Toys for my 8.5 month old

[JenCA]

I need some toy suggestions for my daughter, who is 8.5 months old. She currently has lots of "simple" toys, and I'm specifically looking for things that are a bit more interactive (i.e, wheels she can spin, things to sort and stack, etc.). She does have a shape sorter that she loves, but I think she's getting tired of it. She also has an exersaucer, a LeapFrog melody block, a FP fishbowl, and a FP activity center (again--I think she's getting tired of these things). Does anyone have any suggestions--things you've bought for your child(ren)that he/she/they loved at that age?

[votre_ami03]

Nolan is 9 + 1 week.

Here is what he palys with:
Leap Frog table
Peek a Blocks
Peek a Block wagon
Balls, small & large
FP Activity walker
Large cars/trucks

Nolan seems to like things he can push around or walk with. From a crawling position, he will push his cars/trucks back & forth. He stands & walks w/his FP walker toy. He pushes his peek a block wagon around while sitting.

Toys that make noise. :) He shakes his peek a blocks around & chews on them too. He loves to play &/or bang on his Leap Frog table.

He also loves to cuddle w/his stuffed toys.

I bought the LT 3 in 1 Sports center & the Busy Buzz mail box during the LT sale at TRU & he is mildly interested in these. I know these are popular w/babies their age though.


Christy, mommy to Nolan 7/22/03

[mik8]

My DD is only 10 days younger than Julia. Currently, she really LOVES peek-a-blocks. I have about close to 50 blocks right now. I got the exclusive set from Kohl's (I think there were 24 or 32) initially back during christmas and has added more to her growing collection. I put them in a basket (or plastic containers, bins, etc..) and lay it on the floor. She'll take each one out, looks at each piece, moves it from one hand to another or just enjoys chewing them! She also loves to push the plunger on her tolo carousel -

http://store.yahoo.com/kidsurplus/sma89594.html

If you have a little extra room, DD spends a great amount of time in her little tikes activity garden (just be prepared to have hammer or rubber mallets to install it -LOL!) It's perfect for her age now that she's starting to pull up and the height is just right.

Any stacking cups would be great at this age although more or less it goes straight to the mouth just like the peek-a-blocks. She has a set from sassy at Target for $4.50.

The Lamaze fish bowl is also one of her favorites (although you have the FP fishbowl similar to it). She loves taking the creatures in and out of the bowl.

She has other toys but these are the ones that are "preferred" at the present time.

[jk3]

My DS is almost 11 months old + here's a list of toys he has loved for the past few months:

Little Tikes Mailbox-a gift that I originally thought was pretty lame but he continues to play with this for extended amounts of time every day. I think you can find it at KBtoys.com for an excellent price.

LeapFrog Activity Table

Elephant Shape Sorter-don't know the brand but it's super cute + the shapes can be popped out of the mouth by pushing on the ears. He loves this toy!

Sesame Street Toy-the one that the characters pop up when baby spins the wheel, pushes a buttom, etc.

Fisher Price Farm-he's starting to get into this toy but always loved the animals

Fisher Price Stacking Blocks-This is an inexpensive toy, 7 or 8 dollars, but it's a longtime favorite!

It's also a good idea to rotate the toys. If you take away a toy for a week or two, they're very excited to see it again!

=)

[sadie427]

Sammy's one day younger than your DS! Here are our favorites:

--His absolute favorite is stacking cups--could play with them for hours.
--We have the Tiny Love "Developlay" activity center which is really great, can be used on the floor or on the side of the crib. Has a bunch of interactive stuff on it. Don't know how different this is from the FP activity ctr.
--Seems to like the peek-a-blocks, especially now when I put them in a cardboard shoebox, he will work really hard to open the box and then get the blocks out.
--A ball is nice to try to roll to them and stuff. We have a gymboree one that makes noise when it bounces but actually I wish I had just gotten a plain old rubber ball.
--We made a ball pit out of our pack and play with balls we bought at target ($12 for a box of 100, we have two boxes.) He has a good time in here and it is a safe place to put him when cooking dinner (we don't have an exersaucer.)
--Just got a shape sorter in the shape of a house, I think the brand is iplay, that also has doors you can open and put the shapes in.
--Finger puppets (not for his fingers, but for mine to play with him)
--Little tikes dumptruck
--Little tikes piano--again more for us to play with together but he can bang on it and make noise.

HTH!

