This wooden tunnel set is a perfect add-on to any wooden railway set. Of course, you can create so much more than just tunnels with these blocks, such as buildings,...
A romantic wooden tea set featuring a pretty bird motif on the saucers and the side of a solid wood teapot. A pretty cupcake and tea bag, 2 cups and...
Bird’s Nest Café is a complete one-stop pretend play Coffee Shop with lots of accessories offering all-round creative play for 2 or more children. Encouraging language skills and manual dexterity,...
A stylish and contemporary looking kitchen with an oven, 2 hobs, a butler’s sink with double taps, and an integral cupboard with doors. Included in this set are a solid...
Bake a showstopper with this Mixer Set, featuring a moving whisk, rolling pin, and a bowl. The Set is complete with ingredients: flour, sugar, and eggs. Age: 2 years+ Role play...
These 24 pieces of wooden cubes set are made out of linden tree covered with water-based paint that you can see the structure of wood through. Together with deep unconventional...
Sitting back to relax with a cup of coffee is not just for adults, and with all you need to make a great cup of coffee including, cup, milk, sugar,...
A big box of play food to set for your pretend play store and kitchen. Contains 1 large and 1 small display crate; 2 yellow-red apples; 2 green apples; 2...
This set of 7 gorgeous rainbow stacking elements come nested inside each other. Let the creativity of your child grow as they can building mazes and tunnels for cars, making mountains and...
This set of 7 gorgeous rainbow stacking elements come nested inside each other. Let the creativity of your child grow as they can building mazes and tunnels for cars, making mountains and...
A traditional wooden red barn. With a large double door to open and close, a working magnetic winch, a magnetic hay bell, windows to peek through and detailed artwork inside...
Let your little engineer build their own rocket with this Rocket Construction set! Match up the parts and count down to launch! Age range: 3 years+ Set includes 21 pieces to build...
Blast off with this amazing wooden toy rocket with movable rocket flames. Complete with two colorful removable wooden spacemen. Age: 18 months+ Made of sustainable rubberwood. Dimension: L20cm x H10cm x...
One of each animal in a display shelf. (Crocodile, Zebra, Giraffe, Lion, Antelope, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus) Age range: 3 Years+ Product size: 14.96 x 2.95 x 12.6” Weight: 2.93 lbs...
This shaving Kit includes everything a little boy needs to mimic daddy and shave as a father does. It will be easy for little boys to “lather up for a shave”...
It's showtime! This retro wooden puppet theatre features a live and interval reversible sign, a stage door and two chalkboards. The theatre is finished with theatre curtains including red stage...
Bring the instinctive wonder that children have for nature into the classroom with an organic, wooden building block set. The Wood Stackers River Stones invite children to build and stack...
Inspired 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...
This 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...
Create 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...
Create 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...
Anyone 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+...
This 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...
Little 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...
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.