Play Time
Erzi Wooden Happy Birthday Muffins Toy
$14.00Three different muffins realistically lit with candles and flames. A smart idea for use as a toy or birthday table decoration. Age: 3 years+ 9 wooden pieces Made in Germany...
Grapat Wooden Houses and Nins Set
$86.00This set can be used as a symbolic game, to create stories and small worlds. Creating stories, inventing new cities, towns, streets… These houses, painted with the colors of the...
Le Toy Van Wooden Ice Cream Machine
$45.00Whip up unlimited ice creams with your very own machine! Decorated in delicate pastel colors, a touch of gold paint and unique illustrations bringing it to life. Suitable for ages...
Janod Wooden Ice Cream Stand
$76.00Would you rather a vanilla or strawberry ice cream cone? Try all the flavors with this wooden ice cream stand! This refreshing pretend play toy is great for gathering around...
Le Toy Van Wooden Ice Lollies and Popsicles
$23.00Cool down with a set of 6 brightly painted wooden “ice-lollies” complete with a wooden holder & presented in a color window box. Age: 2 years+ Plastic-free - toy made from durable, sustainable...
Q Toys Wooden Jumbo Counting Trays
$62.00Beautiful number trays set for children numeracy development. This product is designed for toddlers to have fun with writing or counting. There are many ways that you can use this...
Bajo Wooden Large Breakdown Lorry Set
$78.00This adorable yellow tow truck is perfect for children that love playing with cars and want to imitate the physics of a real tow truck! Cars can be towed away...
Bajo Wooden LR Racing Toy Car
$42.00Young motoring fans will love going for a drive with Bajo's LR Racing Car. Made from solid wood, this cool car can easily turn left and right and is ready...
Bajo Wooden Marble Tree
$73.00 – $151.00This beautifully crafted wooden tree not only looks amazing, but it makes music as well! Just drop the marble on the highest petal and listen to the different notes! Perfect...
le toy van Wooden Market Meat Crate
$23.00A wooden play food crate complete with sausage, steak, chicken, salami & bacon pieces. Perfect for market and shopping pretend play. Age: 2 years+ Encourages creative interactive play Material: Ethically made from sustainable...
Lubulona Wooden Medium Tunnel Blocks Tetuan
$34.00This wooden tunnel set is a perfect add-on to any wooden railway set. Of course, you can create so much more than just tunnels with these blocks, such as buildings,...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Mini Chef Bird's Nest Cafe
$140.00A romantic wooden tea set featuring a pretty bird motif on the saucers and the side of a solid wood teapot. A pretty cupcake and tea bag, 2 cups and...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Mini Chef Birdie Tea Set
$46.00Bird’s Nest Café is a complete one-stop pretend play Coffee Shop with lots of accessories offering all-round creative play for 2 or more children. Encouraging language skills and manual dexterity,...
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...
le toy van Wooden Mixer Set
$50.00Bake a showstopper with this Mixer Set, featuring a moving whisk, rolling pin, and a bowl. The Set is complete with ingredients: flour, sugar, and eggs. Age: 2 years+ Role play...
Sabo Concept Wooden Multicolored Cubes 24 Pieces Set
$54.00These 24 pieces of wooden cubes set are made out of linden tree covered with water-based paint that you can see the structure of wood through. Together with deep unconventional...
Hape Wooden My Coffee Machine Toy
$28.00Sitting back to relax with a cup of coffee is not just for adults, and with all you need to make a great cup of coffee including, cup, milk, sugar,...
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....
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 Wooden Play Kitchen
$350.00Cook up some heavenly dishes with this retro-style mini wooden kitchen of dreams. Budding bakers will delight with this showstopper that’s packed with interactive features for hours of realistic play value. ...
Janod Wooden Pull Along Hens and Chicks Toy
$30.00An adorable pull-along Hens and Chicks toy. A superb early-learning toy that will help develop your child's motor skills. This toy will motivate your child to develop his learning to walk from...
Janod Wooden Pure Push Along Toy
$30.00A lovely push-toy in very soft and contemporary colors featuring cute animals to support children as they learn to walk. When rolled, the balls inside become animated and jingle as...
Sabo Concept Wooden Rainbow Toy Marsala
$58.00This set of 7 gorgeous rainbow stacking elements come nested inside each other. Let the creativity of your child grow as they can building mazes and tunnels for cars, making mountains and...
Sabo Concept Wooden Rainbow Toy Mustard
$58.00This set of 7 gorgeous rainbow stacking elements come nested inside each other. Let the creativity of your child grow as they can building mazes and tunnels for cars, making mountains and...
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.