Play Time
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Trunk Raised ...
$22.00Holztiger’s Elephant with a raised trunk is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Mother Zebra
$20.00Holztiger’s Mother Zebra is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 5.9...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Flamingo
$12.00Holztiger’s flamingo is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play. Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 7.3 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Elephant
$20.00Holztiger’s Elephant is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 7.5 inches...
Fat Brain Toys Stacking Suction Kupz
$22.00Stack, roll, stick, and sip! Each of these six colorful, squishy cups features a suction cup on the bottom, a suctioning brim at the top, plus endless creative-play possibilities all...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Small Goose
$12.00Holztiger’s small goose is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 5.6...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Polar Bear Fe...
$16.00Holztiger’s Polar Bear Feeding is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions:...
Tegu Magnetic Shape Train 9 Pieces
$55.00Tegu Baby & Toddler toys are the perfect entry-point to the wondrous world of Tegu. Specifically designed for the little hands and budding imaginations of children between the ages 6...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Swan Swimming
$12.00Holztiger’s Swan Swimming is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 10.5 x 2.3...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Standing Tiger
$18.00Holztiger’s Tiger Standing is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 14x 2.8 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Rhinoceros
$18.00Holztiger’s Rhinoceros is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 20 x 2.8...
Hape HPE Double Bubble
$26.00Hape’s Double Bubble toy is the perfect toy for your developing little one! This toy introduces problem solving to your baby; there’s always a new way to move around its...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Leopard
$18.00Holztiger’s Leopard is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 13 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Lioness
$14.00Holztiger’s Lioness is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 11.5 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Lion
$18.00Holztiger’s Lion is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 5.9 x...
Fat Brain Toys 24 Piece Squigz Starter Building Set
$30.00Fat Brain Toys 24 Piece Squigz Starter Set is the perfect toy to give to your little one to use in any environment, to stick on everything from walls, to...
Hape HPE 2 in 1 Kitchen and Grill Toy Set
$46.00Role-play cooking a delicious meal together with your child with this realistic 2-in-1 Kitchen & Grill Set that includes metal accessories, clicking, turn able knobs, and an adjustable clock. Product...
Plantoys PLN Doctor Set
$40.00Pretend play as a real doctor and take care of your friends using this professional PlanToys Doctor Set! Teaches children at a young age how to become sympathetic and empathetic....
Hape HPE Alphabet Abacus Educational Toy
$25.00Alphabet Abacus is the ideal toy to give to your developing toddler! This toy gives the ABC’S a playful twist to make learning fun! Suitable for children 3 years+ Double-sided...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Penguin
$14.00Holztiger’s penguin is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 5 x 2.3...
Fat Brain Toys Activity OombeeCube
$24.00Fun to feel, beautiful to admire, and amazingly durable so you never lose a single shape, the Fat Brain Toys OombeeCube truly is early tactile learning perfected. Fat Brain Toys...
Sophie La Giraffe Sophie The Giraffe Classic Gift Set
$59.00Calisson’s Classic Creation Set is ideal for your little one, perfect for their growing teeth! Made of 100% natural rubber Made in France Includes Sophie la Giraffe toy Soothes sore...
Sophie La Giraffe Sophie The Giraffe Cooling Teething Ring
$18.00Calisson’s Cooling Teething Ring is ideal for your little one, perfect for their growing teeth! Plastic ring makes it easy to grab with out a cold feeling Made in France...
Sophie La Giraffe Teether
$32.00The cute Sophie la Girafe Teething Toy from Vulli by Calisson is the perfect teething for your little one! Includes a squeaker to get your infant’s attention Made of latex...
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.