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Recommended Toys for Babies
0 to 1 Years Old
Most of the toys that I have linked to from this page are the result of lots of internet browsing I've done for the best quality, best price and best value - enjoy.
Babies don't need a lot of toys. Mostly they need a lot of love, attention, touch, talking, holding.
Toys for babies should stimulate the senses. Different colours to stimulate their sight (babies respond best to bright contrasting colours or the red-black-and-white toys rather than pastel colours). Different fabrics/materials to stimulate their sense of touch (soft, smooth, bumpy, rough). Rattles, crinkly parts and music to stimulate their hearing.
Buy second hand toys, clothing and accessories if possible. Babies grow so fast and pass developmental stages so quickly that it's often not worth the cost to buy new (unless you're planning on having lots of children who will reuse them). Sometimes second hand products are like new but they also sometimes cost as much as new - shop around.
Newborns: The most important thing for newborns is to be held, touched, carried around, talked to, make eye contact. Try to hold them as much as you can. Buy a sling or front/back pack carrier if you need help holding your baby. We have also found a swing really helpful during those times when you have to put them down (like using the washroom or cooking meals). Buy a swing that has a bar for toys across the top - at first this will just be visual stimulation like a mobile but later they can reach the toys and play with them with their hands and feet. As for toys, a rattle, interesting things to chew on, something soft and snuggly, and a few books are all you need.
Rattle: A baby
rattle should be small and light weight (so that even the youngest
babies can grasp, hold and shake it) with a very soft, gentle sound.
My environmentally friendly toys
webpage has links to stores that sell
wooden rattles. Babies also like soft fabric rattles. I find that babies
prefer rattles in the shape of a ring - like a big handle to hold on
to. This rattle can also double as a teether to chew on. This image
is of the Girali Rattle available at BabyBunz.com for
$12.95 US. Also available from Birdie's
Room for $13.00 Cdn.
Rattle socks: There are several versions of these available. Many different animals. But you could just sew some metal bells from the craft store onto a pair of baby socks. This is a rattle for their feet. It's easier and less frustrating than hand rattles because the baby never drops them. It is good entertainment while in a car seat or swing.
Chew toys: I don't
recommend buying
anything but if you can't find something around
the house you might want to buy something.
Look for different shapes
and textures - a tupperware lid, a face cloth, teething toys with bumps
on them. My kids favourite things to
chew on were: a thin fabric cow
that came with
a baby gym
(a terry
face cloth might be similar), a plastic circular mirror (the rim was
round and as thick as an adult pinky finger)
which also came with the baby gym (the wooden ring rattle in the above
picture would be similar), and fabric tags on stuffed fabric toys (so
never cut off the fabric tags - only
the
paper
ones). This image is of the Kringelring Teething Toy available at NurtureMama.com for
$6.00 US. It doubles as a rattle and a chew toy.
Snuggly toys: You
only need one
(not eighteen). We had a caterpillar
that made different
sounds (rattle in tail,
crinkly parts, squeeking parts when you squeeze
them) and different textures.
Our babies loved to chew on the 
caterpillars
antennae. The caterpillar shown here is from Mastermind Toys
and costs
$16.99 US. A face is
important - have the toy talk to the
baby,
use
funny voices, the baby
will make eye contact with the toy.
I recommend buying something
organic that you
can feel good
about your baby chewing
and
sucking on. This
organic rabbit
comes from Three Sisters Toys and costs
$17.95 US.
It's ring, ears, arms, and clothes are all great teethers as well.
A few board books: With small children, less is more. They will want to hear the same book over and over again. Choose about five good quality board books and just read them over and over to your child. Books about the alphabet, numbers 1-10, colours, shapes and naming familiar objects are appropriate educational material. Young children prefer rhyming books where there is a music and predictability to the sound of the story. The following is a list of favourites in our house.
Ten
Little Lady Bugs
By Melanie
Gerth
This book counts backwards from 10 to 1
using a rhyming text.
