Accessories, Activity, Baby Care, Child Development, Lifestyle, Toys
Best developmental toys for babies and kids
Apr
Here are some best developmental toys for babies and kids revealed. Although young babies don’t have much mobility, their brains double in size within the first year.
The first year of a baby’s life is full of developmental milestones . As babies grow and change, they do their best learning through play .Look for toys that encourage social and emotional skills, physical development, and cognitive development, as well as toys that encourage sensory play and build fine and gross motor skills.
Babies discover the world with their hands, eyes, and mouths and are enthralled by anything that has textures they can feel, intriguing sounds, or arresting visuals. Since newborns learn by exploring and playing, any toys could be considered developmental toys. However, learning-based playthings and sensory toys will keep your baby engaged and are also a lot of fun for you. Parents are the best source we know of honest information about what works for kids, so we started there. We then put our skilled editorial team on the process of studying and vetting those reviews. Read on to find out the best developmental toy for babies each month: 3-month-olds, 4-month-olds, 5-month-olds, and so on. If you need additional toy options, we have plenty, starting with our best toys for newborns.
Best developmental toy for babies and kids overall.
VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
The interactive VTech toy’s ability to adjust to your baby’s various developmental stages is what parents adore about it. You may remove the play panel from the front of the walker and set it down on the ground for your child to explore and break it. As your baby gets more confident sitting and reaching, the panel goes back on the frame for upright play. When your baby starts to cruise and take those first unsteady steps, the Sit-to-Stand becomes a push toy to pilot all over the house. The toy panel’s a winner, too, with a simulated phone, multicolored bead spinners, and big, simple to touch piano keys.
Heads up
There are two resistance settings for the wheels so ensure you’re on the right setting for your child’s abilities.
Specs
- 16.5 x 14.2 x 18.1 inches
- 5 pounds
- Recommended for 9 months – 3 years
- 3 AAA batteries required, included
Best developmental toy for 3-month-old babies
Bloobloomax Wrist Rattles and Foot Finders
There’s nothing more intriguing to your 3-month-old than their own hands and feet; they spend hours being surprised by these fun objects that keep bursting into view, and foot finders and wrist rattles boost the fun .Musical toy is ideal for babies older than 3 months. Giving your baby something to focus on will help them develop hand, foot, and eye coordination. The high-contrast colors and patterns are ideal for a 3-month-old’s somewhat blurry vision.
Heads up
These are washable, but hand-washing is recommended.
Specs
- 7.44 x 5.08 x 1.61 inches
- 1.76 ounces
- Recommended for newborn babies and up
- Includes 4 wrist rattles, 4 foot rattle socks
Best developmental toy for 4-month-old babies
Niskite Inflatable Tummy Time Water Play Mat
While doctors may advise tummy time for infants, this does nothing to help the infants enjoy it. Play mats can enhance tummy time. With this soft and squishy water mat, you can put an end to tummy time fussiness. It features a soft inflatable frame that is comfortable for your baby to lean on and a water-filled interior with floating sea creatures that babies love to push and pat. More tummy time helps your baby’s rolling and crawling muscles develop, and reaching for the toys on the mat improves hand-eye coordination.
Heads up
You do have to empty the water and change it occasionally.
Specs
- 5.98 x 5.47 x 1.85 inches
- 9.6 ounces
- Recommended for babies 1 month and up
Best developmental toy for 5-month-old babies
Baby Einstein Flip For Art High-Contrast Floor Activity Mirror
By 5 months, babies are starting to explore their environment and gain confidence. This toy can provide the perfect opportunity for them to do just that!
With an easy-to-view mirror in place, your little one will find delight in looking at themselves while they roll around and practice pushing up on all fours. Giving your newborn a toy during tummy time, like this Baby Einstein activity mirror , will encourage her to stay there longer.
The included cards featuring high contrast patterns encourage further visual development – adding a touch of intrigue as your baby admires each new design with wide eyes full of wonderment!
Heads up
The mirror is a baby-safe mirror and can therefore look a bit distorted.
