Here’s a list of my four-year old’s favorite toys. She loves creating things independently like cooking and baking, doing crafts (but she wants to do it her way), and loves watching and singing along to K-Pop Demon Hunters (obsessed would be an understatement), SuperKitties, Frozen, Paw Patrol, and Moana.
- Super Mini-Market – Starting with the toy that she played with the most, so much so that we ended up getting a second one because she finished the first. This one was honestly a surprise hit. It’s a book of punch-outs that you can fold into mini groceries, and it also comes with adorable paper grocery bags and a display shelf. We were using scotch tape to tape the groceries fold-outs but we later discovered that the book comes with double-sided tape. I’ve been shocked at how long this can keep my four-year-old occupied. I love when she says, “let’s play groceries!” It would be super cute to get a mini grocery cart to go with the grocery store. My four-year old is also really into Mini Brands, especially the mini fridge.
- Yoto Player – We stayed in Salt Spring Island for a whole month in spring of 2025 and the house didn’t have a tv but had a Yoto player. Living in a place with no tv “cured” my four-year old’s reliance on tv and screen time and she listened to a lot of music and stories on the Yoto. Her favorite music was by an artist called Caspar Babypants. When we came back to Vancouver our friends gifted us a Yoto player with a Paw Patrol Pup Pack, and she’s listened to those cards so many times we are experts on all the pups lol. Yoto also has daily stories, kind of like a radio or podcast. We have a generic Yoto card holder to keep all the cards organized.
- Karaoke Machine – If your child is head-over-heels obsessed with K-Pop Demon Hunters like ours, they’ll love singing along to the songs with their own microphone and disco lights. We got ours free from our neighborhood no-buy group and it came with 2 microphones. The mics started being unreliable so for Christmas my husband gave our daughter a new karaoke machine. Maybe add some earplugs to the order if you’re going to get one.
- Frozen Elsa Dresses – My daughter was never really into dressing up, but there’s something about Elsa dresses that get her really excited. We’ve gotten quite a bit of wear out of this Elsa set and this Elsa set.
- Melissa & Doug Princess Shoes (4 pairs) – Our four-year old loves wearing these while she sings into her karaoke machine. These shoes are NOT easy to walk in though, so be careful.
- Books that our four-year old loves:
Thelma, Pig and Friends Collection (Five Stories)
What Should Darla Do?
Who Ate Steve?
A Visitor for Bear
Library Lion
LaoLao’s Dumplings - Crafts that I bought to keep her busy on the plane that she continued playing with after:
Headband making kit
Foam sticker art
Jab Jab Art - FAO Schwarz Makeup Kit – When my husband and I were in New York this past summer we went to FAO Schwarz and I got my daughter their makeup kit, which includes everything from eyeshadows to lipsticks and brushes. They’re all real makeup that can be applied. My daughter loves makeup and there was enough in the kit to share with her little friends. It helps keep her away from my Dior and Chanel makeup (in theory). I also got her some inexpensive K-beauty eye shadow sticks for Christmas (only $4 each!)
- Puzzles – We love doing puzzles as a family and our four-year old’s pretty good at doing 100-200 piece puzzles. We love the Cobble Hill 275-piece puzzles because the pieces are large and they’re fun for the whole family.
What toys to you recommend?