Play Time
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Standing Tiger
$18.00Holztiger’s Tiger Standing is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 14x 2.8 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Staurikosaurus
$14.00Holztiger’s Staurikosaurus is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Made in Europe...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Stegosaurus
$16.00Holztiger’s Stegosaurus is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 6.9 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Stork
$12.00Holztiger’s stork is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions:6 x 1.9...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Swan Swimming
$12.00Holztiger’s Swan Swimming is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 10.5 x 2.3...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Trunk Raised ...
$22.00Holztiger’s Elephant with a raised trunk is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal Tyrannosaurus...
$16.00Holztiger’s T-Rex is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Dimensions: 3.9 x...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Animal White Mouse
$12.00Holztiger’s White Mouse is a great toy animal for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Made in...
Holztiger Holztiger Wooden Tournament Black Kni...
$18.00Holztiger’s Tournament Black Knight is a great toy for entertaining your little one, perfect for endless hours of imaginative play! Made of hardwood Colored with water-based acrylic paint Made in Europe Suitable...
Tender Leaf Toys Home Baking Set
$60.00A stylish mixer with metal swivel whisk, wooden bowl, and clacking on and off button. Ingredients to weigh out on a modern kitchen scale include a wooden egg that opens...
Le Toy Van Honeybee Market Stall
$120.00A delightful market stall featuring a striped canopy and integral bell. Includes a canvas shopping bag and a crate of apples and pears. Age: 3 years+ Market stall with shopping...
Chronicle Books Hooray for Little Fingers!
$14.991, 2, 3, 4, 5! What can 5 little fingers do? Tickle, wiggle, dance—and much more!In this lively and irresistible board book, young readers learn to count and explore just...
Eco-Kids Hopscotch Chalk
$13.00Easy to wash from sidewalks and driveways, our eggstraordinary, simply superlative, top-notch hopscotch chalk encourages outdoor exercise and loads of laughter! Chalk is half egg-shaped to accommodate children's hands and...
Tikiri Horse Natural Rubber Rattle
$18.00Made from organic natural rubber, this friendly filly from our My First Farm Collection is easy for tiny hands to grip. And when shaken, it responds with a gentle sound...
Penguin How to Be a Lion Book
$17.99This sweet, funny, thoughtful, and much-needed story will open up readers' eyes to the importance of being who they are and not backing down to hurtful criticism. It's an empowering...
Mon Ami Huggie Bear
$34.00Huggie Bear is your child's new best friend! Lovingly crafted with ultra soft plush and adorable details for cozy cuddles and sweet snuggles. Bear measures 12 inches / 30 cm...
Mon Ami Huggie Bear Large
$54.00Huggie Bear is your child's new best friend! Lovingly crafted with ultra soft plush and adorable details for cozy cuddles and sweet snuggles, in Extral Large size. 100% Polyester for...
Janod Human Body Educational Puzzle
$42.00This set of 4 giant educational puzzles will allow your child to discover the human body. The box contains: 1- 50-piece anatomically-correct double-sided girl/boy puzzle 1- 75-piece puzzle of...
Tender Leaf Toys Humming Bird House
$290.00Welcome to our exotic Humming Bird House! A colonial style home with a veranda on either side of the front door, which is decorated with an abundance of flora! Can...
Mon Ami Humphrey The Camel
$34.00Bring a desert darling to a child's imaginative world with Humphrey the Camel Plush Toy. Stroke his long, silky mane and super soft fur: this charming tan camel is easy...
Plushies Husky 28 Inch
$98.00This Husky has light grey and white fur, pointed ears, and comes in a resting position. High quality materials make for a soft, fluffy touch Super Flopsies lay in a...
Moulin Roty I Am Working Valise Wooden Tool Set
$52.00Let your little ones enjoy as they pretend to build projects while learning what each tool is meant to do. This set is packaged in a wooden carrying case illustrated...
Ooly I Heart Art Erasable Crayons
$13.99Start the love for art with inspirational heart-shaped crayons. The I Heart Art Erasable Crayons are brightly colored and shaped into heart-shapes with 2 coordinating colors in each one. These...
Compendium I Like Activity Book
$16.95A Great Big Book of Awesome Activities, Delightful Drawings, and Fantastical Fun for Kids of All Ages. So much fun, we could barely fit it between two covers! Inspire...
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.