***Updated: November 2020 ***
I've always kind of considered myself a toy snob, although not at all based on cost (one of my son's favorite toys is a piece of PVC pipe). Clutter stresses me out and I don't like waste, so I've always been kind of picky about what I buy my kids. So many toys are played with for a week or so and then left to collect dust. I always look for things that have high replay value and will last for years. So much learning happens through play, I want to make sure the things I buy provide ample opportunities.
Recently several people have told me that we always have great toys and have asked for help shopping for their little ones. Since I love shopping for kids and helping out other mamas, I thought I'd create and share list of toy ideas. It ended up being GIANT to try to accommodate different genders and interests and provide lots of inspiration. I'm sure I'll add to it as I find new things.
General Tips:
- I usually look for something open ended. If it can be used in flexible ways, it is likely to be used more often.
- I try to avoid things with lots of lights and sounds. Now there are definitely exceptions to this rule, but if a toy does all the "work," then kids will lose interest quickly. Once they have pressed every button, they have kind of exhausted the toy. Also, my husband is an audiologist and says a lot of baby toys are loud enough to cause hearing damage. He recommends putting tape over speakers of loud baby toys.
- Materials that will last through a beating are always a plus. For babies and toddlers I try to avoid too much plastic, since it all feels the same. Instead, I try to find a variety of textures.
- Collectibles and stuffed animals really depend on the kid. While some kids love them and will get a lot of use out of them, that has not been the experience in our house. Action figures, stuffed animals and other collectibles just end up in a toy bin forgotten (Lego Minifigs being the exception).
- Not a tip for buying toys, but for extending their use is that any toys with lots of parts and pieces need an easy to use container with a lid. Toys are no fun if you have to hunt down all their pieces. I keep all the boxes (mostly cheap plastic shoe boxes) of toys in the basement and then rotate them upstairs. I don't even mind if multiple boxes of toys being used at the same time, as long as everything finds its way home when it is done.
Younger Babies
- Stimulation Cards - You can print these from the internet or buy a set like these.
- Mirror - This crawling mirror looks adorable.
- Winkle - We have the regular and elephant one. Both have gotten a ton of use!
- Skwish
- Roller Rattle
- Teethers - These Green Sprouts textured ones, Mombella Elephant and Chewbeads have been the favorites in our house.
- Baby Paper
- Taggies - So many great kinds. Archer has loved these crinkle ones.
- Sensory Balls - There are so many fun ones. Infantino Sensory Balls and Plantoys Wooden Tumbling Toys are a couple of options
- Musical Eggs
- Whirly Squigz
- Dizzy Bees
- Dimpl - There are a bunch of these now. We have the original, but I could see a baby loving the Wobbl version. The flower also looks appealing.
Older Babies and Toddlers
- Ring Stacker - We have this Melissa and Dough one and the Tobbles version, which adds another spin on it.
- Box Stacker - There are cardboard stackers, farm stackers with animals, zoo stackers with animals, garage stackers with cars and so many more.
- Shape sorter - We have a rolling one. There are also cute peg shape sorters or twisting shape sorters. I also really like this shape sorter box with keys (maybe next baby?).
- Shape Sequencing
- Peg Stackers - Our alphabet ones have gotten a lot of use.
- Spinagain - Even Xander gets a kick out of this. We also have the Minispinny as a diaper bag toy.
- Super Sorting Pie* - This one is great because it can be used for pretend play, colors and numbers (pieces are small, so not for babies who still put things in their mouths).
- Stacking Cups
- Pop Up Toy - We have the classic one, but I love the birthday version!
- Play Sink
- Poke a Dot Books - These are cute little books that have little domes to poke on each page.
- Gears - Duck Pond or magnetic gears (the ones from Lakeshore have better reviews than others)
- Beginner Pattern Blocks
- Lacing Beads - These are great for fine motor in older babies. There are also a Farm Lacing Set, a Vehicle Set and an ABC set. If you added your own laces, this Sequencing Set would allow more ways to use the beads.
