Once our babies start to get close to the year mark, toys start getting bigger and playroom explosions start to happen.
Decide how you are going to organize your playspace (we talk about this in Little Crawlers and Little Walkers!) and what your priorities are. Don’t worry if your little one is not quite ready to use all their gifts, they change so fast!
Gift ideas for 6-12 months old baby
- A Tunnel: A tunnel is a great way to work on crawling skills (and your favorite pediatric physical therapist says don’t skip crawling!!). Tunnels allow for peek a boo, object permanence understanding, and developing important motor skills. I love the ones that fold flat so you can store in a closet or under the couch.
- A small block set, Scotty has a few sets of blocks and loved them the past 6 months! At first you can stack the tower for them and let them knock it down. You can then work towards stacking 2-3 blocks and banning blocks together. We have a few sets but this one is always a fan favorite (and too big for them to attempt to fit into their mouth!)
- If you have space a climbing set is wonderful! Couch cushions on the floor work great but if you have the room a Nugget Comfort or, foam climbing set are great options. We chose the Nugget Comfort because I felt it had more long term potential for open ended play. Many families also look into a pikler triangle at this age which can also provide longer term open ended play options.
- A baby band set like this one! Getting your little one some musical toys helps them start to understand rhythm, cause and effect (they move the toy to get the effects of sound)
- Your first ball set is a great stocking stuffer. Your little one can start to work on pushing, rolling, and corralling a ball with their hands. It is a great way to engage with your child and work on sitting and standing balance!
- A push toy (Not a walker that you place baby in), I could do a whole post on push toys, there are so many options! Overall you want heavier so your little one doesn’t fall while learning to use it. They should be pulling to stand and performing supported standing safely before beginning to use a push toy. I like wagons and grocery cars like this one because as your child ages they can push and pull toys and it may last longer. Another favorite is the Melissa and Doug Alligator Push Toy
- Keep an Eye on Compleo.Podia.Com and our social media for our Little Crawlers and Little Walkers Courses. Give the gift of quality time and movement to your little one!
- The Essentials: At this age this can look like diapers, clothes, or eating utensils as your child should be starting to eat. We progressed from the honey bear cup to a weighted straw cup and are currently (11 months) utilizing the tommy tippee straw cup. We also have an EZPZ Weighted Cup to start working on drinking from an open cup. There are great baby utensil and suction plate options. If you eat out I highly recommend disposable placemats for them to eat off of at restaurants.
- I love all toys from Fat Brain like this one to work on in/out concepts. The Fat Brain Dimpl toy has been a fan favorite in our house! Fat Brain Toys encourage open ended concepts and putting things together/taking things apart.
- Toys that you might need over the next year (see our 12-18 month guide): Don’t be scared to think ahead, especially those of you whose little ones are Nov/Dec babies. A lot can change in a year! We actually put toys on our family wish list that won’t be appropriate until summer but having a December Birthday he only gets big family presents once a year.
This has been a hard year! Christmas is still a month away and you have time to shop around. Above are great Amazon Links but many of these items are in your local toy shops. I encourage you to try to find some of them locally to support small business (Shameless plug from a fellow small business owner). Happy Shopping!
What do you think we missed?
**Kelsey Baas is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
