Play Time
Penguin Peekaboo Apple Book
$9.99Ingela P Arrhenius’s unmistakable, enchanting artwork, combined with an ingenious slider mechanism on every page, make this a totally irresistible board book for toddlers. Young children will be captivated by...
Penguin Peekaboo Farm Book
$9.99Ingela P. Arrhenius’s unmistakable, enchanting artwork, combined with an ingenious slider mechanism on every page, make this a totally irresistible board book for toddlers who love farm animals. Young children...
Penguin Peekaboo Bear Book
$9.99Ingela P. Arrhenius’s unmistakable, enchanting artwork, combined with an ingenious slider mechanism on every page, make this a totally irresistible board book for toddlers who love nature. Young children will...
Penguin Peekaboo Sun Book
$9.99Ingela P Arrhenius’s unmistakable, enchanting artwork, combined with an ingenious slider mechanism on every page, make this a totally irresistible board book for toddlers. Young children will be captivated by...
Chronicle Books Let’s Look at Numbers
$9.99This book is the perfect introduction to counting, part of a brand-new series of board books Let's Look At ... and with beautiful artwork from bestselling author and illustrator Marion Deuchars. Make learning...
Chronicle Books Let’s Look at Shapes Board Book
$9.99Let’s look at shapes! With beautiful artwork from best-selling author and illustrator Marion Deuchars, this book is a fun and lively introduction to simple shapes. Boardbook 24 pages 11 images...
Chronicle Books Finger Puppet Book Hug Me Little Puppy
$9.99Share your love with this huggable finger puppet book! The sweetly reassuring stories in the Hug Me series celebrate all the things a parent's arms can do for their child, from playing...
Chronicle Books Finger Puppet Book Hug Me Little Bunny
$9.99Share your love with this huggable finger puppet book! The sweetly reassuring stories in this brand-new series celebrate all the things a parent's arms can do for their child, from...
Chronicle Books Finger Puppet Book Hug Me Little Bear
$9.99Share your love with this huggable finger puppet book! The sweetly reassuring stories in this brand-new series celebrate all the things a parent's arms can do for their child, from...
Abrams Appleseed Book In Your Cozy Bed
$9.99From Jo Witek and Christine Roussey, the team behind In My Heart and the Growing Hearts series comes this soothing bedtime board book, In Your Cozy Bed. Told from the point of view...
Bear Company Shaker Rattle Lil Alma Llama
$10.00Adorably cute rattle toy with plastic shake ring. This soft plush shaker rattle provides comfort and is a fun play activity for newborns and babies. A great gift for baby...
Penguin Where's the Astronaut Book
$10.00Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing with little ones by lifting the felt flaps to discover four hidden space-themed friends. Then find the mirror under the final flap!...
Penguin Where's the Dog Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Duck Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Bear Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Chick Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Kangaroo Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Giraffe Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Pirate Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of adventurous pirate friends hiding behind bright felt flaps. With a mirror on the final page, this is a perfect book to share...
Penguin Where's the Penguin Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Narwhal Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Ladybug Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of friendly animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find...
Penguin Where's the Tiger Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of jungle animals that include a peacock, a monkey, a tortoise, and a tiger all hiding behind bright felt flaps. With a mirror...
Penguin Where's the Unicorn Book
$10.00Lift the felt flaps to discover four hidden magical creatures (a mermaid, a dragon, a fairy, and a unicorn), then find the mirror under the fifth and final flap! Parents...
Play is essential for children because it contributes to their intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. When children play, they exercise their creativity, develop their imagination, master their dexterity, improve their cognitive ability and build physical strength. Experts agree that the best kinds of play allow kids to set their own goals, negotiate challenges, develop and share ideas, and make their own rules.
But how can we make sure our kids are getting enough healthy, unstructured play time when they’re growing up in an overscheduled and stressful environment, when parents are overly focused on producing high academic achievers, and safety concerns prevent us from letting our kids roam around freely and unsupervised? Perhaps the best thing we can do for our kids is to make sure they have the right kinds of toys at home to make play time most rewarding.
First and foremost is safety. Safe toys for young children are sturdy, without sharp parts or splinters, free of pinching hazards, and easy to clean. If the toy will be used by an infant, it’s important that parts aren’t small enough to become a choking hazard.
Toys must be made from non-toxic materials and coated with lead-free paints. You should steer clear of antique toys, second-hand toys and homemade toys that have not been tested and approved by a certified testing lab, or may have been produced before the current regulations governing toy manufacturing were in effect.
In addition to being safe, a good toy will match the child’s appropriate stage of development and abilities.
The best baby activity toys for infants between 0-6 months are things they can reach, grasp, suck on, shake, and make noise with. Some age-appropriate toys for little babies are squeeze toys, teething toys, soft dolls, textured balls, and board books.
Infants between 6-12 months are starting to crawl, sit up and pull themselves to a standing position. They are capable putting things in and out of containers and placing objects on top of each other. Some of the best baby activity toys for this age group are dolls, vehicles with wheels, bath toys, large beads, nesting toys, large soft blocks, wooden blocks, and push & pull toys.
As your child continues to grow, look for toys that will encourage them to explore, create, pretend, imagine, and learn from trial and error.