Play Time
Guidecraft Wooden Stackers River Stones
$46.00Bring the instinctive wonder that children have for nature into the classroom with an organic, wooden building block set. The Wood Stackers River Stones invite children to build and stack...
Londji Wooden Stacking Game Up to the Stars ...
$39.00A wooden game that is beautifully designed and vibrantly colored counting game lets kids stack pieces to get the space ship "Up to The Stars". Includes 16 wooden pieces that ...
Water & Lightning Wooden Stacking Pebbles Toy
$30.00Inspired by the wonderfully colorful rocks found in lakes and beaches, each piece is carefully handcrafted to be unique. These Wooden Pebbles are a simple and minimal set of wooden stacking...
Lubulona Wooden Stacking Trees Summer
$36.00This set of stacking trees comes with 18 high-quality beech wood pieces. You can build your own little forest or play around and create imaginative columns, sculptures, or whatever you...
Londji Wooden Stamps Bam! Animals 16 pieces
$23.00Create your own animals based on your wildest imagination! Includes 16 wooden stamps with a notebook Material: Wood and Rubber Age: 5 years+ Made in Spain Product Size: Stamp: 0.74in...
Londji Wooden Stamps Bam! Transports 16 pieces
$23.00Create cars, planes, rockets, trains, or even invent your own transport based on your wildest imagination! Includes 16 wooden stamps with a notebook Material: Wood and Rubber Age: 5 years+ Made...
Le Toy Van Wooden Strawberry Wedding Cake
$30.00Let's celebrate! Tuck into this delicious classic three-tier wedding cake, adorned with lashings of cream with a strawberry motif inside and out. The lower and mid-tier sections come in 4 detachable...
Indigo Jamm Wooden SUV Seb Pick Up Toy Truck
$70.00Indigo Jamm SUV Seb is an excellent off-road 4-wheel drive pickup that includes Farmer Fred and his trusty sheepdog Shep. SUV Seb features a removable canopy which allows for easy...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Tea Tray Set
$50.00Anyone one for tea? Enjoy your afternoon tea with this elegantly painted wooden tray set. Tea time is the perfect excuse for conversation, storytelling, and creative play! Age range: 3 years+...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden The Stables Set
$56.00This working stable is perfect for grooming the ponies, with a brush, and 2 blankets. Feed the ponies with a bale of hay and a nose bag. Keep it all...
Bajo Wooden Toy Airplane
$38.00Little pilots will love making these wooden toy airplanes soar into the sky. A chunky wooden toy that's perfect for little ones to play. Sturdy enough to become a favored...
Bajo Wooden Toy Car Camper with Surfboard
$30.00This camper with its little cute surfboard is ready to it the beach. For all those budding beach babes, this sweet little camper will bring hours of creative play, as...
Bajo Wooden Toy Car with Blocks
$26.00This small yet fun wooden toy car with blocks is great for any child. The blocks can easily be removed and put back. This little car trucks along, moving swiftly...
Bajo Wooden Toy Car with Boat
$36.00Take your speedboat to the lake on the back of this chunky SUV/off roader. The vibrant car and detachable trailer pair well with adorable blue boat promoting fun and imagination....
Bajo Wooden Toy Car with Camper
$34.00This Wooden Car with Camper vehicle set is a great way to teach children about movement, speed, forces and will bring on communication skills too through inspiring imaginative play. Taking...
BabyBjorn Wooden Toy for Bouncer Googly Eyes
$59.99A cute and fun toy that your baby will love! Its brightly colored shapes are fascinating for your baby to look at and play with. The toy bar’s features are...
BabyBjorn Wooden Toy for Bouncer Googly Eyes Pa...
$59.99A cute and fun toy that your baby will love! Its brightly colored shapes are fascinating for your baby to look at and play with. The toy bar’s features are...
Raduga Grez Wooden Toy Fruit Set
$65.00The Raduga Grez Wooden Fruits Set is handmade of sustainably sourced linden and includes a pineapple, pomegranate, apple, pear, cherry, strawberry, banana, lemon, and orange. Perfect for encouraging role play,...
Egmont Wooden Tractor
$20.00A wooden Tractor is a necessity on the farm. Bright colors and chunky parts make it attractive and easy to handle. Navigating small toys helps children develop fine motor skills. Recommended...
Bajo Wooden Train to Build Color
$98.00All aboard for crafting fun. Your little conductors will love to create and build their own trains from multiple wooden pieces. Ages 3.5+ years. Size 14" x 3.25" x 5.25"....
Wee Gallery Wooden Tray Puzzle Ocean Animals
$32.00This beautiful 6 piece Wooden Puzzle is perfect for so many kinds of play! Solving the sturdy tray puzzle is just the beginning. You can also use the adorable wooden animals as...
Wee Gallery Wooden Tray Puzzle Safari Animals
$32.00This beautiful 6 piece Wooden Puzzle is perfect for so many kinds of play! Solving the sturdy tray puzzle is just the beginning. You can also use the adorable wooden animals as...
Wee Gallery Wooden Tray Puzzle Woodland Animals
$32.00This beautiful 6 piece Wooden Puzzle is perfect for so many kinds of play! Solving the sturdy tray puzzle is just the beginning. You can also use the adorable wooden animals as...
Le Toy Van Wooden Vegetables 5 a Day Crate
$23.00A selection of wood and fabric garden vegetables in a crate. A great accessory for Honeybee market (sold separately). Age: 2 years+ Encourages creative interactive play Material: Ethically made from sustainable wood; decorated...
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.