10 best toy cars for preschoolers for endless pretend play
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You usually start with toys cars for toddlers, or maybe even babies, but toddlers can play a lot of imaginative play with it.
For instance this Bruder Dodge Ram 2500 with horse trailer. A wonderful auto to see, very sturdy and can withstand rough play, but especially the suspension is great and the fact that the doors can be opened for dolls. It has everything for good pretend play.
In this guide I look at the 10 best toy cars for preschoolers and what you should pay attention to when buying.
Let's take a quick look at the top options. Then I'll go into more detail about each of these choices.
Overall best toy car for preschoolers
It's one of the toughest toy cars I've ever seen. Bruder is expensive, that's for sure. But it is also really quality.
Best magnetic toy car for preschoolers
The set is also just very well put together. The magnets click well and stay in place, even during heavy driving.
Best RC car for preschoolers
[Toy Grade] You see this kind of 360 degree rotation cars popping up everywhere, and the best brand for this type of RC car at the moment is Sgile. Super sturdy so bumping or falling from something won't do anything to him.
Best race track for preschoolers aged 5 to 6
Featuring one of the most renowned race track designers in the form of Carrera, along with the endearing characters from the movie, this is the perfect starter kit for younger children.
Best toy car with big wheels
This starter set gives you the opportunity to build your favorite Monster Jam truck and then race it.
Best toy car with light and sound
Playmobil is always perfect for pretend play. You not only get a car that drives well, but also a lot of accessories.
Best toy car wash
A real working car wash. You can put hot and cold water in it so that the Hot Wheels Color Shifters can change color.
Best cheap toy car kit
This set is fairly easy to build with solid pine wood pieces that you can build with your 6-year-old, maybe a little earlier.
Most to build with
This time it's about building a cool race track, and with the pieces you can actually build it the way you want with the 48 track pieces.
Best battery vehicle for preschoolers
It features a powerful 12-volt battery, not as powerful as some on our list, but still packs a punch.
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Toy cars for preschoolers buying guide
What should you pay attention to when buying toy cars for toddlers?
Age is very important. First they played a little with the cars and drove through the house. Now pretend play becomes more and more important.
It must therefore mainly be cars or play packages with which they can do something extra.
Sustainability
There are quite a few differences in quality between toy car brands. Just look at the difference between Bruder and Hot Wheels, you can clearly feel the quality.
In any case, almost nothing can go wrong with a complete diecast car. That is what I paid extra attention to when assessing the durability of the cars.
Quality of driving
With toy cars you want them to be able to drive well. Some may be for display only, not for play. But you still want them to roll well.
A few things to watch out for are:
- the distance from the wheels to the chassis: some toy cars run into problems so they don't drive very well
- the rigidity of the shaft: some toy cars are very wobbly so the wheels can move far in and out, and still rub
- the quality of the wheels: is it plastic or are there really rubber wheels on the tires? Rubber rolls a lot better
- the weight of the car: you may not realize this right away, but the weight of the car plays a very large role in how well it rolls. A heavier car made of diecast or wood rolls a lot better and further than a plastic car
Replayability
Much of the car's replayability is in how well it drives, but there are other factors that determine how often they return to it.
Age also plays a part. Is it a car that stays on the left after toddlerhood or can it last longer because it is also suitable for toddlers?
The number of extra functions also play a role, such as the horse trailer at Bruder and the fact that everything can be opened or the extra figures and accessories at Playmobil.
I rated each of the cars on this list on these parts on a 5-point scale.
Top 10 toy cars for preschoolers reviewed
brother Dodge Ram 2500 With Horse Trailer 02501
- Super sturdy construction
- All doors can be opened, including the tailgate of the truck
- Very expensive
- Little big to play with and difficult to combine with other toys
The Dodge pick-up has a cab with four doors that can be opened and closed. The tailgate can also be opened.
Toy horse trailers are also available for older children who can handle small parts responsibly and may be more interested in a more truthful design.
Great fun for children who still have a lot of interest in horses and horse trailers as they grow up.
It's one of the toughest toy cars I've ever seen. Bruder is expensive, that's for sure. But it is also really quality.
Due to the size and especially small parts (the doors can be detached and there is a loose tekhook), the set is particularly suitable for children from 3 years old.