The ladybugs are
bumpy semi-circles.
Good touch and feel
early math book.
My daughter's favourite
as a toddler.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By Eric Carle
Board Book. Favourite of all my children.
My son bought this book with his own
allowance he loved it so much. A classic.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
By Eric Carle
Board Book. Teaches colours and names of common animals. My daughter's favourite
book.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By David
Kirk
Board Book. Bright colourful images.
My son's favourite as a baby. A counting rhyming book.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
By DK
A good variety of textures and fun
animals.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Dr.
Seuss's ABC
By Dr. Seuss
A fun alphabet book. We also have the video.
(click on the book to buy it at amazon.ca)
Lamaze Discovery Farm Look and
Play Book
A fabric book that your baby will love
to chew and grasp.
Other fabric books
are good too. We have one that has lacing activities, buttoning
and snaps
and mini-stuffed animals attached by ribbons that you can put
in pockets
which is perfect for car rides.
Wooden Books: An
alternative to board
books are wooden books.
Click on the
image to see
a small selection.
Older babies: Once your baby is sitting on their own, a few more toys can be introduced. Toys that continue to develop the use of their hands, toys they can push while crawling, and one toy that can help them stand and practice walking. Babies at this age should have toys that show them cause-and-effect. They should be able to see how a toy is able to turn or see balls moving through a maze or see how something is producing a sound.
Lamaze
Clutch Cube: This toy has bright contrasting colours to stimulate
a babies visual sense. It is covered in different fabrics to stimulate
the babies tactile sense. It has
crinkly parts (babies love things that make a plastic bag type crinkly
sound) and a soothing chime ball inside to stimulate the auditory sense.
It is lightly rose-scented to stimulate their sense of smell. Age 3
months and up. Your baby can easily grasp the handles,
throw it like
a ball, bang it like a drum, open the flap like a book. There are other
toys similar to this that you can buy
with different textures
and clutching
parts
and
crinkly
and
bell
sounds.
This is the only one that I've found that is
scented though. This toy
is available at Mastermind Toys
for $14.99 US.
A
Ball: Once a baby
can sit up on it's own,
a small, light weight,
soft ball preferably
that has a bell inside is useful. Also consider the feel of the ball
for stimulating the sense of touch (either fabric or the plastic kind
with lots of bumps all over it). There are several versions of this type
of ball available. The one pictured here is from Nova
Natural Toys and Crafts and costs $8.00 US.
A
Walker: Optional but also an investment
worth the money. In the beginning, it will help your child learn
to
walk. Later it can be used as a doll stroller, a grocery cart or a
wagon for hauling just about anything around. The one pictured here
is a doll
pram but it works as a walker.
It is available at
Koukla for $115 US.
Another
useful multipurpose walker
is the Radio Flyer Walker available atMastermind toys for $84.99 US. It
can be used as a
walker, doll carriage, grocery cart,
wagon or
truck.
Older siblings might be able to
give younger siblings a ride in this one. But
you're
child
will
learn
to
walk
just
fine without such a pricey toy too.
Wooden
bowl and spoon: I prefer not to feed my baby toxins. When
I introduce solids, it's organic baby food and an unbreakable wooden
bowl and spoon - no plastic.
Available at Nova Natural Toys and Crafts for $15.90 US. The bowl can be
bought separately for $9.50 US and you could just use a metal teaspoon.
Vehicles:
Babies
love to
push things
around. It encourages
them to crawl
and move around.
If you click on the image, it will take you to a site that sells animals
on wheels as well. Even girl babies should have at least one car, bus,
and plane to play with. These vehicles are 2" - 4" in height
and cost just $5 US each at Island
Treasure Toys. Remember: less is more, buy 1 -
3 vehicles not 10.
Pound
and Roll: Optional. Popular with many young children. A
cause and effect toy.
Babies and kids love to hammer. Available at
NurtureMama.com for $9.95 US.
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