Best toys for 0 to 6 months-old infants
[mme_highlight] Good toys choices in this age group are: mobiles, soft blocks, soft dolls, soft squeeze balls, keys on a ring, rattles, plush animals, soft hand puppets and mirrors. Prefer toys with bright primary colors, simple designs, bull’s eye pattern and whose noises are not too loud. [mme_highlight]
Play is essential for children, contributing to the cognitive, physical, social development as well as for their emotional and general well-being. The importance of playing for an optimal development children is reflected in the recognition by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights of playing as a right of every child.
Parents and Educators aware and promoting the right of children to play, want to choose the right toys for every age, which can be a challenge. Knowing the main developmental milestones and features of each age may be a great help to choose the most appropriate toys. Thus, when choosing a toy, always ensure it meets the general characteristics of a good toy: safety, durability and suitability for the age group. Beware of toys containing small parts because of its inherent chocking risk.
What are the main developmental milestones between birth and 6 months?
Between birth and 6 months, babies’ visual focus improves and they can follow objects with their eyes. In addition, babies can turn head towards a sound. Infants at this age make progresses regarding control of feet, so you will see them putting feet to mouth. Of relevance, during this period babies start sitting with support.
At a cognitive level, they recognize familiar faces and shows object preferences. The mentioned skills reflect at a social level: babies smile, show interest in faces and contact with people and, importantly, they start babbling and imitating sounds.
What kind of toys to prefer between birth and 6 months?
Generally, prefer toys that meet your baby’s interests at this age: looking, listening, sucking and touching.
As for looking, prefer toys with bright primary colors, simple designs and bull’s eye pattern (babies follow with eyes as you move the bull’s eye). It appears that both male and female infants between the ages of 3 and 5 months like red most and green least, so you can take this in account when choosing toys for your baby. Regarding the sound features of toys, you can choose toys which make noises, but not too loud. Also, remember that infants like toys in which they can produce effects with their action.
What toys to buy between birth and 6 months?
It is exciting for the family members to buy the first toys for babies. However, these not only should be suitable for their babies’ age group, but they also should present specific characteristics that may help their children’s development. Studies have proven that babies as young as 3months can see color.
- Mobiles
- Soft Blocks
- Keys on Ring
- Soft squeeze balls
- Rattle
- Soft Dolls
- Plush Animals
- Soft Hand Puppets
- Music Box Animals, CDs
- Mirrors (if large and unbreakable)
- Books
Mobiles make both an enjoyable toy but also a beautiful decoration piece for your baby’s nursery room. Moving objects attract baby’s attention and stimulate interaction. They should be suspended 20 to 36 cm from the baby’s eyes, out of reach but angled towards baby’s eyes.
Soft blocks can be given to children from the age of 4 months.
Keys on a ring can be given from about 4 months.
Soft squeeze balls can be given to a baby 6 to 8 weeks after birth. These should be larger than 44 mm in diameter.
Rattles, light and squeeze toys are ideal for babies to touch and use grasping.
Infants at this age like to be read stories from a book.
What toys should be avoided between birth and 6 months?
Try to avoid push and pull toys, ride on toys, puzzles, projectiles and mobile instruments.
Are there sex differences concerning toys preferences between birth and 6 months?
Studies suggest the answer is yes. Alexander GM et al. studied the eye-movements in 3 to 8 months old infants during the simultaneous presentation of a doll and toy truck and their results showed that sex differences in interest in some model objects are present before 9 months of age, as demonstrated in the box below.
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Medium looking times at doll and truck in infant boys and girls
| Girls | Boys | |
|---|---|---|
| Doll | 4.13 seconds ± 2.07 | 3.45 seconds ± 2.46 |
| Truck | 2.47 seconds ± 1.63 | 3.62 seconds ± 1.92 |
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In fact, girls showed a visual preference for the doll over the truck and boys fixated their eyes more times on the truck, with the statistically significant results shown in the box below.
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Sex differences in interest in infant girls and boys
- Infant girls fixated more on the doll compared to the toy truck
- Infant boys fixated more on the truck compared to the doll
- When choosing a toy, always ensure it meets the general characteristics of a good toy: safety, durability and suitability for the age group.
- Between birth and 6 months, babies love to look, listen, suck and touch, so choose toys that appeal to these activities.
- Prefer toys with bright primary colors, simple designs, bull’s eye pattern and whose noises are not too loud.
- Babies love to see toys with special features resulting from their action on it.
- Good toys choices in this age group are: mobiles, soft blocks, soft dolls, soft squeeze balls, keys on a ring, rattles, plush animals, soft hand puppets and mirrors.
- Studies have suggested that sex differences regarding toys preferences can start to be noticeable before 9 months.
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Convention on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989.
- Adams, R. J. (1987). An evaluation of color preference in early infancy. Infant Behavior and Development, 10, 143–150.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Goodson B, Bronson . Which Toy for Which Child: A Consumer’s Guide for Selecting Suitable Toys.
- Alexander GM, Wilcox T, Woods R. Sex differences in infants’ visual interest in toys. Arch Sex Behav. 2009 Jun;38(3):427-33.
(d = 1.27, p<0.01)
(d = 0.78, p<0.05)
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Summary and Recommendations
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References
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