Stimulate your developing infant’s senses with these baby toys for 6 to 12 months!
The 6 months to 12 months stage in infant growth is amazing! There’s a lot going on, including first steps and first words. As personalities develop, it’s fun to see their humor and interests blossom. Most toys for this age group encourage discovery, visualization, and learning. In addition, and probably most importantly, baby toys for 6 to 12 months can withstand chewing and lots of saliva due to the teething process that typically occurs during this exciting time. At this stage, they also learn how their hands work, along with cause and effect, making mental stimulation a must.
Now then, let’s have some fun!
Electronics have shifted how we learn and play. Infants at this stage are fascinated by flashing lights, sounds, and bright colors. From learning the alphabet to just keeping busy, electronic baby toys for 6 to 12 months can help entertain or educate your little one during this crucial stage of growth.
This adorable robot grows with your child with its different stimulation and education levels. The robot is actually made of three separate robots, each with their own function, and can be stacked together or broken apart. Not only does it boost learning the alphabet, shapes, and numbers, but it’s also motorized, so it moves around, encouraging your new crawler to chase after it for stimulating physical play.
This turtle is so much more than meets the eye (no it’s not a Transformer, sorry to disappoint). First, this turtle supports bilingual learning, with English and Spanish. Second, this toy moves around to encourage crawling as well. In addition, turning and tapping are primary skills that are used to fine-tune motor functions. Lastly, the turtle shell lights up with shapes, alphabets, and numbers to encourage learning throughout the toddler phase as well.
Tablets are becoming a huge must-have nowadays. Instead of risking it with your own tablet, babies can now have their very own educational tablet. In addition to featuring letter learning, shapes, numbers, words, and songs, it also has pretend apps. Little ones can check e-mails and look up the weather, so that they can “work” alongside mom and dad.
Have you ever seen or been the parent that gives their kid an unconnected controller to make them think they’re also playing? Well, now you can channel your infant’s inner geek with this mock gaming controller. Certainly, the controller encourages learning, but the most impressive part to me is how accurate the controller is, with its D-pad, joystick, face buttons, and even a right trigger button!
Like a regular smartphone, this baby toy has several apps that provide learning and social stimulation. Further, the 12 different apps engage your child as they learn the basics, such as numbers, alphabets, and words. Children can also pretend to call home, helping with safe imaginative play. They can also sing along with numerous melodies or listen to instrumental songs (kind of like what adults hear when they’re put on hold). Finally, this phone comes in blue, orange, or pink. Choose wisely!
If you decide to opt-out of the more modern controller or smartphone, you have the option to go retro with this mock Game Boy toy. I’m not talking about a Game Boy Advance either. This duplicates the original Game Boy that even our parents had the pleasure of playing, but with a full color image rather than four shades of green pixels. With cute aspects such as a pretend cartridge and a Tetris-like slider on the side, you can bet your last 1-Up that your little geek will be entertained!
This easy to hold elephant piano is great for those looking for extra-musical modes while also building fine motor skills with the piano keys. In addition, this features different modes that include nursery rhymes and animal noises. Further, each key has a different note and also a different color to help young ones with auditory and color recognition.
This toy is the gold standard in helping your child master crawling. The ball wiggles and rolls around while playing 45 different melodies, sounds, and phrases. Children can press, spin, slide, and twist the animal buttons to learn about different animals and help develop their fine motor skills. Lastly, it comes in two different multicolor options: red and yellow or pink and purple.
Prep your little nerds with the ultimate school-training toy. First, this notebook comes complete with a baby calculator and ruler. Next, it’s teaches the alphabet, shapes, numbers, colors, the weather, and even has a built-in Spanish mode. Lastly, the little gadgets strengthen your child’s fine motor skills. With tons of stuff going on, your baby will have a blast while learning!
Although lights, noises, and movement can fascinate babies, there are times when kids need to play quietly, or with toys that don’t require batteries. The best thing about this stage in infancy is that children are constantly learning and will play with anything that they can get their hands on. So, why not turn that curiosity into learning?
Not only do you get blocks and balls, but you also get toy animals and stacking cups. All parts are made with BPA-free, food grade material, so, they can be used for teething and bath toys. The ten multicolored blocks are made with learning in mind, as they have different numbers, animals and patterns on each side. The stacking cups are also great for motor skill development.
What’s better than a toy that entertain babies at home? Toys that can entertain on the go as well. This Baby Einstein clip-on zebra can go wherever a stroller or car seat goes. In addition, the developmental parts of the zebra include a mirror, a see-thru rattle, and various textures and crinkle sounds to stimulate your baby’s senses.
These adorable baby books talk about the tails of various animals. Choose from three options: jungle, farm, or rainforest. Further, these crinkle books are easy to clean (important because we all know how books can get around babies). In addition, there’s also a velcro strap for strollers or car seats for when you want to bring the tail stories with you.
With the emergence of fidget spinners, we introduce to you the ultimate baby spinner. These cute toys have a suction cup to stick on any window. Babies use their hands to spin the toy around, developing motor skills, and getting sensory stimulation. Further, they come in a three pack with a carrot, a bee, and the Sun.
You really can’t go wrong with this sensory block. Each side of the cube is a different texture fabric, including an ultra soft minky side and a crinkle material side. A wooden teething ring and ribbons and tags of various textures provide even more sensory fun!
This stage in life is all about groundwork and transitioning to upright. From tummy-time, sitting, crawling, and first steps, you are sure to be able to find a play mat on here that will grab your baby’s attention during this important time of development.
Want more great ways to keep your little one physically and mentally active? Swing on over to our list of the top activity cubes, activity centers, and more!
First, this play mat is a whopping 44 inches x 58 inches! Second, its material makes it easy to fold and moved to whatever room in the house you need. Also, it’s non-slip, for safe play with babies and parents no matter what kind of floors you have. In addition, the mat features all sorts of colorful and fun designs, including animals, letters, and fruits. This means you can use the mat for teaching even into the toddler stage.
And, unlike other playpens, this one isn’t made with mesh, gauze, or wires. That means, the sides are studier and don’t collapse easily. Further, it measures 47” in diameter and boasts holding 1000 balls, if it is used for a ball pit (here’s a bag of 400 to get you started). Lastly, it’s easily foldable and comes with a carrying bag for convenience.
This super adorable activity mat is giving me Candy Crush vibes. The donut shaped mat along with a popsicle pillow for the head rest is just too sweet (pun fully intended). Plus, the developmental toys (an ice cream cone, pretzel, lollipop, cupcake, and a unicorn with a teether attached) are all delightful. However, if this sweet, sugary look isn’t your thing, you also have the option of getting it in an equally adorable safari theme.
This mat features a piano keyboard for little ones just learning to crawl or walk. It includes tunes, animal sounds, and numbers. Most important, there’s an automatic shutoff for battery conservation and a volume control for the days that you really don’t need to be blasting baby Beethoven throughout the house. Finally, it’s easy to fold and carry around, so you can bring it anywhere.
Brightly colored and soft, this is a wonderful way to develop your child’s motor skills. Great for crawlers and early walkers to practice on without fear of bumps and bruises (adult supervision is required of course). Plus, your child can play with this all through their toddler years too. In addition, it features vegan leather and is Greenguard Gold Certified.
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