With the festive season right on our doorstep, you might be wondering what you should get your baby for their first Christmas! Today I’d like to share a few of my favourite gift toys for babies to help you with your Christmas shopping this year! You’ll find links to each of the products in Australian stores and Amazon US.
Galt Pop Up Toy
Where to buy: Amazon AUS* | Amazon US*
This was a lucky find of mine over on Amazon one day. I was browsing for something to spend my giftcard on and spotted this wonderful toy! The little coloured peg people pop in and out thanks to concealed springs inside the wooden frame. Our babies all loved poking the peg people with their finger and watching them pop out. It’s a great toy for exploring cause and effect, colour sorting, hand-eye coordination, visual tracking and more!
Play Silks
Where to buy: The Creative Toy Shop* | Amazon US*
We love play silks – they’re such a wonderful resource that will be loved for many years. When our big kids were babies, we’d hang them from their baby gyms, hide them in old wipe containers and use them to play peek-a-boo! As our children have gotten older, they love to use them as bases for their small world play!
Shape Puzzles
Where to buy: Educating Kids | Amazon AUS* | Amazon US*
These puzzles have been such a wonderful addition. When Audrey was younger, we introduced just the large circle puzzle. It was nice and easy because she didn’t have to manipulate the puzzle piece to get it to fit into the base. As her skills developed, we added the smaller circle too. This was quite a challenge for her to choose which circle went where.
I loved that we could slowly introduce more shapes to suit her needs. We’ve even changed them up by adding photos or images under the pieces for a fun peek-a-boo activity!
PipSquigz
Where to buy: The Creative Toy Shop* | Amazon AUS* | Amazon US*
Now we don’t actually own these – but we have the smaller Squigz which all of our children adore. The PipSquigz would be an amazing gift for younger babies and toddlers who are still mouthing because they’re nice and big! PipSquigz will help develop so many skills such as bilateral coordination, hand and arm strength, fine motor skills, cause and effect and so much more!
Sensory Balls
Where to buy: Amazon AUS* | Kmart | Amazon US*
One of my favourite invitations for babies are discovery baskets! They’re so easy to put together using things you already have around the home and they’re sure to be well loved by your curious baby. One of my favourite things to place inside are sensory balls! We’ve collected many of the years which we used for all kinds of fun invitations.
Pound-A-Ball
Where to buy: Tiny Tones | The Creative Toy Shop* | Amazon US*
We got this for Audrey’s Christmas present when she was about 1 year old and it has been SO well loved. Designed for your little learner to tap the balls into the holes, we actually grabbed our Grimms Balls* because they fit into the holes more like a posting toy. We actually never used it with the hammer or wooden balls that came with it! The balls make such a beautiful sound as they drop down the tower. Audrey still plays with this at 3 years of age!
Finger Puppets
Where to buy: Koori Curriculum | Amazon AUS* | Amazon US*
Many years ago, my aunty got me the cutest farm animal finger puppets on eBay! They’ve stayed with me for many years and have been so loved in our baby years especially! When Audrey was a baby, she LOVED birds – so we got her some Australian Bird finger puppets from Koori Curriculum which she adores!
Montessori Baby Toys
Where to buy: Etsy* | Monti Kids* | Lovevery*
There are so many incredible Montessori baby toy kits out there either as subscriptions or one off purchases. Each kit is thoughtfully designed with your baby’s development in mind. We had the Heirloom Baby Kits (Etsy*) pictured below for Audrey and they were SO well loved!
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed about getting playful with your baby, I’d love for you to check out our Baby Play Mini Series. I remember feeling so overwhelmed about how to play with my baby and set a really solid foundation for her future learning…so I’ve created a series of short videos and resources to help you create some magical memories of playtime with your little learner too!
*This blog post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). All of the products I link to are things we have personally used and loved!
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