21 best Montessori toys for toddlers 2024

While it might not sound the best with your little one tapping away all day, the Personalised Colourful Xylophone will provide hours of entertainment as your toddler explores sounds. There's even an option to personalise with their name.

One customer wrote: "Beautifully made and safe for a young child to use" Another said: "It was a beautiful, quality gift."

This Shape Sorter Box With Keys helps children to develop their hand-eye coordination, as well as teaching numbers, colours and cause and effect. It comes with six blocks and three keys. Once they posted the six blocks, they have to use the three keys to try and unlock the boxes to retrieve the blocks.

One parent review said: "Such a clever little toy that brings my 16 month old lots of intrigue and fun, while practising using his hand and fingers."

With different ways to play, the Wobbel Original Transparent can help develop balance and gross motor skills, whilst also being able to be used as a chair, bridge, slide and step. It's great for toddlers to decide how they want to play with the board.

One grandparent said: "My 2 and half year old grandson absolutely loves his Wobbler and plays with it every day for different things . Who would have thought a curved piece of wood could be so entertaining. One of the best toys he has."

With all the toys you need for your tots development at 11 to 12 months, The Thinker Play Kit is a subscription service that sends development appropriate toys to your door. This play kit helps toddlers to build hand-eye coordination, whilst engaging their budding imagination.

Our mum tester said: "I felt the play kit was wonderfully designed and enjoyable for both me and my baby. The play guide offered ideas on how to play with the toys and what skills my baby would be learning along the way, which was valuable to me as a first-time parent."

Read our Lovevery Play Kit review here.

The Melissa & Doug Pound and Roll Tower is a classic toy that encourages children to hammer through the balls at the top of the tower and watch them rolldown the ramps. The toy is brightly coloured so that's engaging too.

One grandparent said: "Lovely bright colours and lots of different shapes. My two year old grandson got stuck in straight away!" A parent reviewer wrote: "I’ve just rebought this to give to my youngest as my eldest loved this toy years ago. He had hours of fun with it and was one of his most played with toys for his 2nd birthday."

Helping little ones take those first steps, the Squirrel Play Safari Wooden Steps Walker Set also comes with blocks to weigh down the walker. These can be stacked and played with too, while helping build the leg strength and confidence to walk.

A grandparent review said: "My great-granddaughter is loving this Squirrel Play Safari Wooden Baby Steps Walker set. It is sturdy and well made and just right for a child that is beginning to walk. It is fair to say it is well-priced."

Beautifully handmade, the Montessori Discs on a Horizontal Dowel is designed to test hand-eye coordination and help develop grasp. It's a different challenge to other stackers, as little ones have to add the rings on from an angle. Made from Maplewood, it's finished with a flaxseed oil and beeswax blend, meaning it's sustainable too.

One parent said: "The quality is amazing! I purchased multiple items. I'm so excited to gift these to my two year old on Christmas and his birthday. Insanely well made, well packaged, and I'll definitely be buying from them, again, in the very near future."

The KmmiFF Wooden Toys Shape Sorter helps children to learn to count, while encouraging fine motor skills. They have to match the stackers to the right pegs, which will help them with number and shape recognition. They can also be stacked and played with to make differentpatterns, including houses and boats.

One review said: "Gift for our 1 year old but our 3 year old loves playing with this stacking toy as well. Great for motor skills and practicing sorting shapes and colours."

Made from eco-friendly materials, the Montessori Arch with Pillow has different ways to play. It can be used as a climber, a rocker, or even turned into a little den. It can help boost confidence and independence as they play in a way they prefer.

One review said: "Looks just as requested! So cute and can’t wait for my daughter to play with it!"

The Magic Ball can help stimulate lots of different senses while encouraging concentration and fine motor skills. It can be squished, then it bounces back, it can also be rolled and thrown in a game of catch too.

One review said: "Cute sensory toy! Our little one enjoys rolling it on the floor and sponging the coins on the elastics."

The Ulanik Balls in Cups has many different ways to play, which makes it ideal for different ages. They can learn the concept of colours, shape and quantity, as well as learning fine motor skills, hand eye coordination and more. They can scoop the balls and match them with the colour cups, pour the balls from the cups and even stack the cups!

