Baby Toys To Stimulate Your Baby

We all want the best for our babies. We give them the love they crave, warm their bellies, and rock them to sleep every night. One important factor in becoming a new parent of a baby is providing them with the tools they need to learn, grow, and conquer the world. Baby toys are a very important investment for all parents to make. But what are the right baby toys to purchase for your baby?

Baby Toys to Stimulate Hand-Eye Coordination

Hand-Eye coordination is the ability to see and grab objects. At the age of four months your baby’s hand-eye coordination is beginning to develop. Your baby will grab at objects, and try to pick them up. Don’t worry, he will master this quickly. Around five to six months your baby will learn how to reach for a baby toy, perhaps a baby block, grasp it, and hold onto it. Around seven months, your baby will learn how to drop that toy when he is done playing with it.

Developing hand-eye coordination is a crucial tool for all babies to master, and as soon as possible. We use hand-eye coordination in every day tasks such as bringing a fork to our mouths, brushing our teeth and hair. Think about it. Mastering hand-eye coordination can help a person to be able to do more complex tasks like typing quickly on a computer, playing the piano, painting a masterpiece, even sewing a button on a dress. You could be the proud parent of a modern day Mozart!

When trying to help your baby, the best thing you can do is hold a baby toy within reach from him. Then wait for him to grab it. You do not want to show him how it works. To him, that’s all the fun of it! Some baby toys that help with developing hand-eye coordination are:

  • Blocks – Soft Blocks for ages 4 – 7 months and more sturdy blocks for babies older than 12 Months.
  • Stacking Toys will teach your baby to not only maneuver the object, but to also fit them together.
  • Household items such as plastic lids, plastic bottles.

Stimulate Your Baby’s Senses with Textured Baby Toys

Have you felt the pull of your hair when your baby is about four months old? We’ve all felt it, and our reaction is first pain, then joy. A lot of us, just remove the baby’s white knuckle grip, and say “No”, but is this really the response we should be giving? This is your baby saying, “I need my sense of touch stimulated!” Maybe instead of just saying “No”, give your baby a toy that will stimulate his sense of touch, teaching him that many different things have different textures, shapes, and colors.

There are many baby toys that will do just this. There are toys that have different textures such as bumps, and curves; Baby toys that have crinkly material, and other fabrics. There also toys that have all this and lights and music to stimulate your baby’s sense of hearing.

Some toys that you might want to consider are:

  • Crawl Mats and Play Nests – Baby crawl mats comes in several styles. One toy manufacturer, Galt, has created an infant play nest that stimulates touch, vision and hearing. The fabric covers inflatable ring creating a self contained safe play environment for babies and toddlers.
  • Activity Cube – A big soft colorful block with fun activities for baby to explore. Features may include mirrors, crinkle material, wool, sounds and lights and more.
  • Music makers – These baby toys allow baby to press different buttons and see what new sound is made.

Stimulate Your Baby’s Mind and Emotions with Music

Have you ever heard a song that, no matter what mood you were in would cheer you up immediately? Or maybe one that made you sleepy? Well, babies feel all these emotions from music too. Music is a wonderful way to introduce your baby to their own sense of emotions, feelings, and the wonderful world of creativity and imagination! Several baby music CD’s are available to invoke various feelings in your baby. Some better choices for parents to consider include the Brainy Baby® music collection.

  • Peaceful Baby(TM) by Brainy Baby® – Calming, restful music that progressively lulls your child into a deep and refreshing sleep.
  • Cheerful Baby(TM) – Cheerful Baby’s compositions, melodies, rhythms and tonal ranges encourage a happy mood!
  • Playful Baby(TM) – Vibrant, invigorating music that encourages your child to actively experience the richness of their world.
  • Sleepy Baby(TM) – Calming, restful music that progressively lulls your child into a deep and refreshing sleep.

So What Do You Look For?

When you go toy shopping for your baby, you will want to focus on toys that will stimulate your baby’s mind, senses, curiosity and imagination. For a baby up to one year old, keep it simple with large, soft baby blocks, stacking toys, play mats or play nests, activity cubes. As a bonus during playtime, throw a CD in the CD player and watch your baby touch, explore, and learn about his new found abilities!

