The types of play that help your baby's development (and the best toys to use!)
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Louisa Sherlock
Associate EditorOne of the best ways for your baby to learn about the world around them is through play.
Professor Sam Wass is a child psychologist, director of the Baby Development Lab at the University of East London, expert on Channel 4’s series The Secret Lives of Four/Five/Six Year Olds ... and a father of two toddlers.
He explains the different kinds of play that are best for your child’s development, saying:
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'During early life, babies grow in so many different ways at once, from developing their motor skills through to their social and communication skills. A variety of play types is vital for unlocking that development, such as:
- Kinetic play – based on movement, this helps develop babies’ hand eye co-ordination skills
- Toys featuring characters help develop children’s empathy and social imaginations
- Babies’ senses are constantly developing from the day that they are born. Toys that engage them on a variety of different sensory levels are really important.
'Whilst a child is playing with a toy, they are also experiencing it at the level of touches and sounds, whilst developing fine motor skills at the same time.'
Prof Sam is an ambassador for Melissa & Doug – the toy company that makes sustainable toys designed to spark children's imaginations. He adds:
“Many toys are built so that you can only really do one type of thing with them, but what I love about Melissa & Doug toys is that they are built for flexible use.
'One child can use any toy in a wide variety of ways and that’s great for helping different aspects of development.'
Melissa & Doug has just launched a new range of baby and toddler toys designed to stimulate children’s imaginations and developmental skills, as well as induce ‘aha’ moments of discovery.
To help you choose from the range, Prof Sam has reviewed each toy, its play value and the skills it aims to develop.
GO Tots™ Barnyard Tumble (RRP £37.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 12-24 months
Prof Sam says: 'Melissa & Doug GO Tots™ range is designed to help your baby and toddler get to grips with hand-eye coordination.
Made from FSC-certified wood, the Barnyard Tumble playset comes with GO Tots™ discs, each featuring a different character, including six animals and two farmers.
Your child can roll, stack or grasp the discs and slot or tumble them into the double-sided barn with silo, haystack and sliding doors. These discs can be used with other GO Tots™ toys.
Prof Sam adds:
'Alongside hand-eye coordination, this playset develops recognition of character, whilst also offering kinetic and sensory play as a child slots in a disc, then watches and listens to the sound of it tumbling into the barn.'
GO Tots™ Friends & Cars 2 Pack (RRP £14.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 12 months+
The GO Tots™ Friends & Cars are the perfect size for little hands to push, race and explore.
There’s space in each car for a GO Tots™ disc and your baby or toddler will love choosing which character can ‘drive’ the car. There are characters on both sides of the collectible discs so they’re spoilt for choice!
When played with on a flat surface, children can push the cars to make the GO Tots disks spin.
The set offers opportunities to explore cause-and-effect through delightful motion-driven moments.
Prof Sam says:
'Your child’s fine motor skills will develop every time they play with one of these wooden cars!'
Multi-Sensory Pineapple Soft Stacker (RRP £22.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 6 months +
This Multi-Sensory Pineapple Soft Stacker has three soft fabric pineapple rings and one plastic ring for your baby to play with separately before slotting them onto the stacker. Each soft fabric ring has a different texture for sensory development.
Prof Sam says:
'From things that rattle to those that crinkle, your baby loves to explore sensory toys and this toy is just that! The stacking element also develops your child’s early fine motor skills, and the fact that it’s squashable makes it endlessly fascinating for young children.'
Wooden Shape Sorting Grocery Cart (RRP £74.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 12-24 months
The award-winning Wooden Shape Sorting Grocery Cart lets your little one fill the cart with ‘shopping’, adding different items through the shape sorter holes. As they get older, they’ll love walking with their grocery cart, pushing it around with the wooden fruit and veg piled inside.
There’s also a coffee cup with removable lid, cup holder, dinner plate puzzle and a colour-sorting puzzle – plus a built-in matching game roller drum.
Prof Sam says:
'A toy packed full of play value! This is definitely the most used toy in our home. From kinetic and pretend play, to developing sorting, matching, hand eye and fine motor skills, this Grocery Cart is also robust enough to support your baby as they transition from crawling to walking – offering hours of fun around the home.”'
Multi-Sensory Market Basket Fill & Spill Infant Toy (RRP £24.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 6 months+
The Multi-Sensory Market Basket Fill & Spill Infant Toy lets your child pretend they are out shopping, with four items to put in their trendy reusable shopping bag: a milk bottle with a chime, a crinkly lettuce, a rattling tomato and a squeaky carrot.
Prof Sam says:
'As your child gets older, having opportunities to explore imaginative play is key to their development. This is a great toy to get them started, plus each item has a sensory element as an added bonus.'
Bubble Tea Take-Along Toy (RRP £11.99)
Suitable for: From newborn
This Bubble Tea Take-Along Toy clips easily to a pram or pushchair and features colourful ribbons poking out of the ‘whipped cream’ lid (which also hides a bell inside) plus a mirror under a flap.
Prof Sam explains:
'This toy offers multi-sensory exploration and children love the surprise element of closing it, then opening it up to look inside. Babies love looking at themselves so the added feature of the hidden mirror is great.'
Wooden Surprise Gift Box (RRP £27.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 6-12 months
Inside the Wooden Surprise Gift Box is a peekaboo mirror plus presents to wrap and unwrap, including a toy bear, squeezy ball with a chime and a cloth book. There is also a crinkly cloth to squeeze or use as wrapping paper.
The unique toy allows children to act out the appealing magic of role-playing gifting and receiving presents over and over again.
Prof Sam adds:
'As any new parents know, babies are far more interested in boxes and wrapping than the presents themselves! And many of them – my daughter in particular it seems – just love giving out presents.
'This toy is a clever idea as it offers imaginative, pretend and sensory play all in one box. The variety of "gifts" also means it can be played with again and again but each time in a different way.'
Rollables Treehouse Twirl (RRP £32.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 9 months+
Made from FSC-certified wood, the Rollables Treehouse Twirl is a tumble toy with two Rollables – soft, adorably round balls featuring animal characters of a fox and a raccoon.
Children can drop the Rollables into the treehouse and listen to their chimes as they roll down, as well as exploring the bead maze on either side.
Prof Sam says:
'This playset is all about kinetic play: the Rollables can be rolled, thrown and caught. Other animal character Rollables in the range, once collected, form a collection of farm, safari and woodland animals plus sea creatures – creating opportunities for character recognition and storytelling.
'The bead maze is a great additional feature to develop problem-solving and hand-eye coordination.'
Soft Taco Fill & Spill (RRP £24.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 6 months+
This Soft Taco Fill & Spill toy enables infants and toddlers to discover textures and sounds by playing with the soft foam taco shell and the smooth and textured fabric pieces.
The set includes three smooth fabric pieces, three textured crinkle pieces, three food-shaped fabric pieces plus two attached textured pieces that can be sorted, squeezed and stuffed into the taco.
Prof Sam says:
'As well as sensory experiences, infants aged 6-12 months are developing fine motor and problem-solving skills – and this toy helps with that, offering hours of hands-on, screen-free play.
'My own children love playing with pretend food and this toy is an unusual take on that.'
Rollables Ocean Slide (RRP £54.99)
Suitable for: Babies aged 12 months+
Made from FSC-certified wood, the Rollables Ocean Slide playset comes with three cute Rollable characters – a shark, a crab and an octopus (the latter which chimes). They can all tumble down the wave-inspired, wooden slide. Your baby can also turn the whale flipper or sea star to speed up the Rollable.
Prof Sam adds:
'Babies love to make things roll and drop. This toy offers a blend of kinetic play, hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.'
