Play Time
Tender Leaf Toys Fantail Hall Dollhouse
$420.00Fantail Hall Dollhouse is a really impressive beautiful wood Doll's house based on a traditional British style of architecture. It has 4 levels of play area as the roof can...
PlanToys PlanToys Wooden Motor Mechanic Playset
$300.00Get excited about the multiple realistic features that this Motor Mechanic offers - a steering wheel, gearshift, horn, brake, accelerator, turnable car key, air conditioner, radio, side mirrors, hood lift...
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...
Le Toy Van Sophie's Wooden Doll House
$250.00Sophie's Doll House includes a wooden staircase that plays the role of room divider. Fully painted and decorated, the wallpaper is full of details children love to spot. It also...
le toy van Wooden Showtime Puppet Theatre
$250.00It'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...
Tender Leaf Toys Foxtail Villa Dollhouse
$245.00Tender Leaf Toys Foxtail Villa is a perfect town-style doll house. The subtle colors and top-quality plywood fascia make this a beautiful mid-size doll house for any little girl or...
Le Toy Van Shop and Cafe Stall
$220.00A two in one reversible wooden Shop and Café stall on wheels with 2 stabilisers, exclusive to the Honeybake collection. Complete with: a reversible chalkboard and a bell. With the Shop...
PlanToys PlanToys Central Station
$200.00This PlanToys Central Station can be connected to any other PlanToys transportation system. The lower building can be rotated to adjust the layout of building. Build a rail system for...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Creative Puzzle Spa...
$196.00Imaginative young builders can make dimensional graphic patterns and images, and build up or decorate three-dimensional castles and palaces with this Creative Puzzle. By building and playing with the...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Large Stepped Pyram...
$195.00The 100 blocks of this building set with lengths ranging from 4 - 20 cm are ideal for so many creations. You can build up walls, towers, houses with furniture,...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Mini Chef Home Kitchen
$180.00A 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...
Tender Leaf Toys General Stores
$170.00A magnificent market stall with shelves and 2 inter-changeable mini platforms so that it can be adapted to any kind of store. A pretty striped canopy can be lowered to...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Creative Puzzle Spa...
$170.00Imaginative young builders can make dimensional graphic patterns and images, and build up or decorate three-dimensional castles and palaces with this Creative Puzzle. By building and playing with the...
Tender Leaf Toys Tool Bench
$160.00This tool bench is perfect for any budding carpenter and is made of 19 pieces. The back panel holds a removable drill, and a circular saw as well as a...
Le Toy Van Alex's Work Bench
$160.00Let's fix it! Alex's Work Bench is a sturdy workbench. The base is equipped with a flatbed circular saw, a measuring gauge and a vice. The back wall features...
Hape Wooden Gourmet Grill with Food Toy
$160.00Double-sided grates, a collapsible side table, moveable wheels, and an open-and-close hood make this grill a gourmet's dream. Watch out for the hot coals! Food and accessories included. ShishKabob Basics...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Building Blocks Set...
$152.00Even little master builders realize the fascination of architecture Romanesque with its self-supporting round arcs and the bulky stonework of great churches, castles, or city walls. This can be used...
PlanToys PlanToys Fire Station Toy
$150.00Get ready and prepare for an emergency! Kids will enjoy pretending to be firefighters and creating a story. Age: 3 years+ This set consists of a fire station with 15...
Le Toy Van Sky Doll House
$150.00Sky Doll House has two storeys plus an attic room that is found in the opening roof. The gender-neutral design features natural wood, beautiful blues, and unique artwork throughout. Plant...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Wooden Building Set...
$150.00Experience the world of 1001 nights! Even younger children will be fascinated by the intense colors and beautifully formed elements. As the children get older, they will create more and...
Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Tints 42 Piece...
$140.00Tegu’s Magnetic Wooden Blocks Tints 42 pc are the perfect toys for your little builder to create any structure by connecting the colorful blocks, the ideal set for imaginative play!...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Large 4 Elements Bu...
$140.00Grimm’s Large 4 Elements Building set is the ideal versatile toy for your little tinker, perfect for creating a variety of different structures like mountains, bonfires, sculptures, rolling oceans, and...
Grimm's Authentic Grimm's Shapes and Colors B...
$138.00Seven colors and five different geometric forms offer a wide range of color, coordination, and building combinations. Children experience and discover geometric properties through play. Ideal for Kindergarten: For example,...
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...
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.