Play Time
Hape Walk A Long Pepe The Puppy Pully Toy
$28.00Hape’s Walk-A-Long Puppy is the perfect adorable 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+...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Small Tunnel Monoch...
$22.00Grimm’s Small Tunnel Monochrome is the perfect versatile toy for your little one! Your toddler can have endless fun stacking the tunnel, and as they grow your children can use...
Hape Rotating Music Box
$22.00The Hape Rotating Music Box is a soothing and gentle toy that will encourage baby to experience music in a unique and interactive way. It plays delightful musical notes as...
PlanToys PlanToys Assorted Fruits and Vegetables
$36.00PlanToys Assorted Fruits & Vegetables Set is the perfect toy for your growing little chef! Let them explore the world of cooking with 5 colorful fruits and veggies! PlanToys Assorted...
PlanToys PlanToys Hammer Balls
$50.00PlanToys Hammer Balls is a toy specifically designed for your baby’s small hands. It can help develop hand-eye coordination, improve dexterity and build physical strength. PlanToys Hammer Balls Details: Age: 12 months+...
Hape All in 1 Easel
$90.00Paint, write, or draw with chalk. This adjustable-height double-sided wooden easel has a place for everything. Includes 3 paint pots, double-sided easel with blackboard and magnetic whiteboard and paper roll....
Hape Dumper Truck Toy
$32.00Hape’s Dumper Truck toy is the perfect toy for your growing toddler. Move the pieces of the truck around to reveal different creative play! Made of Wood, PP, POM, ABS...
Sophie La Giraffe Sophie Bath Book
$18.00The Sophie Bath Book by Calisson is the perfect addition to the tub to make bath time fun! Features: Book consists of 8 pages filled with different kinds of...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Small Waterwaves
$22.00Carved out of a single block of hardwood, these six Water Waves Nesting Blocks nestle together to create a stacking toy as well as a simple nesting puzzle. Children love...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Giraffe
$20.00Holztiger’s Giraffe is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 5.3 inches...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Head Raised G...
$20.00Holztiger’s Giraffe with raised head is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint...
PlanToys PlanToys Dancing Alligator
$30.00PlanToys Dancing Alligator is a great push & pull toy for your active little one! When pulled along, the alligator moves his head and tail up and down making a click-clack...
PlanToys PlanToys Double Drum
$40.00The PlanToys Double Drum features 2 differently-sized drums and a pair of drumsticks. The drumhead is made from fabric coated with natural rubber, making for a gentle yet realistic musical...
Hape Deluxe Grand Piano Musical Toy White
$220.00The Deluxe Grand Piano is a real 30 key electronic piano that will enable your child to explore the wonder of music and create their own mini-symphonies. This piano has...
Hape Cargo Delivery Loop Toy
$38.00People are waiting for their cargo! Use the magnetic crane to load containers onto the train. Then press the button on the engine to drive around the oval track and...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Gorilla
$16.00Holztiger’s Gorilla is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 4.3 × 1.1...
Hape Shopping Cart Toy
$80.00Hape’s Shopping Cart is the perfect toy to give to your imaginative toddler! This toy encourages coordination, creativity and fantasy story telling! Suitable for children 3 years+ Made of Wood,...
Hape Chef's Cooking Toy Set
$28.00Bon Appetite! Your future chef will learn to feel comfortable and familiar with cooking in their pretend kitchen with this seven-piece basic cooking set. Hape’s Chef’s Cooking Set is the perfect...
Hape Pyramid of Play Blocks Toy
$35.00Hape’s Pyramid of Play is the ideal toy to get your little one to start practicing matching shapes and colors! Suitable for children 18m+ Includes five nesting blocks, each with...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Brontosaurus
$16.00Holztiger’s Brontosaurus is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play!_x000D_ Made of hardwood_x000D_ Colored with water-based acrylic paint_x000D_ Dimensions: 7.9 inches...
Fat Brain Toys Building Blocks 50 Piece Squigz Delux...
$58.00Fat Brain Toys Squigz are fun little suckers! They are flexible fellows and committed joiners. Squigz and fellow Squigz have one chief enterprise - creating things. Willingly, they assemble...
Jellycat Jellycat Harry Panda Cub
$35.00Tubby and ticklish, Harry Panda Cub is such a cuddly chap. His charcoal-grey and creamy fur is velvety-soft and so beary snuggly. Harry's beany feet help him sit up, and...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's House Monochrome
$34.00Grimm’s Monochrome House is the perfect versatile toy for your little one! Your toddler can have endless fun stacking the house, and as they grow your children can use the...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Dolphin Jumping
$16.00Holzinger's Dolphin Jumping is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 16.5 x...
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.