Top 5 (or 6) Toys

I did a list a while back about the top toys for a younger baby. Here are my current top 6 toys for babies:

1. Anything not a toy. Yep, you read right. Toys are nice, but babies love exploring their world and giving them everyday items to play with is easy and makes them quite happy. I try and see all things I have as potential Alexis toys. Instead of throwing out a box, I let her have it. Or an empty wipes container (put something in it, shake it, then show her what is inside). Or simply junk mail she can crinkle and look at. I even took a good hint from Supernanny and made a lower cabinet that Alexis can get into her own cabinet. That is, everything in it is stuff that is safe for her to play with. She loves all this access to fun things to discover and play with.

2. Fisher Price Learning Home: Alexis was given this for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. She's always going over to play with it. It teaches the alphabet, time, sorting, shapes, opposites, music songs, etc. It has a door that opens and shuts, light that goes on and off, a door bell, shapes, night and day spinner, clock and more. I can already tell that this toy will grow with her and she is going to adore it for a long time as she begins to really play house.

3. Stride to Ride Dino and Learning Zebra Scooter: Alexis got both of these as gifts. Each one can be a push walker or a ride on toy. She likes both equally. She literally spends equal time with each: one day it's the dino, the next day it's the zebra. Both play music and have fun buttons to push. The zebra also comes with an attachable basket. The dino can be used earlier, at nine months. This is because the dino opens up so that a small child can get closer to the handles to walk. The zebra is listed to start at 18 months, but Alexis started walking with it at 13 months and had no problem.

4. My Pal Violet (or Scout, if you want the boy version): This toy is one of the best I have ever seen. Violet is a soft dog toy that sings, talks and plays bedtime music. But the best thing of all is that you can hook up Violet to the computer and customize her. Violet says (and spells!) Alexis' name! She also has songs that include Alexis' favorite food, color and animal. Thus, Violet grows with your child since you can change her at any time.

5. Learn and Groove Music Table: This is a toy that Alexis loved around 9 months. Granted, she plays less with it now, but she keeps going back to it through out the day to play with it even now. It teaches colors, shapes, alphabet, numbers, high and low sounds, lights on and off and the sounds of different instruments. It has two modes: learning and music. I recommend this especially for kiddoes learning to stand.

6. Rock-A-Stack: A classic and one our daughter keeps playing with. This teaches colors and sorting and staking. Simple, but a great toy that Alexis enjoys consistently.

Honorable Mention: Follow Me Fred is a dog that moves across a room. He is great for kids learning to crawl. Alexis still enjoys watching Fred, although she can now beat him across the room :-D. The Taggie Ball is another great toy. Alexis doesn't play with it all the time, but she does all of a sudden get interested in it again and want to shake it. I think as she grows she will want to throw it back and forth with us.

Finally, I have to mention Alexis' new favorite toy, the Mega Bloks Cinderella Carriage. I got this from a friend who was giving away old toys. Alexis can't get enough of these blocks. She likes taking them in and out of the carriage and putting them together and pulling them apart. She has spent so much time on this toy. It's not sold anymore, but if you can find it for a good price on ebay, it's worth it.