Musical toys

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

"What will happen when I turn this?" Babies this age love to explore how to make something work. Busy activity toys give them the chance to figure things out and take control, trying out variations and building thinking skills along the way.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• For baby's first play session with this toy, set it on its music mode and simply investigate this piano's fun features together—show your child how to press the keys; point out how to flip the song book pages and bat the metronome. At this age, it's probably best to focus on action/reaction rather than moving into the ABCs and 123s.
• This is the time when babies are building their receptive language, so the more words they hear, the more words they become familiar with and the more they're able to make sense of things. Reinforce these skills by saying the names of the colors, shapes and animals that you see. "Do you hear the horn?" "Let's make the kitty go up and down." "What do you think the kitty says?"

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Entertainment centers that encourage standing and cruising

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Activity centers that take the shape of walkers or tables are easy and fun, keeping little ones busy with lots of interesting things to do. During a baby's cruising stage, these toys develop her confidence and strength too.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• The way you and your child play with this type of toy will change and develop along with your child's skills. Start out using it as an activity center, with your child seated on the floor. Playfully point out the different surprises, colors and shapes. Most of the toy's easiest features to activate will be near the bottom of the toy, within easy reach for baby.
• Use words and descriptive terms as much as possible in your "conversations" with your baby; children of this age enjoy listening, plus, it encourages them to vocalize.
• Exercise baby's growing muscles by encouraging her to push the toy if it rolls or to crawl along after it. Can she pull herself up and stand holding onto the toy? Give her lots of encouragement and you'll find out!

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Sorting and building toys

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Once baby can transfer objects from hand to hand, the achievement of sorting and building becomes even more enjoyable. The opportunity to explore more complex challenges strengthens self-confidence.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• Before shape sorting, help your baby concentrate on learning "empty" from "full" and "in" from "out". Narrate as baby plays: "You're putting the red block in. It's round." Deliberately say the shape and the color, and whether it's going in or out. When all the blocks are out, say "empty." When they're all in, say, "full."
• When baby is ready for shape sorting, put away all of the shapes except for the round ones. Let your child experiment with getting the circle in the correct opening. If your child has trouble, point out the round opening and say, "Try this." Baby might get it, but if not, have the patience for trial and error.
• When baby has mastered the round shape, put those blocks away and say, "Now let's try the square ones." And when baby can sort that shape, try the two shapes together—this may be the same day, or the next day, or in a week or so. It all depends on when baby's ready.
• Be there to prompt and encourage—"Great job!"—but know that babies learn more through experimenting and exploring and problem solving than when you do something for them.

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Toys with dials, levers & buttons

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Making something happen with a toy—pressing a button, ringing a bell, opening a door—gives baby's mind something new to think about. And taking control of the action offers an opportunity to start expressing feelings, as baby takes pride in bringing new variations to an activity.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• Demonstrate how to operate all the fun gadgets on the toy. Then encourage your child to do the same: "I turned the dial … now it's your turn!" "Do you think we'll hear a squeak when you press the button?" The toy's simple mechanics will hold your child's attention – and improve his fine motor skills at the same time.
• Help your child learn to recognize colors by pointing out each one and slowly saying its name. Reinforce the learning by pointing out things in baby's world that are the same color: "See? Mommy's shirt is red too."
• Reinforce the numbers concepts introduced in this or any of your child's toys by talking about them as you go through your daily routine: "You may have one banana and two crackers." As you give the items to your child, count them off out loud, "One, two, three…"
• Down the road, your child will be ready for letter, number and shape recognition. You can help things along by pointing these out on the toy and then pointing out matching ones you see in everyday things around you.

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