Play Time
Plantoys Musical Band
$80.00Is your little one ready to take center stage? The Musical Band includes 2 differently sized drums, a pair of drumsticks, a cymbal, and a guiro. The set stands over 13 inches...
Haba Musical Eggs
$40.00Shake it up with the Musical Eggs! Five brightly colored beechwood eggs, all with different sounds!One jingle, rattle, twitters make for some great fun for all and breed a love...
Penguin Musical Happy Birthday To You Book
$17.99Happy Birthday To You: A Musical Instrument Song Book A group of musicians is traveling to a café for a surprise celebration. Press the buttons to hear them play...
Jellycat Musical Pull - Amuseables Moon
$46.00Reach for the moon and you may hear music! The Amuseables Moon Musical Pull features a pair of celestial friends made in recycled fibres. Gently pull the star and a...
Jellycat Musical Pull - Bashful Fox Cub
$46.00The Bashful Fox Cub Musical Pull is a soothing gift to help babies drift off. Our most loved fox cub has gorgeous orange fur with a cream mouth made with...
Steiff Musical Pull Toy Ellie Elephant
$46.00The “My First Steiff” Ellie elephant as a music box is an amazing experience for all baby’s senses. Ellie radiates warmth with her cheerful smile and loving gaze, while her...
PlanToys Musical Set
$66.00To become little musicians, this music set comes with melody xylophone; cymbal and guiro that helps enhance hand-eye coordination and boost concentration skill. Suitable for children 3 years and up....
Moulin Roty Musical Toy Lune The Rabbit
$54.00Moulin Roty Lune the Rabbit is a stuffed musical toy that displays Japanese nursery tunes. She has a lovely embroidered face, large fleecy ears and is dressed in striped bloomers with a...
Phaidon Press My Art Book of Friendship
$18.95Friends are an important part of every toddler's social life... and now, part of their first art collection! A brief, tender, read-aloud text accompanies each work, and the work's...
Phaidon Press My Art Book of Happiness
$18.95Emotions are part of every toddler's day... and now, part of their first art collection! 35 full-page artworks from a variety of periods introduce emotions through one of the...
Phaidon Press My Art Book of Love
$18.95A tender and wise ode to love, illustrated with an expertly curated selection of fine art for young children. Art, like anything else, is only as meaningful and interesting...
Audio Pet My Audio Pet - Seal
$30.00Meet your new pocket-sized party pal — SEALebration! This adorable mini speaker may be tiny, but the sound? Totally mind-blowing. With rich, clear audio and Bluetooth 5.0, your music will...
Londji My Big Blue Shape Puzzle
$30.00My Big Blue Puzzle is a colorful shape puzzle that depicts a friendly whale. 36 pieces fit together to show the whale breaching the surface and the detail of the...
Chronicle Books My Big Book of Happy Sounds
$22.99“Good morning!” Kiss kiss! Clapping and laughing… Who or what’s making that sound? Press the buttons to find out! An interactive sound book: Young readers develop important listening skills as they...
Chronicle Books My Big Book of Nature Sounds
$22.99An interactive sound book: Young readers develop important listening skills as they explore sounds and words in their language development. Whether it’s a barking dog or crunching leaves, children learn that...
Chronicle Books My Big Touch and Feel Word Book
$21.99Child development specialists have shown that children learn best when they acquire knowledge through multiple senses. Not only sight and sound, but touch as well, are critical elements in their...
Hape My Coffee Machine
$38.00Sitting back to relax with a cup of coffee is not just for adults, and with all you need to make a great cup of coffee including, cup, milk, sugar,...
Penguin My First Book of London
$18.99Take an eye-opening look at the wonders of London in a stylish big picture book for little travelers.From the Beefeaters at the Tower of London to the Changing of the...
Simon & Shuster My First Big Coloring Book of Dinosaurs
$12.00ALL DINOS ALL THE TIME! Dive into the prehistoric world of DINOSAURS with this jumbo coloring book featuring nearly 200 pages of large coloring images with chunky, bold outlines for...
Simon & Shuster My First Big Coloring Book of Princesses
$12.00Color with whimsical PRINCESSES in this jumbo coloring book featuring nearly 200 pages of kid-friendly coloring images with chunky bold outlines! Collect them all more in the My First Big...
Simon & Shuster My First Big Coloring Book of Unicorns
$12.00Color for hours with wacky UNICORN art in this jumbo coloring featuring nearly 200 pages of large kid-friendly coloring images with bold, chunky outlines! Collect them all more in the...
Penguin My First Book of New York
$18.99See all the best-loved sites of New York City in this stylish big picture book by Ingela P. Arrhenius.Visit the Statue of Liberty, climb the Empire State Building, catch...
Penguin My First Book of Paris
$19.99Explore sites around the beautiful City of Lights in this stylish big picture book by Ingela P. Arrhenius. From the banks of the Seine to the top of the...
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.