Top Baby Toys for 0-24 Month Olds

The top baby toys I've listed below, are what I believe to be some of the best "evergreen" educational toys for babies... and have as a result been very popular toys. I've not listed them in any particular order of priority.

Top Toys #1 - Rattle

Today we change pace a little bit by looking at something for the newborns to at least about 9 months. It's simple, but often overlooked in terms of learning ability...

Let's have a closer look.

Ever wondered what it is about a rattle that interests a child even in her early months?

A rattle is much more than a noisy toy. It is a great tool in stimulating almost all the senses of a child and teaching her how to play independently. Sassy LeapFrog Baby Curious Crab Rattle is one such rattle, which is ideal for children from birth onwards.

Here's what's great about this toy… Top Baby Toys

Safety - Despite offering a soft and hard array of parts, the rattle is completely safe for even very young babies.

Sensory stimulation - The curious crab comes with six colorful toes that crinkle when manipulated. The beads in the toes combine with the crinkle sensation to tease the child's finger nerves, while at the same time driving the cause and effect relationship home.

The rattling sound is a great auditory stimulator, while the lovely red, blue, green, yellow shades combine to brighten up your child's vision.

The hollow smile of the crab makes for a perfect grip, which allows the child great comfort while playing with the rattle. The curious crab emerges as a cut above the typical 'sound only' rattles by adding visual and textural stimulation to the toy.

Top Baby Toys #2 - Texture Toy

Babies need toys to keep them entertained as well as allow their mental and physical growth. The Lamaze PeekaBoo Clutch Cube is one such toy that includes several aspects of baby stimulation into one contraption.

Let's have a closer look at this educational baby toy…Top Baby Toys

Safety - The toy is in a shape of a cube but has absolutely no sharp edges. It is completely padded on all sides and has no hard or small parts with which the infant could hurt herself.

Even if your child throws the cube around, it is unlikely to break or come apart.

Sensory stimulation - The cube is enveloped in fabrics of several different patterns and colors. These contribute immensely towards visually stimulating the child.

There are several textures all over the toy like satin and flannel, which tease the child's sensory nerves optimally.

The soft handles and rings provide for a comfortable grip, which allows the child to manipulate the toy according to her desires, teaching her the hand eye co-ordination. The inside of the cube reveals a surprise mirror, which children love to play pee-ka-boo with.

The crinkly sound made by the panda combines with the green apple smell to excite the child's sense of touch and smell.

The Clutch Cube comes with a latch, which allows it to be placed anywhere right from the crib to the car seat too.

This 6 inch cube is easy to be carried around and is great for entertaining children as well as educating them.

Top Baby Toys #3 - Wrist Rattle-Foot Finder

Children start to discover as soon as they are born… and we as parents must facilitate them in this process as much as we can, of course keeping their safety in mind.

The Lamaze Garden Bug Wrist Rattle/ Foot Finder Set is one great tool that helps in this process from a very early start.

Here are the great things about this baby toy… Top Baby Toys

Safety and comfort - On the safety front, the wrist rattle/ foot finder set emerges as a winner. All the parts are baby soft and made of materials that would not irritate the tender skin of the baby.

The materials are safe and therefore pose no hazard to a teething child who may bite into the set frequently.

The manufacturers have kept in mind that the child must be able to wear the set comfortably so as to enjoy it optimally.

Hand eye co-ordination - The set is a wonderful tool for those babies who are discovering their feet and hands.

While two pieces of the set go on the wrists the other two are for the feet. As the child looks at them she is taken in by the lovely color scheme and wonderful toy bugs that are placed on the bands.

Needless to say this encourages the child to build on her hand eye co-ordination while continuing on the road of discovering parts of her body and then much more.

The set combines color and sounds to excite the child and keep her interested in the play, all the while providing her sensory stimulation.

All in all the set seems perfect a perfect tool for enhancing a child's need for discovery.

Top Baby Toys #4 - Tummy Time Toy

Mirrors are extremely fascinating for children, yet they pose a severe safety issue and therefore we usually do not allow them to play with it.

But, with the Lamaze First Mirror, things have changed. Top Baby Toys

Safety - Indeed safety is of primary concern in such a toy. The First Mirror has been manufactured by adopting a high quality mirror, which is unbreakable and completely baby safe.

