Play Time
Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Mermaids
$25.00Explore, imagine and learn with the Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Mermaid, containing blank styles featuring the natural wonder of our world and mystical creatures allowing children to learn about it through our e-guide!...
Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Spaceship
$25.00Explore, imagine and learn with the Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Spaceship, containing blank styles featuring the natural wonder of our world and mystical creatures allowing children to learn about it through our e-guide!...
Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Submarine
$25.00Explore, imagine, and learn with the Erasable Activity Book Submarine, containing blank styles featuring the natural wonder of our world and mystical creatures allowing children to learn about it through...
Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Unicorn and Ra...
$25.00Explore, imagine and learn with the Jaq Jaq Bird Erasable Activity Book Unicorn and Rainbow, containing blank styles featuring the natural wonder of our world and mystical creatures allowing children to learn...
Milton & Goose Essential Play Kitchen
$799.00Whether your little one is whipping up an original recipe or taking first place in an imaginary cooking competition, our Essential Play Kitchen is the perfect canvas for imaginative play....
Plushies Essie Coffee Cup
$12.00Say hello to Essie Coffee Cup, a warm and inviting addition to the Palm Pals collection. This plush coffee cup is designed to bring a cozy touch to your day...
Cuddle + Kind Evan The Elephant
$80.00 – $100.00I love to roam big, wide-open spaces and use my trunk to reach high places. I also love to perform – nothing makes me happier than making people happy! I...
Cuddle + Kind Everest The Penguin
$80.00Where I come from, the ice and snow are always sparkling. I love building snow forts, slurping marshmallows in hot chocolate, and most of all, helping people. I believe we...
Gibbs Smith Evita Opposites
$10.00Introducing Spanish/English bilingualism, Lil’ Libros encourage parents to read to their children at the earliest age focusing on subjects they are familiar with while making it fun and rewarding for...
Jellycat Ewert Sheepdog
$55.00Ewert Sheepdog is here to play, round up joy, and share cuddles! In long, textured cream and grey fur with bright eyes and long tail, Ewert has stitched paw detail...
Le Toy Van Explorer Kaleidoscope Binoculars
$26.00Inspire young explorers with these wooden binoculars that are ready and waiting for adventures. Made from solid natural wood, these children’s pretend play binoculars feature two spinning kaleidoscopic lenses for...
Waytoplay Express Way Play Set
$65.00The Expressway's 16 road parts make it the most popular waytoplay road set. The waytoplay Expressway is a great toy for imaginative play. Watch your children create their very own...
Abrams F Is for Florida
$12.99A is for Amusement Park B is for Biscayne National Park C is Cape Canaveral With E is for Everglades, K is for Key West, and O is for...
Gibbs Smith Fairy Friend Opposites
$10.00BabyLit® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. Parents and children alike will be swept away by the whimsical imaginings of Merilee Liddiard’s...
Gibbs Smith Fairy Friend Seasons
$10.00BabyLit® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. Parents and children alike will be swept away by the whimsical imaginings of Merilee Liddiard’s...
Calico Critters Family Picnic Van
$56.00Three fun style changes:1. Lower the seat to create a child seat! Up to six baby figures can fit in the back.2. Remove the back door and seats and change...
Tender Leaf Toys Fantail Hall Dollhouse
$420.00Fantail Hall Dollhouse is a really impressive beautiful wood Doll's house based on a traditional British style of architecture. It has 4 levels of play area as the roof can...
Tender Leaf Toys Farm
$116.00Made throughout from top quality plywood, this farm has been designed to be open and accessible for little hands. It features a barn with barn doors and a feeding trough,...
Janod Farm Activity Sound Cube
$48.00About this productYour baby will love to discover the Marius pyramid filled with different well-known characters, shapes, and colors. Through several little hide-and-seek places, your child will have a blast...
Magnatiles Farm Animals 25 Pieces
$48.00The rooster is crowing! It’s time to join us down on the farm as we bring imaginative play to life with the Magna-Tiles Farm Animals set, part of the Magna-Tiles®...
Penguin Farm Animals Book
$7.99Calling little fans of farm animals—and design-loving parents! An oversize graphic showpiece has now been adapted as an accessible board book. This bucolic board book presents stylized animals in...
Brio Farm Railway Set
$80.00Life is quieter out on the farm. With this Farm Railway Set, your child can lead the life of a happy farmer. The Tractor is returning with its cargo...
Le Toy Van Farmyard Animal Barn
$100.00A 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...
Le Toy Van Farmyard Stables
$170.00Our wooden farmyard is a true classic! A wonderful toy for encouraging small world play, it's sweet traditional design is sure to appeal to little animal lovers. This playset includes everything...
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.