Play Time
Tender Leaf Toys Babyccino Maker
$56.00Who would like a cappuccino? The perfect addition to our Bird’s Nest Café, this babyccino maker is styled in soft mellow colors and has a cute bird clacking dial. This...
Wee Gallery Bamboo Alphabet
$56.00The Bamboo Alphabet set offers a whole new way to explore the alphabet and spelling. 26 sturdy pieces offer a hands-on way for children to learn letters and spelling. Pair with our Alphabet Cards, or household...
Wee Gallery Bamboo Numbers
$36.00This beautiful sustainable Bamboo Numbers offer a whole new way to explore numbers and counting. Thick and sturdy pieces will hold up to play. Pair with Number Cards, or objects...
Guidecraft Barnyard Activity Boxes
$56.00This 28-piece set features six wooden barns and their corresponding farm animals to help with counting, sequencing, shape-sorting, color-matching and more! Each barn has the animal screened on one side;...
Le Toy Van Bay Tree Doll House
$250.00The Le Toy Van Bay Tree Doll House is a fully painted and decorated large 3-storey doll's house with a circular window. It includes a staircase, a loft ladder, and...
Tender Leaf Toys Birdie Afternoon Tea Stand
$50.00A two tier stand full of delicious treats ready to serve! A ham or cucumber sandwich, a lemon meringue pie, a chocolate roll, a slice of Victoria sponge, an apple...
Tender Leaf Toys Blue Water
$28.00Perfect for displaying your sea creatures, three blue solid wood waves can be used as part of open-ended play. Including a little sailboat. Age range: 3 Years And Older Product...
Tender Leaf Toys Breakfast Toaster Set
$46.00Toast your 2 slices of bread, turn the birdie dial to hot, pop them up when they are ready, butter the toast with the wooden knife, and top with a...
Glueckskaefer Bridge Stacking Set Rainbow
$58.00A Bridge Stacking Set in rainbow hues. The 8 wooden parts stack and nest together, and they can be used together or individually to make bridges and roads for...
Brio Builder Constructions Set
$56.00Design, build and rebuild again with the perfect building toy to test the minds of budding engineers. The Builder Construction Set has 135 play components including easy-to-use construction tools...
Tender Leaf Toys Bunny Tales Wooden Dolls
$18.00A perfect solid bunny family with Dotty the mum, Benny the dad, and Pip the baby, all finished in stylish colors and ready to add to any doll's house set...
Candylab Candylab Ambulance Toy Car
$12.00We’ve got a mini medic here to lend a helping hand! This Red and White Candycar Ambulance is first on the scene. Suitable for 3 years+ Materials: Solid Beech Wood, water-based...
Candylab Candylab Ambulance Toy Car
$38.00Longer, lower, yet no decrease in the headroom. The solid beech wood Ambulance is a throwback to the classic masterpieces of the '70s. Everyone stay calm, help is on the...
Candylab Candylab B Berry Toy Car
$10.00Get berry excited for our little Candycar. This lilac Candycar, is the berry best addition to your Candycar collection. Materials: Solid Beech Wood, water-based paint and clear urethane coat. ABS...
Candylab Candylab B Nana Toy Car
$10.00Our most appealing Candycar yet, meet B.Nana! This cute Banana colored Candycar will have you craving some Banana Bread, a Banana Split maybe even Banana pudding? Materials: Solid Beech Wood,...
Candylab Candylab Big Sur Brown Toy Car
$45.00Carved out of solid beechwood with a real metal roof rack, The Big Sur is our clearest nod yet at the bygone era of big, clumsy, and extremely charming vintage...
Candylab Candylab Big Sur Green Toy Car
$45.00Carved out of solid beechwood with a real metal roof rack, The Big Sur is our clearest nod yet at the bygone era of big, clumsy, and extremely charming vintage...
Candylab Candylab Blu 74 Toy Car
$25.00A sleek racer, tweaked with black rims, wider rear tires, a fastback cabin, and draped in a heart-tugging throwback livery. Materials: Solid Beech wood, water-based paint, and clear urethane coat. White ABS...
Candylab Candylab Blue Racer #8 Toy Car
$10.00Part of the Candylab new Candycar line, a cute 3 inches long. One of two of our racers, who said speed comes with size? Materials: Solid Beech Wood, water-based paint, and...
Candylab Candylab CandyCab Toy Car
$30.00Always ready to "follow that car", and now available for consequence-free wooden fender benders. New York City cabs can't get more durable than this. Materials & Info: Solid Beech wood, water-based...
Candylab Candylab Carbon 77 Toy Car
$28.00Muted, discreet gray with a hairline bright red stripe. The wolf in sheep’s clothing, lucky number 77 will be the star on the imaginary quarter-mile circuit. Materials: Solid Beech wood,...
Candylab Candylab Citron Macaron Van Toy Car
$20.00Oh la la! Get ready for the cutest addition to the toy collection - the Candylab Macaron Van. This handcrafted beech wood toy is perfect for little pastry chefs in...
Candylab Candylab Cotswold Gold Toy Car
$38.00In a quest to overcome the rush for your afternoon tea - or tee? Must take the unpaved shortcut? Does your antiquing passion require copious amounts of comfortable travel? The Cotswold has...
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.