Play Time
Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Plane Silver
$210.00The Baghera Speedster Plane in Silver is perfect for the future pilot in your life. This ride-on toy is built to last for your little aviator with a sturdy metal...
Baghera Ride On Toy Car Speedster Silk Grey
$190.00Let your child experience driving something special, with this great ride-on speedster! It is built to last with a padded seat, sturdy metal body, and rubber tires. Some simple self-assembly...
Chronicle Books Ring Flashcard Little Learner
$16.00Little Learner Ring Flash Cards from Mudpuppy teach children age 1 years+ colors, shapes, and numbers with modern, high-contrast artwork. The re-closable ring makes these sturdy flashcards convenient for on-the-go...
Chronicle Books Ring Flashcards My ABC's
$16.00These flashcards will help children learn their ABCs using colorful pictures! The back of the card pictures uppercase letters. Use as flashcards, practice sorting by color or type, or separate...
Hachette Ring Flashcards Spanish To English
$16.00Encourage the love of language with these colorful Spanish to English flashcards. Each double-sided card features charming illustrations of 26 basic Spanish and English nouns. The re-closable ring makes these...
Little Chew Ring Freezer Teether Autumn
$24.00Soft silicone freezer toy will help to soothe sore and itchy gums as much as it will entertain your baby. Simple design is easy for small hands to grab and...
Knitted World Ring Rattle Frog
$18.00This easy to grasp ring rattle is lovingly hand-crocheted using luxuriously soft yarn derived from the pulp of the organically grown and sustainably harvested bamboo trees. Bamboo is the world’s...
Knitted World Ring Rattle Lion
$18.00This easy to grasp ring rattle is lovingly hand-crocheted using luxuriously soft yarn derived from the pulp of the organically grown and sustainably harvested bamboo trees. Bamboo is the world’s...
Knitted World Ring Rattle Monkey
$18.00This easy to grasp ring rattle is lovingly hand-crocheted using luxuriously soft yarn derived from the pulp of the organically grown and sustainably harvested bamboo trees. Bamboo is the world’s...
Waytoplay Ringroad Set 12 Pieces
$46.00The Ringroad is the smallest set with twelve road parts to lay out a small road of almost 67 inch length. Each part is printed on both sides with different...
Plantoys Road System
$120.00Enhance your kid's pretend-play transportation system with the Road System set! Complete with 27 tracks, 1 bridge, 1 car, 1 light, and 4 bushes, children have everything they need to...
Londji Roads Connecting Game
$46.00Roads are truly one of the most unique and beautifully engineered creative games/playsets in the marketplace. Building 1000 different variations of the roads according to included instructions or free-form- there...
Plantoys Robot Tool Box
$50.00It’s a tool box that can transform into a robot! Not only you can build amazing things but also have your own robot play buddy. This set consists of 18...
Mukikim Rock And Roll It Piano Rainbow
$59.99Roll it out and rock out with the Roll Up Rainbow Piano. Completely portable and loaded with unique features, it provides realistic sounds, includes an attached control panel/speaker and is...
Fat Brain Toy Rock n Roller Piano
$38.00Roll into a ruckus of melody-making fun! The included mallet lets little ones bang out tunes both wild and wonderful. Meanwhile, flip to the other side and spin the wheels. Each...
Hachette Rocket Ships Magnetic Build-it Game
$18.00Mudpuppy's Rocket Ships Magnetic Build-it includes 2 illustrated scenes and 3 sheets of mix and match magnets for creating your own galactic spacecraft! The sturdy tin package offers hours of...
Maileg Rocking Chair Mouse
$20.00The perfect chair for a rest or a small nap. This chair fits the mouse family perfectly and can easily be mixed with other mouse furniture and accessories to create...
Maileg Rocking Horse Mouse Spotted
$20.00A delightful classic for all playful mice! This wooden rocking horse is beautifully crafted and designed for hours of fun. Its metal handles make it easy for mice with magnetic hands...
Plantoys Roller Pastel Colors
$18.00This Roller toy has a pastel color design that makes it a vibrant and visually stimulating toy for newborns. Explore each color as the Roller makes its way across a...
Plantoys Roller Primary Colors
$18.00This Roller toy has a rainbow color design that makes it a vibrant and visually stimulating toy for newborns. Explore each bright color as the Roller makes its way across a variety of...
Sophie La Giraffe Rollin' Sophie La Giraffe Once Upon A...
$42.00A roller to climb, roll, and sit astride, and to develop Baby's motor skills and balance. The Inflatable Structure covered with fabric provides comfort softness and Security. A mirror and...
Gibbs Smith Romeo & Juliet
$11.99BabyLit® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Sugar’s...
Bajo Rope Abacus
$56.00The Bajo Rope Abacus has ten columns, each stacked with wooden rings, from one up to ten. Attached to the end of each column is a rope and stopper, allowing...
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.