus numbers and animals on the other sides to help them practice their mathematics skills as they grow older.

My kids like it because the cubes are big but light and stack up to about their height. When they manage to stack them all up on their own, the best part? Knocking the tower down of course. And when they get tired of stacking/knocking, I read them the story and we talk about the animals on the farm. While the particular design I have may be out of print now, I’ve seen other versions of these cardboard stacking blocks with Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, Disney characters, and generic designs.

 

Crayon Pouch

Crayons are an obvious toy for fine motor skills development. Yet let’s not forget that the storage of these crayons is also an opportunity to flex those muscles. What I like about these specific kinds of crayon pouches is two-fold:

1) It gives the crayons a place to live instead of rattling around at the bottom of my diaper bag or melting in the car.

2) It challenges your child’s finger dexterity to carefully pull and replace the crayons into their narrow slots.

You’re also teaching your child to put their toys away. We got our felted version in the $1-$3 section at Target for use on a plane trip. I especially like how it also includes a pocket that fits a small pad of paper and sheets of stickers. But I’ve seen many great plastic-free crayon pouch options on Etsy that are made out of fabric in all sorts of designs. Bonus points for supporting a small business most likely run by a mom. The mini ones make great party favors too!

 

Lift-The-Flap Books

 

While some may say that books are not technically toys, I disagree. Toys are objects children can manipulate with their hands, inspire imaginative play, and bring them joy. That is exactly what a good lift-the-flap book does. We have lots of these strewn all over the nursery, living room, family room etc…. Both my children particularly loved DK Peek-A-Boo books like this one because they are colorful, feature photos of actual children, and use simple sparse language which is perfect for a toddler who is just learning language themselves. Now that my older child is learning to read, he enjoys reading these books to his little sister. Ah, the circle of life!

 

Wooden Shape Puzzles

 

Wooden shape puzzles are another great way for your toddler to develop their fine motor skills. If it’s a traditional flat puzzle board with pieces, make sure the pieces stick out from the surface so they’re easy to pull out. I know many designs, while mostly wooden, also feature little plastic knobs to help with the grasp. I prefer ones like this Alphabet Board design from GYBBER&MUMU which uses solid wood and non-toxic water-based paint – even better since your toddler may decide to teethe on one of the pieces!

Another kind of shape puzzle is the classic shape sorter cube. Growing up I had a plastic version of this, but there are now many companies that make wooden versions. This one from Hape doubles as a pull toy – so cute!

But the wooden shape puzzle that held my son’s interest for the longest period of time was the Disneyland train pictured above. While this particular toy is a Disney Parks exclusive (we purchased it at the World Of Disney store at Downtown Disney in Anaheim), Melissa & Doug also sell a similar Disney train version on Amazon. Not only is this a puzzle, but it’s a stacking 3-D puzzle. And when your child grows tired of the puzzle aspect, it makes a fun train toy to play with. It’s very durable and the wheels roll quite smoothly!

 

So please, put down that loud battery-operated toy you’re about to buy, and get one of these for fine motor development. Trust me, your child’s Kindergarten teacher will thank you later!

 

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