Play Time
Le Toy Van Ice Creams
$30.00Roll up, roll up! Serve up an icy treat with this sweet set of four, hand painted, ice-cream cones, from our inspired pretend play foods collection. Lovingly crafted from solid...
PlanToys PlanToys My First Camera Orchard
$15.00Get picture-perfect views of your surroundings with this PlanToys camera. Point, focus, and click the camera and see the different images through the kaleidoscope lens! Age: 18 months+ With a...
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...
Indigo Jamm Wooden Sammy Steam Toy Train
$80.00Indigo Jamm Sammy Steam Train is a large solid built push-along train and passenger carriage. Complete with three removable wooden passengers that can be assigned to their correct colored and...
Indigo Jamm Wooden Flo the UFO
$50.00A very solid and chunky wooden toy Indigo Jamm Flo The UFO with a spinning saucer. Complete with two colorful removable wooden aliens. This retro wooden toy is made of sustainable rubber...
Bajo Wooden Brooklyn School Bus
$30.00The Bajo Brooklyn School Bus is a simple replica of the local yellow school bus, just the perfect way to get the little ones excited for school! The size of the car...
Indigo Jamm Wooden SUV Seb Pick Up Toy Truck
$70.00Indigo Jamm SUV Seb is an excellent off-road 4-wheel drive pickup that includes Farmer Fred and his trusty sheepdog Shep. SUV Seb features a removable canopy which allows for easy...
Indigo Jamm Wooden Casey Camper Van
$70.00Indigo Jamm Casey Camper Van is a retro camper van complete with a wooden mom, dad, two children, and a wooden dog. Made from durable rubberwood and plywood with an...
Indigo Jamm Wooden Percy Toy Plane
$38.00Indigo Jamm Percy Plane is a single-seat plane that comes complete with a removable peg pilot and a propeller that can be spun. This durable plane with attractive paintwork is made from sustainable rubberwood....
Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Stunt Team Dar...
$45.00Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Stunt Team Daredevil Car is the perfect toy for your little innovative racer, ideal for building the coolest race car! Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Stunt Team...
PlanToys PlanToys Sorting Bus Orchard
$50.00Practice sorting and counting the different colors and shapes included with the PlanToys Sorting Bus! Serving as a push-and-pull toy, children can both actively play with this vehicle and also...
Kiko+ & gg* UFO Wooden Balance Game
$48.00Kiko+ & gg* UFO Wooden Balance Game is an intergalactic game for little outer space fans. Can you help the aliens board their wobbly UFO and get back to their galaxy far far...
PlanToys PlanToys Shape and Sort It Out Orchard
$40.00Encourage little ones to develop their ability to count differentiate between various shapes and colors and utilize their fine motor skills to properly sort the wooden pieces. Age: 12 months+...
PlanToys PlanToys Punch & Drop Orchard
$40.00The PlanToys Orchard Punch & Drop is great fun for children to pound the balls until they drop and slide out of the bin. Age: 12 months+ Develops fine motor...
PlanToys PlanToys Climbing Gorilla
$40.00Welcome the adorable PlanToys Climbing Gorilla into a child’s play routine. The Climbing Gorilla helps toddlers develop fine and gross motor skills while encouraging them to take their first steps....
PlanToys PlanToys Push & Pull Puppy
$45.00This playful puppy is the perfect toddler companion! It comes with flexible functions - including a tilting puppy face and click-clack sound while moving. Additionally, the wooden handle can easily...
PlanToys PlanToys Baby Walker Orchard
$126.00Cruise through early developmental stages with the PlanToys Baby Walker - Orchard! This toy can help develop fine and gross motor skills while encouraging children to walk on their own...
PlanToys PlanToys Steak Set
$40.00It’s important to teach children the benefits of a well-balanced meal. With this PlanToys Steak Set, children can prepare a western-style steak for themselves or a guest. Encourage a young...
PlanToys PlanToys Seafood Platter
$40.00Bring the taste of the sea to your young chef’s restaurant with this PlanToys Seafood Platter! The set includes a variety of seafood and utensils to teach children the importance...
PlanToys PlanToys Geo Lacing Beads Unit Link
$30.00These PlanToys Lacing Geo Beads encourage children to develop fine motor skills, creativity, and concentration. PlanToys Lacing Geo Beads Details: Age: 2 years+ The set consists of 15 beads in...
Bajo Wooden Action Figure T-Rex
$60.00It's the T-Rex! A powerful, two-legged creature. The former inhabitants of the planet remind us of the animals that are currently endangered, thanks to which we become sensitive to them...
Bajo Wood Action Figure Triceratops
$60.00This is the Triceratops, a 3-horned herbivorous dinosaur that looks a bit like a rhino. Is that His ancestor? We do not know this, but the Triceratops and rhinoceros have...
Haba Haba Town Maze Magnetic Puzzle Game
$24.00The Haba Town Maze Magnetic Puzzle Game will keep your kiddo entertained by teaching them colors and shapes. The colorful balls are trying to find their way home to their...
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.