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The Best Garbage Truck Toys For Your Sweet Little Hauler

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by Karen Tietjen and Karen Belz
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
A two-part collage of a little garbage truck toy and other figurine accessories

As mundane as seeing the garbage truck is for grown-ups, there’s nothing more fascinating to kids. They lift, they haul, and they store piles of interesting items; when it comes to garbage trucks, what’s not to love? It’s 30 seconds of pure fascination. And it’s no wonder that toys modeled after the real thing are a source of entertainment as they load them with trinkets and wheel them around.

Aside from providing hours of endless entertainment, garbage truck toys can help hone motor, sorting, and organization skills, and encourage teamwork. These interactive toy trucks can also provide little ones early lessons in recycling and helping keep mother nature tidy. And if you’re tired of plastic toys, this list also includes some toy trucks made from wood.

So whether your kiddo is into remote control vehicles or outdoor play, or you prefer Montessori toys without all the gadgets, there are plenty of options for garbage truck toys to keep your little hauler happy.

Best Wooden Garbage Truck Toys

Garbage trucks do so much, and it’s important for kids to really understand their full impact. This set includes recycling bins that help educate your kiddos on a completely different level. Your children can learn how to help save the environment while scooting their truck around their play neighborhood, sorting garbage as it comes. Twenty-four pieces are included in this set, which is made from wood and water-based safe paints.

One Reviewer Said: “This toy is perfectly portable for kiddos that are obsessed with garbage trucks! My 4-year-old loves sorting the recyclables and playing with the little truck.”

Sometimes, the best toys are simple toys. This beautifully made garbage truck from Amazon Basics is great for children over one. It’s perfect for helping improve fine motor skills. Don’t worry if it temporarily gets lost — five trucks come per pack. That means your child has a full fleet to take care of.

One Reviewer Said: “We thought Amazon Basics was intended to be a value proposition — good things, not top quality but good, for better prices. These are top quality toys at pretty much top quality prices.”

Best Garbage Truck Toys For Outdoor Play

This recycling truck stands out since it’s made from planet-friendly materials — in fact, it’s made from recycled plastic milk containers, best explaining why recycling is so important in the first place. Appropriate for kids between the ages of one and 10, it can even be thrown in the dishwasher for a quick rinse in case it becomes as dirty as an actual garbage truck. Need more convincing? It has a 4.9-star rating on Amazon, which is almost unheard of.

One Reviewer Said: “I just can't say enough about ALL of the Green Toys products and this garbage truck is no exception (it is actually my personal favorite). The quality of their products which come from recycled milk containers and recycled plastic bags is absolutely incredible! To be quite honest, we were not looking for eco-friendly toys, but rather durable toys that would stand the test of time. Green Toys offers the best of both worlds; a quality durable product with the advantages of a completely Eco-friendly product (yes, the packaging is eco-friendly as well) AND a decent price!”

Looking for a garbage truck toy that’s great to roll around? Then, this Playkidiz truck will be a nice addition to your child’s playroom. It has six wheels, two working doors, and an interactive button that’ll make kids feel like they’re helping clean up their neighborhood. It’s made from heavy-duty plastic that’s BPA-free and is built to last. You might start wishing you had a toy like this back in the day.

One Reviewer Said: “Well worth the money. Grandson loves this trash truck. The lights and sounds are great. Had to show it to our trash man when he picked up our trash.”

Best Garbage Truck Toys For Imaginative Play

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably at least heard of Bluey before. The show — which is incredible, by the way — has an episode that’s all about “bin night.” In fact, it’s possible that that episode is what got your child interested in garbage trucks to begin with. This garbage truck toy is straight from the show and a great way for them to play along with the episode. You get Bluey, the truck driver, and other accessories to recreate your own bin night.

One Reviewer Said: “I purchased this for my now 4-year-old son as a gift. He loves everything Bluey and trash truck related so this was the perfect gift. We got a screaming, smiling excited reaction to this toy and he has played with it every day. The quality is excellent and we love that it came with little cardboard ‘trash’ for the cans. Highly recommended.”

I know, I know — not all homes are cool with Play-Doh. But if you have older kids who are good about putting lids back on containers, this Play-Doh garbage truck can be a lot of fun. With molds in the truck itself, your children can create their own “trash” over and over again. An interesting tidbit worth mentioning: the trash they create may be smelly, like real trash. In a somewhat genius move, Play-Doh made a garbage compound that actually stinks.

One Reviewer Said: “We bought this because my 3-year-old is obsessed with garbage trucks, but all my kids found this to be super fun to play with - it’s really an awesome little toy. And the “garbage” scented Play-Doh…hilarious! My 3-year-old thinks it’s too funny to make people smell it and then say ‘eeewwww!’ — cracks me up. It really just smells like blue cheese, and not terribly strong, so it’s not so revolting that you can’t play with it.”

Best Techie Garbage Truck Toys

If your kid is hoping to get a garbage truck with accessories, this JOYIN truck is bound to make them happy. It comes with three colorful trash cans that are designed to fit in this truck’s rear loaders. It’s free from sharp edges, so you can worry less if it goes sailing across your playroom. (Surely that’s what all parents think about when a new toy enters the scene, right?) When it’s safely on the ground, its friction-powered wheels will help it roll from one stop to the next.

One Reviewer Said: “I bought this truck for my grandson because he loves watching the trucks on garbage pick-up days. This truck has all the features of the trucks he watches plus they included garbage cans. The truck beeps and with the flick of a switch, lifts the cans and empties them into the truck. Such a fun product.”

Best Classic Garbage Trucks

This large-scale, 15-inch toy truck from Matchbox is a great thing to add to your child’s toy collection. Equipped with realistic sounds to emulate loading, dumping, and rolling, your kid will feel like they’re right in the midst of the garbage day action. Well over 7,500 Amazon reviewers didn’t hesitate to give this toy a five-star rating. Since it’s from Matchbox, it’s quality you can trust.

One Reviewer Said: “So far so good. All my son said he wanted was a green garbage truck for Christmas... well, Amazon definitely delivered. This Matchbox garbage truck has been a hit ever since it was opened on Christmas morning. The arm makes a noise when dumping the garbage into the truck, the truck beeps when backing up, and makes the appropriate noise when dumping the overall load. It has been sturdy and durable so far (my son is 3 and is pretty rough on toys). The truck is made out of solid plastic and here’s hoping it stays tough.”

If they love these new garbage trucks, then they’ll love our other mom-approved toys!

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