Play Time
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
PlanToys PlanToys Wagon
$90.00Your child will enjoy collecting things and moving them around the house with our Wagon! Your kiddo can even create a wagon train with multiple wagons laced together with the...
PlanToys PlanToys Geometric Peg Board
$26.00These 16 geometrical pegs (4 different sizes, shapes and colors) can be sorted, counted, and stacked on a sturdy wooden base. Suitable for children 2 years and up.
Micro Kickboard Micro Kickboard Helmet V2 Rocket
$52.00Keep your child’s noggin safe while scooting with our upgraded Micro Kickboard Helmets! Available with safe sizing via head circumference, you can be sure that your Micro helmet will be the perfect...
Hape Fix It Tool Box Toy
$22.00Give your little tinker Hape’s Fix-It Tool Box and help them learn what each tool is to develop their building skills! Includes Nuts, bolts, hammers and more! Suitable for children...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Large 4 Elements Bu...
$140.00Grimm’s Large 4 Elements Building set is the ideal versatile toy for your little tinker, perfect for creating a variety of different structures like mountains, bonfires, sculptures, rolling oceans, and...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Tyrannosaurus...
$16.00Holztiger’s T-Rex 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: 3.9 x...
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...
PlanToys PlanToys My First Camera
$16.00PlanToys My First Camera is the perfect toy to inspire your little photographer! Point, Focus & click the camera and see different images through the kaleidoscope lens! PlanToys My First...
Jellycat Jellycat Swellegant Sophie Sheep
$25.00Swellegant Sheep is fabaalous and knows it. With a rich, creamy fleece made of silky-soft fur, long, loping biscuity legs and superlong lashes, this glamour-lamb is looking divine! An elegant...
Fat Brain Toys Activity Dimpl Duo
$27.00Textures, colors, shapes, and words! On one side, each silicone button is embossed with a different shape and labeled with its matching word in English and in Braille. Flip the whole...
Brio My First Railway Battery Operated Tra...
$80.00Start by building a track layout with the mountain blocks and the tunnel, and let your train go up and down and through the tunnel. Press the arrow button on...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Standing Hors...
$18.00Holztiger’s Horse Standing, Dappled 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: 14.5 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Seal Head For...
$12.00Holztiger’s seal head forward 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: 14...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Stegosaurus
$16.00Holztiger’s Stegosaurus 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: 6.9 x...
Baghera Baghera Fireman Speedster Ride On Toy...
$210.00Baghera Ride On Speedster is ideal for budding little firefighters. It is built to last with a sturdy metal body, a metal bell, wooden ladders, and rubber tires. The car can...
Jellycat Jellycat Mellow Mallow Pig
$26.50Mellow Mallow Pig is a pink delight! This cushion-soft pig has a huge squishy muzzle, wrinkly legs, and stretchy-warm grey pink- perfect for dozy cuddles. Wee foldy ears, a little straight...
Jellycat Jellycat Odell Octopus
$18.00 – $130.00Get tangled up with gorgeous Odell Octopus! A squishy, splendid brick-red octopus, she has so much love to give! Smiley and silly, with bright, glossy eyes, she's a very friendly...
Brio Safari Railway Set
$46.00Come along on a safari rail adventure and spot the zebra out on the savannah. Watch out for the mischievous monkey who likes to steal the magnetic food load right...
Brio Police Station
$50.00Welcome to the new police station, where it’s always busy. You can drive directly into the station and take the elevator to the prison cell on the second floor. Put...
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.