Hands down favorite is a tub of plastic dinosaurs we got....his train table, small cars, tool set, puzzles, and books also get tons of use. I find he never plays with the big electronic toys and little people sets for more an 5 or 10 minutes.
My 2.5 year old is really into playing pretend too. Doctor kit, tool belt, dress up items [hats, vests, capes] pretend food, large cardboard boxes that become rock ships, trains, fire trucks, etc.
Ipad, Step 2 Slide in the backyard, dog, dog's kong, plastic dish ware in the kitchen. DS isn't into "toys" so much. He does play with a few dump trucks that he has a lot.
Re: Recommend your 2 1/2 yr old fave toy
Doctor kit and foods/cash register/grocery baskets/grocery bags to play grocery store.
I feel like we are running a doctor's office and grocery store with how often we play those two things.
Play kitchen, books, puzzles & LeapPad 2