Play Time
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...
Manhattan Toy Tree Top Adventures Activity Center
$137.00This wood activity center is packed full of exciting features! Includes 4 quadrants in the shape of a tree with a variety of activities for baby: 6 tracks with animal-themed...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Counting with Colors
$135.00A colorful arithmetic box for preschool, school, and for arithmetic fun for the whole family: place funny colored numbered snakes, add and subtract, form a multiplication chart, identify prime numbers...
Erzi Wooden Play Food Shop Big Box
$132.00A 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...
Le Toy Van Le Grand Garage
$130.00Let imaginations run wild with this wooden toy garage. An exciting three storey wooden toy garage with 2 spiral ramps and a working lift. The garage includes a car, helicopter...
PlanToys PlanToys Parking Garage Toy
$130.00The Parking Garage has 3 floors of parking space, a working elevator tower, a helipad, 2 cars, and an electric charging station. A perfect toy for pretend play. Age: 3 years+...
PlanToys PlanToys Wooden Fire Truck
$130.00This product is designed to excite your child's imagination and story-building capability. The Fire Truck is equipped with a rotating and extendable ladder, a fire hose, and a fire extinguisher....
Brio Lift and Load Warehouse Set
$126.00Building vertical shapes have a natural thrill to it. The Brio Lift and Load Warehouse Set make just that possible, even irresistible. Build the stackable bridges, curves, and sloping tracks...
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...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Large Mosaic
$126.00The elemental cubic form of these blocks inspires children to build simple walls, foundations, fences, stalls as well as houses, towers, and castles. The basic shape is also very useful...
PlanToys PlanToys Baby Walker
$126.00Cruise through early developmental stages with the PlanToys Baby Walker! This toy can help develop fine and gross motor skills while encouraging children to walk on their own two feet....
Sabo Concept Wooden Castle Building Blocks Light Pink
$125.00Let your child's imagination run wild with this beautiful Castle Building Blocks Set that features all the shapes needed to build their own castle, city, race track, or whatever their creative minds...
Grapat Lola Stack and Sort Play Set
$124.00A wonderfully imaginative collection with endless play possibilities, this features 36 charming Lola figures in 12 colors and 3 sizes, along with beakers and solid and hollow tubes in...
PlanToys PlanToys Wooden Bulldozer
$120.00Clear the way at the building site! This PlanToys Bulldozer has a special handle so that children can direct it left or right. They can move, haul, lift, and pull....
PlanToys PlanToys Forklift
$120.00The design and function are based on an actual forklift. The back knob helps direct the forklift left and right. The lift makes a sound when the pallet containing the...
Tender Leaf Toys Wild Pines Train Set
$120.00This 30 piece track allows for creative layouts and endless storytelling. Accessories that move include an engine and 3 carriages holding 27 small logs of various colors. A logging truck...
PlanToys PlanToys Wooden Dump Truck
$120.00The PlanToys Dump Truck is a perfect toy for any vehicle-mad kid. Featuring realistic details including a moveable rear tipper and chunky, moving wheels, it's a great toy for inspiring...
Moulin Roty Dans la Ville Le Grand Garage
$118.00Fill up on gas, park the car and then zoom down the ramp! Add this primary-colored Parking Garage to the entire collection of Dans la Ville. Age: 3 years+ Size:...
Kiko+ & gg* Tsumiki Building Blocks House
$110.00Tsumiki means "building block" in Japanese. This doll-house-shaped wooden block set has beautifully soft colors. A magnetic cover conceals a magical world of shapes just waiting to be piled up,...
Tender Leaf Toys Rosewood Cottage Dollhouse
$110.00The cutest woodland cottage you ever did see. With a rose-colored gabled roof, opening front doors and a removable back panel, this little house can be carried to be played...
Tender Leaf Toys Greenhouse and Garden Set
$110.00This set is ideal for encouraging green fingers. A traditional plywood greenhouse with base has an opening door, and 2 removable roof panels. It can be filled with 2 seed...
Tender Leaf Toys Farm
$110.00Made throughout from top quality plywood, this farm has been designed to be open and accessible for little hands. It features a barn with barn doors and a feeding trough,...
Olli Ella Olli Ella Holdie Doll House
$110.00The original Olli Ella Holdie House is a lightweight toy house, perfect for toting about. Light enough to be carried by a toddler and stylish enough to be loved by...
PlanToys PlanToys BBQ Playset
$100.00Gather around, and let’s barbecue with PlanToys BBQ Set! This set will boost a young chef’s imagination and social skills by preparing a meal with friends and family nearby. Children...
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.