Play Time
Guide craft Stackable Wooden Cylinder Steps
$50.00Stackable, colorful Cylinder Steps encourage fine motor and identification skills while exploring seriation and color gradients. Five rows of appealing, rubberwood cylinders in increasing size and transitioning colors are easy-to-grasp...
Tender Leaf Toys Stacking Coral Reefs
$50.00A wooden stacking under the sea rock with 18 wonderfully colored sea creatures including a shrimp, a squid, a crab, 2 eels, a sea urchin, a sea anemone, a starfish,...
Tender Leaf Toys Stacking Forest
$48.00A wooden stacking tree trunk with 19 stylishly colored animals and plants including an owl, a bat, a wolf, a squirrel, a woodpecker, an acorn, a mummy pig with her...
Hape Stacking Music Set
$50.00Your little musician will create wonderful music and explore melody and rhythm with this Stacking Music Set by Hape! Children can stack differently sized blocks in any way they wish...
PlanToys Stacking Ring
$30.00Stacking Ring honors a tradition with this beautiful version of the classic stacking rings. This "old world" styled rendition reminds us that there is a virtue in simplicity. Stack the...
Fat Brain Toy Stacking SpinAgain
$40.00It's a stacking toy with a spin—literally!Drop the vibrant discs onto the threaded corkscrew pole and go ooooh as they spin fast and smooth to settle onto the reversible base....
Fat Brain Toy Stacking Suction Kupz
$26.00Stack, 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...
Fat Brain Toy Stacking Tobbles Neo
$36.00Toys Tobbles is the perfect toy for your creative & curious little one! Tobbles is multi-use a toy with limitless possibilities; this toy can stack, spin, wiggle, and more. Tobbles...
Plantoys Stand Mixer Set
$64.00Let’s bake something yummy with the Stand Mixer Set! Roleplay as a famous chef or homemaker while developing creative thinking and communication skills, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination. ...
Plushies Standing Acacia
$98.00Your favorite animals in plush form with a simultaneously realistic and cute design! With a golden brown body patterned with warm brown spots, standing ears, and a long neck. The...
Ooly Standing Sketchbook Cute Doodle World
$14.00About this product This standing sketchbook is perfect for showing off your artwork. When you're done, turn back to the cover to display the lively cover filled with cute doodles....
Abrams Star Wars Block: Over 100 Words Every...
$18.99Visit a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Block and discover all the words every star warrior should know. Star Wars Block includes die-cut shapes on every spread and the bright, charming...
DAM Starlight Torch Projector Jungle
$20.00With this cool torch you can go on thrilling adventures in the dark. The torch comes with three interchangeable dome-shaped covers to project a variety of scenes: starry sky, space...
Steiff Starly Unicorn Plush Toy 28 inches
$295.00Steiff Starly Unicorn will take your little one on countless flights of fantasy. She’s entirely handmade in the workshops of Steiff, the legendary German toy company known for its outstanding...
Great Pretenders Starry Night Dragon Cape
$40.00This gorgeous cape is fearless with its spectacular fiery blue eyes, dramatic golden spikes and horns, and a stuffed head with great design details. This cape will get your little...
Guidecraft Starter Triangle Fractions
$30.00Developing minds increase their understanding of numbers and one-to-one correspondence sorting the tactile fraction shapes of Starter Triangle Fractions. Colorful rubberwood shapes are in the quarter, third, half and whole...
Hape Stay-Put Rattle Set
$22.00Babies will be enchanted by the Stay-put Rattle Set’s differing sounds, bright colors, and aquatic animals. Moreover, with their handy suction cups, playtime is possible anywhere, anytime! Age: 0+ Months...
Brio Steam Train and Tunnel
$34.00The BRIO World Steam Train & Tunnel is beautifully crafted with a classic design and wooden details. The golden age of the toy train is back as this handsome steam...
Steiff Steiff Jimmy Teddy Bear Plush Toy 12 ...
$34.00Meet the modern stuffed bear your kid will adore all day and night. Jimmy is a 12-inch Teddy bear made of soft, snuggly, machine-washable, plush fabric. Jimmy Teddy Bear Details:...
Steiff Steiff Leo Lion Plush Toy 18 inches
$176.00The king of the jungle is ready to rule your playroom! This magnificent creation from Steiff sets a new standard for quality toys. He’s sewn from the finest woven plush,...
Steiff Steiff Musical Pull Toy Hoppie Rabbit
$46.00Hoppie Rabbit is one of the best-selling styles for children, and she’s now available in a music box version for infants. Pull her string, and delight your baby with a...
Steiff Steiff Musical Pull Toy Jimmy Teddy Bear
$46.00Jimmy, one of our most popular Teddy bear designs for children, now comes in styles that are designed with babies in mind. Pull the string on our musical version of...
Steiff Steiff Rocking Animal Riding Toy Fran...
$689.00Steiff Rocking Animal Riding Toy Franzi Pony is beautifully designed from valuable woven plush, each with intricate hand-airbrushed accents, our Rocking Animals withstand up to 330 pounds because the toy...
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.