If you stroll the aisles of a toy store or baby store you will find an overwhelming assortment of infant must-haves. So what toys do you truly need for a baby before they start walking on their own? What toys should you get to best stimulate learning and development? What toys will last? On this page, you will find our suggestions for the best developmental toys for infants.
Babies change more in their first year than they will any other year of their life. This is the year they will learn to start talking, start walking, start eating, and start engaging with the people and things in their environment. It seems like a lot, and it is, but in many ways their needs are very simple.
What infants need for their development?
In their play environment, infants need:
- Engaging materials that stimulate curiosity and vocabulary.
- Motivating objects that will encourage them to roll, crawl and walk.
- Smaller items to grasp and manipulate.
- People who will respond to their needs and interact with them.
That’s it? Yes. Beyond meeting their basic clothing, feeding, changing and sleeping needs, infants truly do not need much.
So what does this mean for your playroom? If you have been following along with the Playroom 101 series you have done some organizing, de-cluttered any toys you do have, arranged your furniture and made notes on how to train your infant to clean up. Now, what toys should you have available for them to play?
Sensory toys for infants
Infants will spend most of the first year exploring their environment with their senses. They will touch, listen, watch, smell, and yes, taste the items in their environment. This is an important developmental stage as they work to integrate their senses and learn about the world.
Offering infants objects with a range of textures is important. The bulk of this should simply be everyday items: wooden spoons, different fabrics, small rattles. You may also want to purchase some teething toys or toys for chewing, especially as your child starts to develop teeth. Here are few suggestions:
This set of 10 bright primary colored rattles and teethers has a variety of textures which will assist in tactile development of touch, taste and smell. Numerous sounds and textures will expand babies’ sensory experiences, colors and patterns help eye tracking skills. Each rattle has different grips, shapes and tasks to assist in fine motor skills. Find the set here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
NatureBond Baby Fruit Feeders and Teethers are designed in candy-like colors that stimulate baby’s appetite for consumption of natural nutrients from fruits and vegetables. It is also a safe way to introduce our little ones to solid food while they go through weaning and teething phase. The All-IN-1 feeder can also soothe baby’s teething discomfort by massaging the gums through chewing. Find it here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Fine Motor Toys for Infants
Infants need toys to manipulate with their hands so they can work on fine motor skills such as grasping objects, transferring objects from one hand to the next, putting things in and out, and stacking items.
They also need toys that are motivating to them that you can use to help encourage them to roll over, reach, sit, and eventually walk. These are all toys that can be grasped by younger infants, used for taking in and out of bowls, hidden to explore cause and effect and more. Here are few suggestions:
You can use links to attach various toys to baby’s playpen, chair or stroller, but they can also be used on their own. Babies love chewing on them, pulling and shaking the longer chains when they are linked together. Super useful for clipping teethers and toys when you go out for a walk. You don’t have to be afraid to loose toys along the way. Find the links here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
The 3 in 1 baby toys set contains 12 different colored soft blocks, 6 soft stacking rings and 6 textured sensory ball . These montessori toys are great for baby learning colors, shapes, textures, counting. Baby can match the shapes, learn the numbers. These are also great for fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They are chewable, stackable, and squeezable, suitable for any activity. Also they can be bath toy, can float on the water and squeeze to spray water. Find the set here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
The Take-Along Shape-Sorter includes a padded case with 2 activity sides, a take-along handle, and 9 textured blocks in 9 colors and various shapes. This toy bag for travel helps babies and toddlers develop sensory, fine motor, and communication skills. Find the sorter here: United States | Canada
Books for Infants: Both Fiction and Non-Fiction
Books are a must for all ages. For infants, you want primarily durable board books that can withstand a curious baby. Look for a combination of non-fiction books that will mostly focus on labeling objects and short, simple picture books. Here are few suggestions for their 1st books:
The topics included in the set are – ABC, Numbers, Shapes, Colours, Wild Animals, Farm Animals & Pets, Birds, Fruits, Vegetables, Transport. These books are sturdy and pages are easy to turn for tiny fingers or fingers that have trouble. The images are set on white background with no destructions so the kids can actually see the picture without all the overstimulation around. Find My First Library here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
You can read these animal tail theme cloth books with your baby, and let your baby get closer to nature and animals. The bright colors will catch baby’s attention, the crinkle feature on both cover pages and squeaker sound improve baby’s audio recognition and motor skills, textured animal tails provide sensory interaction. These interactive cloth books help babies engaged for endless hours of fun! Find Touch and Feel Crinkle Cloth Books here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Each of the nine infant books in this set features a bright color scheme and adorable illustrations. Use them to introduce new topics like colors, animals, and vegetables and develop your child’s mind through reading! Find Cloth Color Books for Babies here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
This adorable slipcased collection of four lift-a-flap board books makes a great gift to start baby’s first library. Visit the animals in the Little Red Barn and take to high seas with the Little Blue Boat. The Little Yellow Bee will introduce you to his friends in the garden and the Little Green Frog will show you the animals by the pond. Find Nature Friends Lift-a-Flap Boxed Set here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Other toys for your 1 year olds
Hopefully, you found some ideas for your infant on this page. If you want to focus more on a certain aspect of development, take a look at these collections of best toys depending on type:
- educational toys
- toys to promote gross motor skills
- pretend play toys
- toys to promote fine motor skills
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