Classic toys for babies and toddlers

Toys for the first three years

Babies: grasp, shake, mouth

In the first year, a baby's main job is learning to use hands and eyes together. Rattles and grasping rings are the oldest toys for this stage. A good one is light enough for a small hand, too big to fit in the mouth, and smooth with no loose parts or splinters. Babies also enjoy soft balls, cloth books and simple wooden rings they can pass from hand to hand.

Babies chew everything. Choose toys with finishes meant for young children, and check them often for cracks, chips or peeling paint. A toy that has started to break should be put away.

Stacking rings and shape sorters

Stacking rings are one of the most enduring toddler toys. At first a child just pulls the rings off and chews them. Later they put rings back on in any order. Later still they sort them from biggest to smallest. The same toy works at each stage.

Shape sorters work in a similar way. Start with a sorter that has only two or three shapes, such as a circle and a square. Show the child once, then let them try. Struggle is part of the learning, so wait a moment before you help.

Pull-along and push toys

Once a child starts walking, toys that follow them around are a delight. A pull-along animal on a short cord, or a sturdy push cart filled with blocks, gives a new walker a reason to keep going. Push carts should be stable and heavy enough not to tip forward when a toddler leans on them.

Keep pull cords short for young toddlers and put pull toys away at nap time and bedtime. Cords and strings near a sleeping child are a strangulation risk.

First puzzles and blocks

Knob puzzles have large wooden pieces with a small handle on top. A child lifts a shape out and fits it back in its matching hole. Start with puzzles of three or four pieces. Big wooden blocks are also good from around the first birthday. At this age most building is knocking down, and that is fine. Knocking down is how a child learns that towers fall.

How many toys?

Babies and toddlers are easily overwhelmed. A handful of toys within reach, swapped every week or two, often gets more play than a full toy box. Sit on the floor with your child, name what they do ("you put the red ring on"), and let them lead.

Safety for under-threes

• Follow age labels. Toys for children under 3 should have no small parts that could be swallowed.
• Check for loose eyes, buttons, beads and wheels, and for cracks that could release pieces.
• Keep older siblings' toys, such as marbles and small building pieces, out of reach.
• Avoid long cords and strings, and keep toys out of the crib during sleep.
• Look up recalls before using a hand-me-down toy.

Treat this page as a starting point. Toy rules and recall lists are kept up to date by official agencies: in the US that is the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and most other countries have a product safety regulator of their own. A pediatrician is the right person to ask about a particular child.