Stacking, sorting and building toys

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

As your baby's skills advance, persistence starts to pay off and more complex achievements are gained. Toys that offer variety, hold baby's attention, and encourage solving problems help strengthen self-confidence and a positive attitude toward learning.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• Approach shape-sorting very simply at first: start with the round shape, and let baby get the hang of putting it through the round hole. When baby's ready, move on to the next shape—proceed from shapes that have the most simple orientations to those that require more complicated maneuvering to make them fit. When you progress in that order, baby gains confidence along the way.
• Build a pile of blocks for baby and a pile for you. Stack up your blocks, pointing out which one is at the "top" and which one is at the "bottom." Encourage baby to play along, either "helping" you build your pile or building with his own blocks. The most fun is likely to come from baby knocking over your pile again and again!
• Use the toy's features to introduce your baby to various colors, saying each color name clearly as you point it out on the toy.

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Toys to encourage physical development, such as standing and cruising

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Your baby is working hard to master physical milestones. Toys that reward such achievements—and encourage baby to keep on trying—not only enhance physical development, they build the confidence that's so important for continued progress.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• To make baby's cruising adventures as safe as possible, make sure you clear a path all around this toy.
• Reinforce concepts behind language and words by using descriptive language as you and your child play with the toy: "See the green ball going up and down, in and out?" "Put the blue block on top."
• Make a game of participating and encourage interactive play by giving toys back to baby as she plays.
• Build baby's excitement and anticipatory reactions by bringing baby's attention to the toy's surprises: "Ooh, I wonder where the ball is?" That gets baby to think, even at this young age, about estimation.

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Toys with dials and 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 on the toy 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 numbers 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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Language development toys

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Early sounds, words, sentences, and stories are the fundamental building blocks of language. Toys that help babies discover early language basics can establish the foundation for learning that sounds join together to form words, words become sentences, and sentences combine to make stories.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• The single most important way for you to influence your child's language development is for you to talk to your baby as often as you can. This exposes baby to the basic patterns and rhythms of speech as you talk through your daily activities.
• Taking turns is another great activity to encourage language learning. Initiate the "conversation," then listen and wait as your baby gazes back into your eyes and responds with a coo or babble. Say something back to help your child understand the language game we call "conversation."
• Mimic your baby's coos and babbles, which are critical for practicing how to make sounds, learning the ways sounds differ and how they can be combined.
• Start reading to your baby early and instill a love of books. When you read together, point out pictures and encourage baby to point to them, too. Make the sounds of animals in books, or the sounds that other things make.

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