What toys are needed for children under 1 year old?

Everyone knows that children and toys are inseparable, they exist side by side with each other since ancient times of the existence of mankind. Kids play a lot and cannot imagine their life without toys. However, toys for newborns are a little different from those that older children play with. Some of them are not yet suitable for babies, who are just starting to get acquainted with the external environment. And which ones are suitable, let's figure it out.

To play or not to play?

Moms often ask when to give newborn toys? Until almost 1 month (namely, the first 2-3 weeks), toys for babies are optional things, and in principle he does not need them. The fact is that the crumbs, who have not yet turned a month old, have rather weak and undeveloped eyesight: he can hardly see his mother's face either, not only to play with some kind of toy, but even more so to hold it in his pen. Although, of course, it is possible to acquaint the little one with toys, but only under the strict supervision of an adult. During this period, a toy for a newborn is any object that will help the baby learn to follow him, determine the direction of movement. It is recommended to play with the baby in the first weeks of life no more than 2-3 minutes, so as not to overwork him.

Baby toys

First month

rattles

The main and first fun of almost all children of the first month is a rattle. The main feature of the rattle is that it makes different sounds - rustling, rattling, ringing, rattling, etc. This sound interests and fascinates the baby, forcing the head to turn towards him, to look for where the ringing or rustling comes from. As you understand, this is very useful for the development of hearing in particular and the brain in general.

The so-called rattle beads are usually hung on the crib or in the stroller - one of the most popular toys for babies in our country.

There are rattles that develop the baby's tactile sensations: made of fabric, with rubberized surfaces, with rustling or even vibrating details, etc. Some rattles are put on the crumbs' handle or leg, which gives him the opportunity to play with his limbs. Rattles-bracelets are very light, they can be played with by babies who do not yet know how to hold objects in their hands.

Bracelet rattles are a real find for babies, because they already want to play, but cannot yet hold objects in their hands.

But simple plastic rattles are not always good, as they can injure the baby. In his first month, he still has poor control over his arms and legs, he can hit himself on the head or face with it. Therefore, it is necessary to play with such a rattle only under the supervision of parents.

pendants

At 1 month old, a baby can be attached to the crib with a pendant toy. Its peculiarity is that it is attached with a bracket or a special arc. By the way, the mobiles that have become terribly popular in the past few years are from this series. A mobile is a so-called carousel on which various toys hang, small in size and, as a rule, very motley. Hanging toys on the carousel stimulate the baby to focus his eyesight, coordinate movements (after all, he will try to grab the toy or at least hit it). Music entertains him and develops his ear, while colorful objects on the carousel introduce him to colors, geometric shapes and much more.

A mobile is perhaps the best fun for a kid who lies all the time: toys hang right in front of him, he will examine them and try to get them with his pen.

Mobiles are very diverse, almost all spin and play pleasant melodies that the child likes. Some models are mechanical (start with a key), some are electric (have a battery included).

If we talk about which toys are the best for infancy, then the mobile in this list will be in 1st place. This children's "gadget" will last up to 3-4 months, after which it can be replaced with a play mat with arcs.

Mobile-projector-night light for the crib - a magical option for the little man. He will look at him for a long time, giving mommy time to relax or do some business.

2-3 month

2-month-old peanuts during this period begin to be interested in faces. Of course, because from birth he sees the faces of mom and dad, and now he is ready to perceive “surrogates” of the face, to interact with them. We are talking here about dolls, as well as toys that reproduce or imitate a human face or facial expressions. A baby 2 or 3 months old willingly plays with smiling animals or dolls, smiles back at them, walks and talks to them in his "infant" language.

As a rule, babies of two months are not yet able to crawl and sit, they only have the opportunity to examine objects. Therefore, it is desirable that the objects for games be larger, and their "features" more expressive.

Tumbler

A tumbler doll, as a rule, has large, well-drawn eyes and cheerful facial expressions that attract a child. If the doll is shaken, it will make a pleasant iridescent ringing.

rag doll

A great option is rag dolls. Most often, they are made of flexible materials, so that they can be planted, bringing them closer or further away from the child, and giving them other poses. With such a doll, you can “talk”, dance or just jump with her, which will definitely please a baby of 2 or 3 months.

Animals, birds, etc.