- Toobs* - We have tons of these. Because of their wonderful detail, they were initially used for vocabulary development. They've been added to the bathtub and water table. Now they get combined with blocks or Magna Tiles to build zoos. Dragons, Mythical Realms and Knights can all be used to have battles. Fairies and Days of Old could be added to blocks to make castles or enchanted forests. (Last year, I put Toob figures in the Advent Calendar we made)
- Squigz* - The have been used on tables, floors, glass doors and in the bathtub. Archer likes just chewing on them too. We have the regular ones, but that have some that stick to tables too.
- Touchable Texture Squares
- Instruments* There are lots of fun instruments for kids. I like having a Xylophone and a Lollipop Drum
- Fine Motor Friends - Spike the Hedgehog - I'll admit, I was skeptical about this one at first, but Archer still plays with it. The spikes also seem to be a great chewing consistency. There is also a Pedro the Peacock and some colored peacocks
- Max the Moose
Active Play
- River balance beams* - These are modular balance beams and have other accessories that can be purchased to go with them.
- Rody Horse
- Soft Foam Climbers
- Pikler's Triangle and/or Arch* - For space reasons, we only have a triangle. It has been used for climbing, a tunnel, a tent, etc. My dad also made a net frame to go with ours.
- Pop Up Tunnel*
- Push Walker - The ones that can convert to ride ons, come with blocks or have beads and toys attached extend the use of this toy.
- Play Tent* - Some of these are just tents, but you can also get them with tunnels and ball pits. They can be very complex, like this one that can make a huge square.
- Bubble Machine*
- Water Table*
- Convertible Trike
- Baby Swing - We got this 2-in-1 swing so that now that Archer is bigger, I have it hanging really low and he can get out of it himself.
- Baby Slide - This folding one is convenient for storage, but we opted for one with a little "rock wall" and place to hide underneath.
Bath Toys
- Cog Water Gears*
- Building Bath Pipes*
- Bath Blocks* - These are nice because the water makes them stick together. This one even has a ball to make float down the channels you build.
- Float and Play Bubbles
- Fishing Rod
- Boon Jellies
- Bath Crayons
- Slide and Splash Seals
Blocks
We operate under the belief that you can never have too many kinds of blocks!
- Plastic Blocks - Square Blocks and Architectural Blocks for fun shapes. These are nice because they aren't too hard if baby falls on them (or parents step on them)
- Foam Blocks - Also nice and soft, but not great always for kids that still chew on things.
- Wooden Blocks* - Colored Blocks or Plain Blocks
- Magnification Blocks - Let you put things you gather inside and show them off with a little magnification.
- Balancing Squirrel
- Babu Blocks
- Nesting Rainbow* - Grimm makes a beautiful, but pricy one. We went with a cheaper smaller version. I also like the "V" version. Grimm also makes some gorgeous Nature and a Little Flower nesting blocks.
- Pretend Play Blocks* - Pretend play is supposed to provide an outlet for kids to learn empathy and problem solving. Add that to building blocks and you get some adorable toys. There are blocks with people and cars, as well as farm blocks with barns and animals. Janod also makes adorable story boxes and block figures.
- Tegu Blocks - Magnetic wooden blocks
These end up getting their own category because they have been used pretty much constantly since Xander was 2. We've slowly added move sets over the years. Friends always enjoy using them also (as do adults). We've built on the ground, fridge and light table. There have been geometric designs, skyscrapers, ramps for toy cars, zoos with Toob animals and much more.
- MagnaTiles - Now these are a bit of an investment, but they're great quality and have good magnets (which allows for better building). Two years in a row his only real birthday present was a big set of these. We also have the Glow in the Dark version.
- Stardust - these have glitter and mirrors.
- Big Base Plates - provide a wide base on which to build.
- Fences and Doors - Allow for different kinds of buildings and pens for animals.
