Play Time
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 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 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...
Penguin Where's the Fire Truck Book
$10.00Five stylishly illustrated spreads show a series of friendly characters hiding behind bright felt flaps. A mirror on the final spread makes for a satisfying ending to the book’s search-and-find inquiries. (Where...
Manhattan Toy Atom Teether Toy
$12.00The Atom Teether Toy is out of this world! Twelve bendy arms perfect for teething, surround the colorful plastic ball center. Each arm features vibrantly colored plastic clacking rings that...
Penguin Pop Up Jungle Book
$12.00Hop aboard a riverboat for a colorful trek into the depths of the jungle with its many wonders. Tree frogs, monkeys, and jewel-toned birds are just a few of the...
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...
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 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...
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...
Mudpuppy Board Book Set Little Artists
$14.99Mudpuppy's Little Artist Board Book Set is comprised of colorfully illustrated portraits of visual and performing artists who have made a historical impact on the world. Illustrations by Lydia Ortiz and words...
Chronicle Books Hooray for Little Fingers!
$14.991, 2, 3, 4, 5! What can 5 little fingers do? Tickle, wiggle, dance—and much more!In this lively and irresistible board book, young readers learn to count and explore just...
Jellycat Jellycat Ring Rattle Lamb
$15.00Soft and soothing in gentle sage, the texture treat! This doughnut-shaped rattle has a gently jingling tum! Take this poppet along for buggy adventures! Suitable from birth Made from 100%...
Jellycat Jellycat Ring Rattle Bunny Beige
$15.00Soft and soothing in gentle sage, the texture treat! This doughnut-shaped rattle has a gently jingling tum! Take this poppet along for buggy adventures! Suitable from birth Made from 100%...
Jellycat Jellycat Ring Rattle Unicorn
$15.00Soft and soothing in gentle sage, the texture treat! This doughnut-shaped rattle has a gently jingling tum! Take this poppet along for buggy adventures! Suitable from birth Made from 100%...
Jellycat Jellycat Ring Rattle Black and Cream ...
$15.00Soft and soothing in gentle sage, the texture treat! This doughnut-shaped rattle has a gently jingling tum! Take this poppet along for buggy adventures! Suitable from birth Made from 100%...
Jellycat Jellycat Vivacious Vegetables Sweetcorn
$15.00Vivacious Vegetable Sweetcorn is all dressed up in fresh field fashion! Sunshine-yellow, with bobble-soft kernels, this cuddly cob wears a stretchy green husk jacket. Just the thing for the summer...
Jellycat Jellycat Vivacious Vegetables Carrot
$15.00Cordy, colorful, cute, and kooky, that's Vivacious Vegetable Carrot! Gorgeously textured and squeezably soft, this bright orange buddy has a punky green leaf-do! A veggie with plenty of energy, this...
Jellycat Jellycat Vivacious Vegetables Eggplant
$15.00Vivacious Vegetable Egg Plant just arrived in a very special veg box! Stretchy-soft in blush plum fur, with a sweet friendly smile and a green stalk hat, this one is...
Jellycat Jellycat Bashful Small Donkey
$15.00Time for a trot with this fuzzy, squashy donkey! Hee-haw! That’s Bashful Donkey chuckling. He’s a practical joker who loves to play pranks! He’s a softy though, in squashy...
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...
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.