Toys depicting animals (cats, dogs, cubs, giraffes, etc.) and birds (cockerels, parrots, etc.) are very common. It is important here that the expression on the “face” of the animal is positive, joyful. It is better to get a toy with big eyes and a smiling mouth. Then the baby will smile back at him. And it’s very good if the animal has some kind of light or sound effect. Such a "bonus" will certainly delight and surprise the child.

There are also so-called “unknown little animals” on sale, namely, characters from fairy tales or a completely incomprehensible origin of a creature. For example, kolobok, cheburashka, luntik, smeshariki, etc. Such toys for newborns are suitable for a toddler only if they look good-natured and not aggressive.

4-5 month

Toddlers 4 months of age and a little older are already exploring the world around them. They stretch their hands if they want a rattle, and the brighter and more attractive it is, the longer it will entertain him. 4 and 5 month old baby is easy to take: he is interested in literally everything!

During this period, the kids train the “double grip”, that is, they try to take the toy with two handles at once, so it’s worth buying for it either something like a wooden spoon or an object with a long handle to make it comfortable to hold. Almost all 4 or 5 month old babies like objects that can be transferred from one hand to another - rings, balls, cubes, dolls, etc.

Stuffed Toys

Children of this age are interested in bears, bunnies and monkeys, which can be pulled and grabbed by long parts of the body - paws, noses, ears and tails. It is desirable that such soft toys be lint-free, as the baby will pull them into his mouth.

In fairness, it must be said that many pediatricians do not advise buying them for babies under one year old, because dust and bacteria accumulate in the villi of the materials. Therefore, if the animal was purchased or donated to a baby, then it is good to periodically expose it to the sun, which kills bacteria, and wash it in a typewriter.

And one more piece of advice: baby cribs are not baskets for collecting toys, you don’t need to “decorate” them with soft, much less large toys. Children of this age are already actively rolling over and may accidentally bury their nose in the beast.

It is worth paying attention to soft cubes with a variety of tactile elements that develop fine motor skills.

Soft cubes are safe and durable, they are light as a feather and absolutely silent, they are machine washable. With their help, you can learn colors and numbers.

Bi-ba-bo doll

This is a glove doll that is put on a person’s hand and “comes to life”: it starts moving, picking up various objects and talking. Undoubtedly, a baby who is only 5 months old cannot yet put on such a “glove” and control it, but he will watch with delight how an adult does it. With a bi-ba-bo doll, you can play "cuckoo", she will teach the child how to say hello, wish him good night and good morning (this can even be done as a ritual).

The baby will love playing with the glove doll, because she speaks and sings in the voice of her mother!

Books

Now you can already start reading poems or short stories to newborns, showing pictures. The kids will enjoy listening to you and looking at the drawings. A book with reinforced pages can be given to a child to feel. He will definitely try to turn the pages.

During the same period, children are happy to play with rattles, those that they already have, and with dolls, and with animals, and also happily lie in play mats. They still do not have time to get bored with these fun and are quite age-appropriate.

half a year

Children of 6 months are already doing an excellent job with objects: they take them on their own, shift them and perform various actions with them. Now they are only interested in objects, and emotional communication, which only yesterday brought them joy, is relegated to the background. You can even check: if you take a six-month-old child in your arms and try to communicate with him, smile at him, most likely, he will not react in any way, but will actively study small and large objects that he finds on an adult - earrings, beads, chains, hair or collar . Knowing this feature of babies of this age, you can purchase slingobuses in advance so that the baby does not get bored sitting on the arms. This is especially true for "tame" children.

Educational

Educational toys - this is what you should especially look at now. The baby, living his 6th month, is ready for more complex and complex games, contributing to the further honing of movements. It can be:

• nesting dolls;
• pyramids;
• throwing rings;
• sensory balls;
• clockwork toys (when playing with them, the presence of an adult is required);
• cubes of bright colors, etc.

Musical mate

This is a very useful "gadget" for a six-month-old baby. The rug makes sounds of different musical instruments - piano, violin, drum, trumpet, several works of famous classical composers are programmed in it, which will allow the child to get acquainted with classical music. The baby must be placed on the tummy on the rug, and he will only have to clap the keys with a pen.

This interactive mat with sounds will not only please the baby, but also become a platform for his creative development.

During this period, the baby also needs bath toys (including a bath book), a plastic mirror, household or household items that you can also play with (jars, lids, cups, spoons, etc.)

