When I hit my 30 week mark of pregnancy, doing active or outdoor activities with Sammy became extremely difficult.

I always had “learning time” planned in her day but it was definitely increased since it was easier to sit with her on the floor or table and do activities.I went through various toys and such that she had for learning ABC’s, 123’s, etc. and wanted to share with you guys my favorite ones!

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1. Leapfrog Lappup: I have mentioned this “laptop” before (there is a actually a newer model) but she use to play with it to listen to the songs setting. Now she likes the ABC setting and repeats the letters. Some letters she will even associate the word such as “F is for Fish.”
2. ABC Magnetic Letters: My mom gave us these letters but you can purchased them anywhere (Walmart sells them cheap).
   • On the fridge I have the letters that she knows (except for E, she will say D or F). She already had ABCD down, so I added a letter every couple of days.
   • We’ll repeat and go over them in order or I will pick and choose a letter out of order to make sure she does know it.
3. Melissa & Doug Puzzles: These puzzles have been great for Sammy to learn her numbers and ABCs. However, I found the magnetic letters have worked better for her ABC learning but I do like using the puzzle to change it up.
   • Her numbers is a different story. She knows them quite well (though 6, 8 & 9 she’ll mix up sometimes) and this puzzle has been the reason! I will do the same concept as the letters of going in or out of order. 
   • I also like to use some of her favorite things such as her mini Trolls or french fries to practice counting.
4. Melissa & Doug Shape Sorter: Not only is this one portable, it has been a favorite for quite a while (maybe since she was 10-12 months old). At first she was using it to learn colors, but now we use it to practice shapes and, of course, sorting.
   • She pretty much knew all the shapes except for oval, diamond and semi-circle so we’ve been able to work on those!
5.  Flash Cards: There are so many kinds of flash cards ranging from $1 to over $10. We use ones from Dollar Tree; they always have some kind in numbers, letters, shapes, first words and so forth. We also have ALEX Toys ones that she got for her birthday but they are still a tad too advanced for her, but we will use them here and there.
   

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Sammy is two years old (and few months). As I mentioned, some of items toys she’s had since she was around 12/18 months old but now plays with them in different ways.

I always looked for toys that had a wide range because I knew it was something that would last. Be sure to check out some previous toddler posts:

• Toddler Favorites [1.5 Years Old]
• Tips for Traveling with a Toddler