Menu
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support!
This is my curated list of the best sorting toys for 2 year olds. Out of the many types of toys available, I selected toys that offer short-term and long-term developmental benefits.
As a Montessori Guide and mother of a toddler, I understand how these sorting toys can help your child improve their fine and gross motor skills.
Picking up puzzles and trying to figure out how they fit together, or placing a block on top of another to balance them have a major impact on your child’s cognitive development.
So after researching and testing various developmental toys for toddlers, I created this list of sorting toys that I believe should be included in your child’s toy shelf.
Here is my complete list of sorting toys that I personally selected to improve various areas of your child’s development.
Image: Ten Little
Your child will learn the alphabet while cooking a special meal.
This is a versatile sorting toy that can be used as a play kitchen, a puzzle, and a food serving playset, all in one.
As the name suggests, each food item starts with a letter from the alphabet so your toddler learns the alphabet in a fun and engaging way while they play.
This toy comes with a wooden storage and display tray which illustrates a serving tray on one side and a stovetop on the other for your child to make some delicious meals.
What I like about this sorting toy is that it helps develop language skills because your child will learn new words, spellings, and pronunciations of different food items.
It will also help your child refine their fine motor skills by practicing grasping, holding, stacking, and placing the puzzle pieces in the tray.
Image: Hape
Your child can practice basic shape and color recognition with this best-selling sorting puzzle.
This sorting and stacking toy can be a great progression if your child can easily complete simple shape-sorting puzzles.
It consists of four puzzle bases and 12 different shapes and colored pegs. Your child can twist the pegs onto the posts and create various patterns and designs.
I like how this toy adds another level of complexity to easier puzzles because your child has to twist these shapes so the pegs fit through the grooves of each puzzle.
The design of this sorting toy will also help your child with cognitive skills because they will learn about shapes, colors, patterns, and matching.
From experience, this is a great toy to improve hand-eye coordination and dexterity because your child will have to manipulate the shapes so they fit in the right peg.
Image: Montessori and Me
Great to develop your child’s coordination and dexterity as they sort colored balls.
This sorting toy is from Montessori and Me, which is one of my favorite brands because their products closely align with the Montessori philosophy.
This Montessori-inspired color sorting toy comes with a bowl, six cups, and six rainbow-colored balls. The cups and balls are made of composite wood flour which greatly reduces plastic use.
If you are an environmentally-conscious parent like me, then I think you should put this toy on top of your list.
Your toddler can sort the balls into the matching colored cups, or mix and match them as they wish.
What I like about this toy is that it teaches your toddler about colors as they match each ball and sort them with their respective cups.
Your child will also naturally improve their fine and gross motor skills when they use the wooden spoon to grasp and transfer the balls.
Image: My Monte Home
Enhance your child’s hand-eye coordination with the shape sorting box.
This is another toy from another trusted company. I’ve worked with My Monte Home before and I can honestly say that their materials and toys are built with the child in mind.
This sorting toy includes a wooden box with interchangeable shape sorter compartments and wooden blocks in different shapes.
You can increase or decrease the complexity of this toy by changing the compartment.
For example, once your child learns how to sort a single piece, you can change the compartment that includes 3 or 4 shapes to make this activity more challenging.
This will help your child improve problem-solving and reasoning skills by finding the right blocks for the compartments.
Image: Amazon
Two-in-one sorting box to learn shapes and colors.
This wooden sorting and matching toy will help your toddler learn colors, shapes, and numbers in a fun and engaging way.
It consists of a wooden box with color grids and 25 wood chips in 5 different shapes and colors.
Your child can insert the wood chips into the box or stack them on the pillars according to their shape and color.
This toy will enhance your child’s cognitive, motor, and problem-solving skills, and improve their concentration and imagination.
These skills are beneficial for your child’s development because they allow them to explore, create, and discover using their senses and their own rules.
Image: My Monte Home
This toy will aid in the development of hand-eye coordination and sense of touch.
This simple color-sorting toy will help your child learn how to sort the wooden coins by color.
Sorting improves math skills. I like to think of it as a prerequisite for learning math concepts such as grouping, matching, counting, comparing, and ordering.
It helps your child develop logical thinking and problem-solving skills. Sorting also enhances cognitive skills because your child will notice similarities and differences between the pieces.
But you can use this sorting toy beyond just sorting the wooden pieces by color.
You can challenge your child to create color patterns, count, or add and subtract. The only limitation of this toy is your imagination.
Image: Haba
Great for learning cognitive skills such as color recognition counting and patterning.
This is another of my favorite Montessori sorting toys. It comes with 16 brightly colored wooden pegs and 16 rings that will engage your child in creative, imaginative play.
I like how the pieces are small enough so toddlers can grab them easily and place the pegs and rings on the board without getting frustrated.
This can help your toddler refine their fine motor skills when they use their fingers to perform precise movements.
After working in the Montessori classroom for over a decade, I’ve seen how these skills will help your child write, draw, cut, and do other tasks that require coordination and dexterity.
As an experienced Montessori Guide and proud parent to a curious toddler, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of developmentally appropriate toys on my child’s growth.
These and similar sorting toys for 2-year-olds I am recommending have been instrumental in fostering both physical and cognitive development.
They not only sparked joy in my toddler’s playtime but also facilitated language skill development as she learned the colors of some of the pieces.
These toys aren’t just playthings but rather tools for holistic development that enhance concentration, imagination, and sensory exploration.
I created this list based on personal experience and my understanding of child development because this is my expertise.
Creating this list was a meticulous process I wanted to include toys that focused on developmental benefits and that aligned with the Montessori philosophy,
As I mentioned before, these are not just toys, they are a crucial part of your child’s development.
These are the best sorting toys for 2 year olds to enhance their fine and gross motor skills and cognitive development.
You can check out my ultimate Montessori toy guide for more toys by age so you can continue nurturing your child’s growth.
Hello, I am Leslie. I am on a mission to help you support the growth and development of your child. With the right tools and proper guidance, you can navigate parenthood with confidence and assertion! My goal is to equip you with knowledge to help you construct a strong foundation for your child’s life.
Montessori climbing toys help your child strengthen their muscles and improve their balance, coordination, and body control. These are the best Montessori climbing toys to help your child develop balance, coordination, and critical thinking skills.
In this practical guide to the Montessori method at home, I will share five strategies on how to apply the Montessori method at home. I will also give you five common mistakes you should avoid so you can help your child thrive.
A Montessori nursery room is a childcare environment based on the educational philosophy of Maria Montessori, which emphasizes self-directed learning through hands-on exploration and discovery
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
