Teddy’s
favourite toys/ activities: 3 months- 1 year (i.e. gift suggestions).
Disclaimer: I intended for this to be a post for
Christmas gift suggestions but, typically, Christmas (and then also a house
move!) got in the way of me finishing this.
Before he was sitting on his own:
1.
Rattles- I know, it is an obvious one.
When we think babies, we think rattles. And true enough, small, lightweight
rattles were the first things he grasped, shook and actually played with.
2.
Any form of musical instrument- and
he still loves them now. We have a whole music box with a vast array of
instruments that he loves to play with. And the type and style of instruments
have developed and grown with him. Shakers, maracas, bells, drums, sticks,
tambourines, xylophones, triangles, recorders and harmonicas. His favourite now
he is older are the recorders and harmonicas as he has not long worked out how
to use them himself and absolutely loves the sounds the harmonica makes. Teddy
also goes to a group called ‘Music Makers’ on a Tuesday- he has been going
since he was about 7/8 months old- and their music kits are fantastic. We made
a few of our own bottle shakers to go in the kit too, so homemade instruments
are another thing he enjoys. They are easy to make- just a bottle with any kind
of interesting thing I found in The Range which will make a rattling sound once
inside (his fave one has multi-coloured beads), then taped or glue-gunned shut.
He has very recently started taking an interest in the guitar, but it is more
him holding it and pretending to play it.
3.
Spinning Rainbow Drum- this really
helped with tummy time. It kept him mesmerised for a while, and I also used it
as motivation to get him rolling (he was a late roller) as he so desperately
wanted to spin it. Also, tons of fun once he was sitting up. He did get bored
of it once he was walking and we have now packed it away into storage, so it
isn’t something he still plays with now, but it was something he got a lot of
use out of when he was little.
4.
Fabric scarves/ sensory scarves- great
for peekaboo and just general sensory play. As he has gotten older, Teddy likes
using them to accompany his favourite rhymes and songs (i.e. “wave it in the
air.”)
5.
Soft toy fruit- I randomly bought
some soft plush toy fruit from Amazon. The ones I bought don’t exist anymore-
but I have linked something similar. It comes in a little, soft basket and a
lot of the fruit velcro together. He liked holding them before he could sit up,
but once he was sitting up, he enjoyed transferring them in and out of the
basket and pulling the velcro apart. In terms of language acquisition, as he
has gotten older, they have been really useful in getting him to learn and name
the fruit and now he ‘feeds’ them to his hungry caterpillar plushie.
6.
Pop up toys- are apparently extremely
entertaining to a baby/ infant. We have a jack-in-a-box and a wooden pop toy.
He liked the jack in the box when he was little (he still sometimes struggles
to use it on his own), but the wooden pop up toy (which I will link), he
finally mastered on his own when he was about a year old, so obviously that
made it all the more fun. Again, as he got older, with language acquisition, it
helped with colours and he has been matching the correct piece to the correct
colour since about 15 months old (so also serves as a colour matching
activity). He has just turned 2 and still loves it now.
Once he was sitting on his own:
1.
Suction cup spinners- great as sticks
to most surfaces and can keep him entertained for a while. Useful if I need to
keep him confined (i.e. a highchair) and also was good motivation when he had
started pulling to stand as I would stick them up slightly higher than he could
reach (on doors, etc), to encourage him.
2.
Stacking cups- Although he had not
worked out how to properly stack them when he was a baby/ infant, he did enjoy
trying and liked putting them inside one another. His favourite colour is
yellow, so most of the time, he just liked carrying the yellow one around. Or
pretending to drink from them. These cups were used as motivation for crawling,
as I would stack them on the other side of the room, and he would be desperate
to get to them. They were also something which would keep him quiet for 5
minutes or so if I had to make a phone call or something.
3.
Object permanence box- Will link both
of these below. Teddy loved the ball one when he was sitting, and he worked out
how to do it pretty quickly (dropping the ball in and then opening the drawer).
He still struggles with putting the drawer back in though. As he got older (so after
he was one), we got him the coin one and he loves playing with that too.
4.
Ball drop and roll ramp- He worked
out how to do this pretty quickly and loved watching the balls roll down the
ramp- again, something he would love to do again and again and would keep him
entertained for a while.
5.
Cars- any kind, any type. He went
through a phase where he was obsessed with ‘brrms brrms’ as he called them. Again,
a great motivator for crawling.
6.
Carrot puzzle- Again, very specific-
but as soon as he was sitting, he loved taking the carrots out, and now he is
older, more in tune with his fine motor skills and has a better concept of what
bigger and smaller means, he enjoys fitting them back in.
7.
Wooden toy rainbow- one of his
favourites. We actually got him this for Christmas, so he was about 10 months
old. It looks pretty in his room, but he also likes pulling the colours apart
and trying to stack them back together. You can also stack them on top of one
another (although he still hasn’t quite mastered that as it is quite precarious
and falls with the slightest touch). One of his earlier words was actually
“rainbow,” pronounced as “banbow,” back then. He would point at this toy and
say it. And as he got older and began naming colours, he liked naming the colours
on the different parts of the rainbow as he pulled them apart.
7.
Silicone blocks- It was tricky to
find bricks which were age appropriate but also easier for stacking. As soon as
he was sitting, Teddy really wanted to start stacking things, but obviously his
fine motor skills were not quite matching with what his mind wanted to do. We
had fabric blocks but they were not very sturdy and would easily fall down as
he tried to stack them. I tried silicone, instead, which were a bit sturdier.
The best I have found are foam bricks, but I only introduced them once he had
passed the putting-everything-in-his-mouth phase and I also make sure I am
supervising when he is playing with them as don’t really want him to get a
mouthful of foam.
I hope these suggestions are
useful if you are looking for any baby/ infant gift ideas or just generally
looking for ways to entertain your little ones.
Links:
Spinning Rainbow Drum:
Soft toy fruit:
Wooden pop up toy:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001P3SJG8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Suction cup spinners:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B3MG7SHD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Object permanence box:
Ball:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B9JJ1F44/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Coins:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CHW61R4Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ball Drop and Roll Ramp:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09F36V6CW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Carrot puzzle:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09XBB4RWD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Wooden toy rainbow:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B092MB5LPD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Silicone blocks:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0030F67N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
