Play Time
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...
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...
Janod Wooden Push Along Toy Hen
$24.00This adventurous little hen would love to take a ride in the air. But it needs the baby’s help to get off the ground! These cute early years toy for...
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...
Le Toy Van Wooden Red Barn
$70.00A traditional wooden red barn. With a large double door to open and close, a working magnetic winch, a magnetic hay bell, windows to peek through and detailed artwork inside...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Rocket Construction Set
$30.00Let your little engineer build their own rocket with this Rocket Construction set! Match up the parts and count down to launch! Age range: 3 years+ Set includes 21 pieces to build...
Indigo Jamm Wooden Rocket Ricky
$46.00Blast off with this amazing wooden toy rocket with movable rocket flames. Complete with two colorful removable wooden spacemen. Age: 18 months+ Made of sustainable rubberwood. Dimension: L20cm x H10cm x...
Tender Leaf Toys Wooden Safari Animals
$66.00One of each animal in a display shelf. (Crocodile, Zebra, Giraffe, Lion, Antelope, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus) Age range: 3 Years+ Product size: 14.96 x 2.95 x 12.6” Weight: 2.93 lbs...
Indigo Jamm Wooden Sammy Steam Toy Train
$80.00Indigo Jamm Sammy Steam Train is a large solid built push-along train and passenger carriage. Complete with three removable wooden passengers that can be assigned to their correct colored and...
Egmont Wooden Shaving Kit in a Case Toy
$36.00This shaving Kit includes everything a little boy needs to mimic daddy and shave as a father does. It will be easy for little boys to “lather up for a shave”...
Bajo Wooden Sheep Sorter
$58.00Little animal lovers will truly appreciate this beautiful and natural puzzle featuring chunky sheep. Age: 18 months+ Set of 7 playful sheep of varying sizes down to the smallest Dimension: 17...
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...
Wee Gallery Wooden Stacker Bear
$28.00This sweet bear is ready to stack like this and stack like that! These Wood Stackers are designed to help the baby's hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and imagination with the added...
Wee Gallery Wooden Stacker Cat
$26.00This sweet cat is ready to stack like this and stack like that! These Wood Stackers are designed to help the baby's hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and imagination with the added...
Wee Gallery Wooden Stacker Panda
$28.00This sweet panda is ready to stack like this and stack like that! These Wood Stackers are designed to help the baby's hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and imagination with the added...
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...
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.