The horse trailer is equipped with a rear door that can be easily folded open and can serve as a platform for the horse to be guided inside.
The Dodge Ram is also available separately without the horse trailer.
Tegu Daredevil
- Sustainable wooden toys
- Car drives really well too
- Very expensive
Tegu is a toy brand that makes everything from wood. Beautiful and sturdy wood.
It's durable and made in Honduras in a responsible manner, that's playing good.
It also makes the set a bit more expensive, but playing with wood gives your child much more in return than plastic toys.
The set is also just very well put together. The magnets click well and stay in place, even during heavy driving.
And that's what you ultimately want from a toy car.
This set offers less building options than the Magformers police set. But you can also supplement this with other sets from Tegu.
They all fit together. Here you get at least 12 building pieces.
sgile 360 Rotation
- Collide safely so your child can tear with it
- Made to do fun stunts
- Controls can take some getting used to for a small child
- Not suitable for racing
Type: Toy Grade
This is a car for when you want to drive around without worrying about bumping into something.
That could be because you really like it yourself, but it's also perfect for toddlers and preschoolers who don't know what they are doing yet.
You see these kind of 360 degree rotation cars popping up everywhere, and the best brand for this type of RC car at the moment is Sgile.
Super sturdy so bumping or falling from something won't hurt it and it charges nice and fast (in 1,5 hours) so your child will never run out of battery (because they will often forget to charge it before they want to ride) ).
Oh, and charging is done via USB so you can do that anytime, anywhere.
That fast charging is also necessary because it can only last 25 minutes on a single charge. That is one of the major drawbacks.
But they also paid attention to safety with high-quality ABS materials that are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. The battery has short circuit protection and overcharge protection.
Career GO Pixar Cars Speed Challenge
- Good traditional slot cars
- Expandable track system
- Nice theme suitable for younger children
- small set
- Not much happens without extensions
The Carrera GO - Pixar Cars Edition racetrack is a fun spin-off of the popular Disney / Pixar movie 'Cars'.
Nice starter set with the characters of Cars.
It's a more traditional racetrack than some of the others on our list so it will bring back memories of your childhood as well.
While Disney certainly valued the odds for gold from this movie, there's no underestimating the appeal this trusted character can have in the world of racetracks.
This set is a more traditional racetrack, the kind of kit you'd know from your childhood.
- Two metal car tracks
- two speed controllers
- two cars (McQueen and Bernoulli)
- and a few exciting extras (high curves, narrow section, intersection, flyover, loop).
Featuring one of the most renowned race track designers in the form of Carrera, along with the endearing characters from the movie, this is the perfect starter kit for younger children.
Spin master Monster Jam Dirt Starter
- Sturdy monster truck
- Nice and small, fits well in toddler hands
- Wheels are very wobbly
- Relatively little kinetic sand, and does not combine with other brands of sand
Wow! This Hot wheels monster jam monster truck is very impressive!
This starter set gives you the opportunity to build your favorite Monster Jam truck and then race it.
There is even a ready-made ramp that you can use as a ramp or to perform crazy stunts. You also get 227 grams of kinetic sand with the set that you can drive over and build the ramp.
The Monster Jam truck is detailed and has dirt-stained tires. This makes the look of the truck even more real!
It's the perfect starter kit for a speed champion who likes huge, tough trucks!
I only found the downsides that there was not so much kinetic sand, we were lucky ourselves so we could experience the second disaster, but otherwise there was not even enough to fill both ramps.
And maybe you want to buy a second truck to be able to race too, because what is Monster Trucks (top rated here) without monster racing.
The downside is that the wheels are very wobbly. This makes the monster truck a bit difficult to drive at times.
Not so much when you hold it in your hand, but more when you want to push it forward. He just wants to go in circles.
Playmobil Police bus 70899
- Lots of accessories for pretend play
- Realistic sound
- Doesn't drive as well as real toy cars
Playmobil is always perfect for pretend play. You not only get a car that drives well, but also a lot of accessories.
The same goes for this police bus. The button on the roof turns on the lights and sounds for a realistic police sound.
There are two dolls included but there is enough room in the bus for seven and the rear seat folds down for more storage space.
