Play Time
Hape Tasty Protein Wooden Toy Set
$22.00Protein is important for building muscles. Practice preparing foods like beef, chicken, fish and bacon with this realistic kitchen playset. Includes play knife and lemon wedge.
Chronicle Books The Atlas of Amazing Birds Book
$19.95From colossal condors to polychromatic peacocks, The Atlas of Amazing Birds celebrates winged creatures through joyful watercolors and well-researched, humorously told tales of their habits and habitats. Some birds migrate thousands of...
Graphic Image The Classic Tale Of Peter Rabbit
$105.00The tales of Peter Rabbit are celebrated in this full-color classic edition that features never-before-seen original art and a newly designed format. New York Times bestselling illustrator Charles Santore brings...
Graphic Image The Night Before Christmas
$98.00The Night Before Christmas" has enchanted children with the story of St. Nicholas climbing down the chimney and filling all the stockings before springing back to his sleigh. Many families...
The Pencil Grip Thin Stix Tempera Paint 12 Colors
$18.00Thin Stix in 12 classic colors! Thin Stix Solid Tempera Paint has all the same qualities and features of Kwik Stix, but a thinner tube for better detail and different...
Chronicle Books This Is How We Do It Book
$18.99One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World! Follow one day in the real lives of seven kids from around the world—Italy, Japan, Iran, India,...
Magformers Tileblox Inspire 60 Piece Toy Set
$69.99Use the Tileblox Inspire 60Pc Set to create a rocket ship, castle or your favorite animal. With six different geometric shapes including squares and triangles, the Tileblox 60pc Set is...
Magformers Tileblox Rainbow 60 Piece Toy Set
$69.99Arriving with 16 equilateral triangles, 22 squares, 2 trapezoids, 6 isosceles triangles, 4 rectangles, and 10 right-angle triangles this set is perfect for your young budding builder! Each geometric shape...
Math for Love Tiny Polka Dot Card Game
$16.00Tiny Polka Dot is a playful way for children to fall in love with numbers. With eye-catching, colorful cards and 16 easy-to-learn games, Tiny Polka Dot is built to grow...
Hape Toddler Beat Box Musical toy Set
$49.00Everything needed for an afternoon Jam session! this music set of 4 different instruments is perfect for young musicians to explore and discover their talents. Ages 12+ months
Ooh Noo Toy Pram White
$180.00This toy pram is just too cute for words. It is made entirely of wood, with the exception of the tiny tires on the wheels. It is extremely appropriate for...
Guidecraft Treasure Tubes Clear
$66.00What makes a fun noise when you shake it? Find trinkets, natural materials, and sensory objects to collect in the beautiful, stackable Treasure Tubes. The round, transparent acrylic tubes with...
Manhattan Toy Tree Top Adventures Activity Center
$137.00This wood activity center is packed full of exciting features! Includes 4 quadrants in the shape of a tree with a variety of activities for baby: 6 tracks with animal-themed...
Tender Leaf Toys Treetops Train Set
$46.00Take the train with its 2 carriages on a mountain trail to see a bear, moose, and fox. Balance the animals on 2 grassy parts, the fir tree or the...
Maileg Tricycle Mouse Big Sister Red
$30.00Big sister mouse is ready for a day in school, carrying her backpack on the back. She has magnets in her hands so she can hold the handles of the...
Trido Trido Magnetic Art Laguna
$90.00 – $150.00The Trido Magnetic Art Laguna allows your child to create their own shapes. Thanks to an ingenious array of magnets, the polyhedrons are able to be connected with each other by...
Fat Brain Toys Tugl Cube
$16.00Pull, pop, and discover!Built into each side of this sturdy, rounded cube is a soft silicone bubble with a tab to grab and pull. Fingers can't help but push them,...
Halilit Twirly Whirly Rainmaker Toy
$25.00The Twirly Whirly Rainbomaker is a delightful real musical instrument which creates a captivating combination of sound and colour. By turning the Rainbomaker, baby will be able to watch as...
Wobbel Waldorf Balance Board Natural
$159.00What is WOBBEL? It is a sturdy, beautifully crafted beechwood rocking balance board, a seat, a safe haven, a bridge, a house, a step, a slide, a yoga aid, a...
Wobbel Waldorf Balance Board Natural/Foliage...
$199.00What is WOBBEL? It is a sturdy, beautifully crafted beechwood rocking balance board, a seat, a safe haven, a bridge, a house, a step, a slide, a yoga aid, a...
Wobbel Waldorf Balance Board Natural/Forest ...
$199.00What is WOBBEL? It is a sturdy, beautifully crafted beechwood rocking balance board, a seat, a safe haven, a bridge, a house, a step, a slide, a yoga aid, a...
Wobbel Waldorf Balance Board Natural/Grey
$199.00What is WOBBEL? It is a sturdy, beautifully crafted beechwood rocking balance board, a seat, a safe haven, a bridge, a house, a step, a slide, a yoga aid, a...
Wobbel Waldorf Balance Board Natural/Wild Rose
$199.00What is WOBBEL? It is a sturdy, beautifully crafted beechwood rocking balance board, a seat, a safe haven, a bridge, a house, a step, a slide, a yoga aid, a...
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+...
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.