[August Mom]

We're big fans of the Leapfrog Leapstart Learning Table. It has lots of activities. A Gertie ball is a nice toy at that age - easy to grasp. DS loved the FP Happy Vehicles (especially the cement mixer/spinner), although I'm not sure if they are still available. A toy you might like is the Curiosity Cube by Early Years. It has lots of activities to amuse your little one. http://www.geniusbabies.com/curiousity-cube-baby-toy.html

[mharling]

I think one of the best all-around toys that has been mentioned is stacking cups. Lane loves these and I am amazed at the number of ways we come up with to play with them. He has been playing with them almost every day since Christmas and are frequently the first thing he goes for when he's in his play area. We have the ones from Discovery and they're great! They are very basic (e.g each one is a solid color). There are 12 in the set which is the most I've seen.

The other thing Lane really got into that age (and still loves) is a box of chunky board books called [link:www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0811832783/qid=1083385461/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-4605375-2619347?v=glance&s=books&n=507846|Learning Block Books] (this link will take you to them on Amazon). I have also seen them at Target.

He loves opening the box and pulling books out. The size is perfect for his little hands and he will sit with them and flip through the pages. It's actually one of my favorite things to watch him do. I carry a couple in the diaper bag too. I think these have a lot of staying power. Highly recommended!!

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
[link:www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b370a2992536|Birthday Pics!!]

[August Mom]

Along the lines of Mary's suggestion, Sam's Club frequently has small books that fit on 2 "shelves" in a carrying case. He has nursery rhymes. Most recently I saw animal books. DS likes these even better than the Learning Block Books.

[jubilee]

One thing my son liked at that age and still enjoys is a Fisher Price toy that has four doors, each with a lever under the door to make a character pop up. Although he couldn't make the levers move at first, he loved closing the pop-up doors when I made them open. Now he can do it all on his own. His is a farm theme. I think it's called "pop up surprise?"

[sadie427]

As I said, stacking cups are Sammy's favorites too! And I just saw a 2-year-old at daycare enjoying them as well--of course he could actually stack them. I wonder what it is about those cups? Apparently they're more fun than blocks even. I never would have guessed, until I saw him playing with them.

[JenCA]

I REALLY like the ball pit suggestion! There is a ball pit in DD's room at daycare and many times when I've gone to pick her up, she's been happily playing in the ball pit. Thanks for the suggestion!

[JenCA]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! A few notes:

-we have stacking cups (it's a Tupperware set). DD is mildly interested in them.

-DD has around 4-5 sets of Peek-a-Blocks and has never really been interested in them. Last night, I gathered them all up and put them in a shoebox, and lo and behold, she went crazy! She loved to pull the lid off the box, pull a few blocks out, and then dump the box and watch the rest of them fall out. :)

-I looked for the LeapStart learning table yesterday, to no avail. Does Target not carry this item?

-I bought DD the LeapFrog learning piano yesterday--she LOVES it! I was thrilled to watch her push the buttons and piano keys on her own.

-Where can I find Little Tikes toys? My Target must be really lame because I could not find ANY yesterday! :(

[August Mom]

You should be able to get the Leapstart Activity Table at Target, Wal-Mart and BRU/TRU. I think it's also available at KB Toys.

I see Little Tikes toys at TRU and Wal-Mart.

I have one other suggestion. I can't believe I didn't mention it before. DS and I love it. He's really been able to play with different aspects of the toy over time. It's the Parents Alphablock Sorter. It is 8 soft, cloth-covered blocks, each with a letter or number and corresponding picture. 6 of the blocks have shapes that can be inserted and removed. 3 are rattles and 3 are teethers. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1083443388/ref=sr_1_1/602-4010633-6747042?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B00005BTL7

[sadie427]

We got the Little Tikes truck and piano at Toys R Us. Another good truck (if it's the truck you're looking for, not the piano) is by Tomy, called something like "push and go," you push a button and it speeds across the floor a few feet. Doesn't need batteries, it's all mechanical which is neat. He prefers the LT right now but I bet he'll like the other one more when he's a little older.

I definitely recommend the ball pit, and it's really fun when we have other babies over too. They have actual inflatable ball pits at target, but since I already had a pack and play I figured that would be easier. Only certain targets have the balls but it's worth searching them out as they're much cheaper than at Toys R Us.

[yyzmom]

My 9 month old son loves it when I blow bubbles with him. He likes to try and catch the bubbles and the activity keeps him occupied for 20 minutes or so.

[JenCA]

I found the LeapStart activity table at a different Target this weekend, DD LOVES it! Still can't find Little Tikes there, though, so I'll have to check TRU.

The Alphablock sorter looks very cool--I'll have to keep my eye open for that one. Thanks for the suggestions! :)

[votre_ami03]

We have the Alpha block sorter too & Nolan loves it! Parent's really has some great toys.


Christy, mommy to Nolan 7/22/03