Traci Mosser

When shopping for preschool developmental toys, Melissa & Doug is THE premier destination for parents and caregivers.

With a wide variety of toys for preschoolers that promote learning new skills and key development milestones to choose from at Melissa & Doug, your choices can be narrowed down by focusing on specific skills you want to promote to your preschooler.

Helping kids develop the key skills they’ll need when they reach school age and beyond is why we launched our “Skills at Play” initiative, which adds colorful, eye-catching graphics to our packaging and website that easily identify the skills those respective toys help teach.

Learning Skills Through Play

With Melissa & Doug, there are so many Skills at Play! For more than 35 years, we’ve inspired learning fun through open-ended toys that help kids build skills and confidence. We’re here to help you support your child through their ages, stages, and individual learning styles. To easily understand the skills kids are practicing while they play, we’ve created Skills at Play!

Every child is different. They each develop PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE, and SOCIAL abilities at their own pace. We have identified 16 skills across these learning areas that our toys may help your child develop. On product pages, you’ll find the most relevant skills for that toy listed:

• PHYSICAL SKILLS: Help your little one hone their fine motor, movement, and sensory skills.

• COGNITIVE SKILLS: Boost brain development with play that promotes problem solving, cause & effect, matching, and more.

• SOCIAL SKILLS: Give kids ways to connect and communicate with others while building self esteem and empathy.

Look for these individual Skills at Play icons on Melissa & Doug toy packaging and our website, designed to help parents and caregivers easily identify what skills our baby and toddler toys help promote through play.

Built-in tracks, colorful scenery, and fun play pieces let kids take their imaginations for a spin . . . and take playtime anywhere they want to go! The Take-Along Railroad wooden play pieces include buildings, animals, trees, and a railroad crossing sign to enhance imaginative storytelling. All the pieces store in the fold-up case with a convenient carrying handle for easy cleanup and travel. Keep playtime rolling for kids 3+, and encourage independent play and motor skill development.

Catch some laughs and learning fun with this wooden magnetic fishing & counting play set—complete with working wind-up reel! The 10 magnetic fish are numbered and patterned to enrich matching, sorting, and counting activities, and two wooden rods make collecting them a blast! Kids can use the spinner to play as a game, or just have fun collecting the pieces over and over again. Either way, there’s plenty of fun in this sea! 

This 10-piece Band in a Box musical instrument set has everything preschoolers need to form a kids’ marching band, launch a solo music career, or just enjoy exploring music, rhythm, and a wide range of sounds! The set includes a tambourine, cymbals, maracas, clacker, tone blocks, and a triangle. It also includes a convenient sturdy wooden storage crate to make clean-up a breeze. Strike up the band and get everybody moving—this collection of unique wooden musical instruments for kids is a great way to spark a lifelong love of music!

Rev up playtime and take imaginations for a spin with this realistic play steering wheel mounted on a sturdy wooden dashboard with lights, sound effects, and moving parts, including a scrolling GPS! Turn the key to start and shift into drive to get the GPS rolling—turn the wheel to keep the car on the road on the GPS display! The interactive dashboard includes “hands-free” buttons on the steering wheel for a phone and the radio, which plays clips of music for each of four stations. A terrific toy for hand-eye coordination, imaginative play, and to help teach cause and effect. 

Catch children in the act of behaving well and reward them, then watch those good habits multiply! Open the fabric-hinged boards to reveal a behavior chart on one board, while the other board keeps all the magnets close at hand. A sturdy cord is attached for hanging. Dry-erase board and 89 magnets, including responsibilities, positive behaviors, and rewards.

This wooden bear is always smiling, but he’s happiest when fully dressed! Getting dressed won’t be such a puzzle once zipping, buckling, snapping, lacing and tying, and other dressing skills are mastered with our Basic Skills Puzzle Board. Each skill is contained in a separate, removable wooden puzzle piece for easy practice. Develop fine motor and life skills with this great activity.