The mirror is framed with a soft padded cloth, which ensures that the child does not hurt herself with any sharp parts.

Sensory/Mental Stimulation - The mirror is developed without any added frills or toys in order to allow the child's mind to focus on the reflective abilities of the toy itself.

Infants love to see their reflection in the mirror and squeak with delight as they play pee- ka- boo with their own image. This is exactly the why this toy is a great aid to encourage tummy time and eventually... crawling. top baby toys

Indeed, such a toy brings out the child's imagination and fulfils her creativity and discovery needs. The bright orange and yellow frame enhances the child's visual capacities without distracting the child from the main mirror play.

Parent friendly - The First Mirror has been designed to suit both the child's and the parent's needs. It size makes it easily portable while the mirror can conveniently removed and cleaned so as to avoid germs. 

In short the First Mirror is ideally suited for children right from birth onwards. The adapter straps work well when the child is on her back, while the soft wedge support is perfect for tummy time play.

Top Baby Toys #5 - Musical Mobile

Imagine a toy that you could place in an overhead position, which your newborn could both watch and listen to.

Fisher Price has gone a step beyond such an imagination and actually created the Rainforest Peek-A-Boo Leaves Musical Mobile.

It's really a great stimulation toy for newborns and older.

Here's what's great about this toy… Top Baby Toys

Safety - The musical mobile can be fastened securely on to a crib and is designed to be positioned safely above the child's reach. The parts are non toxic and fairly large in size, which makes the toy safe for children right from birth upwards.

Sensory Stimulation - As the name suggests, the toy is basically of a musical nature, but this is not all.

There are three modes of operation and while the 10 and 12 minutes of motion, light and music are perfect for soothing the child into dreamland, the 18 minute combination is a superb feature for extended play times.

The shiny leaf and the peek a boo playing dragon-fly excite the child's mind and visually stimulate her too.

The colors on the mobile are created using a mix of soothing shades that are visually exciting too.

Parental control - The toy comes with a great remote control that allows parents to control the mode of the toy and switch it on and off from a distance too.

So once your light sleeper has fallen off to sleep, simply use the remote to switch of the mobile without disturbing her.

The Rainforest Peek-A-Boo Leaves Musical Mobile comes across are a delightful contraptions, which is adaptable enough to stimulate children right from birth to their toddling years.

Top Baby Toys #6 - Activity Centre

Today we look at a unique activity centre for your baby. And you know by now, these educational toys are really great for teaching a number of baby skills.

As children grow, their need to investigate and discover takes on a larger form. Stated differently, a child who can stand upright needs to be exposed to much more than a baby who has not yet learnt to sit up.

However, carrying the child around can be a difficult job to accomplish this. It would be nice to have a table full of several activities, around which the child could walk, choosing and picking what she likes.

The Bright Starts Tropical Fun Around We Go Activity Station is exactly this and much more.

This is a perfect stimulation toy for babies aged about 6 months to at least 15 months.

Here's what's great about this toy: Top Baby Toys

Physical development: The activity station is designed with special attention to developing the walking skills of the child.

Instead of placing the child in a stationary chair in the center of the table, the station adopts a different approach and positions the seat on the outside to let the baby walk around the activity table.

Mental stimulation: Apart from the physical advantage of the station, there are several other benefits too. top baby toys

While the bendable toys encourage the child's tactile facilities, the momentum toys cultivate the comprehension of the cause and effect relationship.

The piano that plays in three modes is both upbeat and catchy and is perfect for auditory input.

There is a magnetic drawing board and various shapes and characters to tease the child's imagination and creating facilities. The station comes in a riot of colors like orange, blue, green, yellow, which contribute immensely in stimulating the child's visual facilities.

The Around We Go Activity Station does have the option of locking the child seat right in front of the snack tray and the piano for times when you want the child to eat and play at the same time.

On the whole, the activity station does emerge as the perfect station for your child's activities and though adult supervision is very important when a child plays on the station.

It does allow the child to be free and independent at the same time.

But there's one proviso… don't overdo things by keeping your child tied to this toy for too long.

Next time you're in need of a great stimulation toy and want to have a look at this one, click here. top baby toys

Top Baby Toys #7 - Musical Toy

Music is to the soul what oxygen is to the physical Being.