Furthermore, there are handcuffs, a walkie-talkie and 2 pistols. You can easily transport the crooks in the bus because the roof is removable and the sliding side doors and rear doors can really open.
A real toy car like the Interceptor from Dickie Toys drives a little better than Playmobil. This is more of a playset.
Hot Wheels Stunt & Splash
- Really working car wash
- Fun laundry activities
- Color Shifters are very difficult with very hot and very cold water
- Small water reservoirs
The first on the list is a real working car wash. You can put hot and cold water in it so that the Hot Wheels Color Shifters can change color.
The set is suitable for 1:64 scale cars. So the Hot Wheels cars but also many other die-cast cars are on this scale, such as Majorette.
All the water is collected at the bottom in a wide container so that you do not have water everywhere.
The set is suitable from 4 years old, maybe with some help and supervision also for 3 year olds.
The hot water must be quite warm and the cold water almost ice water, so that is a bit difficult for the color shifters, because the reservoirs are quite small.
But all in all a nice set with a lift, a movable foam roller and a pretend vacuum. Very fun pretend play activities.
Made By Me DIY Car Craft And Paint
- Fun to build from 6 years old
- Paint your car yourself with which you can play afterwards
- Glue was bad
- Your child will not get them as beautiful as in the picture
Building this set is quite easy. They are solid pinewood parts that you can build together with your child from the age of 6, maybe a little earlier.
This set is mainly about pimping your own car. You get sticker sheets and paint to make the car completely to your taste.
The nice thing is that you can do it together with brothers and sisters because you get 3 race cars.
There are 12 colors and stickers such as flames to build a real race car and the cars also drive quite reasonable to play with your creation afterwards.
That is also nice in this age of about 6 years. That you make something and they also have the age to play with toy cars.
Each car is 6 inches long and 1,5 inches high (15,2 by 3,8 cm) so they pair well with other toy cars.
The glue that comes with the kit is not very good. The cars didn't hold up to play that long so we ended up using our own glue. That's smarter to just do it right from the start.
But they added child-resistant glue because it's aimed at 6-year-olds.
Picasso Tiles Racing Track
- Endless opportunities to build a job
- Lots of parts
- Batteries don't last long
- Wheels will not run without batteries
I have also reviewed Picasso Tiles before at the best magnetic tiles for their creative designs.
You can combine this set with their other magnetic tiles, and actually all magnetic tiles of this size (such as Magna Tiles and Desire Deluxe, etc.).
This time it's about building a cool race track, and with the pieces you can actually build it the way you want with the 48 track pieces.
The magnetic tiles connect to each other so there is really no limitation.
The cars can not only move over the floor, but also up and down with the 16 piles to build on and the 4 ramps to race up and down.
There are 2 LED cars included. A bit similar to other brands, nothing really to write home about but they do the job.
It is ultimately the most fun to make your own creations, to combine them with other magnet toys or with other toy cars.
By the way, you cannot use ordinary magnet tiles to drive them on because these tiles have grooves for the cars.
The cars cannot drive without batteries, which is a downside. But otherwise a very nice set for quite a bit of fun.
Also read: Are your children perhaps ready for cars for school children? These are the best
Cold Mercedes Unimog
- 2 seater model for brothers and sisters
- Good remote control
- 2 speeds for smaller children
- Quite pricey
This electric children's car is a super cool version with all kinds of technical gadgets.
It features a powerful 12-volt battery, not as powerful as some on our list, but still packs a punch.
So never let your toddlers or preschoolers play on it alone and make sure you always keep an eye on them when they are on the car.
A 12V7A is connected to both wheel axles for the wheel drive.
A remote control is included. You can take over the steering yourself at all times when your child is riding the car and the car has 2 driving speeds.
There is a slow start so that your child does not immediately fall off as soon as they accelerate. There is also a handle on the back so that you can easily move the quad.
Most people are happy with the battery life.
What age are these toys recommended for?
Toddlers from 3 years old and toddlers up to 7 years old
What makes these toys stand out?
The ease of use, strength and safety ensure that children have a lot of fun.
Parents are also happy because you can be in control if you wish, depending on the driving skills of their child.
Conclusion
There are a lot of choices for preschoolers and this is a great age to explore the world with toy cars in all sorts of creative play.
Also read: these are the best toy cars for any age
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.