The Top 10 Toys for Infants Up to 12 Months
1. Rhymes Go Round Mirror: This is a multi-sensory toy that my baby loves! First and foremost, it is a good quality, non-breakable mirror. There is a little plastic mouse attached to the mirror that will go around the mirror if a string is pulled or if baby manually moves the mouse. My 7 month old baby LOVES to grab the mouse and move it around the mirror! Around the mirror is a plush elephant whose legs help the elephant stand up on the floor for floor play. In addition, the toy has a music function that can either play music whenever baby touches the toy or it can be set so that the toy only plays music when a pull string at the bottom is pulled. The toy can be played with on the floor as stated or it has ties in the back which can be attached to a crib.
2. Tinkle Crinkle Rattle and Squeak Plush toy by Gund: This is a stuffed worm that is made of 6 segments. Each segment is a different color and has a different sound. The yellow segment has a rattle; the orange has a squeaker that works when squeezed; the red has a crinkle material that you can hear when you touch or squeeze it; the purple section also has a squeaker that works when squeezed; the blue has the crinkle material that you can hear when you touch or squeeze it; and the green segment has a tinkly-sounding bell. This toy is just the right size for babies to hug to them. The head segment has antennae that are great for putting in the mouth. It is made to be baby safe!
3. Deluxe Bunny Cover and Play: This is a bouncer seat that has toys attached to it. It is perfect for a baby up to 25 pounds. This has 2 plush toys, a bunny and a puppy dog plus it has a mirror that hang down for the baby to play with. Baby can swat at them at first then learn to pull at the toys. Since the toys are attached with Velcro, baby can pull them down to play with too!
4. Magnetivity: Magnetivity is a cute crib toy. It is a board that attaches to the baby’s crib with Velcro straps. There are 3 plush shapes that stick by magnet onto the board. Each shape has cute features including a face on it. There is a red circle that has an open mouth and a short string with a plastic cracker attached to it. The cracker can fit into the circle’s mouth or better yet, baby can use it as a teether! The square has a musical chip inside it that if depressed will play a short song. It also has “legs” that hang down or can be tucked into small indentations in the square. The triangle has a crinkle tongue sticking out. Baby loves the crinkle tongue sound! My baby loves to pull these shapes down and play with them. Later, he will be able to match the shapes to the correct places on the board!
5. Baby Einstein Neptune Toy Bar: This toy attaches to an infant car seat bar or onto a stroller. There is a section filled with “water” and sea creatures inside. It is fun for baby to watch them float around inside. Also there are some toys that hang down from the toy bar. There is a starfish and a fish as well as some beads on a bar. Baby can reach for these creatures and turn them around or move them back and forth. There is also a musical element to this toy. When the start button is pressed, one of three classical music pieces will play. This tends to be very soothing for my cranky baby!
6. The Smart Sort and Go Car by Vtech: This cute little yellow car has windows of different shapes. It also includes 5 shapes that can be pushed through the windows. There are two settings for this car and on one setting when you push the shape through the “window” you will hear a car sound (beep, motor starting, etc) On the other setting you will hear a short musical tune. Each of the 5 shapes only fits through it’s own correct window which teaches shape shorting and identification. The shapes can easily be stored inside the car and can be pulled out through the trunk. This toy can also be used as a pull toy for walking babies. It has a string that the baby can hold to pull the car behind him. Tunes play while the wheels are turning!
7. Rock-a-Stack toy by Fisher Price: This is a classic toy that has been around for quite a long time. It is made up of 5 rings of increasing sizes in different colors. The rings fit over a peg and when put in the correct order, they will be in size order. If not put in order, the shapes do not all fit. My son and my daughter both loved this toy. They didn’t necessarily put the rings onto the peg at first though they eventually did learn to do this. Prior to this, though, they both enjoyed playing with the rings themselves. Several of these shapes fit over a baby’s wrist as a bracelet which is fun. Or they can be stacked. Or they can be used for teething. This is just a simple, fun toy!
8. Gymfinity: This is a baby gym toy. It looks like a little table when set up but there are holes and puzzle places on the top so it is not flat. Baby can lay under this toy and play with the 5 toys that hang down. Or as baby grows, he can sit up and play with the same toys as the table can tilt up or down for easy reach. And, as baby learns to stand, he can play with the pieces on the top of the table. There are some puzzle pieces that fit into the table top. There are 3 gears that have pictures on them that can be used in the hanging position or as baby stands, they can be used to make gears that move around. There are also 4 shapes that can be pushed through the table top if they are put through the right shaped opening. This toy stimulates and teaches baby. Many of the pictures are in black and white for newborns but there is also color to stimulate older babies.
9. Pop and Spin Top: This is a take off of a toy top. It doesn’t spin around l like a top but when you push the button on top, there are balls inside which go around. There are 4 balls on the inside. They are encased in a clear plastic housing so you can see them easily. Upon pressing the big red button on top, the balls will spin. Press it several times for whirling good fun! Baby is mesmerized by the spinning balls and it makes a good toy for tummy time as baby will lay on his tummy and just watch the balls go around!
10. Kick N Play Piano: This is another crib toy for baby. It is attached to the crib by short strings that tie around the crib bars. It is basically plush covering the inner workings that make the music. They “keys” have cute little pictures on them. It has several different modes that it can be set to. In one mode, a baby simply needs to touch any part of the keyboard and it will play songs for about 10 minutes. In addition to playing the songs, lights will also light up for each note. In another mode, each time a particular key is depressed, an animal sound will play along with the lights. In the third mode, each key has a “note” and baby can make his own song creations!
So, if you have a new baby or are expecting one soon, I hope you’ll find the above selections as good as we did! And, if you’re a friend or relative looking for a gift, I’m sure one of the above will be appreciated!
