The Best Duplo Blocks & Sets For Kids This Year

The perfect way to get your child or toddler started with building bricks is by providing them a set that is big enough to let their imagination run wild. This 65-piece starter kit includes enough bricks to make some of the suggested designs (including a race car, a tree, or a part of a house) or, alternatively, your kid can use these bricks to unleash their imagination and create things that they have never even dreamed of before. Included with the kit is two different Duplo figurines, one of which is an adorable black dog that you simply cannot get anywhere else.

Just because Duplo is a brand of Lego building block made exclusively for younger children does not mean that big, intricate playsets are not possible. The case in point is the Cargo Train Playset, a 105-piece battery-operated train yard with a real moving train that can be controlled by remote. This kind of kit is ideal for the construction-minded youngster who is ready to take a stab at something slightly more complicated, though the signature simplicity and ease of Duplo is clearly present here. We love the little tugboat and it’s handsome operator, but the swiveling loading crane is the real winner of the day.

Ah, the village bakers! Making all of the baguettes, coffee, and fresh squeezed orange juice that the townsfolk require. In fact, no Duplo play town would be really complete without this adorable and affordable Duplo Café Building Set. A stylish café facade sets the stage for realistic playtime commerce, while a collection of three different mini-figures are there to eat, to prepare, and to serve. Detailed accessory blocks like a cash register, golden-brown baguettes, and baked goods are just some of the things that make this playset way more exciting for a toddler than it should be.

Sometimes, you just have to let a kid figure out the rules for themselves. This is especially true of building blocks like Duplo, which allow children to forge their own creative path by building whatever they want. The fun treat comes with the colored ‘eye’ blocks, which are capable of turning a creation of any shape into an adorable creature companion. A set of easy-to-understand building cards will help kids choose from a series of per-designed animals, or they can take a crack at designing one for themselves. With 160 pieces, this is a great way to jump-start any Duplo collection.

When you are a young boy looking for something cool to play with, there is almost nothing that is more exciting than a dinosaur. Even cooler would be the included dinosaur trainer, who has the guts and know-how to handle these slippery lizards from the safety and height of an elevated lookout tower. Not only is the included T-rex figurine surprisingly cute, but his chomp-action jaw allow him to swallow Duplo bricks whole! Also included is a functional blue park jeep … the perfect way to make a speeding getaway from a pretend dinosaur chase.

For kids of all ages, there is nothing like a trip to the playground to brighten up any day. But when the summer rains come pouring down and kids aren’t able to get out of the house, they are going to need an alternative to their favorite destination. The Playground Brick Box by Lego is a full-service park and playground set complete with a slide, a swing, a clubhouse tower and a spring-mounted race car ride. All of your kid’s favorite playground elements are here, alongside two different Duplo figurines that can join your kids in the fun and games.

It doesn’t matter what kind of kid you have, chances are that they love Spider Man and The Hulk, two of America’s most powerful and awesome superheroes. Now your kid can have both at the same time with this Spider-Man and Hulk Duplo play set, which also features a figurine of the nefarious sandman. Spider-Man’s motorcycle might be one of the coolest Duplo vehicles of all time, but Bruce Banner’s radiation chamber is a close second. Will Spider-Man and The Hulk be able to defeat your enemy? That is all up to your child’s wonderful imagination.

Some of the world’s most iconic cartoon characters are having a birthday parade, and your little on is invited! The Mickey & Minnie Birthday Parade Playset is one of the most exciting ways to celebrate the occasion. An awesome train with real rolling wheels will pull the Disney figurines through the streets of your kid’s Duplo town, showing off their massive cupcake and overflowing stack of birthday presents. A set of five blocks come with brightly printed numbers, giving your child the opportunity to unknowingly practice a little math while they’re celebrating. These Mickey & Minnie figurines are not available in any other set, so this is one Duplo box to keep an eye on.

Parents who are shopping for younger kids are going to want the simplest, brightest bricks that they can get. The Duplo My First Bricks set includes 80 differently large-scale building bricks that are perfect for the toddler or late-infant to wrap their hands around and start playing. The blocks come in an array of different colors and sizes, and there are multiple sets of instructions that can help your kid build some pretty cool starter models, like a flower, a heart, a duck, or a little fish. Sure to inspire many hours of creative play for just about any kid out there, this starter-level pack is the perfect way to either add to a set or start one brand new.

It is going to be a long few years before your kid is old enough to operate a vehicle, so you might as well get them started with something a little bit simpler. The My First Car Creations building kit is a 34-piece set that has everything your child needs to create all four awesome vehicles, including a helicopter, a dump truck, a fire truck, and a family car. Each vehicle is printed with the friendly face of a neighborhood person, meaning that no Duplo figurines are required to have a great time with this play set.

