Play Time
PlanToys PlanToys Kaleidoscope Camera Orange
$22.00PlanToys 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 Camera...
PlanToys PlanToys Wooden Numbers 1-10
$26.00This 20-piece wooden tileset makes learning numbers as easy as 1-2-3! The two-sided tiles feature numbers 1-10, colorful pictures, and words that help children count, match, spell and trace the...
Egmont Wooden Garage with Crane
$100.00So much to discover with this lovely wooden garage. Use the crane with the magnetic hook to load the containers on the trucks. Age: 3 years+ Includes 2 cars, road...
Le Toy Van Petit Four Wooden Cupcakes
$18.00A set of four, hand painted and individually decorated wooden cupcakes with a finishing touch of gold paint. Presented in a sweet window gift box. Age: 2 years+ Made from...
Le Toy Van Wooden Ice Lollies and Popsicles
$23.00Cool down with a set of 6 brightly painted wooden “ice-lollies” complete with a wooden holder & presented in a color window box. Age: 2 years+ Plastic-free - toy made from durable, sustainable...
Manhattan Toy Playground Adventure Activity Center
$137.00Playground-themed fun all in one wood activity center! Discover four quadrants packed full of playful activities including 20 gliders on seven different tracks, an abacus track, five beads runs, two...
PlanToys PlanToys Baby Car
$18.00PlanToys Baby Car is the perfect toy for your child’s small hands to push and play with! This colorful toy car has a flexible body that reacts to your baby’s touch....
Janod Pure Wooden Train
$34.00A lovely 2-in-1 train with very soft, contemporary colours and super cute animals: a wooden 3-carriage train to help develop your child's imagination and a pull-along toy to promote motor...
Janod Wooden Chunky Puzzle Dinosaur
$24.00Discover the fascinating world of dinosaurs! Your child will have fun putting the animals in the right place and playing with the pieces that stand up just like real figures....
Tender Leaf Toys Stacking Forest
$46.00A wooden stacking tree trunk with 19 stylishly colored animals and plants including an owl, a bat, a wolf, a squirrel, a woodpecker, an acorn, a mummy pig with her...
Tender Leaf Toys Stacking Coral Reefs
$50.00A wooden stacking under the sea rock with 18 wonderfully colored sea creatures including a shrimp, a squid, a crab, 2 eels, a sea urchin, a sea anemone, a starfish,...
Janod Wooden Pull Along Hens and Chicks Toy
$30.00An adorable pull-along Hens and Chicks toy. A superb early-learning toy that will help develop your child's motor skills. This toy will motivate your child to develop his learning to walk from...
Janod Sweet Cocoon Tap Tap Wooden Toy
$40.00This wooden early-years toy lives up to its name! What could be more fun for little ones aged 12 months and over than picking up the pretty wooden hammer and...
Tegu Original Pocket Pouch Magnetic Wooden...
$32.00The Pocket Pouch is the perfect introduction to the world of Tegu magnetic wooden blocks. It's just the right sized toy for the purse, restaurant, airplane, or desk. Age: 12...
PlanToys PlanToys Assorted Fruit Set
$32.00PlanToys Assorted Fruit Set is the perfect toy for your aspiring little chef! The set includes a cutting board, knife, and 5 sliceable fruits - orange, lemon, kiwi, strawberry, and apple....
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Rainbow Hearts Buil...
$48.00Making sculptures and training fine motor skills. Also ideal as a desk toy and a wonderful decoration. These fantastic building blocks open new possibilities in building and creating, in combination...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Red Hearts Building...
$48.00Making sculptures and training fine motor skills. Also ideal as a desk toy and a wonderful decoration. These fantastic building blocks open new possibilities in building and creating, in combination...
Bajo Wooden Animal Gorilla
$64.00This adorable wooden Gorilla is lightweight and easy to play with. Their limbs can be moved so your child can imitate the real movements of the living endangered species. They...
le toy van Wooden Market Meat Crate
$23.00A wooden play food crate complete with sausage, steak, chicken, salami & bacon pieces. Perfect for market and shopping pretend play. Age: 2 years+ Encourages creative interactive play Material: Ethically made from sustainable...
le toy van Wooden Mixer Set
$50.00Bake 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...
le toy van Wooden Baker's Basket Crate
$23.00A crate of wooden breads including a pretzel, an iced bun, a croissant, a pain au chocolate and a swirl bun. Age: 2 years+ Encourages creative interactive play Material: Ethically made...
le toy van Wooden Cheese and Dairy Crate
$23.00The Cheese & Dairy set features fresh milk, a block of butter, a pot of yogurt, a pot of cream and 3 delicious kinds of cheese for all the cheese...
le toy van Petilou Wooden Sensory Shapes
$40.00A wooden sensory toy for lots of fun activities to stimulate young minds. The set encourages color and shapes recognition to sort into the matching tray. Plus each of the 9 blocks...
Manhattan Toy Deep Sea Adventure Activity Center
$137.00This wood activity center is packed full of exciting features! Includes 4 quadrants in the shape of a jellyfish with a variety of activities for baby: gliders, bead runs, spinning...
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.