Play Time
Londji I Love My Colors 21 pieces Puzzle
$24.00This colorful puzzle lets your little ones choose their favorite color and show what they love about it. Includes 7 reversible puzzles that are 3 pieces each. Age: 3 years+...
Londji I Love My Pets 21 pieces Puzzle
$26.00Colorful reversible puzzles that your little ones can recognize and play with their favorite pets. Includes 21 pieces reversible puzzles Age: 3 years+ Material: Recycled cardboard and paper Made in...
Chronicle Books I See, I See Book
$17.99A book for one. A book for two. A book for different points of view. This clever and colorful picture book of opposites will change the way you see things,...
Janod I Wood Shape Sorter Drum
$38.00Janod’s Wood Shapes Quiz is a round shape sorter, the perfect toy for your little one so they can learn their shapes and colors! Includes 6 colored shapes: star, triangle,...
Janod I Wood Shapes & Sounds 6 Block Puzzle
$30.00A fantastic puzzle for toddlers to teach them how to recognize shapes and help them develop their fine motor skills while having fun. Each cube has a different shape, colour...
Janod I'm Learning How to Tell Time
$36.00An ideal early-learning toy for learning to tell the time while having fun! This toy develops learning about the concept of time, discovery, and experimentation. A real clock complete with 13...
Tender Leaf Toys Ice Cream Cart
$76.00Who doesn't love ice cream? A gorgeous wooden push-along cart on wheels, with 4 wooden ice lollies, 4 cornets, 4 magnetized colorful ice creams, a magnetic ice cream scoop, and...
Erzi Ice Cream Party Wooden Toy Set
$28.00Full of ingredients, this ice-cream set will create loads of fun regardless of the season. Includes: ice-cream cones and cups: 1 ice-cream scoop, 1 ice-cream cup, 2 ice-cream cones,...
Wonder & Wise Ice Cream Truck Playhome
$219.00I scream! You scream! We all scream for ice cream! This canvas-printed Ice Cream Truck Playhome will provide hours of fun for kiddos. The graphics include whimsical images of tasty...
Le Toy Van Ice Creams
$30.00Roll up, roll up! Serve up an icy treat with this sweet set of four, hand painted, ice-cream cones, from our inspired pretend play foods collection. Lovingly crafted from solid...
Jellycat If I were a Bear Book
$13.50A beautifully silly sensory book with sturdy board pages, cute illustrations and lots of feely panels, If I Were A Bear is just the gift for quirky, creative tots! ...
Jellycat If I were a Seahorse Board Book
$13.50Dream of undersea currents, squiggly seaweed and bobbing along with a curly tail? The If I Were A Seahorse Board Book might just be for you! A bubble of fun,...
Jellycat If I Were a Snow Tiger Board Book
$13.50If I Were A Snow Tiger is the perfect adventure for curious babies. A chunky board book with touch-and-feel panels, crinkle textures and vibrant pictures, it's a beautiful gift to...
Jellycat If I Were an Owl Book
$13.50The If I Were an Owl Board Book is a playful gift full of inspiration. With a tufty cover and sweet feely panels, it's a playful flight of fancy. With...
Moulin Roty Il Etait Une Fois Owl Musical Doll
$46.00This Musical Owl has a tweed and cream face and is dressed in a black Wizard's outfit with gold polka-dots. Lull little ones to sleep; simply pull on the tab...
Manhattan Toy Imaginaries Siamese Cat
$36.00This delightful character is straight from the pages of Emily Winfield Martin's New York Times best-selling story books. The Imaginaries Siamese Cat brings one of Emily's imaginative storybook illustrations to...
Lekkid Imaginary Fauna Desert Magnetic Toy
$50.00Imaginary Fauna is a construction game consisting of 22 pieces, contextualized and decontextualized, made of different materials (beech wood and acrylic); the pieces can be interconnected by magnets to create...
Lekkid Imaginary Fauna Jungle Magnetic Toy
$50.00With this Jungle Set you can build lions, crocodiles, and fishes… and now, what other figures are you able to build with the help of the colored ones? Imaginary...
Abrams Appleseed In My Heart (A Book of Feelings)
$18.99Happiness, sadness, bravery, anger, shyness . . . our hearts can feel so many feelings! Some make us feel as light as a balloon, others as heavy as an elephant....
Workman Indestructible Book - Humpty Dumpty
Indestructible Baby Book is the trusted series for easing little ones into story time. Beloved by babies and their parents, Indestructible Baby Book are built for the way babies "read"(i.e.,...
Vilac Indian Teepee White Canvas
$150.00Vilac has been the maker of high quality, award winning toys since 1911 Designed in france Great for role and imaginative play
Jet Creations Inflatable Toy Shark
$39.00This Beautiful Jet Creations Inflatable 84-inch Shark is great for pool parties, decorations, and birthdays. It is a perfect summer accessory for poolside soirées and beachside parties. One of the...
Corolle Interactive Toilet
$20.00Interactive toilet for doll. Pretend play in the bathroom is a great way to introduce and reinforce good potty training behaviors and cleanliness. It's easy with the interactive toilet. Age:...
Halilit Interactive Tummy Time Kit
$40.00Give your baby endless happy moments of joy and discovery with this unique interactive collection. Including 5 smart toys designed for tummy time activities, the kit encourages babies to explore...
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.