Here is a Duplo set that is as adorable as it is educational. By providing a set of 15 blocks that can be built into five different animals, kids are going to have to use their budding color and matching skills to get everything assembles properly. But what is more likely to happen is the inadvertent creation of new and wild animals that are a blend of all five! It doesn’t get much better than this for a toddler’s toy … at once simple, affordable, and pretty much a guaranteed hit for toddlers and infants of every make and model.

If trains weren’t cool enough already, this little train set from Duplo doubles as an educational experience, teaching your kid the basic numbers and how to count all the way up to ten. With swinging cab joints and a reach-in compartment for the conductor, this is a fully functioning play train that also just happens to carry cargo marked with bright, bold numbers. The building and math skills provided with this kind of set is going to far outweigh the price of the plastic, so what are you waiting for? Watch as your kid rebuilds the train in different orders, then try to have them put it back together again!

For kids as young as 2, a comprehensive house-building kit is perhaps the best way to introduce your child to the magic of block-based town building. The My Town Family House Building Kit has 69 different brightly colored blocks that come together to create a little Lego house that is just as cute as a button. With three different rooms and a stylish rooftop patio garden, your kid’s Duplo figurines will feel right at home. Included in the set are three figurines, consisting of a mom, a dad, and a child, though these pieces will vary from set to set (making them that much more collectible!)

The Town Airport building block play set from Lego Duplo is one of the simpler and easier to build kits on our list, and as such, makes the perfect gift or stocking stuffer for the little builder that is just getting started. Kids as young as two will laugh at the opportunity to control their very own mini airport. The adorable plane opens up, allowing the included figurines to fit right inside for their flight to Bermuda (or was it Bahama?). A control tower with a sliding baggage ramp completes the set, creating one of the fastest out-of-the-box adventures offered by the brand.

No Duplo town is complete without its own set of heroes that are specially trained to put out fires, rescue stuck cats, and respond to emergencies of every size and shape. The Town Fire Station play kit is an awesome mid-level Duplo set that utilizes a whopping 76-pieces to create an adorable firehouse. The fire truck comes mostly assembled, which is going to help your kids get right to the fun. Also included is a set of three different Duplo figurines, featuring a boy, a girl, and the cutest Dalmatian companion that we have ever seen. Whether it is a drill or the real thing, these toy firefighters are ready to get the job done!

Rounding up the bad guys is serious business, and your kid is going to need some serious speed if they are going to be able to pull it off. The Town Police Bike is the best way to keep all the inhabitants of your make-believe Duplo village safe and happy. With real turning wheels and the ability to roll fast, this little bike and its included officer are a great addition to any existing collection. The police kiosk can be used for criminal detention if necessary, or your kid can use it as a way for all the village folk to talk to one another. With only 8 pieces, this kit makes for a great stocking stuffer or add-on to bigger kits.

If your kid is into Duplo blocks, then there is a good chance that they have a young construction contractor in them that is just begging to be let out. The Town Truck and Tracked Excavator play kit allows kids to experience the joys of construction and demolition in a fun and safe way. The toy tractor / excavator has an operator’s cabin that really rotates, and a lifting bucket with articulated joints for real-time fun. The truck has a hinge-mounted dump on the back, allowing your little workers to move blocks from one site to another without delay.

One of the largest Duplo playsets on our list also happens to be the one that is most likely to please every kid out there. After all, what kid doesn’t love animals? This 121-piece mega set by Lego Duplo is one of the most extensive and detailed Duplo kits out there, and has absolutely everything your kid needs to start their very own zoo. The whale figurines float in water, the pandas lounge about in the trees, and a jungle-faring seaplane can hover over all of it with grace and style. There is simply no bigger or better Duplo kit out there!

While every parent who is paying attention knows what Toy Story is, and quite a few of them likely experienced it for themselves in theaters way back in 1995, there aren’t a whole lot of people that know about Duplo’s highly-popular run of Toy Story-based Duplo sets. We begin with the Buzz & Woody Train Set, which is inspired from a scene from the classic movie and features two figurines (Buzz & Woody) in addition to a detailed train with moving wheels and passenger compartments that open up for storage. But because these pieces are compatible with any Duplo set, you can invite the whole Duplo community over to enjoy this awesome little train.

Since the movie’s original release, The Beauty and the Beast has captured the hearts of countless little girls who dream to live the life of Belle, the unlikely princess who lives among a gang of enchanted singing cutlery and wise-cracking furniture. Now, the magic and mystery of the original cartoon is back in Duplo form with the Belle’s Tea Party playset, a 19 piece starter-kit that is pretty much ready for action right out of the box. There are only a couple of pieces to put together, making this the perfect toy for kids as young as 2 years old.