Play Time
Hansa Creation Realistic Plush Animal Giraffe Ride O...
$220.00Family Giraffidae. Tallest land mammal. Its long neck enables this unmistakable inhabitant of Africa"s savannah to browse on vegetation w/c is its primary food. Male ave. 5.3 m in height,...
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...
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...
Baghera Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Pla...
$210.00The Baghera Speedster Plane in Silver is perfect for the future pilot in your life. This ride-on toy is built to last for your little aviator with a sturdy metal...
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...
PlanToys PlanToys Central Station
$200.00This PlanToys Central Station can be connected to any other PlanToys transportation system. The lower building can be rotated to adjust the layout of building. Build a rail system for...
Brio Cargo Railway Deluxe Set
$200.00With this 54 pieces cargo railway deluxe set, the freight and cargo world is almost complete. An action-packed BRIO train track world filled with mechanical and loading functions through the loader...
Hape Happy Grand Piano Pink Musical Toy
$200.00Budding concert pianists will easily scale the 30 keys of this colorful wood grand piano, made for small hands and big sounds
Hape Happy Grand Piano Musical Toy Black
$200.00Hape’s Happy Grand Piano is the perfect toy for your growing little musician! This music-maker lets your child practice scales, encouraging musical expression, creativity. Suitable for children 3 years+ Includes...
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...
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...
Rattan Shopping Cart
$199.00Got Wheels! This toddler size shopping cart is light enough to take with you on a trip to the supermarket and perfect addition for pretend play! Made of sustainably sourced and...
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/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...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Creative Puzzle Spa...
$196.00Imaginative young builders can make dimensional graphic patterns and images, and build up or decorate three-dimensional castles and palaces with this Creative Puzzle. By building and playing with the...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Large Stepped Pyram...
$195.00The 100 blocks of this building set with lengths ranging from 4 - 20 cm are ideal for so many creations. You can build up walls, towers, houses with furniture,...
Beyond123 Playme Pat Bells 8 Bell Set
$190.00Pat Bells is music made simple and fun. No more broken strings, and no tuning required. Simply pat the bells for vibrant and colorful notes! This 8 Bell Set includes...
Baghera Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Car...
$190.00Let your child experience driving something special, with this great ride-on speedster! It is built to last with a padded seat, sturdy metal body, and rubber tires. Some simple self-assembly...
Baghera Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Dar...
$190.00Let your child experience driving something special, with this great ride-on speedster! It is built to last with a padded seat, sturdy metal body, and rubber tires. Some simple self-assembly...
Baghera Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Sil...
$190.00Let your child experience driving something special, with this great ride-on speedster! It is built to last with a padded seat, sturdy metal body, and rubber tires. Some simple self-assembly...
Baghera Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Silver
$190.00Let your child experience driving something special, with this great ride-on speedster! It is built to last with a padded seat, sturdy metal body, and rubber tires. Some simple self-assembly...
Baghera Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Pink
$190.00Let your child experience driving something special, with this great ride-on speedster! It is built to last with a padded seat, sturdy metal body, and rubber tires. Some simple self-assembly...
Moulin Roty Moulin Roty Wooden Dollhouse with Fur...
$189.00This Moulin Roty Wooden Playhouse The Big Family has beautiful and detailed wall and floor illustrations along with a complete set of furniture giving this set wonderful play value for...
Janod Candy Chick Big Cooker Wood
$186.00An adorable kitchen display crafted from durable wood is touched up with bright colors. Enter the culinary world with this fantastic Candy Chic kitchen! including induction hotplate with noises and...
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.