7-8 months

More and more changes are happening in the life of a 7-month-old baby. He already knows how to roll over from his back to his stomach and back, some children sit and even crawl. The movements of the little man are even more precise and purposeful.

Favorite games for a 7 or 8 month old child are still cubes. Only now he does not just examine them and pulls them into his mouth, the little one is trying to build something out of them.

The pyramid is also still in the arsenal of the baby's favorite toys, especially now he just loves to shift or put something on top of each other.

Glasses (as well as a pyramid of glasses) from now on will be the “favorites” of the kids for a long time because of their versatility: you can put something in them, pour something, you can build pyramids from them and play “in the kitchen”.

A pyramid of cups is a long-lasting toy, every kid should have it. The cups are multifunctional: they are inserted into each other, you can pour or pour something into them.

Musical electronic toys. Their diversity can scare parents a little, but let the size of the gadget be a guideline first. It should fit in the baby's hand. To begin with, it is better to purchase the simplest "music center" containing 1-2 buttons that will make 1 pleasant (not loud and not sharp!) sound or melody.

During this period, you can already buy walkers, jumpers, hanging swings and the like. The sixth month is the most suitable for this.

9-10 months

A 10-month-old baby is simply unrecognizable. He stands steadily on his legs, holding on to a support, stepping uncertainly along the barrier. Maybe he's already started walking. More and more objects are available to him for research. Now the child needs toys for the development of fine and gross motor skills, as well as those that will help to master speech, walking and running.

The "game library" of the baby is replenished with more and more "fancy" toys, although he can still play with cubes, pyramids, animals, balls and nesting dolls. Now it is already big enough to try playing with the constructor or assembling a mosaic. Only an adult must follow such a game, since the baby can swallow small parts or choke on them, because he still tastes everything.

At 9-10 months, the crumbs have a favorite toy. Now the mother, on whom the child has been dependent for so long, will have to share the love of the baby with this item, but this is a very important stage in his life. After all, this love is the first attempt to show their independence.

1 year

A toddler who is one year old can play with anything. These are toys that were bought for him up to a year old, and household items, and games that are specially designed for kids 1 year old and older.

sorter

Educational fun, the purpose of which is to help sort objects according to some attribute (by size or shape). A striking example of a sorter is a toy with various holes for which you need to select the appropriate shapes. These figurines are either precisely inserted into the holes, or fall into them. The benefits of such entertainment are undeniable. It develops fine motor skills and thinking of babies who are one year old, and is also suitable for older children.

The sorter contributes to the development of attention and perseverance in the crumbs. Thanks to that toy, the baby learns to analyze, compare, observe.

Puzzles

A puzzle game consisting of a large number of pieces that need to be assembled into a single picture. Fun and suitable for 1 year olds.

A good gift for a baby for a year will be a miracle car (wheelchair), a play tunnel, a house-tent, a bicycle with a handle for mom or dad.

geometric constructor

Suitable for a baby who is already one year old, as well as children of 2 years old. The elements of such a constructor are geometric shapes (cubes, cylinders, pyramids). Playing with such a designer, the little one perfects the coordination of movements, building turrets, placing a cube on a cube, and gets acquainted with the basic laws of nature, geometry.

It trains fingers, develops logical thinking, introduces geometric shapes, teaches to classify objects according to some feature (triangle, square, etc.).

Nuances of choice

Before buying a toy for your child, you need to consider the following nuances:

• What toys (from what materials) are the safest? First of all, those that can be easily disinfected. From this point of view, rubber and plastic options are preferable (this, of course, if we do not consider the quality of rubber and plastic).
• You need to pay attention to color. Do not buy very bright children's toys. When they are deep red or poisonous green, then the likelihood that they contain a safe dye is not very high. Colors should be moderate.
• A toy for babies should not have a taste, it should not be bitter.
• You need to purchase only such toys from which you can not bite off anything. It is especially necessary to strictly ensure that there are no details on the toy that a baby up to a year old can tear off and swallow - buttons, ropes, buttons, etc. For information: if, for example, a teddy bear has buttons as eyes, then such an eye - the button must withstand a load of 9 kg. You can check this yourself at home: tie a load of 9 kg to your eye and pull the soft beast up. The button must withstand this load.
• It is not very good to buy a toy "for growth". The fact is that all children are very different: one easily puts together puzzles already at the age of seven months, and the other barely mastered the pyramid in a year.