Play Time
Scrollino Zoo by Dots
$18.00Scrollino® ZOO by Dots is part of the beautifully illustrated IN THE ZOO Collection connected by the topic kids love the most – the ANIMALS. By pulling down the paper tab little by...
Alimrose Yvette Unicorn Doll Rose Garden
$58.00Yvette is back in our beautiful soft rose garden floral with gold magical horn and shoes & blush tulle. Product Features: Untreated pure cotton outer Cotton feature bodice Soft blush...
Magformers XL Neon 30 Piece Toy Set
$54.99With the Magformers 30-piece XL Neon Set, your imagination can run wild! Build anything from penguins to houses; the possibilities are endless! A great set for any beginner builder! Each...
Magformers XL Cruisers Emergency 33 Piece Toy Set
$69.99Extinguish fires with the MAGFORMERS® XL Emergency set. Construct fire engines and add a siren and firefighter to save the day! Use 5 geometric shapes and attach wheels, racing to...
Magformers XL Cruisers 32 Piece Toy Car Set
$62.00Build super quick cars with Magformers lightweight XL Cruisers Car Set! Let your imagination run wild and utilize and combine hexagons, triangles and squares to build unique cars! Includes 32...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Woodland Stores and Theater
$210.00A large play shop that offers group play on both sides. On one side, it is a Woodland Stores play shop - it has 2 doors which open up into...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Woodland Animals
$56.00One of each animal in a display shelf. (Rabbit, Hare, Hedgehog, Fox, Fallow Deer, Red Squirrel, Weasel, Badger) Age range: 3 Years+ Product size: 8.7 x 3.03 x 10.51” Weight:...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Weather Watch
$66.00A top-quality illustrated wood Weather station that links all aspects of climate into a simple and educational board that can be hung up on a classroom wall or played with...
Goki Wooden Vehicle Dump Truck
$96.00Goki's wooden dump truck is a great toy for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of solid wood with real rubber tyres. Colored with water-based...
Goki Wooden Vehicle Breakdown Lorry
$36.00Goki's wooden breakdown lorry is a great toy for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of solid wood with real rubber tyres. Colored with...
Le Toy Van Wooden Vegetables 5 a Day Crate
$23.00A selection of wood and fabric garden vegetables in a crate. A great accessory for Honeybee market (sold separately). Age: 2 years+ Encourages creative interactive play Material: Ethically made from sustainable wood; decorated...
Wee Gallery Wooden Tray Puzzle Woodland Animals
$32.00This beautiful 6 piece Wooden Puzzle is perfect for so many kinds of play! Solving the sturdy tray puzzle is just the beginning. You can also use the adorable wooden animals as...
Wee Gallery Wooden Tray Puzzle Safari Animals
$32.00This beautiful 6 piece Wooden Puzzle is perfect for so many kinds of play! Solving the sturdy tray puzzle is just the beginning. You can also use the adorable wooden animals as...
Wee Gallery Wooden Tray Puzzle Ocean Animals
$32.00This beautiful 6 piece Wooden Puzzle is perfect for so many kinds of play! Solving the sturdy tray puzzle is just the beginning. You can also use the adorable wooden animals as...
Bajo Wooden Toy Car with Camper
$34.00This Wooden Car with Camper vehicle set is a great way to teach children about movement, speed, forces and will bring on communication skills too through inspiring imaginative play. Taking...
Bajo Wooden Toy Car with Blocks
$26.00This small yet fun wooden toy car with blocks is great for any child. The blocks can easily be removed and put back. This little car trucks along, moving swiftly...
Bajo Wooden Toy Car Camper with Surfboard
$30.00This camper with its little cute surfboard is ready to it the beach. For all those budding beach babes, this sweet little camper will bring hours of creative play, as...
Bajo Wooden Toy Airplane
$38.00Little pilots will love making these wooden toy airplanes soar into the sky. A chunky wooden toy that's perfect for little ones to play. Sturdy enough to become a favored...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden The Stables Set
$56.00This working stable is perfect for grooming the ponies, with a brush, and 2 blankets. Feed the ponies with a bale of hay and a nose bag. Keep it all...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Tea Tray Set
$50.00Anyone one for tea? Enjoy your afternoon tea with this elegantly painted wooden tray set. Tea time is the perfect excuse for conversation, storytelling, and creative play! Age range: 3 years+...
Londji Wooden Stamps Bam! Transports 16 pieces
$23.00Create cars, planes, rockets, trains, or even invent your own transport based on your wildest imagination! Includes 16 wooden stamps with a notebook Material: Wood and Rubber Age: 5 years+ Made...
Londji Wooden Stamps Bam! Animals 16 pieces
$23.00Create your own animals based on your wildest imagination! Includes 16 wooden stamps with a notebook Material: Wood and Rubber Age: 5 years+ Made in Spain Product Size: Stamp: 0.74in...
Lubulona Wooden Stacking Trees Summer
$36.00This set of stacking trees comes with 18 high-quality beech wood pieces. You can build your own little forest or play around and create imaginative columns, sculptures, or whatever you...
Water & Lightning Wooden Stacking Pebbles Toy
$30.00Inspired by the wonderfully colorful rocks found in lakes and beaches, each piece is carefully handcrafted to be unique. These Wooden Pebbles are a simple and minimal set of wooden stacking...
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.