When shopping for preschool developmental toys, Melissa & Doug is THE premier destination for parents and caregivers.
With a wide variety of toys for preschoolers that promote learning new skills and key development milestones to choose from at Melissa & Doug, your choices can be narrowed down by focusing on specific skills you want to promote to your preschooler.
Helping kids develop the key skills they’ll need when they reach school age and beyond is why we launched our “Skills at Play” initiative, which adds colorful, eye-catching graphics to our packaging and website that easily identify the skills those respective toys help teach.
Learning Skills Through Play
With Melissa & Doug, there are so many Skills at Play! For more than 35 years, we’ve inspired learning fun through open-ended toys that help kids build skills and confidence. We’re here to help you support your child through their ages, stages, and individual learning styles. To easily understand the skills kids are practicing while they play, we’ve created Skills at Play!
Every child is different. They each develop PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE, and SOCIAL abilities at their own pace. We have identified 16 skills across these learning areas that our toys may help your child develop. On product pages, you'll find the most relevant skills for that toy listed:
- PHYSICAL SKILLS: Help your little one hone their fine motor, movement, and sensory skills.
- COGNITIVE SKILLS: Boost brain development with play that promotes problem solving, cause & effect, matching, and more.
- SOCIAL SKILLS: Give kids ways to connect and communicate with others while building self esteem and empathy.
Look for these individual Skills at Play icons on Melissa & Doug toy packaging and our website, designed to help parents and caregivers easily identify what skills our baby and toddler toys help promote through play.
Discover toys to support your child through every stage, with this specially curated selection of our top toys to highlight our Skills at Play initiative.
Built-in tracks, colorful scenery, and fun play pieces let kids take their imaginations for a spin . . . and take playtime anywhere they want to go! The Take-Along Railroad wooden play pieces include buildings, animals, trees, and a railroad crossing sign to enhance imaginative storytelling. All the pieces store in the fold-up case with a convenient carrying handle for easy cleanup and travel. Keep playtime rolling for kids 3+, and encourage independent play and motor skill development.
Catch some laughs and learning fun with this wooden magnetic fishing & counting play set—complete with working wind-up reel! The 10 magnetic fish are numbered and patterned to enrich matching, sorting, and counting activities, and two wooden rods make collecting them a blast! Kids can use the spinner to play as a game, or just have fun collecting the pieces over and over again. Either way, there's plenty of fun in this sea!
This 10-piece Band in a Box musical instrument set has everything preschoolers need to form a kids' marching band, launch a solo music career, or just enjoy exploring music, rhythm, and a wide range of sounds! The set includes a tambourine, cymbals, maracas, clacker, tone blocks, and a triangle. It also includes a convenient sturdy wooden storage crate to make clean-up a breeze. Strike up the band and get everybody moving—this collection of unique wooden musical instruments for kids is a great way to spark a lifelong love of music!
Vroom & Zoom Interactive Dashboard
Rev up playtime and take imaginations for a spin with this realistic play steering wheel mounted on a sturdy wooden dashboard with lights, sound effects, and moving parts, including a scrolling GPS! Turn the key to start and shift into drive to get the GPS rolling—turn the wheel to keep the car on the road on the GPS display! The interactive dashboard includes “hands-free” buttons on the steering wheel for a phone and the radio, which plays clips of music for each of four stations. A terrific toy for hand-eye coordination, imaginative play, and to help teach cause and effect.
Catch children in the act of behaving well and reward them, then watch those good habits multiply! Open the fabric-hinged boards to reveal a behavior chart on one board, while the other board keeps all the magnets close at hand. A sturdy cord is attached for hanging. Dry-erase board and 89 magnets, including responsibilities, positive behaviors, and rewards.
This wooden bear is always smiling, but he’s happiest when fully dressed! Getting dressed won’t be such a puzzle once zipping, buckling, snapping, lacing and tying, and other dressing skills are mastered with our Basic Skills Puzzle Board. Each skill is contained in a separate, removable wooden puzzle piece for easy practice. Develop fine motor and life skills with this great activity.
You can give little builders the tools they need for truly constructive play with this sturdy wooden Take-Along Tool Kit. While playing with this Classic Toy, kids can have hours of creative fun while practicing hand-eye coordination, count, sorting, color recognition, and problem-solving skills. The sturdy wooden handle provides an easy way for preschoolers to carry the kit and "fix" things around the house. Then when the job is done, they can pack up all their tools so they're ready for next time.
Pattern Blocks & Boards Classic Toy
Get ready for lots of matching and mosaic fun! The Pattern Blocks and Boards classic wooden toy lets kids explore shapes and colors hands-on as they fill wooden backgrounds with colorful wooden pieces. The set features 120 bright and bold wooden geometric shapes that match designs printed on the double-sided wooden boards. Matching and mosaics—what a gorgeous way for kids to develop important skills! This art activity set helps kids practice spatial awareness, color recognition, hand-eye coordination, and problem solving skills.
The bright and bold Melissa & Doug Primary Lacing Beads set is a must-have for budding imaginations! It includes 30 hand-painted, durable wooden beads in six vibrant colors, and two extra-long laces for plenty of hands-on play. The set of beads features five distinct shapes all designed for little hands to grasp, and the laces are thin enough to allow the beads to slide easily. Stringing the beads provides opportunities for pretend play and learning. The activity helps to promote shape recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine-motor skills, cognitive and visual perception skills, and creative expression.
Which animal friends are hiding behind the colorful doors? Undo a lock or latch, swing open the numbered door or window, and count on finding fun when the animal picture beneath is revealed. The Melissa & Doug Latches Board for toddlers is made from smooth-sanded, solid-wood material that features different kinds of latches sized just right for little hands. The activity board is an educational toy that helps little ones build fine and gross motor skills while learning colors, shapes, numbers, animals and more!
For more amazing toy content from Melissa & Doug, click the links below:
Shop All Melissa & Doug Learning Toys
Shop Melissa & Doug Toys by Age
Shop Melissa & Doug Baby & Toddler Toys
Learn More About Melissa & Doug Skills at Play
Shop Melissa & Doug Plush Toys
Explore Melissa & Doug Living Playfully Blog
