What Toys Does a Baby Need?

Very young babies need very few toys, and you may be surprised to know that you are your baby's favourite toy! At any age, your baby will love it when you play with them. There are however some fantastic toys out there that your baby will love playing with. Toys also help babies learn and develop their cognitive skills. Here are some suggestions for the type of toys your baby will enjoy from birth to 12 months:

0-3 months

Babies this age will love things they can look at and toys with noises. Newborn babies especially love faces, so show them pictures of faces with different expressions. Hold them 20-30 cm from her face, as babies' eyesight is still developing and they can't see further than this yet.

High contrast toys with black and white images stimulate your baby's vision. You can buy books designed for newborns with black and white shapes, patterns, pictures and faces on them.

Rattles

Wrist and ankle rattles are great for young babies as they can have fun making noises by waving their arms and legs around. They'll be amazed that they are the ones making that noise!

Musical toys

Babies love music so musical toys are great for young babies. A mobile is a good investment for a baby as not only will they enjoy the music, but they will like watching the toys attached to the mobile go round and round. Make sure it is out of reach of your baby though, and remove it when your baby is old enough to be able to grab it and pull it down.

Sensory toys

Toys designed to stimulate the senses are great at this age, and for months to come. Choose toys that make a sound when pressed, toys with crunchy material on them and plastic mirrors attached. These will delight your baby as they explore the feel of different objects and fabrics.

3-6 months

At this age, your baby's eyes are much more developed. They can distinguish between different textures, sounds, and they can grasp objects opening up a whole new world of toys to them! At three months, your baby will be able to grasp things between her thumb and the rest of her fingers, as if she were wearing a mitten. By 6 months, she'll be able to transfer a toy from one hand to the other.

Baby gyms

Baby gyms come into their own at this age. Babies between 3-6 months will enjoy kicking at the toys hanging down, and trying to grab them. At first she'll just swipe at them, but gradually she'll learn how to grab hold of one. Baby gyms are great for giving your baby 'tummy time', and often have mirrors attached to encourage your baby to lift their head up to look at their reflection. Others have speakers and toys attached to the mat so that babies can reach out and grab them.

Rattles

Popular with babies when they have learned to grasp objects. Put on some music and let your baby wave his rattle to the rhythm!

Between 3-6 months of age is when babies can start to favour one soft toy over another. If your baby has never been particularly interested in any of his soft toys, he may around this age form an attachment to one of them.

Activity bars

These stretch across your baby's car seat or pushchair and are great at this age to keep your baby entertained while you are out and about. Many come with buttons your baby can press to make lights turn on or play music. Some have toys and books on them that your baby can grab.

Books are popular with babies at any age, so make sure you've got some colourful board books for your 3-6 month old to look at (see our article on Reading to Your Baby).

6-9 months

Anything your baby can pick up is a winner at this age. Your baby may be starting to get mobile between 6-9 months of age. By 6 months, your baby will probably be able to sit up. From sitting, babies learn to rock back and forth, which progresses onto crawling. Nearer the 9 month mark, your baby may also be practising standing up by pulling herself up on furniture to a standing position. You can encourage her mobility by giving her a ball to chase around. There are also electronic toys that light up, move around the room and play music. Your little one will love trying to keep up with it.

Babies this age also often love playing with household items. This gives them a break from the usual brightly coloured plastic toys and lets them experience different shapes and textures. It's amazing how a wooden spoon can fascinate a baby! They'll enjoy banging spoons on the floor, stacking measuring cups, and banging plastic pots together. If you're cooking at the same time, have a special cupboard your baby is allowed to explore. Put only lightweight utensils in there. your baby will love imitating you cook.

Building towers, stacking blocks or cups are very popular at this age. Knocking them down is also great fun for your baby! Help your baby build a small tower of cubes or stacking cups, and then let them knock it down. Soon they'll learn how to build them by themselves and will have hours of fun doing this.

Babies often get their first tooth around 6 months of age, so make sure you have some teething toys your baby can pick up and chew on.

9-12 months

Babies are usually mobile in one form or another at this age. Whether it's crawling, scooting, cruising, or pulling themselves up to a standing position, newly mobile babies love their newfound freedom.

For walking babies, toys with wheels present an exciting opportunity to use their new skills. These include toy cars, trucks, and push along toys with long handles attached so that your baby can push them in front of him. Baby pushchairs are also a favourite at this age, giving budding walkers something to hold onto until they get their balance right.

This is a great age to get your baby a shape sorter. Babies love problem solving, and while there might be the odd frustrated cry if a triangle shape won't fit into a circular hole, generally babies are happy to sit, try, and try again to get the shapes into the holes. Not only are shape sorters educational, but they keep babies occupied for long periods of time, giving you a bit of a rest!

Give your baby some building blocks to play with. At this age he will be able to build a tower of 3-4 blocks, which he will be very proud of! Lego is also great at this age. Show him to stack it up and build him constructions he can enjoy knocking down.

Your baby has learn object permanence at this age, so give him books that have hide and seek flaps on so he can enjoy 'finding' the pictures. Your baby will be getting more and more interested in books as their attention span increases, so make sure you have plenty of books to show to your baby.

Toys with buttons to press which make noises and play music will still fascinate and excite your baby at this age. Choose a toy which has doors to open, as your baby will love opening and closing the doors and flaps. Your baby is capable of imaginative play at this stage so buying a toy such as a farm, in which they can play with the animals and farmer figures is fantastic for this age.