Celebrate Grandparents Day with top favorite toys from Melissa & Doug!
Nothing’s more “grand” than the grandparents’ love for their little ones—that’s why we celebrate them on Sunday, September 8 with National Grandparents Day!
Whether your grandkids only make occasional visits or come to your home every day, Melissa & Doug offers an outstanding selection of fun, engaging, and skill-building toys that every grandparent should consider having on hand for the grandkids.
We’ve curated a special selection of toys perfect for the grandparents to keep in their homes for the grandkids, using the following criteria:
- They have to be easy to store in a closet, under a bed, or in a dresser;
- They have to be engaging and build skills;
- They’re priced right for retirees and grandparents on a fixed income.
Scroll on for a mix of our latest and greatest toys, top-selling play, and most-loved favorites that would make for perfect play this Grandparents Day and beyond.
Top Toys for the Grands on Grandparents Day
This six-piece play set gives kids all the housekeeping tools they need to keep it clean! Sized just for kids and built to last, the broom, mop, duster, dustpan, and hand brush are comfortable to use and easy to store--just hang them from the sturdy cords onto the included stand for neat, compact storage. Natural-wood handles add durability and a classic look; bright pops of color keeps lots of fun in the mix! Encourages C-grip strength, gross and fine motor skills, creative express, and storytelling ability—and also promotes the grandkids cleaning up after their visit!
Get Well Doctor's Kit Play Set
What grandparent wouldn't want a doctor in the family?! Inspire little healers with the 25-piece Melissa & Doug Get Well Doctor's Kit Play Set, which offers realistic accessories that let little doctors help patients get well! Kids 3+ can pretend to check temperature, heartbeat, blood pressure, eyesight, hearing, and more. The play set is a fun and engaging way to ease any feelings of stress associated with a visit to the doctor and to encourage nurturing and empathetic play.
There's always time for a treat at the grandparents' house with the Melissa & Doug Slice and Bake Wooden Cookie Set, a sweet introduction to pretend kitchen play! This colorful cookie set includes 12 wooden, sliceable cookies and 12 cookie toppings, a wooden knife, spatula, cookie sheet, and a kitchen mitt for safe, imaginative play. What a delicious way for kids ages 3+ to practice fine motor skills, number concepts, and more, while pretending to bake and serve sweet treats.
Complete a puzzle to spell a word! This handsome wooden puzzle set helps children gain familiarity with the letters of the alphabet and their sounds they develop a sight-reading vocabulary (English only). The letters are also wonderful for stenciling and lots of learning games. The puzzle includes 50 colorful wooden letters that fit into the eight two-sided cutout boards. Helps kids develop sight-reading vocabulary, spelling and fine motor skills.
Ocean Tummy Time Triangle Baby Toy
Make baby’s tummy time extra special with this engaging, double-sided folding cloth triangle toy! Three fold-out panels with adorable ocean-themed graphics and friendly characters lie flat or fold and connect into an upright pyramid. Features high-contrast black and white graphics on one side, great for important visual stimulation. The other side includes colorful sea creatures with developmentally appropriate features: a crab with a peek-a-boo mirror and squeaker, sensory tabs and ribbons on the jellyfish, and an attached tuck-away fish that stores in a pocket! It’s a great addition to registries, and makes a great gift for newborns through 6-month-olds for screen-free, hands-on interaction and skill-boosting play.
What’s for Lunch?™ Surprise Meal Play Food Set - Series 1
It’s a surprise what’s inside! What’s for Lunch?™ is a whole new way for kids 2+ to experience unboxing play—open up the mystery lunch bag to discover which play food meal will be served for lunch today! Wooden and felt play food pieces include the ingredients for a favorite kid lunch. There are even snacks and extras, like pretzels, popcorn, or cheese crackers in a resealable pouch, and mix-and-match pizza toppings. A sheet of mystery ingredient stickers in each bag lets kids add fun and silly twists to the wooden pieces to customize their meal. Encourages fine motor skills, imaginative play, and problem-solving.
Put a new “spin” on a healthy way to play! This kid-sized play salad spinner with a wooden top and big button to press works just like the real thing. Put the spinner basket in the bowl, peel eight fabric lettuce leaves off a soft plush core, press and watch it whirl! There are no batteries or electronics—just pump to spin! Kids 3+ will love taking orders, following along with the instructions on the activity card, and making custom salads with this innovative spinning toy!
The Melissa & Doug Ocean Easy-Fold Play Gym with Quick-Close™ storage is thoughtfully designed to encourage babies to learn through multiple stages and ages! Sturdy, wide wooden arches are pre-assembled for easy set-up and offer caregivers easy access to baby. One side of the mat features high-contrast black-and-white graphics for early visual stimulation, and the other includes a full-color ocean scene to keep older babies engaged as vision develops. Attach the included soft, skill-supporting toys to the gym or play with them independently! Press the innovative Quick-Close™ button to unlock the frame and easily fold for storage or to take the play gym on the go!
Melissa & Doug Sticker WOW!™ is a whole new way to play with stickers! Let the adorable, collectible Olive the Dinosaur stamp, stamp, stamp its way through 24 pages of fun-filled, prehistoric-themed counting, matching, and search-and-find activities. The refillable sticker stamper comes pre-loaded with a sticker stack of 300 assorted stickers – with 100 unique designs in every stack, each sticker is a surprise! Plus, this set is bundled with a refill pack of 200 EXTRA prehistoric-themed stickers (compatible with any Sticker WOW!™ sticker stamper) and an additional mini prehistoric-themed activity pad for even more Sticker WOW!™ fun. Easy-to-remove stickers and the convenient on-the-go format with built-in sticker stamper storage makes Sticker WOW!™ a great mess-free travel activity. Sticker WOW!™ promotes fine motor skills, encourages creative play, and it’s satisfying, fidget fun!
The perfect toy for grandparents to have on hand when the grandkids come for extended stays: the sturdy wooden Melissa & Doug My Daily Routines Chart! Kids will love flipping the wooden illustrated bungee-hinged flaps to reveal a gold star when they finish doing simple tasks on their own. There are five “start the day” routines on one side (get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, eat breakfast, put on shoes) and five “time for bed” routines on the other (take a bath, put on PJs, brush teeth, use the potty, read a book). Empower kids to be independent and help boost self-esteem with every flip of a flap! Includes language stickers for non-English speakers, and some blank ones to customize the routines!
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