Play Time
Manhattan Toy Travel Toy Mini Apple Farm Avocado
$12.00Fruity fun for little ones on the go! This avocado travel toy has a variety of soft textured fabrics, crinkle leaf, embedded chime and embroidered facial features. The pit features...
Manhattan Toy Activity Toy Under The Sea Narwhal
$12.00Under The Sea Narwhal activity toy features a variety of fabric textures, soft sparkly tusk and giggle function. These Under The Sea-themed travel toys all feature a C-clip for easy...
LouLou Lollipop Wild Teething Ring Set Pastel
$12.00LouLou Lollipop Wild Teething Ring Set Pastel is lightweight and easy to grab and hold for soothing teething relief. Free of BPA, PVC, phthalates, lead, and cadmium. LouLou Lollipop Wild Teething Ring...
LouLou Lollipop Wild Teething Ring Set Ginger Honey
$12.00LouLou Lollipop Wild Teething Ring Set Ginger Honey is lightweight and easy to grab and hold for soothing teething relief. Free of BPA, PVC, phthalates, lead, and cadmium. LouLou Lollipop Wild Teething...
FridaBaby Not Too Cold To Hold Teether
$12.99Skip the chilly teething rings and help baby soothe their sore gums without getting frostbite on their hands. The FridaBaby Not-Too-Cold-To-Hold Teether has a stay-warm handle for the baby to...
Bella Tunno Under the Sea Teething Flashcards
$13.00These are not your average flashcards. They are learning tools that are also toys and teethers. A trifecta of toys. A hattrick of teethers, a three-peat of learning. LEARN: ...
Bella Tunno Count On It Teething Flashcards
$13.00These are not your average flashcards. They are learning tools that are also toys and teethers. A trifecta of toys. A hattrick of teethers, a three-peat of learning. LEARN: ...
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 Book If I were a Puppy Black...
$13.50If you were a dog for a day, would you chase rabbits or roll around in the garden? Would you have long ears or pointy ones? So many questions! Looks...
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were a Lamb
$13.50If I Were a Lamb' is a leaping, springing, joyful ride through the imagination. Little lamb fans can picture being a lamb with this fun and funky board book. They...
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were an Elf
$13.50Skip into Santa's workshop with If I were an Elf! This beautiful board book has fun feely panels and lots of jolly, joyful pictures. A present to whirl little helpers...
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were a Tiger
$13.50If I Were A Tiger is a cool jungle journey, where little readers get to be big cats! Get stripey and silly with this chunky board book, and explore feely...
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were a Pup
$13.50If you were a puppy for a day, would you chase rabbits or roll around in the garden? Would you have a squidgy nose or a silky one? So many...
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were a Fox
$13.50Get merry, furry, and mischievous with If I Were a Fox! This chunky board book is bright and cheery, from gingery ears to brushy tails. Packed full of giggles, playful...
Jellycat Jellycat Book If I were a Pony
$13.50Trot into lots of storytime fun with If I were a Pony! This playful board book has cute feely panels and colorful pictures to get ideas racing! From swishy tails...
Chewbeads Chewpals Teether Dinosaur
$14.00Chewbeads’ Chew Pals Dinosaur Teether is perfect for distracting your little one anywhere and ideal for soothing their sore gums with its textured surface! The size of this teether is...
Penguin Pop Up Ocean Book
$14.00Dive into a cool underwater who’s who and what’s what of the sea in this palm-size pop-up treasure. Discover ocean dwellers like the crab, octopus, and sea horse as they...
Penguin Pop Up Things That Go Book
$14.00Modes of transportation are exciting and ever popular — and here they get an attractive makeover in a kid-friendly pop-up with pages of things that go, from ice-cream trucks to...
Manhattan Toy Travel Toy Cactus Garden Jet Bee
$14.00Jet, the bee themed travel toy features a crinkle paper wing, knotted string antennae and soft ribbon loop legs. This little bumble jiggles when you pull the bee down from...
Fat Brain Toys Dimpl Clutch
$14.00The Fat Brain Toys Dimpl Clutch has three unique sensory experiences ready to clip and go anywhere! Each Clutch features a dimpl bubble on one end and squishy silicone textures...
Itzy Ritzy Bitzy Busy Ring Teething Activity Toy...
$14.00Teethe, Play & Explore! A sensory sensation, the Itzy Bitzy Busy Ring™ has all the love in the details with multiple features for the baby to explore. Textured teethers and...
Itzy Ritzy Bitzy Busy Ring Teething Activity Toy...
$14.00Teethe, Play & Explore! A sensory sensation, the Itzy Bitzy Busy Ring™ has all the love in the details with multiple features for the baby to explore. Textured teethers and...
Haba Haba Clutching Larum Toy
The Haba Clutching Larum is a versatile toy for your little one. Twist, bend, shake. A beech wood rattle on an elastic chord. Clutching is easy for small hands. Encourages...
CUCU Silicone Teether Dragon Pastel 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.