One parent said: "This is such a beautiful set, packaged with such care! So lovely for my daughter to learn colours and fine and gross motor skills!"

The Melissa & Doug Wooden Lacing comes with two colourful laces and 30 beads in vibrant colours and distinct shapes. It's great for teaching counting skills, as well as problem solving skills and developing hand eye coordination. It doesn't come with a lid for its storage case, but it can be stored away neatly, flat on a shelf.

A parent review said: "Bright and colourful, perfect for teaching how to thread, durable easy to use and came complete with everything as described. Our little one loves playing with these."

With a little slot so the hammer can be stored neatly away when not in use, the Wooden Hammer Bench is great at teaching children about hand eye coordination and accuracy. It has multiple sensory benefits, with children being able to use sight, touch a to hit the pegs, and then hear the hammering sounds.

One parent said: "A strong, colourful toy which is sensibly priced. An ideal present for a toddler who enjoys 'helping' with DIY."

Helping to teach children how to follow instructions, the Balance Stacking Game challenges children to stack following a set of instructions on card. They can also stack them as they please, matching the colours or to test which way the balance stacker will tilt.

One parent wrote: "I love this! It’s a great step up from your usual ring stacker. I think this toy will last my 20 month old a while, it’s great for developing their find motor skills, learning about colours, and mathematical skills!"

How sweet is this Janod Wooden Forest Toy? Divided into three stacks, each stack is a different difficulty that help with your little ones fine motor skills and puzzle solving. It helps children to understand how to handle the objects, and notion of dimension as not all the stackers fit on each other.

Our Commercial Content Writer said: "My daughter loves bee's and she was obsessed with this stacker. She would spend a long time trying to figure out how to stack it correctly and was so proud of herself when she got it right. It's a good way to challenge them and support development. It also looks great in her room on a shelf."

The Kids Mini Top lets children tilt, spin and rock with the help of an adult or on their own. It can have a calming and soothing effect and even helps with children's balance. It's a great outlet, and they can even sit their teddies in it to watch something, while still helping stimulate sense.

Not only does this Animal Shape Stacking Puzzle look great on a toy shelf, but it's also great fun! There are nine animals in abstract form that are ready to be fitted into the right place. It helps with shape and colour recognition, and also helps to boost fine motor skills.

One parent said: "It was bought on 3 separate occasions for children reaching their 1st birthdays. Two are now 18 months and nearly 2 and they play with it a lot. At first they put the pieces in anyway they could fit them but both could do it accurately at 18 months. It’s beautifully made and the box is sturdy. After lots of use we still put it back in the box after use."

A fun game for children that helps with dexterity and concentration, the YAANI Object Performance Coin Box will provide hours of fun. They can practise putting the coins into the box, then retrieving them from the drawer.

One customer wrote: "This looked like a simple toy and I never imagined just how much fun my granddaughter finds with it. She's only 11 months and cannot quite get the 'coins' in the slot yet, but I was surprised how much she enjoys opening and closing the draw, and taking the coins out and putting them back in. Then she gives her toys a coin each and then we play putting them back in. The quality is so good, especially for little fingers."

The Finding Your Bearings In Space game allows children to create different scenes while developing their spatial awareness. The game also boosts observation and fine motor skills. It might be a bit tricky for younger children to understand at first, but it's great at helping their development.

Our Commercial Content Writer said: "This game was different to other games we've played with our son. He had lots of fun following the instructions to see if he could match it with the cards. He's played it a lot and love showing us the results when playing on his own too."

The Hape Scoot Around has four rubberised wheels, which is super helpful to avoid squeaky wheels and helps prevent scuffs on your floor. It's great at helping toddlers to develop their motor skills and coordination. There is also a little back support to help prevent your tot from slipping off.

Designed to fold away for easy storage, the Triclimb is great for building confidence. Suitable for nine months or older, it can help build core strength and gross motor skills, as well as supporting balance. Not only is it great at meeting the sensory need of climbing, but they can also use it as a den.

One parent said: "Our daughter is 8 months old and already trying to climb and stand up with the frame. Delighted with product so far."