Recommended toys for 2-3 year old?

We have a ton of toys they are still happily playing with and with their 2nd bday approaching, family is asking me for ideas. I'm drawing a blank. Is there anything that you all recommend that you 2 to 3 year old LOVE?

Thanks for the ideas!

 

We tend to give everything later in my house, so we know they'll be totally into it and it just won't sit for months... But anyway

Play kitchen, dishes, food etc
Train table (we gave it at 2.5 though)
Cars
Shopping cart
Doll/doll stroller/doll accessories
Little People stuff
Puzzles
Duplo

It's still what they mostly like at almost 3.5

A couple things they still occasionally play with

Snap'n style dolls
Magnetic dress up toys from Melissa and Doug
Mr Potato Head

 

The toys we've given our boys in the last year that have had the most staying power have been the train table, cleaning cart, and appliances. The train table is a biggie (they can be rather expensive), but the nice thing is you can start with just the table and a small set of tracks/trains, and buy more as the year progresses. We got the train table as a 2nd birthday present, and have added more trains and tracks for Christmas, Easter, etc. In fact, I just got them Tidmouth Sheds as a potty training gift. They still play with it daily.

I got the cleaning cart and appliances from Constructive Playthings (see the links). At first they were afraid of the noises that the appliances made, but now they just love turning them all on at the same time and leaving them running.... <_<

Oh, and I almost forgot about the sand/water table! Since it's warm outside, they play with that all the time.

Now that they're a bit older they're getting into Matchbox/Hotwheels.

Hope this helps!

 

The go-to toy at our house is Kid K'nex. The girlies got a pretty nice sized set (in a box that zips open and makes a track, but closes to hold them all when put away) for Christmas right after turning 3. Then they got some more the next Christmas. Those toys got played with almost every day for the first 6-8 months and at least 3 days a week for the rest of the 2 1/2 years. My older boys play with them with the littler children. Spencer is 2 and plays with them now, also. Seriously, it's the best money spent on toys at our house, ever!

 

we got ours at 2.5yrs for Christmas - balance bikes. some are taller and some are shorter... ours are the Kettler (Kiddi-o) ones and fit perfectly at 2.5 yrs old. they love them!
kiddi-o balance bike

I'm not sure how you tell which bike seats are lower... our kids are 45-50% for height and they fit perfectly at 2.5yrs.

lots of choices at Target

I do know that the 12" bikes I thought they would like with pedals were way too tall at 2.5 yrs old... but that Kettler ones was just perfect.

good luck finding something fun and able to grow with the kids!

 

Thanks for your suggestions!!