Specs
- 10.6 x 7.5 x 4.7 inches
- 5.3 ounces
- Recommended for newborn babies and up
- Includes activity mirror and four double-sided cards
Best developmental toy for 6-month-old babies
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Musical Farmyard Cube
This interactive cube is the ideal way to stimulate your baby’s senses and develop crucial motor skills! Combining music-playing animals, textured rings for them to grip, crinkly flower petals that elicit auditory joy and a toddler-tough plastic mirror – this activity will provide hours of entertainment as they toddle their own path through life.
Their fine motor skills are more developed than they were a few months ago, so your little one can hold and manipulate things more easily. Get ready for some truly magical moments between you and your little one!We love this 6-inch version that can be attached to a stroller or car seat. It provides sensory stimulation in abundance, and its bright colors and graphic patterns fascinate babies. Six-month-olds working on sitting up can spin the ball and enjoy the colors, while older babies can begin to learn their ABCs and 123s.
Heads up
The speaker is located in the middle of the block, under a layer of padding so the sound can be a bit muffled.
Specs
- 8.5 x 8 x 7.5 inches
- 2.88 ounces
- Recommended for 6 months – 2 years
- 2 AA batteries required
Best developmental toy for 7-month-old babies
CubicFun Sensory Balls
As your little one reaches the exciting milestone of 7 months and discovers a greater exploration for their senses, help foster that development with our delightful textured balls! Perfectly sized to fit in small hands (not to mention super safe – the materials are all food-safe!) these intriguing spheres offer tricky ridges and craters alongside soft bumps.Bright colors and patterns designed to encourage visual tracking here.
Not only is it great for fine motor skills, babies learn hand-eye coordination and cause-and-effect. So pick up some today, sit back as baby enjoys hours of tactile fun before giving each ball an experimental taste test—you never know what delights await them next!Different buttons help familiarize baby with different shapes and animals, while blocks that slide and spin encourage fine motor skill development.
Heads up
Each ball has a small hole that allows it to return to shape quickly when squished; when cleaning, keep your finger over the hole to prevent water from getting inside.
Parents say
“Straight up, we love these. They feel so neat and the kids love them!”
Specs
- 9.89 x 7.96 x 4.34 inches
- 1.21 pounds
- BPA- and phthalate-free
- Recommended for 6 months and up
- Includes 6 balls
Best developmental toy for 8-month-old babies
Skip Hop Explore & More Follow-Me Bee
Your 8-month old is taking on a major life milestone: learning to walk! They need some help and motivation, so give them an innovative multi-stage toy. Stage 1 provides plenty of sensory stimulation through rattles and teethers; stage 2 adds lights, music, & a spinning cloud for the wobbly crawlers; while stage 3 includes a bee that zips around randomly in order to develop coordination skills needed when walking upright – helping propel your baby towards their goal!
Heads up
This toy works best on hardwood or tile floors.
Specs
- 5.5 x 5.5 x 4 inches
- 1.16 pounds
- Recommended for babies 5 months and up
- 3 AA batteries required, not included
Best developmental toy for 9-month-old babies
LeapFrog Learn and Groove Musical Table
Your little one’s learning journey is only beginning! With our interactive table, they can explore the lights, textures and sounds of 70+ songs. As their curiosity grows and confidence soars, it easily adjusts to accommodate crawling babies or toddling adventurers alike – giving them a head start on numbers, letters shapes and colors right at home. What amazing discoveries await?
Older babies are movers—typically they go from rolling over and sitting, to scooting, bouncing, creeping, pulling themselves up, and standing.Babies learn with their hands, their eyes, and their mouths, and are fascinated by anything with textures they can explore, interesting sounds, or captivating visuals.
Heads up
The table is surprisingly lightweight, weighing only a pound, so it’s not handy for pulling up on.
