Baby Toys: A Must-See List

I am a blog ambassador for Lakeshore and am compensated for my work. I received product free of charge, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Need some new baby toys? Look no further.

No one is more difficult to shop for than a baby. Is it fun enough? Is it educational enough? Will they play with it for long enough that it’s worth the investment? Ugh. So many enough questions when trying to buy baby toys.

The baby crowd is a tough crowd to buy for. They grow quickly, they age out of toys quickly, and their attention spans change quickly.

That’s why I’ve made a little three-step check list when buying baby toys.

The toys has to have longevity.
It has to make them think.
And in my house (with two older siblings), baby toys need work for all age groups. I don’t have time or space or money for “one and done” toys that only work for a baby.

So what baby toys are awesome?

Baby toys don’t need batteries. They don’t need bells and whistles. Simple is often times the best attribute you’ll find in a really good baby toy.

All About Me! Personalized Photo Book

This soft book hold nine photos to create a one-of-a-kind reading experience for your baby. This book has been a game-changer for my 11 month old.

He can easily hold the book, turn the pages, and listen to a book about the members of his family. Seeing familiar faces in a book? He’s loving it!

And guess who else is loving this book? His big siblings. They love looking at the pictures too and “reading” the book to their baby brother.

There are so many ways to play with this book. It has so much to offer.

Ways we play with this book (other than just reading it):

• We play “I-Spy”
• “Who am I?”
• Find the letter in the sentence

Mix & Match Farm Animals

These six farm animals are a hit in my house – with baby and with big sister (2.5 years). For baby, it’s all about grabbing the animals, investigating them, and taste testing.

But for big sister, it’s about swapping animal body parts and making silly mixed up creatures. You can’t believe how much she loves this simple toy.

Other ways we play with these farm animals:

• Color recognition: find other toys the same color as the animals
• Make them “right”: fix the mixed up animals
• Animal hide and seek: find the missing animal parts

These Mix & Match Farm Animals meet all our toy criteria: they have longevity, they make my baby think, and big sister loves them too.

See-Inside Sorting Bucket

My baby is obsessed with this toy. My big kids are obsessed with this toy. 

Baby thinks this is great for making music: he loves clicking the shapes together, drumming them, and shaking the shape filled bucket to hear them all rattle around.

My big kids: they know it’s great for practicing their shapes and I know it’s great for their fine motor skills and spatial awareness to get the right shape into the right hole (and oriented correctly).

I love seeing them play with the See-Inside Sorting Bucket because even though they use this toy differently right now, they’re all learning from it. Talk about a toy that is definitely not one-and-done.

Ways we play with these shapes:

• Build towers
• Play “guess my shape”
• Trace the blocks to make a big shape puzzle

Baby toys can be tough to find…

Unless you know where to look. I know to look at Lakeshore Learning because the baby toys there are going to fit all my criteria. These toys are long-lasting, well-made, and expertly tested to be the best educational toy for your baby. Lakeshore toys are always the best.

 

For more learning ideas, products and activities, check out Lakeshore’s Summer Learning Guide. To learn more about Lakeshore, find them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

What baby toys do you love?