Developmental Toys, Babies and Toddlers

Most parents face the problem of selecting toys we want to get for our kids. Of all the hordes of playthings found in stores, which one should you choose? Now, we don't want our hard-earned money spent on something that won't contribute to our children's development, right? And cuteness should be one of the least factors in toy-choosing. So if you want to be practical, aside from the helpful age bracket labels found in most toys, here are a few guidelines I've collated from different reliable sources including my mom, my pedia, relatives/friends online forums and baby sites.

The first step we need to do before deciding which toy to purchase is to check out which part of the developmental stage your child belongs. Basically there are 4 stages: Baby (birth-12 months), Toddler (13-24 months), Pre-schooler (2-4 years) and Big Kid (5-8 years). Each of these stages may be further subdivided according to months and milestones to be categorical.

Second, we need to determine which of the generic milestones you want for your child to be developed. Like for babies or infants 0-3 months, skills such as seeing black and white or visually tracking moving objects should come to mind. Toys like musical mobiles with loud primary colors are the best toys to foster that skill. From there, you may now determine which toys would likely be useful to your kid.

Here's a generic milestone guide for Babies and Toddlers:

---0-6 months---
Milestones: lifts head, sees strong colors like black red and white, turns head to loud noises and voices

Recommended Toys: unbreakable mirrors, musical mobiles with bold primary colors, play mats and play gyms with bold primary colors, soft musical and/or noisy toys with bold primary colors, crinkly and squeaky rattles with bold primary colors... ;)

---7-12 months---
Milestones: bangs objects together, drags objects to herself, searches for hidden objects, picks up things with pincer grasp (using thumb and forefinger), puts objects in container (or empties them out), crawling, teething
Recommended Toys: blocks, toys with containers (fishbowl toys), stack-up toys, sorters with big shapes, play gym, picture books, toy maraccas/drums/piano/tambourine, toy hammers, plastic pail and shovel, noisy teethers or teethers that light up

---12-24 months---
Milestones: walking, talking in syllables, crawling, puts objects in container (or empties them out), teething
Recommended Toys: push and pull toys, stack up toys, big building blocks, toy phones, shape sorters, toys with magnets, puzzles, talking toys, noisy teethers or teethers that light up, picture books/pop-up books

You may also apply the same milestone/age analysis for planning games and activities for your little one. Hope you guys find this helpful. Just remember, no amount of toys can equal a parent's time for play. Parents are still the best toy for any child.

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