Grimm’s Hand-painted Small Houses is the perfect toy set for your little builder to create cities or villages with houses, barns, towers, and more! Authentic Grimm's Handpainted Small Houses Toy...
Get your five-a-day in an adorable way with Amuseable Avocado! Scrummily green and soft, our veggie chum has a natty two-tone jacket in speckled fur. We love that squashy, suedey...
It’s time for the youngest train drivers to track down some new fun! Extend the rail play with this bigger starter pack. Take the joyful train on a ride over...
The Sophie Bath Toy by Calisson from the Sophie La Girafa is the perfect addition to the tub to make bath time fun! Floats When squeezed, the Sophie bath toy...
PlanToys Stacking Wheel is the perfect stackable push or pull toy for your little one to use during playtime! PlanToys Stacking Wheel Details: Age: 12 months+ Includes 3 varying-sized cars...
Snoozy, yawny Smudge Puppy loves to flump on the floor and nod right off. A super cute pup in warm grey and cream, Smudge has delightful floppy ears, a waggy...
Most dinosaurs were scaly and tough, but Bashful Dino is the softest stegosaurus we’ve ever snuggled! He likes to stomp around so his squishy spines wobble, and practice his adorable...
Bashful Poodle comes from fabulous France, and has sugar-pink fur that you can’t help but cuddle. She skips down the avenue, fluffy ears flapping, and snaffles a croissant - what...
Tegu’s Pocket Pouch Prism is the perfect travel toy for your little builder to create any structure by magnetically connecting the colorful blocks, the ideal set for imaginative play! Dimensions:...
Grimm’s Monochrome 3 in a Boat is the perfect versatile toy for your little one! Authentic Grimm's 3-in-1 Boat Toy Monochrome Details: Perfect in combination with Grimm’s Rolling Boats...
The Baghera Speedster Plane in Silver is perfect for the future pilot in your life. This ride-on toy is built to last for your little aviator with a sturdy metal...
A fun Sophie La Girafe takes on the traditional rubber duck! Fun bath toy made with the same all-natural rubber as the original Sophie teether. Made with 100% natural rubber from...
Smudge Elephant loves naptime, and keeps falling asleep on the march! Flop this supersoft silly down to sit on those squishable trumpet paws. With warm grey-brown fur, bright black eyes...
Lost in a daydream? Let Amuseable Cloud be your dreamy companion. This cumulus cutie is tufty and tussled in scrumptious cream fur, with cordy grey feet for running across the...
A Multi-directional ride-on toy, fun and easy to use. Compact, robust, and quiet, this ride-on is constructed from durable and heavy plastic. The black twister ride-on is perfect for your...
The Riders, the new XL ride-on from Baghera!With its 90cm length and large wheels, this supercar is for seasoned pilots only! Strong, silent, and very maneuverable, this large Red ride-on...
These pebble blocks are perfect for balance and stacking challenges, decorating scenic play, making a stony puppet show landscape, and building cairns. This four-piece set is painted in gorgeous graduated...
All hands on deck! This intricately crafted size 4 Sailor Rabbit doesn't sacrifice his sea legs for style as he demonstrates how important it is to look good out on the...
These pebble blocks are perfect for balance and stacking challenges, decorating scenic play, making a stony puppet show landscape, and building cairns. This four-piece set is painted in gorgeous graduated...
First threading game with discs and with a wooden needle for small hands. Your child can sew together six colorful circles and make pretty patterns and pieces of art on the...
This tall and colorful stacking toy features 10 brightly colored rings on a blue base with a natural wooden dowel at its center. A classic wooden toy that grows with the child,...
These 7 little rainbow friends in 7 matching bowls are a wonderful Waldorf toy for any kiddo! These friends have simple forms to allow little ones' creative spark. Play with...
Toddlers will love stacking and nesting the six colorful boxes, which fit perfectly inside one another, all while developing color recognition and hand-eye coordination. As kids grow older, these boxes will...
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.