Quiet Toys??

[Syd]

I'm on the lookout for some quiet toys for DS to take to church. He's 10 months. I have some soft books and quiet teethers, but... I'd like something fun/special that would just be used at church. It seems like they don't even make quiet toys anymore!!

I actually have something in mind, but I'm not sure they make it. I'd love a soft barn with animals. All that I'm finding are animals that make noise, though.

Any suggestions??

[Jen841]

What gives us some peace:
Noah's ark soft toy we have (but ruled out now b/c he loves to make animal noises)
Crayons and coloring book
Books ("special" books for church)
Magna Doodle

[mommyj_2]

Someone just sent my DS the Haba Hugging Sheep, and it instantly became his favorite toy. It's for 6 months+. My DS is almost 2, and he likes to use it for pretend play. It would be great for a 10 month old, too, because it has a wood head, feet, and arms, and then a furry body. Haba also makes a hugging bear, but I'm partial to the sheep.
Another option would be Haba finger puppets, or many of the Haba toys here:
https://www.naturalfamilyboutique.com/Shop/HABAQuickPick.aspx?Images=On
You can PM me for a discount code if you decide to buy any of them.

When he's a little older, wooden trains would be another great idea. My DS loves taking one or two cars with him when we go out.

HTH

[August Mom]

10 months may be a little young for this, but DS has loved the Baby Einstein Traveling Flash Cards for a long time. FWIW, when we bought them, they were labeled for 6 months+, but now are labeled for 36 months+. I don't know why. They are basically circular cards on a ring with pictures of all sorts of animals and items. Later, you can talk about letter and counting, but he mainly just liked flipping through them and looking at the photos when he was younger.

We also used to take Lamaze's Celeste the Sun to church. It does have a squeaker at the end of a ray, but DS could never squeeze it so it wasn't an issue.

ETA: I searched for a soft barn and came up with these possibilities. They look interesting and like they might work for you, but I don't know anything about the sites.

http://www.flibberkids.com/toybags.htm

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content/202215559?page=816270&sp=66013&event=51500TOYS

[jhaud]

i saw something like the barn you are describing at Sam's Club today. It had a book with it or was a fabric book with animals that fit in a skinny barn.

good luck... i've thought on this too for my 9 month old, but thus far dh is not joining me in church... (i'm trying to get him there) so sunday mornings are daddy time!

i did look at the post with the links, and the first one especially looks like something my dd may have to have!

[alkagift]

When my son was that age we used the Baby Einstein flashcards too, mostly just for the colorful pictures. We also had the Sassy "photo album" which has four or so spaces for pictures. Another tried and true for travel and church was the Sassy wallet, which has plastic keys, "change" and "credit cards" which the baby can take in and out of the wallet. Soft animals were always a hit too.

I noticed that Sassy also makes soft "PeekaBoo" blocks that you can open and take things out of. As long as they didn't rattle, that would be a real winner.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/25811.jpg

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[August Mom]

ITA about the photo album and Sassy wallet. Those were great. I put pictures of family members in the photo album. The only potential problem with the Sassy wallet is if your DC likes to take things out and throw or drop them. You might have little Sassy coins rolling up the aisle.

[jamsmu]

For barn animals, you can get the FP Little People Barn. We don't even use the barn part, just the animals that I carry in the diaper bag.

Another idea for quiet play, though maybe a little better in a few months, is the FP Doodle Pro (formerly called the Magnadoodle). They come in all different sizes and they're wonderful!!

[Syd]

Wonderful, wonderful ideas everyone! Thank you!! Now, I just have to make a decision...!

Thanks for that site with the soft play houses - that was what I was looking for. And darn Sams Club - I was just there and forced myself away from the book area! I may have to go back... I never knew finding the perfect toys would be so hard...!

Thanks again!