Toddler Car Toys

Staying in Motion

Toddlers love things that move. As infants they follow a moving object with their eyes, then, as they become mobile and begin to crawl, they love to hit a ball or push a toy to see it move. Once they are up and walking, toddlers have lots of fun pushing, pulling, and riding on toy vehicles. They're a great way to encourage imaginative play and toddlers can spend hours racing around the yard or the living room playing with their car toys. Since toddlers spend a good deal of time in the car with their parents, it's natural that they would incorporate toy cars into their play. You might even hear an echo of your own comments as your toddler "drives" the car to all of his or her favorite places.

Girls Play With Trucks, Too

Toddler push toys, like Tonka's Real Rugged Dump Truck are great fun for a little person to play with on the beach, in the yard or in the sandbox. The Sprig Rally Racer is an eco-friendly toddler toy that uses a pump-action generator power to activate the light-only function. This allows your child to make his or her own noises, encouraging imagination. It's important to choose toy cars that do not take away from a child's imagination. Cars that make noises and have motors that propel them forward limit a toddler's imagination and closes the otherwise open-ended play the child may have. Simple wooden cars are the best to begin with for toddler car toys.

Fisher Price, makers of baby toys, has created a wonderful set of toy vehicles for the development of motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The vehicles are numbered one through four and are in graduated sizes. There is a green sports car that rattles, a blue police car with a revolving roof light, a yellow school bus with an opening sunroof, and a red fire truck with a ladder. They can be rolled on the floor, stacked one on top of the other, and nested inside the fire truck. They will only stack when they are in the right order, so your child learns about sizes and how to make things fit together.

Riding On Toys for Toddlers

As your child develops balance, playing on toddler riding toys can provide lots of fun as he or she races around with a newfound sense of freedom. The Fisher Price Rock, Roll ‘n Ride Trike, suitable for children from 18 months through five years, moves as its name implies. It begins as a rocker for the toddler who isn't able to negotiate movement too well yet, then, when your toddler is ready to take on the roads, a parent handle can be attached to the back to help the child roll around. Once the child is stable and able to maneuver the trike, take the handle off and stand back.

Toddlers love action and sound, which is what makes the Radio Flyer Classic retro-styled ride-on a lot of fun and surprises for a little person. Every time the child bumps the car (the bumpers are safe for walls and furniture) one of seven crashing, bonking sounds is made. The caster wheels make it easy for toddlers to steer their car in any direction.

Power Driven Riding Toys for Tots

Battery operated ride on toys for toddlers are gaining in popularity. Although it can be disconcerting to a parent to think about putting a one-year-old toddler on top of a batter operated ride, with proper supervision, these power-rides can be safe and loads of fun for a toddler. The average speed of a power-driven riding toddler car toy is about 2-mph. It is safe enough for an inexperienced baby to ride on it and it is slow enough that a parent can be right beside the car should the need for help arise. The stop and start features are push button operated so unless the button is pushed, the car will run. The parent assist handle on the vehicle ensures that you are in ultimate control of your child's ride because you control acceleration and steering from the parent handle.

No matter what type of toddler car toy you opt for, your toddler will enjoy the mobility and play that comes along with it.