Play Time
Little People, Big Dreams Book Freddie Mercury
$15.99Meet Freddie Mercury, the trailblazing musician who rocked the world! Born on the tiny island on Zanzibar off the coast of modern-day Tanzania, young Farrokh dreamt of having a fabulous...
Little People, Big Dreams Book Frida Kahlo
$15.99In this international bestseller from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the inspiring story of this international style icon.When Frida was a teenager, a terrible road accident...
Gibbs Smith Book Good Morning Buenos Dias
$12.99A bilingual slide-the-tab board book, with text in English and Spanish. Cleverly introduce basic ideas about what happens in the morning when you wake up, including a rooster crowing,...
Gibbs Smith Book Good Night Buenas Noches
$12.99A bilingual slide-the-tab board book, with text in English and Spanish. Cleverly provides a number of gentle good night wishes for baby at bedtime, as baby along with the...
Rebel Girls Book Good Night Stories: 100 Immigran...
$35.00Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World is the third book in the New York Times bestselling series for children. Packed with 100 all-new bedtime stories about...
Hachette Book Happy Llamakkah
$8.99Celebrate Hanukkah with the Llama family in this joyful, rhyming picture book Follow along with the Llama family’s Hanukkah traditions as they light their menorah, spin the dreidel, fry...
Little People, Big Dreams Book Harriet Tubman
$15.99Little Harriet was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland. Though life was hard, Harriet persisted. She used all of her strength and bravery to escape slavery and journey...
Hachette Book Hello in There!
$18.99Celebrate the wonder and excitement of waiting for a new sibling to arrive in this charming picture book from the bestselling creators of In My Heart A sister-to-be is so eager...
Hachette Book How to Talk to a Tiger And Other...
$24.99A quirky compendium of animal chatterboxes Ever wanted to talk to a tiger? Or chatter with a cheetah? Or yak with a yak? This book brings together a babble of...
Hachette Book I Am Ready for School!
$8.99Prepare your little one for their first day of preschool or kindergarten with this uplifting board book from the Empowerment series from Stephen Krensky and award-winning illustrator Sara Gillingham. I...
Jellycat Book If I were a Bunny Beige
$16.00Exciting If I were a Bear Bunny is colorful and sturdy enough for your child to grip by themselves, perfect for interactive play. Product Details: Suitable from birth. Features...
Jellycat Book If I were a Butterfly
$16.00A beautiful board book for your little ones to enjoy, full of feely panels and perky pictures! Have a think and a giggle, flap your wings and play make-believe, butterfly...
Jellycat Book If I were a Dog Toffee
$16.00This adorable touch and feel book is perfect for babies or toddlers The colorful pages feature various textures for your little one to feel throughout Made of 100% paper board...
Jellycat Book If I were a Dragon
$16.00This adorable touch and feel book is perfect for babies or toddlers. The colorful pages feature various textures for your little one to feel throughout. Made of 100% paper board...
Jellycat Book If I were a Duckling
$16.00If I Were A Duckling lets little ones dabble in fun creative play. This colourful board book asks readers to ponder what kind of duckling they would be. With feely...
Jellycat Book If I were a Elephant
$16.00Exciting If I were an Elephant Book is colorful and sturdy enough for your child to grip by themselves, perfect for interactive play. Product Details: Suitable from birth. Features...
Jellycat Book If I were a Monkey
$15.00Jellycat’s exciting If I were a Monkey Book is colorful and sturdy enough for your child to grip by themselves, perfect for interactive play. Jellycat Book If I were a...
Jellycat Book If I were a Puppy Black + Cream
$16.00If you were a dog for a day, would you chase rabbits or roll around in the garden? Would you have long ears or pointy ones? So many questions! Looks...
Jellycat Book If I were a Sloth
$15.00If I Were A Sloth is a beautiful board book in search of curious readers! Discover a world up high in the trees, with feely panels and fabulous pictures! Fluffy,...
Jellycat Book If I were a Turtle
$15.00This adorable board book wonders what it would be like to live as a turtle. Imaginative and colorful, this little book is sure to be a hit with your child....
Jellycat Book If I were a Whale
$15.00This adorable touch and feel book is perfect for babies or toddlers. The colorful pages feature various textures for your little one to feel throughout. Made of 100% paper board...
Jellycat Book If I Were an Octopus
$16.00Exciting If I were an Octopus Book is colorful and sturdy enough for your child to grip by themselves, perfect for interactive play.Product Details: Suitable from birth. Features different soft...
Abrams Book In My Room (A Book of Creativity...
$16.95In her room, one little girl can be anything she wants to be and go anywhere she wishes to go, all with the power of her imagination (and paper, markers,...
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.