- Tunnels and Domes - more fun shapes to extend the play
- Geometry Shapes - has pentagons and hexagons
- Magna-Qubix - These are not tiles, but three dimensional shapes. They are much smaller than the tiles and don't really work with them, so I hesitated to put them here, but Archer LOVES them. He particularly likes the cubes, which actually makes the cheapest set the most cost effective, per piece.
Play Food*
- Kitchen - There are so many great kitchens out there! We have a plastic one, that's fine. Had I to do over again, I would probably select a wood one.
- A basic set of plastic food is a good starter, although there are some nice sets that are more realistic too. I tend to gravitate towards more interactive sets. We have several and my 9 year old still plays with them occasionally. Whenever we have younger friends over, the food and play kitchen are definitely big draws as well.
- Color Sorting Food
- Magnetic Ice Cream has been used a ton in our house. Now there's even an ice cream counter and an ice cream cart for those with the space for it!
- Cutting Food and Cutting Fruit - These were some of the earliest play foods my son played with.
- Birthday Cake or Three Tiered Cake
- Flip and Serve Pancakes
- Rotisserie Grill or Grill Hot Dog and Burger Set
- Tacos
- Knob Puzzles - Puzzles with big round knobs make a good intro into puzzles
- Meliss and Dough makes this Touch and Feel puzzle which as different textures for baby to feel
- Chunky Puzzles - Have big pieces that are almost like blocks. There's everything from Safari Animals to Dinosaurs.
- Magnetic Fishing Puzzles - With a magnetic rod to catch pieces, these add another layer of interaction. There's a Bug Catching puzzle and an Ocean Fishing puzzle
- Sound Puzzles - For those parents that don't mind noisy puzzles, there's also a whole series that make sounds with the pieces. There are Animal Sounds, Vehicle Sounds, Instrument Sounds and more.
- Color and Shape Sorting Puzzle
- Busy Boards - These are great for busy little fingers. There are traditional latch boards that have a bunch of doors to open, as well as boards designed for dressing skills. Archer LOVES the hide and seek boards that have magnets inside. There's also a cute little barn with latches.
- Magnetic Mazes - These are good for pre-writing skills and provide a good activity for in the car. There are regular mazes that just involve moving a bead. There are some that encourage color sorting and encourage counting. A similar concept are these letter tracing boards. This dome is also adorable.
Vehicles
- Cars and Traffic Signs has been a hit in our house. I even cut little felt pieces to make "roads."
- Keys and Cars Garage - has both vehicles and keys for fine motor practice
- Emergency Vehicle Carrier
- Bus and People - Archer is obsessed with this little bus!
- Take Along Sets have folding sets with blocks and vehicles. I like that the "roads" or "tracks" are etched in, so don't move with play like regular train tracks. We have the farm set, but there is also a rescue vehicle set and a train set. (Our Thomas trains fit on the tracks).
- Wooden Train* - In addition to some of the Thomas trains, we have Hape Musical Train and the Pop Up Monkeys, which are adorable. For the girly engineers out there, Bigjigs has an adorable pink and purple Fairy Town train set. If we have a girl, we'll definitely be adding some of the really cool accessories (and maybe even if we don't). Bigjigs also has a pirate series and a dino series with adorable accessories.
Art
- Magnadoodle - introduction into fine motor
- Water Doodle - drawing with no mess
- Color Wonder - another way to draw and color without a mess. There is plain paper and stamper sets for younger kids, and then coloring book style pages for older kids.
- Funky Brushes - wacky paint brushes with huge handles for little hands
- Shape Stamps
* - Items with an asterisk appear on multiple lists due to being able to fit a wider range of kids, depending on ability and interest.
when does baby start playing with toys?
ReplyDeletewhen should i offer my baby toys? she is a month and a half :) which toys do start with?
It depends on the baby, I think. Mine started with baby paper/Taggies and the Winkel at probably a couple of months, because they're light. Infant stimulation cards with high contrast are great for little babies (you can even print your own). A baby gym or mobile with things to look at and reach for is also pretty great early on, although learning to reach out and grab is a skill that takes some practice! As she gets bigger you could add a mirror and other safe things of different textures and materials.
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