Even newborn children seek comfort from simple melodies that they are exposed to and most of us find ourselves singing our infants to sleep rather often.

The Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes is a toy that is developed keeping this need of the child in mind, along with much more.

This toy is typically suitable for newborns and up at least 12 months old.

Here's what's great about this toy… Top Baby Toys

Safety - Since the toy is targeting children from birth onwards, the manufacturers have paid special attention to the safety aspect of the gadget.

The material used for the toy is completely safe and poses no toxic danger to the child. The contraption is free from loose small parts that may cause chocking.

Comfort - Toys must be comfortable for children to interact with, if the optimum advantage is to be reaped. Takealong Tunes ensures that the grip is perfected for tiny hands and thus comes up with an easy to hold caterpillar handle.

Auditory/ sensory stimulation - The toy offers seven different classical modes of music, which have been made 'baby friendly' and can be easily browsed through by one single large button. Right from Mozart, Vivaldi, Chopin and Rossini, Takealong Tunes offers it all.

The music is undoubtedly designed to excite and build the child's musical facilities and seems to be doing a good job of it.

The light and sound combination helps to develop the child's cause and effect connection rather well, thus combining the child's auditory and visual stimulation for perfect results.

The toy comes across as a wonderful tool to calm you child down and its size adds tremendously to its portability advantage. And by the way... Takealong Tunes has been a top selection for quite some time now!
 

Top Baby Toys #8 - Plush Toy

What is it about cuddly soft toys that make them so popular with children?  

In short, these toys satisfy a child’s need to cuddle and also allow her imagination to fly unhindered. The Baby Einstein Octoplush is one such cuddly that combines sound and texture for optimum benefits.

Here’s what’s great about the Octoplush… Top Baby Toys

Safety – Being a toy targeting even the youngest of babies, the Octoplush designed keeping safety in mind. The body is completely softened with no hard parts that may hurt the child in any way.

Stimulation - The small cuddly is not only designed to fulfill the child’s needs to hug and cuddle but also stimulates her senses tremendously.

The velour and satin legs provide textural stimulation for the child.

The gentle melody that the toy gives out when hugged, promotes cause and effect learning along with soothing the child.

For older children, the toy is a great learning tool, since each arm carries a different color that is repeated by the toy when the arm is pressed. Right from English, Spanish to French the toy offers it all, making it highly flexible.

The background color of the toy is a lovely blue, so as to stress on the others color dots specifically, without confusing the child at all.

The toy has a pleasant smile on its face, which makes it quite adorable and attractive to children.

The Octoplush is a great cuddly that helps your child learn colors, develop tactile facilities and most of all... enjoy her play time with the Octoplush. 

Top Baby Toy #9 - Activity Toy

While I don't fancy my self as modern grandma, I decided to 'go with the program' when my 14 year old grand daughter, Bella offered to help me pick out a toy for my sister's grand son. He is six months old and I was going to see him for the first time. Bella pulled out the Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo and I was sceptical to say the least.

I look for sturdiness in toys. I like toys to be child friendly and not just designed to prevent them from bothering the parents.

My idea of a good toy is something that excites the child and encourages her to seek more. A toy should cater to the child's need and not the parent's idea of keeping the kid busy playing.

I could almost hear the entire store smile when I said this to Bella.

Bella pointed out that the toy was very sturdy. The base was strong and held together firmly. The springs of the seat are covered so the child does not pinch her fingers while playing. The height can be adjusted at three different levels and the seat is nicely padded and firmly placed.

Plus there is no danger of a tip over as in jumpers that go on to the doors.

Ok! I was tempted. But what does it give to the child?

Apparently a lot. top baby toys

The seat revolves an entire 360 degrees and so the child's view is not hampered in any way. The animals, specially the hide and seek tiger and the spinning lizard seem to cater to the sense of touch and sight of the child. The colours of the toy are all primary so as not to over whelm the infant in any way.

There is motion, music and lights there, so the kid enjoys all three aspects in a safe environment. The hanging toys and the stack of chips encourage hand eye co-ordination and healthy development. So, be it auditory, visual and even the gross motor skills, the jumper does seem the perfect stimulator.

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