Play Time
BeginAgain Color N Eggs Bilingual Puzzle
$12.00The Color N Eggs Puzzle is a wooden puzzle, language learning toy, and character play set all in one! The chicken characters are great for inspiring storytelling and introducing colors in...
Chronicle Books Colorful World of Dinosaurs Book
$18.95Did you know that Argentinosaurus was as heavy as a herd of elephants? That Mosasaurus was three times the length of a great white shark? That Microraptor was the size...
Moulin Roty Coloring Book and Sticker - Once Upon...
$14.00Moulin Roty Description This 20 page coloring book is an illustration of an entire house from Once Upon a Time collection. The artist drawings propose eight different rooms that become...
Mudpuppy Coloring Book Andy Warhol
$9.99Mudpuppy's Andy Warhol Coloring Book features the iconic pop artist's greatest hits ready to be colored in and customized by young artists. Introduce well-known classics like Andy's Campbell's Soup Cans...
Zoli colorMatties Sea Fun
$24.00These non-slip placemats combine fun with function to keep little ones focused, and mealtime boredom-free! Limited edition prints are reusable and easy to wash, so the coloring fun can last...
Zoli colorMatties Space Fun
$24.00These non-slip placemats combine fun with function to keep little ones focused, and mealtime boredom-free! Limited edition prints are reusable and easy to wash, so the coloring fun can last...
Cali's Book Colors Interactive Sing Along Book
$29.00Introduce your baby or toddler to the world of colors with this interactive sound book. Featuring six kid-friendly sing-along songs, with extended versions and newly-added lyrics, your little one will...
Great Pretenders Colour-A-Cape Spider Super Hero
$26.00Every hero needs a cape! The Colour-A-Cape Spider Superhero is the perfect addition to your crime-fighter's wardrobe. Save the day or defeat monsters in the backyard with personalized style and...
Magna-Tiles Combo 62-Piece Set
$52.00Peanut butter and jelly, MAGNA-TILES® and Meaningful Play, microMAGS tiles and Classic tiles – some combos just work! In fact, our kid testers loved how microMAGS and Classic tiles worked together to create unique builds, so we had...
Manhattan Toy Comet Teether Toy
$18.00Sure to be a baby favorite for teething, grasping, shaking, and rolling. The Comet Teether features flexible tubes with plastic clacking rings. Plus, every shake reveals a chirping sound. This...
Neckerchew Comfortchew Teether Red Stars
Let your little one shine! Red with white stars and red cuddle fleece reverseand grey cuddle fleece reverse Attached cream teether Ribbon tags and elasticated link for attaching to the...
Janod Confetti Accordion
$56.00Janod Confetti Accordion awakens all of the senses and introduces the youngest musicians to the joys of musical improvisation. A real blow accordion, with "Confetti" colors and its plastic holding stra7 Keyboard...
Sonria Slime Confetti Kat Kit Slime
$19.99This slime is infused with vanilla essential oil for relaxation. Scent: Confetti Cake Texture: Thick & Glossy Size: 7 fl oz. Shelf Life: 5 months With a shrink band as a protective plastic...
Janod Confetti Music Live Musical Set
$58.00Red, yellow, green, orange !!! Confetti, a complete line of musical toys featuring Pop N’ Rock designs! Confetti awakens all of the senses and introduces the youngest musicians to the...
Connetix Connetix Rainbow 60pc Starter Pack
$86.00Discover open-ended play and learning with 60 Piece Rainbow Starter Pack! Featuring large and small squares, plus three types of triangles in six vibrant rainbow colours, this pack is the...
Connetix Connetix 106pc Pastel Ball Run
$132.00Featuring pastel connector tiles and 8 pastel wooden balls, along with our classic ball run pieces – unique exclusively designed clear fluted tubes, x2 special effect stair soundscape tubes, x2...
Connetix Connetix 120pc Pastel Creative
$164.00Designed to encourage hours of limitless creativity, fun and learning through PLAY, our Pastel Creative Pack features a variety of shapes in 8 pastel colours. It is a great starter option...
Connetix Connetix 202pc Pastel Mega Pack
$274.00Featuring all our standard tile shapes in 8 unique earthy pastel colours PLUS two car bases, this pack is the ultimate option to kickstart or grow your magnetic tile collection....
Connetix Connetix Pastel 48pc Shapes Expansion...
$100.00Expand play and learning possibilities with 48 Piece Pastel Shape Expansion Pack. Featuring a range of exclusive magnetic tile shapes, including large triangles, right-angle triangles, quarter circles, pentagons, trapezoids and...
Connetix Connetix Rainbow 212pc Mega Pack
$264.00Allow children to use their imagination, take the lead in their play and create the ultimate rainbow fun with 212 piece Mega Pack. This is the ultimate starter set, featuring...
Connetix Connetix Rainbow 50pc Transport Pack
$86.00Gear up for epic vehicle fun with the Connetix Transport Pack. Designed with vehicle enthusiasts in mind, this pack features one REVERSIBLE grey transport base, two clear motion bases with...
Connetix Connetix Rainbow 92pc Ball Run Pack
$100.00This pack features our unique exclusively designed clear fluted tubes, 6 rainbow wooden balls, x2 special effect stair soundscape tubes, x2 S-bend tubes AND a split tube for racing fun!...
Connetix Connetix Rainbow 102pc Creative Pack
$132.00Bring imaginations to life and provide endless possibilities for creativity and learning through PLAY with 102 Piece Rainbow Creative Pack. Featuring a variety of shapes including small and large squares,...
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.