Megablocks
Doll
Magnadoodle

My 2.5 yo boy loves trains and trucks. Nice chunky ones that he can drive around.

Both he and my daughter (when she was that age) also love duplos, fisher price little people stuff, puzzles, pretend food sets, tea party set, and books. You can never have too many books.

I'm getting a bunch of dress up hats for my 2.5 year old for Christmas. That's also easy and doesn't take up much room. Plus it has the bonus of making Halloween easy for the next few years.

Her own flashlight.

Stomp Rocket Junior

My go to gift at that age was the MegaBloks wagon (around $25).

Anonymous wrote:My DDs were never into building things. My DS, yes, but not my DDs. So, I'm really surprised with the PPs Duplos responses.

They were really into simple tea party sets or picnic basket-type sets.

You can't go wrong with the Leap Frog Refrigerator Magnet sets either. The sounds are entertaining and the magnets are large enough to be "safe" and it's educational.

Plenty of girls build things. My 3 year old builds stuff all the time with her Megablocks and my 7 year old with her Magnatiles. They wear pants sometimes too!!!

jamiemichelle2 wrote:Scented markers and a pad of art paper: http://tinyurl.com/scentedmarkers

When my kids were this age, I swear every time I sat down to nurse, a crayon or marker appeared and my 2 year old was writing on the wall. Make sure any markers are washable!!

Both my kids (DS and DD) loved Duplos at that age.

Scented markers and a pad of art paper: http://tinyurl.com/scentedmarkers

My DDs were never into building things. My DS, yes, but not my DDs. So, I'm really surprised with the PPs Duplos responses.

They were really into simple tea party sets or picnic basket-type sets.

You can't go wrong with the Leap Frog Refrigerator Magnet sets either. The sounds are entertaining and the magnets are large enough to be "safe" and it's educational.

Definitely duplos

Yeah a bag of Megablocks is $25 and will keep her entrained forever and they're way too big for the baby to ever eat.

Or the Little People Noah's Ark is cute (and not religious at all, just a boat with sets of animals, kids love it).

Wood blocks. Lego Duplos. Nothing with small parts or with a warning that it is for ages 3+.

Duplos

SIL has a 2.5 yo and a 5 mo. What can I get 2.5 yo that:
-is safe to have around 5 mo
-doesn't have a huge footprint
-under $30
-a fun present

TIA!