© Elizabeth Geiger

How Do You Choose Your Baby Toys?

When you are picking out toys for your baby, no doubt you want to purchase toys that your little one will love. However, there is a lot that will go into the decision of which baby toys to purchase. You see, there is much to consider, such as the price, the safety, your baby’s development, and a whole lot more. If you’re a bit nervous about picking out the best safe baby toys for your new baby, then here are a few great tips that will help you make the right decision.

Tip #1 Avoid Toys with Small Parts
First of all, when you are picking out newborn baby toys, it is important that you avoid purchasing toys that have any small parts. Small parts can break off the toy and your baby may put the part in their mouth, which could cause them to choke. You don’t want to rush to the hospital with a choking baby, so it is best to avoid the toys with the small parts for safe baby toys that you feel more comfortable with.

Tip #2 Go with Toys that Stimulate the Senses
You’ll also want to go with toys that stimulate your baby’s senses, such as musical baby toys or other educational baby toys. Your baby’s senses are developing fast, so you’ll want to go with toys that cater to their senses and help to develop them as well. So, keep this in mind when you’re picking out baby toys for your little one.

Tip #3 Do Some Research
Doing some research is important, whether you are purchasing a baby teething ring or a new baby rattle for your baby. One of the best ways to find out more about a specific toy is to get online and read reviews from other parents about the toy. If you find a lot of negative reviews, then you may want to avoid purchasing that particular toy for your baby.

Tip #4 Think About How Long the Toy Will Last
You may also want to consider how long the baby toy is going to last before you buy it. If you only think the toy is going to last a week or two, or you think your baby is going to get tired of it quickly, you may want to settle on a different toy that you think they’ll play with a lot longer.

Tip #5 Make Sure Toys Meet Safety Standards
Making sure that toys meet safety standards is also very important. Whether you are purchasing plastic toys or wooden baby toys, you’ll want to make sure that they are safe for your baby. So, make sure that you check to see if the toy you’re consider is a safe baby toy and meets the safety standards that it should.

Tip #6 Read the Package for More Information
The package information can also provide you with a lot of helpful information about the toy. It usually is a great idea to read this information on the package before purchasing baby toys so you are sure it is the right toy for your baby.

Baby Education Videos – Worth the Investment?

Baby education videos have caught on in a big way in recent years. From a wide variety of publishers, in a wide variety of titles, DVDs promising to help give your baby a head start in education with bright colors, shapes, and music are all being heavily promoted as a fantastic way to help entertain your child while she learns. Are all of these videos really what they’re cracked up to be, though?

Educational videos are touted to help stimulate babies’ brains, though not necessarily in a specific area. Designed to be interesting and engaging to infants, many titles rely on things like studies on the effect of classical music on learning and intelligence. As a result, you’ll hear a whole lot of Mozart on these videos. Many of them also incorporate bright colors and simple shapes, to help engage your child’s natural curiosity, as well as images of animals and nature. Now, this all sounds like it would be very engaging to a young child, and all parents want to give their kids the best head start they can, but do these videos really offer any concrete advancement?

Not necessarily, say recent studies. One notable look at baby education videos by the University of Washington actually demonstrates that babies shown these videos, particularly those in the eight months to year and a half old age group, actually had fewer vocabulary skills than those that didn’t. More and more, research is showing that not only do these videos not educate, they can set back development of language skills, since babies require face-to-face interaction to best encourage this kind of learning. Of course, these videos don’t promise more language skills, instead couching their benefits in vague terms like “brain stimulation.” However, too much stimulation isn’t a good thing either, and, instead, can result in kids that require the constant stimulation of television or video games, as opposed to milder activities like reading or floor play. The American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends that children under the age of two watch no television at all.

Like anything else, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. While baby education videos make a lot of promises, they are careful to word these promises in terms that don’t mention any concrete results. As always, the best way to encourage learning in young children is to play with them, speak to them, and teach them in person, and leave T.V. time to older kids.