The Best 6-12 Month Old Toys By Category

As your baby gets closer and closer to toddlerhood, playing with them becomes even more fun. Simply watching your child light up with excitement while playing is terrific on its own! But, as your baby grows and develops, you’ll want to ensure you have some of the best 6-12 month old toys on hand. 

Not only are these toys for babies 6-12 months fun, but they also help your baby learn and develop crucial skills. As you start to look at toys for your child, keep in mind that you might find an overwhelming number of suggestions to choose from.

But, here’s a tip, don’t be fooled by all the singing, flashy toys!

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have any toys that make funny sounds and light up. I’m just speaking from one parent to another; the novelty wears off after a while.

There is an excellent chance that your child will like that bright, noisy toy right off the bat. But, sooner or later, it will likely find a new home at the bottom of the toy box.

Let’s get started!

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Best 6-12 Month Old Toys: Cause and Effect

1. Stacking Toys

Stacking toys are a playtime staple for early learning; there is so much you can do with them!

Between stacking them up and knocking them down, playing in the bath, or putting other little toys inside of them, the list goes on!

Now, there are many stacking toys out there, so it can be hard to know what is best. We have these terrific, budget-friendly cups, these traditional stacking rings, and these cups that can turn into balls.

You might think three different stacking toys are a little much, but they are all so different! Each one is as fun as the next.

2. Bead Maze

Bead mazes are an excellent toy for developing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Your little one simply moves each bead throughout the maze and can watch them fall over the big inclines!

We have this one, and it was one of my son’s favorite toys around this age!

3. Wooden Activity Cube

Activity cube toys are incredible at keeping babies attention. What’s cool about activity cubes is that there is a different kind of activity on each side to explore. 

Another reason I love this activity cube is that it’s very well made. The wood is sturdy, the paint hasn’t chipped after all its use, and it’s surprisingly budget-friendly!

4. Pop-Up Surprise Toys

Pop-up surprise toys are excellent for babies because they help develop those tiny hand muscles! Not to mention, they are essential for teaching cause-and-effect.

Another incentive with this toy is that there are so many elements; each pop-up has its unique way of opening and different sounds!

5. Shape Sorter

Shape sorters are a very traditional toy; they have been around for so long, but there are many new variations to choose from. You can choose between plastic or wood, colorful or neutral; the options go on!

My son has wood and plastic shape sorters, and he has always preferred this one. The benefits of this shape sorter are that as your child gets older, they can start to learn each color, pair up the shapes, and even learn to count them!

6. Press & Stay Sensory Blocks

Blocks are great toys for kids of every age! Because it’s an open-ended toy, there are so many different ways your child can play with them. 

As your baby gets older and has more interest in stacking and building with blocks, these ones will be perfect! 

These Press & Stay blocks are fantastic because they are easier for small children to stack. Once you press one onto the other, they stick together! Not to mention, these blocks have a unique sensory texture that kids love to play with!

7. High Chair Toys

High chair toys like this one are essential when you need your baby to stay put and entertained in their high chair while preparing meals.

I like that this toy is pretty simple yet very entertaining and exciting. Plus, it can detach from the suction cup for your baby to play with outside of the high chair! 

Another bonus of this toy is that it helps develop your baby’s tracking skills. Your baby can track the colorful objects as they go around the wheel.

8. Busy Learning Bot

This little robot is a big hit with my child, even at 2-years-old! This cute robot plays fun music and has different things to push or turn on each side which is excellent for their fine motor skills.

Another awesome thing about this toy is that it asks your baby to push specific buttons. As your child gets older, this is great to help them learn things like colors, opposites, and counting.

9. Fat Brain Toys – Dimpl

This Fat Brain toy is so simple yet entertaining that any child loves to play with it. If you have heard of fidget toys before, I think that’s the category where this toy would land.

The concept for this toy is that your baby pushes the colorful bubbles so they pop out the other side of the toy. Then, your baby can flip the toy over and do it again!

Another bonus with this toy is that if your baby is teething, they will love to chew on it! My son often chewed on this toy in the first stages of teething.

10. Fat Brain Toys – InnyBin

Fat Brain Toys are always excellent quality and very entertaining. That’s why two of them landed on this list of the best 6-12 month old toys!

The InnyBin is a cube made with elastic bands around the sides. It comes with six large textured shapes that your baby has to push through the elastic. Once the shapes are inside the cube, your child can work at getting them back out again.

This toy is great for developing your baby’s problem-solving skills and teaching them shapes and colors!

11. Steering Wheel

Children love to imitate their parents, even at such a young age! A baby steering wheel like this one is great for imaginary play and helping grow your baby’s fine motor skills.

12. Baby Phone/ Baby Remote

Baby gadgets like this phone and this remote are fun because, as I mentioned above, kids love to imitate us! I don’t let my son play with my cell phone, so a baby phone is the perfect no-screen alternative!

My son loves both of these toys so much. They play fun songs and have so many different sounds and sayings that they aren’t annoying and repetitive.