Specs
- 5.3 x 21 x 15.5 inches
- 1 pound
- Recommended for 6 months – 3 years
- 3 AAA batteries required, included
Best developmental toy for 10-month-old babies
VTech Sort and Discover Activity Cube
The VTech Sort and Discover Activity Cube is the perfect way for your little explorer to learn and grow! With five brightly-colored sides filled with exciting activities, it offers endless entertainment as babies use their hands to explore by flipping pages, spinning dials or sliding pieces.
As they discover how things work through cause & effect play like pressing piano keys, vibrant colors stimulate visual acuity while helping foster motor skills so that soon enough he’ll be standing up on his own two feet eager to reach out further!It gives endless fascination to the kids.
Heads up
Two AA batteries are required, and with so many lights and sounds included, you could potentially go through batteries faster than anticipated.
Specs
- 8.66 x 9.25 x 9.65 inches
- 2.1 pounds
- Recommended for 9 months – 3 years
- 2 AA batteries required, not included
Best developmental toy for 11-month-old babies
Bammax Baby Balance Bike
Watch your little one light up with the thrill of independence as they cruise around on their balance bike! This sturdy ride is designed to help toddlers build strength, balance and confidence—all while developing essential motor skills. With its low center of gravity for added stability, get ready to see beaming smiles as arms and legs take control over a smooth-rolling adventure that leads all the way towards pedal bikes someday.
Heads up
Any bike purchase should also include a helmet.
Specs
- 19.3 x 7.5 x 13.8 inches
- 3.97 pounds
- 6-inch wheels
- Recommended for 9 months – 2 years
Best developmental toy for 12-month-old babies
Battat Pop-Up Pals
Through exploration and discovery, your little one can openly enjoy the joyous fun of this toy! Each animal has its own delightful surprise waiting beneath a hinged door. With grownups helping to guide them along, babies get to practice fine motor skills as they fiddle with each clasp – switches, levers and buttons – until an adorable creature pops out from behind it. Developing hand-eye coordination while learning cause-and-effect are only two of many benefits that come when playtime turns into educational moments full of laughter and delight!
Heads up
Some parents find that babies, particularly on the younger end of the recommended age range, get frustrated by levers and buttons that require too much force to open.
Specs
- 3.5 x 13.5 x 7.95 inches
- 1.9 pounds
- Recommended for 12 months and up
What are developmental toys for babies?
Babies love to explore the world through play, and toys can help them do just that! From physical activities such as hand-eye coordination to language development – there are a multitude of developmental benefits for babies. Some tools have even been tailored with educators’ insights so they provide an optimal learning experience while also captivating your baby’s attention. So if something captures their eye – it might be worth trying out or picking up off the shelf!
How to choose the right toy
When choosing the best developmental toy, age is key!Appropriate baby toys should be nontoxic, with no small parts or pieces, or other choking hazards. Always consider what’s good for your child: maybe something simpler and perfect for early months or a complex one to help them transition into toddlerhood. Toys for Hand-Eye Coordination Black and white images help develop baby’s vision, and easily graspable toys will inspire them to reach and work on depth perception.
Check product labels; each should display an estimated beginning age recommendation – though it might be alright circumventing this slighty with toys just younger than yours if they feel comfortable. However, don’t stray too far as you run the risk of bringing in frustration and potential safety hazards.
SOFT BOOKS
Baby girls are going to love photos in a few weeks. But there come the days when people learn how to move their hands and open up a flap and become intrigued by the movement. They also start liking peekaboos they play with flaps. It’s very easy to find books for children.
What Skills Can Educational Toys Develop?
From birth, the infant begins to learn in four different areas. Through brain development, children can learn to explore the surroundings through the use of small arms or wide eye movements. Playing toys helps your child learn to read and analyze things. Babies learn social skills in addition to the ability to interact. Babies ages 0-3 months learn largely through observation of their surroundings. From birth a newborn can interact in the form of a smile, and at a young age babies may wave goodbye.
What toys are best for child development?
Pegboard puzzles – nesting cups or blocks and buckets with holes in various shapes challenges the ability to work with the fingers. Mechanical. Popups containing buttons and knobs encourage fine motors, solving problems, and teaching causes and effects.
