Play Time
Penguin Where's the T Rex Book
$10.00Five beautifully illustrated spreads show a series of dinosaurs that include a stegosaurus, a diplodocus, a triceratops, and a T. rex all hiding behind bright felt flaps. With a mirror...
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...
Penguin Where's the Zebra Book
$10.00Five stylishly illustrated spreads show a series of friendly safari animals hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s...
Chronicle Books Who Am I?
$14.99Simple riddles, bold images, and fun, interactive pull-tabs help make the classic guessing game loads of fun. Who likes to hop on lily pads? Who likes to eat honey from beehives? Pull the...
Penguin Wild Animals Book
$7.99From a grinning crocodile to an elegant flamingo, from a perky meerkat to an endearing hippo, there are many wild creatures to discover in this captivating book. Adapted from designer...
Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Clip and Discover Shapes
$28.00Help little ones recognize shapes and entertain them while they're on the go. In true Wimmer-Ferguson fashion, each shape has simpler black-and-white graphics on one side and more complex color...
Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Double Feature Mirror
$50.00One side features a mirror for self discovery, while the other side has high-contrast black & white graphics that help baby with visual & multi-sensory development. This toy has ribbon...
Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Nursery Novel Soft Book
$22.00The soft nursery novel features classic development prints, crinkle paper flaps, a mirror, and ribbon ties to close or attach to various play areas. Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Nursery Novel Features:...
Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Spiral Tiger
$26.00Tiger spiral features three dangling attachments to encourage grasping, self-discovery, and cause and effect learning. Attachments include rattles, teethers, and a baby-safe mirror. High contrast patterns and colors support the...
Manhattan Toy Wimmer Ferguson Stim Mobile To Go
$16.00The beloved infant stim-mobile is now available on the go! We've turned the award-winning infant stim-mobile into a compact, easy-to-attach stroller mobile. This mobile features six reversible cards that contain...
Bajo Wood Action Figure Triceratops
$60.00This is the Triceratops, a 3-horned herbivorous dinosaur that looks a bit like a rhino. Is that His ancestor? We do not know this, but the Triceratops and rhinoceros have...
Bajo Wooden Action Figure T-Rex
$60.00It's the T-Rex! A powerful, two-legged creature. The former inhabitants of the planet remind us of the animals that are currently endangered, thanks to which we become sensitive to them...
Bajo Wooden Animal Gorilla
$64.00This adorable wooden Gorilla is lightweight and easy to play with. Their limbs can be moved so your child can imitate the real movements of the living endangered species. They...
Bajo Wooden Animal Panda
$64.00This adorable wooden Polar Bear is light weight and easy to play with. Their limbs can be moved so your child can imitate the real movements of the living endangered...
Sabo Concept Wooden Castle Building Blocks Light Pink
$125.00Let your child's imagination run wild with this beautiful Castle Building Blocks Set that features all the shapes needed to build their own castle, city, race track, or whatever their creative minds...
Bajo Wooden Classic School Bus Yellow
$22.00This bright yellow bus is perfect for playtime and its little windows provide a comfortable grip for little hands! Made for ages 1+ years and up Size: 5"x2"x3"
Sabo Concept Wooden Cubes 24 Pieces Set Green
$54.00These 24 pieces of wooden cubes set are made out of linden tree covered with water-based paint that you can see the structure of wood through. Together with deep unconventional...
Bajo Wooden English Double Decker Bus
$30.00This wonderful English Double Decker gives your children double the fun and and lets them work their imagination twice as hard! This sweet English car has twice the windows to support...
Bajo Wooden Formula 1 Racing Toy Car
$45.00These beautifully painted racing cars will bring any child joy and keep them well entertained. The vibrant paint will keep anyone's attention and the colorful rubber ring around the wheels...
Egmont Wooden Garage with Crane
$100.00So much to discover with this lovely wooden garage. Use the crane with the magnetic hook to load the containers on the trucks. Age: 3 years+ Includes 2 cars, road...
Sabo Concept Wooden Multicolored Cubes 24 Pieces Set
$54.00These 24 pieces of wooden cubes set are made out of linden tree covered with water-based paint that you can see the structure of wood through. Together with deep unconventional...
Janod Wooden Pull Along Hens and Chicks Toy
$30.00An adorable pull-along Hens and Chicks toy. A superb early-learning toy that will help develop your child's motor skills. This toy will motivate your child to develop his learning to walk from...
Sabo Concept Wooden Rainbow Toy Marsala
$58.00This set of 7 gorgeous rainbow stacking elements come nested inside each other. Let the creativity of your child grow as they can building mazes and tunnels for cars, making mountains and...
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.