Playtime is essential for the development of the infant, and these best toys do help!
Along with the initial months of a baby that revolve around diapers-feeding-sleeping, playtime helps develop the baby in cognitive, physical development as well as emotional and social growth.
Playing helps children learn about the world around them and with the company of the right toy they achieve physical milestones, develop their brains, and learn of emotions and social skills too. It also encourages the development of language making a huge impact.
Baby’s Development During the First Six Months
By the sixth month, your baby learns basic milestones keeping in mind the development of the baby at their own individual pace. Listed below are a few milestones to look for concerning their development and how playing helps them :
Babies of 0–2 months :
- Lifting their head on their own
- Smiling
- Making eye contact
- Following objects with their eyes
- Cooing and gurgling
- Turning their head in the direction of the sounds
Try holding a soft toy in front of the 2 month old baby as they eat. This helps develop the head, neck, core, and visual development.
Babies 2–4 months :
- Social smiling
- Copying facial expressions
- Babbling
- Reaching the toy using one hand
- Rolling from tummy to back
- Holding and shaking a toy
Try giving the 4 month old baby a rattle to hold and play with. This encourages skills to help reach along with hand-eye coordination.
Babies 4–6 months :
- Looking at themself in a mirror
- Responding to their name
- Showing curiosity at toys and objects
- Passing toys from one to the other hand
- Rolling in both directions
- Sit without support
Try a quick and simple game like peekaboo with the 5 month old baby. This will help teach the baby complex concepts like social development and object permanence.
How to choose the best toy for the Baby
Choose a toy that has a stick to hold on to, making it safe and simple, encouraging exploration, and an open-ended play experience. Toys like the rattles and the other grabbing toys, balls, activity gyms, and board books help encourage the development of the milestone in the first six months. There are even milestone subscription boxes available as per the age for developmental play.
To help parents get started with compiling a toy collection to help build the important skills, here is a list of the best eleven toys for babies from 0-6 months :
1. Skip Hop Musical Egg Shaker Trio Rattle
These are a staple to any baby’s toy box with its trio shakers taking the cuteness up a notch, making it friendly and colorful in the shape of animals. For example, Toys in the shape of a fox, owl, and hedgehog make a unique rattling sound featuring the textured rubber patches that help the little hands hold it with a tight grip.
2. Manhattan Toy Wimmer-Ferguson Learning Cube
They have high-contrast images that are shaped simply with black and white pictures for the development of the baby’s sight. This first toy is paired with soft, squishy, squeaks, gentle rattles with its multi-sensory cube. They can also be used even for early newborns, as per the scientific research on visual development.
3. Lamaze Play and Grow Firefly
This has been created in conjunction with the development of child development. It features animal friends that have bright colors, patterns, textures, a squeaker, crinkles, a peekaboo mirror, a teether, clinking rings, etc. They also have various animals to choose from like an octopus, a peacock, and even a dragon! The Lamaze grow firefly toy is a great companion for playtime and tummy time all thanks to the built-in clip that attaches to stroller and car seats perfectly.
4. Lovevery Play Gym
It’s easy to place the baby down on the Lovevery Play Gym toy. It is thoughtfully designed and grows with the child encouraging the development along the way. It also has a guide along that walks through the stage-appropriate play. However, the only downside is that it is an expensive toy to have to keep in mind the development kit it offers.
5. Bendy Ball Rattle Toy
What could be better than a ball for the baby that rattles too? The Bendy Rattle toy has large finger holes that are squishy, has a bendable plastic that makes it easy for baby to grab and shake with an interior that is noisy, fun, and can roll across the floor easily. It is great for a three-month and older baby as it is four-inch in diameter with fine motor gripping skills that can be easily tossed in a car or a diaper bag making it a travel toy.
6. Manhattan Wimmer-Ferguson Double Mirror Toy
Babies love looking into the mirror to see their reflection irrespective of them not understanding what they are looking into. This mirror toy is a baby-safe that has no glass! It helps develop their vision providing lots of tummy time entertainment and comes with high-contrast art that makes it even more visually stimulated.
7. Fisher-Price Kick and Piano Gym Toy
It is a versatile play gym that’s powered by the little one’s kicks. The piano also features four different ways of growing in the little one while laying down, while eating, sitting, and while traveling. It is great for kids inclined towards the discovery of music, for physical development, and to learn of the basic concepts like shapes, colors, and numbers.
8. Tiny Love Soothe and Groove Mobile
It features forty minutes of non-stop music with six different genres to choose from that make it entertaining for the little ears. It could be used for babies while grooving during their playtime or for soothing music at bedtime. As the baby grows big and in need of a mobile, all you need to do is simply detach the bottle for a portable that transforms into a stand-alone toddler music box.
9. Sassy Senses Gift Set
Babies like feeling the various textures using their fingers as their touch are really sensitive. The senses gift toy introduces the baby to different kind of textures like the Flutterby Teether with soothing bumps for sore gums, Fishy Fascination Station with spinning wheels, the Ring O’Links that clinks, and a miniature version of the Bumpy Ball bringing in textures like smooth, squishy, fuzzy, and bristly. Its bright patterns and the rattle elements of the toy are also naturally entertaining for the babies.
10. Manhattan Toy Toy Winkel
The toy is equally fun to play with as fun it is to take its name out loud. It features soft, narrow, BPA-free loops that are wrapped around the center of the rattle with a teether making it an ideal first toy. The babies like shaking, grasping, and chewing it, and are easy to carry in your diaper bag or even clip it to the stroller for the little one to play.
11. Skip Hop Vibrant Peek and Play Activity Book
As it is never too late for books, this is guaranteed for the baby to come back to it again and again. The play activity book is packed with a sensory feature like the ribbons, crinkly pages, flaps, and a mirror with their soft, high-contrast pages that never fail to capture the attention of the infant. It is easy for the little one to turn pages and fold the book into a stand-up playhouse adding in more fun.
12. Skip Hop Cry-Activated Soother
Although it might look a little sleepy, it is the best cuddle buddy for your baby. The soother is soft, plays lullabies, nature sounds, and can even record the voice any time the baby cries. This works as an innovative cry-activated smart sensor that automatically responds when the baby cries by providing instant comfort to the baby.
13. Where’s the Zebra? Lift-Flap board book
Where are all the animals? Try finding them under the bushes, behind the trees, where else can they be! This book helps stimulate the little ones keeping them busy as they find the animals throughout the book and are delighted when revealed behind the felt flaps on each page including their reflection!
To Conclude :
We understand how important it is for parents to choose the right first toy for their babies. The list above has options for parents to choose from. Make sure you find the best one for your kid making their playtime fun, exciting, and educative.
FAQs : 13 Best Toys for Babies 0-6 Months
1. Do newborns need toys ?
In the first two months, a baby doesn’t need any toys. But, when they hit two or three months, they would need a toy as they then explore their hands and what they could do using them. During this time, toys become valuable as they then transform into learning tools and noisy toys work great too.
2. Are noisy toys good for babies ?
Noisy toys help with the development of babies. As they learn to hold the toys in their tiny hands, they also grow to understand the sounds as they rattle a toy designed for any noise. However, it is important to choose the right amount of noisy toy as the babies have sensitive ears and to also make sure that the toys are soft and safe to play with.
3. What is the importance of toys ?
Toys serve multiple purposes for babies. They provide entertainment, and an educational role provided you choose the right toy for your baby. It also enhances cognitive behavior stimulating creativity and developing the physical and mental skills that are necessary for later life.
