Blocks
From building basic two-block towers to creating elaborate castles, blocks are a good choice for kids of almost any age. Young babies can play with blocks as soon as they are able to grasp an object in their hand. As babies reach one year of age, they can learn to manipulate the blocks and make basic towers. Soon after that, the tower building skill will be followed by the all-important skill of knocking the tower over. Don’t forget, though, that your child has just learned an important lesson in cause and effect. My favorite choices for blocks are the classic wooden block sets with letters and numbers, and Mega Bloks plastic blocks. I can’t tell you how many Mega Blok airplanes I’ve built for my nephews over the years. Shape sorter block sets are also a great tool for learning.
ABC Picture Blocks by Melissa & Doug
Farm or Animal Set
By caring for animals and driving a tractor with a farm set, babies can begin to learn about occupations and hard work, as well as having an easy outlet for practicing a baby favorite - animal sounds. A zoo set or other toy set with animals and people would provide the same type of fun and learning. I’m partial to the Fisher-Price Little People farm set because I remember playing with that toy a lot as a child. That set is also a good choice for babies since the pieces are bigger and easy for small hands to manipulate.
Little People Animal Sounds Farm by Fisher-Price
Shopping Cart
It’s the toy that no child can resist. I know this, because we’ve owned two of them in my daughter’s short lifetime, and the first was used so many times that the wheels finally fell off. Pretend shopping is the obvious choice for this toy, but when your child is feeling imaginative, I think you’ll find that the simple cart can become a car, a train, a doll crib or, in strange cases, a hat. I like to use the shopping cart as a cleanup device for the playroom, too. We make a game out of cleanup by having my daughter fit as many things as she can into her cart and racing me to the finish line, otherwise known as a toybox.
Little Tikes Shopping Cart
Music Set
Babies and toddlers love music, and allowing them to create their own music helps them gain confidence and an ear for what sounds good to them. It’s likely that the music they make will be hurtful to your own ears, but they’ll have a whale of a good time causing you pain. A simple set of plastic musical instruments can be used by younger babies, who will learn cause and effect from their banging and shaking of the instruments. Older toddlers can learn valuable social skills by sharing the instruments with friends and making music together. Many toys for young Mozarts are on the market today. For those on a budget, though, oatmeal boxes and coffee tins offer lots of sound for little cash.
Smart Start Sing & Discover Piano by V-Tech
Tool Kit or Work Bench
Every kid needs a toy hammer! Not only does a tool kit provide many options for the noisy banging that babies and toddlers adore, it also lets them model adult behaviors (make sure you don’t say anything you shouldn’t when you hammer your thumb!). Pretend play as Mr. or Ms. Fix-It will help kids develop self-confidence, and it nurtures the child’s natural desire to see how things work. A classic small work bench with pegs and a hammer is always a good choice, but some newer child work benches offer stacking toys and other features that add to the fun.
Home Improvement Workshop by Little Tikes
