Play Time
Fat Brain Toys Tugl Cube
$16.00Pull, pop, and discover!Built into each side of this sturdy, rounded cube is a soft silicone bubble with a tab to grab and pull. Fingers can't help but push them,...
Jellycat Tully Turtle
$33.00Super-sweet in salad greens, Jellycat Tully Turtle is a happy little hatchling! With zingy, flappy, squishable flippers and a bobbly mossy shell, this newborn is turtly adorable. Lollop down the...
Vici Brands Turbo Race Car Toy Jet Black
$40.00Turbo captures the spirit and magic of the most infectious decade ever. Part of the Verve collection, Playforever's Turbo Jet is inspired by the F1 cars of the 80's. With unapologetic clashing...
Vici Brands Turbo Race Car Toy Laser Rich Red
$40.00Turbo captures the spirit and magic of the most infectious decade ever. Part of the Verve collection, Playforever's Turbo Laser is inspired by the F1 cars of the 80's. With unapologetic clashing...
Vici Brands Turbo Race Car Toy Lauper Red White
$40.00Turbo captures the spirit and magic of the most infectious decade ever. Part of the Verve collection, Playforever's Turbo Lauper is inspired by the F1 cars of the 80's. With unapologetic clashing...
Vici Brands Turbo Race Car Toy Miami
$40.00Turbo captures the spirit and magic of the most infectious decade ever. Part of the Verve collection, Playforever's Turbo Miami is inspired by the F1 cars of the 80's. With unapologetic clashing...
Tikiri Turtle Natural Rubber Rattle
$18.00This rubber rattle from the ocean buddies collection. Easy-grip for smaller hands. Each marine animal character has an enclosed rattle that creates a soft sound when shaken. Sound Toys, like...
Halilit Twirly Whirly Rainmaker Toy
$25.00The Twirly Whirly Rainbomaker is a delightful real musical instrument which creates a captivating combination of sound and colour. By turning the Rainbomaker, baby will be able to watch as...
Janod Twist Tea Set
$46.00Invite your friends to a Tea Party with this pretty floral tea set! This set consists of a teapot, a sugar bowl, two cups, two saucers and three spoons made...
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...
Chronicle Books Ultimate Book of Animals
$22.99Creatures of land, sea, and air—including elephants, spiders, snakes, falcons, and whales—fill the pages of this interactive book, providing a fascinating overview of how animals grow, see, hear, move, and...
Chronicle Books Ultimate Book of Space
$24.99Bursting with 60 flaps, pop-ups, pull tabs, and other moveable parts, The Ultimate Book of Space is an oversized fact- and action-packed look at the amazing universe of outer space....
Chronicle Books Ultimate Spotlight - Dinosaurs
$16.99Flaps, pull tabs, and many other movable parts show young readers an amazing world of dinosaurs! From digging for fossils and putting together dinosaur bones to identifying dinosaurs and finding...
Chronicle Books Ultimate Spotlight - Rain Forest Animals
$16.99Interactive and engaging, Ultimate Spotlight: Rain Forest Animals gives children a closer look at the wild and amazing birds, bugs, and beasts that live in the rain forest.Discover animals in...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Arabic
$46.00Arabic. One of the world’s oldest written languages. The original expression of geometry and algebra. These colorful blocks feature each letter of the Arabic alphabet, with two debossed letters per...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Chinese
$46.00Each block reveals a debossed Mandarin Chinese character representing the word for an animal. On its opposing side, find the same character paired with its English translation. See a hand...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Classic
$41.00Love these blocks. Teach children to spell, sequence, and stack; sort, build, and match. 28 blocks featuring four full alphabets, colorful numbers, math symbols, plus a menagerie of hand-crafted animals....
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Classic with W...
$59.00This Michigan basswood wagon provides sturdy storage and transportation for 28 ABC blocks. Tote, sort, and store your blocks in this clever little wagon. Includes four full alphabets, colorful numbers,...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks French
$46.00Expand your knowledge of France with 28 French-language blocks. Enjoy the embossed fleur-de-lis filigree. This stylized detail surrounds two capital letters on opposing sides of each block. Two other sides show one...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks German
$46.00Expand your knowledge of Germany and Austria with this German-language set. Enjoy the embossed oak bough with acorn filigree. These stylized details surround the two capital letters on opposing sides...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Hebrew
$46.00Explore the Hebrew language and teach heritage with this 28-block set. Enjoy the filigree of interlacing triangles that surrounds two embossed letters on each block. Two other sides show one...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Italian
$46.00Expand your knowledge of Italy and the Italian language. Enjoy the embossed Italian design that surrounds two letters on each block. Two other sides reveal one number and one animal...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Persian
$46.00Expand your knowledge of Iran and the Persian language. Explore the full Persian character set, including numbers. Let your fingers linger on the two debossed sides per block. Delight in...
Uncle Goose Uncle Goose ABC Blocks Portuguese
$46.00Expand your knowledge of Portugal and Brazil with this 32-block Portuguese language set. Enjoy the embossed Portuguese design elements that surround two letters on each block. Two other sides reveal...
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.