Duplo blocks, balls, bright colored stacking cups, chunky wooden puzzles, and things they can do with their hands that don’t require super fine motor skills. A water and/or sand table is good for outside.
We did a lot of sensory play so a sand and water table or an actual sensory table is a great investment for having fun with different items like rice, beans, pasta, water beads and stuff. We loved adding in animals, dinosaurs, trucks, dolls and action figures. My kids also loved puzzles, little people, and their play kitchen and play food.
Musical instruments like maracas and drums. And food pretend toys . Melissa and Doug has many like pizza making, fruit cutting, salad and sandwich making..they love it!
I miss toy stores too. My husband and I were just talking about this and how fun it was to walk up and down the aisles and try out different toys. When my kids were toddlers, they loved the magnetic blocks, playdoh, watercolor painting, finger-painting and a tub of rice with kitchen tools to play with in it.
Right Cindy Sersig i heard Toys R Us was making a comeback - but i just don't know how people don't miss them... target is so boring and Amazon is just the same thing..... everyday
I love the Learning Express! It is a national franchise - there are locations in FL and/or you can shop online! They have fun, educational toys and the hottest toys out there.
Our 2 year old is a huge fan of any musical instruments, highly recommend a little drum and tambourine. Also, the Play-A-Sound books from the Eric Carle range. We got her an Animal Tales book which plays each of the animal sounds that go with stories. It's fun and interact for both parent and child! I've also actively used some online toy stores, they're really good. Oompa.com is a fave.