While toddlers love to play, they're not always ready for big-kid toys, and it can be tricky to find gifts for kids this age that are aimed right at their level of coordination.
Ride-on toys, though — that's the sweet spot. They help kids practice their gross motor skills and challenge toddlers to use their legs to push their weight around. They're often sized perfectly for toddlers, since big kids will be have moved on to bikes and scooters. And they're often really, really cute — like this one from Radio Flyer, which looks like an Amazon delivery van.
While toddlers propel themselves forward, they can pretend to deliver Amazon packages. This fosters imaginative play as well as physical play. The ride-on comes with three play packages with little toys inside, and when they're not in use they can be stored in an under-seat compartment.
“My 3-year-old daughter not only loves riding on the van, but she's also obsessed with the little Amazon boxes and wooden cars that the toy comes with!" says Stefani Sassos, M.S., R.D.N, the director of Good Housekeeping Institute's Nutrition Lab. "She brings the cars and boxes everywhere, it’s just adorable. We have gotten such great use out of this, and it’s compact enough that it doesn’t take up a ton of space. We can tuck it away in the corner of her room at the end of the day.”
Plus, since the toy debuted in September, it's landed a spot on Amazon's Toys We Love list, and Amazon users appreciate that it's cute, sturdy and well built (though they do note the size runs a little small). Sure, Amazon and its users may be biased, but it's also been a far-and-away favorite of Good Housekeeping readers, who will not stop buying it for the lucky toddlers and preschoolers in their lives. Since we wrote about it in September, it's been consistently in the top five of our most-purchased gifts (and usually the top toy).
The Radio Flyer Amazon Delivery Van Ride-On is good for kids starting at age 2, and it can hold up to 50 lbs. If you know a toddler who fits the bill, they'll thrill to deliver packages of their own.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
