The Best Birthday Gifts for 2-Year-Old Girls with Summer Birthdays
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Birthday gifts for 2-year-old girls with summer birthdays are an awesome opportunity to add fun play options for your little ones!
As a mom who loves toys but hates cluttering our home, I’ve developed a personal framework for how to choose meaningful presents:
- I like to think through what categories my kids’ toys fall into, and I try not to overdo any one category.
- I have a storage container for each category of toy and if the box gets too full I know it’s time to get rid of some toys.
- I focus on open ended toys (the kids play better with them anyway!)
- Outdoor toys (that keeps the house less cluttered and encourages us to get outside)
- Gifts that get used up (like craft supplies or yummy & healthy treats!)
Keep reading to get inspired with lots of open ended and classic gift ideas for your little girl!
Pretend Play
1. Dress-Up Play Sets
Dress-up play enhances imagination, encourages role-playing, and supports social-emotional development as toddlers mimic social interactions.
Including a dedicated container or trunk to organize these items helps manage clutter while keeping play accessible and fun!
Here are some fun dress-up options for 2 year old girls that are a cut above and easy for them to play with themselves!
Little Adventures Play Dresses:
If you’re looking to splurge, Little Adventures Princess Dresses are a cut above, machine washable and much more durable than regular dress up clothes!
Fabric Tiaras:
Soft fabric crowns like these are machine washable and easy for little hands take on and off!
Bead Necklaces:
Bead necklaces like these are cheap, durable and easy for toddlers to put on and take off!
Sunglasses:
Toddler sunglasses are perfect for the dress-up bin and for protecting little eyes on sunny summer days!
Play Silks:
An even more open-ended option for dress-up are playsilks like Sarah’s Silks! These silks are so colorful, durable, and tactile. Kids love them, but they are on the more costly side.
2. Dollhouse & furniture
A small, foldable dollhouse like this one can be put away easily and it comes with furniture included!
Another option is to build a dollhouse yourself from a kit! These are gorgeous dollhouses that can be played with for a very long time.
3. Pretend Play Kitchen and Accessories
A play kitchen set is a timeless gift!
I think they just keep getting cuter and cuter!
These stainless steel pots and pans by Melissa & Doug are so fun for toddlers since they feel very real!
The matching tea set is also a total winner! The little cups are perfect for tiny hands and are actually food safe!
4. Baby Dolls
Dolls encourage nurturing behavior, empathy, and imaginative play! Little girls at this age love imitating activities like feeding, bathing, and soothing a doll to sleep.
It’s an especially perfect gift to prepare them for new siblings!
I think this 12” Corolle babydoll is just darling. She has a soft body, a sweet vanilla scent and eyes that open and close!
Outdoor Play
5. Outdoor Water Table
A water table is an ideal gift for the warm summer months!
It provides endless hours of fun!
My kids scoop, pour, and splash all summer long!
This Step2 water table is really thoughtfully made and gets great reviews! We have a very similar one.
6. Child-Sized Garden Tools
Gardening tools are a great way to include your toddler in your life if you have a garden!
Designate a pot of dirt or a section of the garden for them and watch their love for God’s creation grow!
7. Balance Bike / Tricycle
Balance bikes help toddlers develop essential coordination and balance skills needed for future bike riding! They offer physical exercise and a sense of independence and accomplishment.
This one is just adorable! If I know anything about toddlers, they will love filling the basket with all kinds of treasures!
Another classic option along the same lines is a tricycle!
8. Sidewalk Chalk
Sidewalk chalk is so fun for 2 year olds!
Not only can they color with it, but you can also draw easy obstacle courses for them to follow on the ground!
Indoor Toys:
9. Building Toys: Duplos and Magna-Tiles
Building toys like Duplos and Magna-Tiles are super engaging for 2 year old girls!
A set like this one has the advantage of coming with its own storage container!
Magna-tiles are one of the most engaging open-ended toys we own.
Our girls play with them almost every day making all kinds of endless creations!
Not just towers, but “presents” (boxes with other toys put inside), “cakes” (stacks of magnatiles), they have fun looking through the different colored tiles, or lay them on the ground in great long trains!
10. Classic Books
Book are always a classic gift!
I believe in quality over quantity for picture books.
The books I mention below are probably considered too advanced for 2 year olds, but they introduce little girls to a wide range of vocabulary and are an investment that they can grow into for years!
I have noticed that the nicer the book is, the more drawn my children are to them!
I do not let them play with paper page books until they have learned how to be trustworthy with the pages—which they learn surprisingly early when given the opportunity!
This set of Beatrix Potter stories are a total classic!
Toddlers love hearing the stories (Miss Muppet is a great one to start with for younger kids!) and looking at the beautiful illustrations!
These Winnie the Pooh books are the originals, full of poignant poetry and sweet stories.
With a 2 year old we don’t worry about reading every word, but they are drawn to them and love the illustrations and stories!
They are definitely a set my little girls will grow into more and more over time!
These James Herriot stories are all so sweet, and the illustrations are detailed and immersive!
11. Musical Instruments
Musical instrument sets like this one are a great way to encourage your little girl to make a joyful noise to the Lord!
If you really want to splurge, this Lovevery music set has excellent reviews and includes ways for children to begin to learn about rhythm and reading music!
12. Playdough and Accessories
Playdough is a wonderful gift for 2 year old girls!
I let my toddlers play with playdough on the kitchen counter while I cook or bake. They like working with me!
You can make your own playdough, or just use kitchen tools to play with it, but we have loved this ice-cream set!
It says 3+, but my 23 month old little girls is already perfectly cognizant of what ice-cream is and enthusiastically makes her own ice-cream cones!
13. Coloring Supplies
Crayons, colored pencils, and coloring books are wonderful for little girls to begin to play with at two!
My toddlers especially love these reusable “water wows” by Melissa & Doug! They provide all the fun of painting but without the mess!
14. Special Movies for Quality Screen Time
I don’t totally avoid screen time with my toddlers.
It’s very handy to be able to turn on a movie, especially with everyone is sick!
That being said, I don’t want them just watching junk! I would like to feed their imaginations with stories that are worth watching.
As another positive, a movie is a birthday present that doesn’t take up any extra room in the house!
If I could recommend just one movie it would be “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” made in 1977. It’s imaginative, beautiful, and has charming dialogue!
Final Thoughts
Selecting birthday gifts for your two-year-old daughter is so fun!
My toddler girls have played the most with open-ended toys.
It’s also a good idea to buy (or find) a storage container for each new type of toy you introduce into your home so it’s easy for your little ones to learn how to put their toys away!
If you’re interested in how I keep my home tidy with little kids I wrote this article on my simple daily essentials checklist that keeps me on track!
I hope you enjoyed these ideas!