Shopping for babies during the holidays is so much fun—everything is just so cute! Whether you’re a new parent looking to find something special for your little one or a proud aunt or uncle hoping to give a meaningful gift, baby toys can feel like a world of endless choices. But with so many options, it can be tricky to know which ones are truly great for their development (and which ones will actually keep them entertained). You want something that’s not only safe but also engaging, educational, and maybe even a little adorable for those photo ops.
This list is here to make gift-giving a little easier this season. We’ve put together a mix of toys that babies will love exploring with their senses, which is so important for their growth. From toys that help with hand-eye coordination to those that encourage creativity and exploration, you’re sure to find a winner here. Plus, these toys are parent-approved, meaning they’re durable, easy to clean, and designed to grow with your baby for months to come.
Why You’ll Love These Toys
The toys on this list aren’t just fun for babies; they’re designed to support essential developmental milestones like grasping, reaching, and discovering new textures and sounds. These toys will help babies start to understand cause and effect, and each one offers something unique to spark their curiosity. Parents and caregivers will appreciate that these toys offer meaningful play without being overly complicated. We’ve chosen options that are sturdy, simple to use, and easy to clean, making them perfect for everyday play.
Each of these toys has something special to offer—whether it’s the gentle rattle sound that grabs their attention, the soft fabric they love to explore with little hands, or a light-up feature that brings out smiles. With any of these toys, you’ll feel great knowing you’re giving a gift that supports a baby’s development while making their holiday season extra special.
OK, are you ready to check off all the babies 0 to 1 year old from your Christmas list?!?
Best Toys for Infants and Babies
Spinning Stacking Toy
Flip Fish Soft Baby Toy
Musical DJ Set Toy
Crawling Crab
Surprise Barn with Stuffed Farm Animals
Fu Store Hollow Teether Tube Chew Straw
TV Remote Control Shape Teething Relief Baby Toy
Stacking Ring STEM Learning Toy
Whale Bath Toy
VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
Montessori Mirror Peekaboo Knob Puzzle
The spinning rainbow drum is a fun Montessori material used to enhance tummy time and fine motor skills.
Sarah’s Silks Playsilks
Made from 100% real silk, opened ended and uniquely soothing sensory toy for babies.
Happy Buckets Set Bath Toy
My babies really enjoy playing with these in the bath. They are quite tough plastic so they easily survived being bashed around!
Wood Baby Gym
This Montessori inspired wood baby gym is perfect to encourage hand & eye coordination and tummy time for newborns and babies.
Fat Brain Toys Klickity Baby Toy
Learning Crawl Toy Beetbox
Skip Hop Explore & More Activity Table
Featuring two stages of play for baby and toddlers, plus 20 developmental activities, kids will love to grab, rock and roll eight cute and colorful balls. A light-up piano, swirl slide and more awesome features, add to the action-packed fun.
Freddie The Firefly
This friendly bug has a soft velour body with lots of bright colors, patterns and textures to stimulate all the senses. His layered wings include a peek-a-boo mirror for interactive play and multiple textures, shapes and crinkles that encourage baby to explore.
Soft Toddler Blocks, 5.5-Inch Foam Cubes
12 brightly colored 5.5 inch soft toddler blocks are designed just for tender hands and feet. Encourage manual manipulation, exploration and color recognition for pre-school aged children by introducing the primary color blocks into a home. Children can have tons of imaginary fun stacking, building and playing with these soft cubes.
Fat Brain Toys pipSquigz
Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube
Introduce your little one to inspiring music and interactive play with the fun Mozart Magic Cube. Perfect for all ages, the Mozart Magic Cube inspires creativity and interactive play while teaching how sounds combine to create eight classical music masterpieces by the master composer. With a touch of a button, this interactive cube lets your child add or subtract from any combination of five different instruments.
Baby Bath Toy Organizer
The enlarged extra storage space can hold more toys in one place and keep your kids’ bath toys from sitting in the bathtub.
MiniSpinny
From reaching and grasping to exploring and counting – It’s a go-anywhere sensory adventure that stimulates and strengthens growing young brains!
Fat Brain Toys pipSquigz
Teether and Grasping Activity Toy
A classic, multi-sensory clutching rattle that encourages grasping and reaching which are important for gross motor skills.
Felt Puzzle
A cozy, fuzzy twist on classic shape-matching puzzle!
Tobbles Neo
This stacking toy is just right for little hands. Stacking, toppling, spinning, balancing, wobbling, tilting, and wiggling! Another welcome invitation to timeless play.
Crinkle Book
Tummy Time Prop & Play
Fisher-Price Linkimals Lights & Colors Llama
The llama’s 25+ songs, sounds, tunes and phrases introduce your baby to different colors. And when other Linkimals friends are around, llama chats, sings, and lights up with them!
Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack
From grasping and shaking to sorting and stacking, the Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack toy has tons of fun ways for your baby to play and explore. Babies can sort and stack all five rings, then bat at the wobbly base to see what happens, helping to enhance their curiosity and sense of discovery.
Fisher-Price Baby’s First Blocks Playset
Musical Toy Caterpillar
Designed with love to support baby’s development, engage their senses, stimulate their imagination, encourage movement, problem-solving, and exploration.
HABA Magica Clutching Toy
Battat – Wooden Activity Cube – Discover Farm Animals Activity Center
Melissa & Doug Pet Animals Knob Wooden Puzzle
First 100 Words Lift-the-Flap: Over 35 Fun Flaps to Lift and Learn
Fat Brain Toys Dimpl
Fat Brain Toys Suction Kupz
PETUOL Kids Musical Instruments 24pcs Wood Percussion Instruments Toys Set
Penguin Musical Wobbler
This Penguin Music Wobbler is very stimulating for babies and toddlers aged 6 months and up. The bright colors stimulate development and the cheerful tunes emitted by the Penguin are perfect to wobble along with.
O Ball 1-Piece Rattle & Roll Car
Sassy Floor Mirror
Roller-pillar Activity Balls
Ditty Bird Interactive Nursery Rhymes Book and Toy Maracas
Xylophone
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
