Play Time
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 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 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 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!...
Tikiri Whale Natural Rubber Rattle
$18.00This rubber rattle from the ocean buddies collection. Easy-grip for smaller hands. Each marine animal character has an enclosed rattle that creates a soft sound when shaken. Sound Toys, like...
Wee Gallery Wee Galley Art Cards For Baby Jungle ...
$16.00Babies are fascinated with black-and-white designs. Right from the start, these art cards begin developing a baby’s visual perception. Printed on sturdy board, these cards will stand up to baby’s...
Tikiri Turtle Natural Rubber Rattle
$18.00This rubber rattle from the ocean buddies collection. Easy-grip for smaller hands. Each marine animal character has an enclosed rattle that creates a soft sound when shaken. Sound Toys, like...
Chronicle Books TouchThinkLearn Book Colors
$16.99Introducing TouchThinkLearn books, a format unlike any other. Combining scooped-out die-cuts with raised, shaped elements, each book is designed to offer the youngest learners an irresistible opportunity to explore their...
Bunnies By The Bay Sweet Nibble Bunny Plush Toy Pink
$38.00Sweet Nibble Bunny is sweet, tender, and oh-my-gosh unbelievably soft. This stuffed animal has a hand-embroidered face, pink cheeks, and a big fluffy tail. Features rosewater pink and warm white fur, with...
Bunnies By The Bay Sweet Nibble Bunny Plush Toy Grey
$38.00Sweet Nibble Bunny is sweet, tender, and oh-my-gosh unbelievably soft. This stuffed animal has a hand-embroidered face, pink cheeks, and a big fluffy tail. Features eggnog cream and warm white fur, with...
Bunnies By The Bay Sweet Nibble Bananas The Monkey Plush...
$38.00Bananas the Monkey is as much fun as, well, a barrel of monkeys! This 16-inch monkey stuffed animal is adorable in super soft brown Nibble Fur, and has a friendly...
Hape Stay Put Rattle Set
$16.00Babies will be enchanted by the Stay-put Rattle Set’s differing sounds, bright colors, and aquatic animals. Moreover, with their handy suction cups, playtime is possible anywhere, anytime! Age: 0+ Months...
Manhattan Toy Spiral Activity Space Rocket
$26.00Spiral features space-themed fun from end-to-end, featuring a rocket with baby-safe mirror and crescent moon. Three dangling attachments include a crinkle star with a flexible elastic cord, stars with textured...
Jellycat Soother Bashful Blue Bunny
$28.00Little Jellycat offers bunny security as standard, so when your little one’s not snuggling up to their Bashful Blue Bunny Soother, it’s being looked after by a fluffy expert! This...
Plushies Softie Bear 16 Inch
$28.00Softie bear is a traditional teddy bear with a warm brown fur coat, button nose, and round facial features. Made from buttery soft materials and standing at 16 inches tall,...
Rubbabu Small Fidget Balls 3 Pack
$16.00Squishy palm-sized balls that are great for kids, adults, and seniors as fidget or play toys, stress balls, and rehab and therapy products. Includes 3 Small Fidget Balls Squishy, soft...
Bunnies By the Bay Silly Buddy Plush Toy Bunny White
$19.00Lots of pacifiers lost? Say no more, this cute silly buddy will be the solution to this problem. Floppy, sloppy, silly and soft, this playful pacifier holding silly buddies, tie...
Bunnies By the Bay Silly Buddy Plush Toy Bunny Pink
$19.00Lots of pacifiers lost? Say no more, this cute silly buddy will be the solution to this problem. Floppy, sloppy, silly and soft, this playful pacifier holding silly buddies, tie...
Bunnies By the Bay Silly Buddy Plush Toy Bunny Grey
$19.00Lots of pacifiers lost? Say no more, this cute silly buddy will be the solution to this problem. Floppy, sloppy, silly and soft, this playful pacifier holding silly buddies, tie...
Bunnies By the Bay Silly Buddy Plush Toy Bunny Blue
$19.00Lots of pacifiers lost? Say no more, this cute silly buddy will be the solution to this problem. Floppy, sloppy, silly and soft, this playful pacifier holding silly buddies, tie...
CUCU Silicone Teething Ball Star Pink
$16.95A three-dimensional baby silicone teething ball that has the right size for little hands, designed to help enhance your baby's fine motor skills. The gaping design allows the silicone teether...
CUCU Silicone Teething Ball Star Grey
$16.95A three-dimensional baby silicone teething ball that has the right size for little hands, designed to help enhance your baby's fine motor skills. The gaping design allows the silicone teether...
CUCU Silicone Teether Unicorn Donut Pink
$14.95This cute baby silicone teether is the right size for little hands, featuring a soft and textured surface that will help soothe your little one's gums. A toy that will keep your little...
CUCU Silicone Teether Unicorn Donut Blue
$14.95This cute baby silicone teether is the right size for little hands, featuring a soft and textured surface that will help soothe your little one's gums. A toy that will keep your little...
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.