What are the best baby developmental toys for infant 6-12 months ? How to choose the best ones ?
First, let's take a look at what the babies 6-12 months can do.
Between 6-9 months, your baby will be able to do more and more things that he could not do before.
He may even starting to walk or attempt to walk. Some parents get their babies a baby walker to aid this process.
However, please beware of the controversial issues surrounding the use of a baby walker before purchasing it.
During this stage, you should, keep on talking to your baby. He will enjoy hearing your voice and begin to understand what you are saying months before he will be able to say any intelligible words.
The best baby developmental toys for this age group are the one which provide more active play.
These baby toys should be able to be manipulated easily by grabbing, turning, poking, stacking, throwing, and dropping.
They should also be appealing, so toys with primary color are still the best for this age.
Additionally, infant toys which provide the infant with opportunity to learn about cause and effect are a bonus.
Baby Toy Recommendation for 6-12 Month Old Infant
Stacking Toys
These include baby developmental toys like nesting cups, stacking rings, and soft baby building blocks.
Nesting Cups.
Nesting cups consist of cups of different colors and sizes so they can be either stacked or nested. These toys are among the best baby developmental toys since they grow with your child. They can be used
for color and size recognition activities, hand-eye coordination practice as well as for supporting pretend play. The best ones are made of plastics of different solid colors
and consist of more than 5 cups. It should be available locally, but if you have difficulties locating them offline, you can get them online inexpensively here
.
Stacking Rings
Stacking rings consist rings of different sizes and colors placed in a cone. They are very educational and as versatile as the nesting cups.
You can use these baby developmental toys for color and size recognition activities, hand-eye coordination practice and for pretend play. The cheapest ones - made from plastics - are
available in many department store. If you're fond of wood, you can get Melissa & Doug Rainbow Stacker
instead. Just be aware that with the wooden stacking rings, the paint can chip off and when stored in humid condition, the rings can get stuck to each other. Finally,
if you want a more fancy stacking rings which contain other fun developmental activities, then look no further than Tiny Love Musical Stack and Play, available
at Genius Babies (an online
baby toy store, specializing in educational and award-winning baby toys) or here.
Soft Baby Building Blocks
The most obvious benefit of a baby building block for an infant is to improve fine motor skills. Baby will learn to grasp, lift and manipulate the toy building blocks using their little fingers.
Baby building blocks are fun and truly are one of the best baby developmental toys available since they are used from infancy to at least toddlerhood. The best baby building blocks for this
age group are the soft ones. You can increase their play value by choosing blocks which have other activities embedded in them. One such blocks is IQ Baby Knock Knock Block.
The blocks are colorful and some of the have black and white strips. Some of the blocks have rattles inside, and the material will crinkle when squeezed. They also have peek-a-boo flaps which can be the source of excitement for babies in this age group.
You can get them from Genius Babies
or here.
Dolls and Stuffed Animals
At this age, babies can appreciate dolls and stuffed animal more and start to find them comforting.
The best stuffed animals and dolls for this age group is the one which has as little as attachment as possible. This means, it is preferable to have, for instance
the doll eyes sewn rather having wiggly eyes attached. If the doll or stuffed animals have attachment, make sure that the wiggly eyes, buttons, and so forth are tightly secured to the toys.
Both stuffed animals and dolls are pretty easy to find locally. But, if you or your child are after a specialty stuffed animals which look like the real animal,
then visit Stuffed Ark Store. It has every stuffed animal imaginable, even the rare ones.
As for baby's doll, the famous maker of baby's first doll is Eden Toys. Their dolls are so soft and are appropriate for babies and I therefore recommend this doll for your baby. You can take a look at the entire Eden Doll product line here at Genius Babies website.
Baby Playmats and Activity Center
If your baby is around 6 month old, a playmat/activity gym will serve him as a good toy which has a good play value. However,
by the time your baby is starting to be mobile (crawling and standing up), make sure to be vigilant when he's playing with it since
the baby can try to stand using it.
For playmat/activity gym, I recommend Gymini Super Deluxe Light and Music by Tiny Love because it this baby toy is so developmental and will grow with your baby. The mat is fun and has many activities to accommodate each growth stage. When your baby is young, she can enjoy the crinkly and squeaky sound of the playmate during floor time.
When your baby is a bit bigger, then she can enjoy the tummy time with the mirror and peek-a-boo flap on the playmat. In addition, she will be excited to kick and reach a number of fun toys which can rattle, spin, jitter, etc, on the arch. Finally, the playmat plays the music a when the music touch pad is kicked, hit or touched by your baby.
This baby developmental toys is available from here
at a very low price (30% off MSRP).
Other Toys
Other baby developmental toys which are good to purchase are: balls, shape sorter, activity toys/toys with activity center, baby picture books (both soft and board books)
Optional: Baby Push Toys
If you are interested in buying a baby push toy to help your baby to begin to walk, I recommend you to buy
a push toy which is heavy enough so that it won't tip over when your baby is using it to help him to stand up.
Yet, the push toy has to be easy enough to be pushed by a baby. For this purpose,
a walker wagon, like the Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon
or Haba Walker Wagon
fits the bill.
In addition to these toys, your babies may still enjoy some of his old infant toys such as baby rattle or infant rattle and baby mirror.
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Related Articles
Guide to the Best Developmental Infant Toys for Babies 0-6 months
Advice on choosing and shopping for toys for any age groups:
Toy shopping for other age groups :
From Baby Developmental Toys (6-12 months) to Baby Educational Toys Main Page
