Play Time
Fat Brain Toys Activity Dimpl
$14.00Little fingers can't resist these beautiful buttons of the Fat Brain Toys Dimpl! Built safely into the sturdy ABS plastic frame are five vibrant silicone bubbles in varying sizes and...
PlanToys PlanToys Sorting Bus
$50.00Practice sorting and counting the different colors and shapes included with the Sorting Bus! Serving as a push-and-pull toy, children can both actively play with this vehicle and also develop...
Fat Brain Toys Stacking Tobbles Neo
$30.00Fat Brain Toys Tobbles is the perfect toy for your creative & curious little one! Tobbles is multi-use a toy with limitless possibilities; this toy can stack, spin, wiggle, and...
Hape Pound and Tap Bench Musical Toy
$36.00Hape’s Pound and Tap Bench is the perfect toy for your growing little musician! This music-maker lets your child practice scales and colors, encouraging musical expression, creativity and problem solving...
PlanToys PlanToys My First Phone
$16.00Get a call with the PlanToys Phone! A magnifier screen and a colorful beaded dial pad make a wonderful toy for interactive play and help to develop children’s dexterity and...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Wooden Pull Along E...
$68.00If children have learned to walk, they like to pull something behind them. The blue Elephant is a great companion! Materials: lime wood, non-toxic water based color stain. Authentic Grimm's...
Hape Walk A Long Snail Pull Toy
$34.00Hape’s Walk-A-Long is the perfect toy for your little walking explorer, with a pull-string so that he/she can take a friend for play on-the-go! Suitable for children 12m+ Includes snail...
PlanToys PlanToys Clatter
$26.00PlanToys Clatter is a fun musical toy that makes a click-clack sound that changes with play and goes from a soft ripple to a clattering crescendo. PlanToys Clatter Details: Age: 18...
Fat Brain Toys Building Blocks Pip Squigz
$26.00Fat Brain Toys Pip Squigz is the perfect toy to give to your little one to use in any environment, to stick on everything from walls, to bathtubs, to windows, and...
PlanToys PlanToys Rabbit Racing Car
$30.00PlanToys Rabbit Racing Car is the perfect toy for your little racer for endless pretend play! Includes turning wheel that gives the same movement as a real race car when...
Hape Shake and Match Sorter Box
$30.00Hape’s Shake and Match Shape Sorter is the perfect toy for your growing infant, helping them to develop multi-tasking skills! Suitable for children 12m+ Includes shape sorter with bead-filled blocks...
PlanToys PlanToys Rain Maker
$24.00Turn this Rain Maker over and hear the sounds of tranquil rainfall. Combine with other PlanToys musical items to create a band!
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were a Polar Bear
$13.50Jellycat’s exciting If I were a polar bear book is colorful and sturdy enough for your child to grip by themselves, perfect for interactive play. Product Details: Suitable from birth. Features...
Jellycat Jellycat Sacha Snow Tiger
$35.00 – $200.00Sacha Snow Tiger is romping across the ice to meet you! With warm grey and creamy stripes, this scamp is warm against the winter. Our sweet snow tiger is wonderfully...
PlanToys PlanToys Pounding Bench
$50.00PlanToys Pounding Bench is the perfect toy for fun play to encourage your excited little one to burn off energy! When all the pegs are pounded, your child can just...
Hape Happy Buckets Toy Set
$18.00Three colourful buckets featuring water drainage providing fun interactions. Perfect for water play! Fill up the buckets with water, bubbles or carry your bath time friends around in the pails....
Jellycat Jellycat Bashful Flamingo
$28.00For the King of the Beasts, Bashful Flamingo is looking sweetly, well, bashful! He wants a caring companion to ruffle his luxurious caramel mane. Give this squeezy, butter-bellied big cat...
Fat Brain Toys Activity Whirly Squigz
$26.00Send your little explorer twirling and whirling into a delightful sensory adventure! Each Fat Brain Toys Whirly Squigz is made of 100% high-quality silicone that's colorful, pleasant to touch,...
Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Tints 14 Piece...
$42.00Tegu’s Magnetic Wooden Blocks Tint 14pc is the perfect toy for your little builder to create any structure by connecting the colorful blocks, the ideal set for imaginative play! ...
PlanToys PlanToys Sailing Boat Seal
$16.00PlanToys Sailing Boat Seal is the perfect toy for fun bath-time play to encourage your little ones' imaginative play and creativity! PlanToys Sailing Boat Seal Details: Suitable for infants 12m+ Features...
PlanToys PlanToys Concertina
$30.00PlanToys Concertina is the perfect toy to inspire your little ones' musical creativity! As it is squeezed in and out, different notes and pitches play. PlanToys Concertina Details: Age: 18...
Hape Push Toy Butterfly
$30.00A gentle push or pull gets this butterfly’s wings fluttering and your toddler’s feet flying. Encourage la coordination Age: 12+ Months
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Large Rainbow Toy
$96.00Grimm’s 12 Piece Rainbow is a versatile toy perfect for your growing little one. Toddlers can use the rainbow for stacking and sorting, and as they get older your children...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Rainbow Toy 6-Piece
$34.00Grimm’s 6 Piece Rainbow is a versatile toy perfect for your growing little one. Toddlers can use the rainbow for stacking and sorting, and as they get older your children...
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.