Best Toys for Your Baby’s Development and Fun!

What are the best toys for your baby’s development and fun?

Babies learn through play, therefore there is no need for any sort of formal activity to teach your baby. Toys support this play and can actually boost development, as well as making it more fun!

 

By choosing age appropriate toys you can assist your baby to gain new skills and reach their developmental milestones. There is no need to spend a lot of money on toys, remember some of your baby’s favourite things to play with will not be toys, they often enjoy plastic containers, pots and pans, keys and other things they find around the house.

Books:

Books are suitable for every age group. Board, fabric or bath books are a great option for young babies, as they can’t damage them as easily and they usually don’t have too much text on each page.

 

Try to avoid too many electronic toys, we want to encourage your baby to make their own noises for animals, cars etc.

Screens:

Although babies seem to enjoy screens on TV’s and other devices, the evidence tells us that screen time could be detrimental as it stimulates and confuses babies brains. Screen time also reduces the time spent playing and learning.  There have been no benefits found for giving babies screen time and so the current recommendation is no screen time for under 2 year old’s. With the amount of screens used in daily life it is probably best just to be aware of these recommendations and to limit or reduce screen time.

Shopping for toys is a lot of fun, but it is helpful to keep in mind the age of your baby and what you are looking for. When purchasing toys, do check the suggested age range, you only want to give your baby toys that are suitable for ages 0-3 years, as they have larger parts that won’t become a choking hazard and are covered by safety standards.

My husband kept wanting to buy toys that were suited to much older children such as big castles and dart guns! He really is a big kid himself!

 

Young baby 0 – 3 months:

• Books with high contrast black and white and some colour too
• Rattles, some can Velcro onto their wrist or ankle
• Play gym with colourful hanging toys to look at and reach for and hit
• Play mat with colours/ textures, some have mirrors and different textures, crinkle sections
• Socks with bells in them
• Light weight teddy bears/dolls
• Soft colourful, crinkle activity type toys
• Colourful soft blocks
• Linked chains
• Mobiles to look at above change area or cot although these can be stimulating when trying to sleep
• Mirrors, unbreakable to put on floor and encourage tummy time

 

3-6 months, all the above plus:

• Blocks, hard or soft padded sort
• Bath toys
• Teething toys
• Soft toys that make sounds, squeak when squeezed
• Toys that attach to prams, car seats etc
• Balls, lightweight easy to hold, some have openings to help baby grasp

 

6-12 months, all the above plus:

• Play pen
• Push along toys for when they can pull themselves up but not quite walk independently
• Shape sorters
• Balls
• Stacking/nesting cups
• Activity table
• Pop up toy
• Crawl through tunnels
• Highchair toys that suction cup to tray
• Baby swing for outdoors

 

It’s best to avoid toys that sit or stand your baby up before they can do this themselves. Your baby needs to able to move around on the floor to learn to roll, wriggle, crawl and pull up on furniture. If they are in a device this may delay normal development. If you do choose these types of toys only use for short periods of time.

Avoid baby walkers with wheels entirely as many serious accidents occur every year with these, activity tables or push along toys are a better and safer choice.

 

12 months -2 years:

• Musical instruments such as shakers, maracas and drums
• Pull along toys
• Ride on toys such as motorbikes, cars that the child pushes along themselves with their legs (not battery operated)
• Train set
• Cars and trucks
• Simple peg puzzles
• Toys with figurines of people and animals for imaginative play
• Dolls

Most importantly, have fun choosing some toys for your baby!