Educational Infant Toys

Because the brain grows more during the first year of life than at any other period, choosing the right educational infant toys is important.

Why should you purchase educational infant toys? Your baby's brain needs stimulation, but deciding on the type of stimulation he or she needs can be tricky. There are numerous toys on the market that are labeled educational, but this doesn't necessarily mean that they will provide any educational stimulation for your child. Keep in mind that the more nerve connections your baby makes, the stronger his brain will become, so educational stimulation is important.

How do you stimulate your child in a positive manner? Think about the five senses—hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching. The toys you choose should appeal to some or all of these senses.

By now, you may have heard about your baby's ability to hear noises before she was even born. Many infants appear to recognize their parents' voices in the womb or soon after birth. While an infant's hearing is not fully developed soon after she is born, she can hear and even respond to sounds. For instance, in some cases, an infant will startle easily at a sudden, loud noise. However, sound that continues to be quite loud for a prolonged period may actually encourage her to fall asleep as her body attempts to "tune out" the noise. One sound that appears to be quite beneficial, however, is music, especially classical, which is thought to help the brain develop.

Babies typically have difficulty focusing at birth. They also have trouble distinguishing colors, preferring to look at black and white objects instead. As you choose toys for your infant, look for items that feature black and white colors with a contrasting red thrown in. You might be surprised at how fascinated your infant will be with these toys. As your baby grows, she'll soon tire of these three colors, however, and prefer bright, primary colors and designs.

There may not be as many educational toys that deal directly with smell and taste, but you don't need toys to encourage these senses. Her world is surrounded by a variety of smells, but some toys, particularly books, may offer slight smells to encourage identity of objects. As she grows, food preferences will become more varied as well.

The sense of touch can easily be encouraged with a variety of tactile experiences, through toys and through everyday objects. Look for toys that offer a variety of textures, from rough to soft and in between.

The toys your baby has in the first two months will differ quite a bit from the toys she plays with at four months later.

• Newborn-Choose educational infant toys, such as mobiles, board books, and other items in black, white, red for newborns to enjoy.
• Two to Six Months-By the time your infant reaches the two months' mark, he'll be more active, kicking, reaching, shaking, poking, etc. You'll want to purchase toys that stimulate these activities, such as mirrors, soft dolls and stuffed animals, play mats and gyms, toys that make noise when shaken, rattled, kicked, and books that have various textures, peek-a-boo flaps, etc.

All the toys in the world won't provide the real stimulation that your infant needs. This should come from you! While you can use these toys to play with your infant, there are simple activities you can do that won't require any other object, such as playing peek-a-boo and patty cake, talking to baby, and singing songs. Pull out your pots and pans, and show your baby how to bang spoons in the pots, put objects into a pan and cover them with a lid, etc. Encourage your baby to grasp items. These are simple activities that will go a long way toward stimulating your baby's brain.

Finally, finding educational toys can be as simple as walking into your local Toys R Us store, or you can check out some of the following sites as well.

• Genius Babies
• Little Smarties
• Learning Express
• Fisher-Price
• LeapFrog
• Creativity Institute
• Baby Einstein

• Infant Car Seat Covers
• Elegant Dresses for Infants
• Baby Shower Cupcakes

• Baby Shower Cake Pictures
• Free Printable Baby Shower Games
• Baby Shower Invitation Wording
• Baby Shower Poems
• Baby Shower Sayings

• Category:Baby Stuff
• Dangerous Baby Toys
• Category:Infants
• Infant Educational Software
• Educational Toys and Baby Development Interview