Best 6-12 Month Old Toys: Books

13. Touch And Feel Books

Touch and feel books are a great way to get babies interested in reading! If you’re not familiar with touch and feel books, they have fun and exciting things to touch on each page.

For example, some touch and feel books have fuzzy patches or flaps; others might have mirrors or different textures!

My son’s favorite touch and feel books are these ones. They have rubber patches on each page that have different designs to touch. Not to mention they are just cute books!

14. Mini Board Books

Mini board books are great because they easily fit your baby’s tiny hands! Another reason they are ideal is that they are simple, straightforward stories.

Once your baby is much older and begins to learn how to read, these will be excellent starter books!

There are many different packs of mini board books, but we have these and these, and our son really enjoys them. Often, he loves to carry them around or stack them into a mini-book tower.

Best 6-12 Month Old Toys: Promote Standing or Walking

15. Activity Table

Once your baby learns how to pull themselves to standing, they will love this table! It has so many different things to interact with and even different learning stages to grow alongside your child.

The other cool thing about this table is that you can use it without attached legs. This way, you can place it on the floor, and your baby can crawl around it to play before they learn to stand.

16. Walker

Walkers are great tools to help your child as they learn how to walk. In addition to walking assistance, walkers like this one have activity walls that your baby can sit or stand and play with. Not to mention, this walker comes in a few different colors!

If you choose to get a walker, make sure that your baby is in a secure area and can’t push it down a set of stairs.

Related Articles:

• The Best Board Books Every Toddler Should Have
• Easy Mess-Free Finger Painting For Babies or Toddlers
• Fun Mold-Free Bath Toys For Babies and Toddlers
• How To Declutter Toys (the Easy Way!)

17. Chomp and Clack Alligator

Melissa and Doug brand toys are always of great quality; you certainly get what you pay for! And this Chomp and Clack Alligator is no exception.

Similar to the walker toy above, this push toy can help assist your child as they are learning to walk. A benefit to this walking toy is that it gives you an electronic-free option for your child. 

What’s exciting about this toy is that as your child pushes it, the alligators chomp to make a fun clacking noise.

18. Pull-Along Toys

Pull-along toys like this one are great because it encourages your baby to walk, and they make walking fun!

As your baby walks, they will pull the toy, and it will follow behind them. Most of these kinds of toys will make clacking sounds along with fun movements that your toddler will love.

My son has this one, and when he’s not pulling it behind him, he will carry it around like a little pet. It’s so cute!

What to look for in 6-12 month old toys:

When choosing toys for your baby, you will want a wide variety. Having a combination ensures that your baby will have something new to keep their attention. Here are the best things to look for in 6-12 month old toys:

Age Appropriate

One of the first things you will want to look at in a new toy is the intended age group. If you are shopping for a 6-month-old, you don’t want to buy a toy labeled for an 18-month-old.

Buying age-appropriate toys are best because they won’t be too complicated for your baby.

For example, if your baby is 6-months-old, and you find a toy labeled 9-months, you can certainly use your judgment to decide if it would be a good fit.

You will also want to make sure that the toy doesn’t have any small parts as they can be a choking risk.

Not Overstimulating

A great toy will undoubtedly stimulate your baby, but you don’t want one that will be too stimulating.

Overstimulation can cause your baby to become cranky and start crying. That certainly won’t lead to a fun playtime!

To avoid overstimulation, you will want to ensure you don’t have too many loud and bright toys. As your baby grows and gets older, they will start to like these toys more, but you still want to make sure you have a variety, as I mentioned above.

Promotes Learning

Every parent wants their child to learn new things! An excellent opportunity to help your child learn is by providing toys that are fun while teaching your baby.

In addition to your child learning the apparent things like colors, animals, shapes, and numbers, they will also need to understand critical things like cause and effect!

You’ll also love: The Best Things To Teach Your 1-Year-Old

Promotes Motor Skill Development

Helping your baby develop their motor skills is so important. You will want toys that help your child develop their fine motor skills and gross motor skills.

When your baby develops their fine motor skills, they utilize the small muscles in their hands. For example, as your baby starts to pick up food pieces to feed themselves, that is their fine motor skills in action!

On the other hand, when your baby utilizes their large muscle groups, that’s their gross motor skills. Gross motor skills don’t only include things like walking but also things like hand-eye coordination.

Washable

Having washable toys is so important! There will be times when there is an accidental spit-up on a new toy. And even if there isn’t any spit-up, there will be drool. Lots and lots of drool.

Even if you think your kiddo won’t be interested in a particular toy, try it anyway! I know, I’ve been surprised by a few toys that my son enjoyed.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these toys don’t suddenly become boring once your baby is 12 months old.

Many of these toys will be favorites for a long time. With this in mind, check out this post on 0-6 month old toys. Many of the toys in this post are still fun as your baby gets older.

Before you go, check out these related articles:

• Easy 6-Month-Old Baby Activities
• Simple 9-Month-Old Baby Activities
• Fun 12-Month-Old Baby Activities
• The Best Outdoor Toys For Toddlers
• How To Discipline Your 1-Year-Old (Effectively)

Which of these best 6-12 month old toys are your favorite? I would love to know in the comments below!

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