Boost confidence. Help your new walker practice balancing and walking by encouraging her to bring a toy along on little excursions through the house. It will boost her confidence until she's more secure with her balance.

What’s different? For a lesson in action/reaction, point out how the sound and speed of the toy can change: “Push it along slowly…now faster! You’re making the music play!”

On and off. Until she develops confidence in her balance and coordination, your child may need help getting on and off. She's likely to spend a lot of time mastering that skill, so be sure to clear a path all around the vehicle.

Cause and effect. When your child is ready to ride, reinforce his understanding of cause and effect by saying the words “go” and “stop” as the vehicle responds to his actions.

Use words to describe “on and off” and “stop and go” and you'll be building her understanding of the concept that words are associated with things and actions.

Begin with basics. Toys like these expose your child to the basic building blocks of learning simple concepts like letters, numbers, shapes and colors. Talk about these when you play with your child, extending them to other parts of the day.

Counting time. As you walk up steps, count them as you go. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5—wow, you climbed 5 steps!” You’re extending learning, but you don’t need to be concerned about teaching actual numbers at this age.

Read picture books to your child about the playset’s theme—like farm life, animals and crops. Talk about what a farmer does and how farms provide us with food.

On the grow. If you have a garden, call on your "little farmer" to help with planting, weeding, or harvesting. Even if she's just sitting next to you digging, she'll feel important and this experience will help her understand what farmers do.

Sound practice. Reinforce your child's recognition skills by helping him practice sounds he hears—if you start, it's likely that your child will soon join in. Then challenge his memory and thinking skills by showing him an animal or a car and asking him to make that sound.

Field trip. It helps your child make connections when you can relate a learning concept to things within her own range of experience. Make an effort to show your child the real thing: visit a zoo or a farm. When you're in the car together, point out different vehicles.

Chore time. Prompt problem-solving and thinking skills by giving your child little chores to do. “Let's put the animals in their stalls for the night. Are they all in the right places?”