- When working with families as an occupational therapist,
they often ask me what toys
they should get for their little bub.
So in this video, I'm gonna cover the toys
that are really beneficial for your baby
at six to nine months of age,
because it'll ensure their communication,
gross motor and fine motor skills continue to develop.
And most importantly, I'll tell you what toys
you should definitely avoid at this age.
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So, what toys do I recommend at this age?
The baby gym is still a really good
peek elect toy for your baby.
And that's because when they're sitting,
they'll be starting to reach out
and kind of grab those toys that
are hanging from the baby gym.
The other thing is that's great,
is that you can pull those toys
off the baby gym, 'cause they're generally soft toys
and then your baby will love to explore them
or you can purchase some other soft toys.
I really do like these toys, the Le Mars toys
and that's because they're really bright,
they're lightweight and they make
lots of noise for your baby and they got those little tags.
So even if you just wanna buy one of these,
then that will be fantastic for your baby.
What you can do at this age, is grab those links
off your baby gym and make it into a chain.
So essentially becomes like a long rattle
for your baby and it's a free resource.
So make sure you do that because
you've already got all those links.
The oball is another toy that I really like at this age.
And that's because it helps your baby learn
to transfer the ball from one hand to the other.
It's also really lightweight, it's not gonna hurt your baby
and it helps with that fine motor development.
If you don't wanna have that,
then you can look at purchasing a rattle
because that's something they're gonna move on to,
particularly at this age, they're gonna start using.
So this rattle's a really good one
because it's lightweight, it's easy for your baby to hold
and they'll love shaking it.
Now, there are lots of other versions of rattles out there.
They're really cheap.
I do tend to like the circular rattles
because it's easier for your baby to hold
and move between hands, but make sure,
if you're looking at other rattles,
make sure you look for ones that are lightweight
and easy to hold, not the really heavy ones
because your baby's gonna find that difficult to hold.
At this age, your baby is going to be teething a lot.
So teething rings are really beneficial.
I really liked Sophie and that's because she's lightweight,
easy to clean and your baby
will be able to put it in their mouth
when they're mouthing, so that is an option.
If you look at other teething rings,
then I would just look at those circular ones
because they're easy for your baby
to hold and place in their mouth.
The next toy I really like at this age are shape sorters.
And that's because at this age, we're working on posting.
So you're not expecting them to be able
to put the toys into these individual holes.
What I do at this age, is remove the lid
and what you would do, is you'd use
like the blocks that it came with,
and I would use them just to teach a baby
to drop the toys into the open container.
You can use a metal mixing bowl and just use
these kinda shapes inside that, or some balls
or you could use an ice cream container,
but shapes sorters are a really good investment
because in like nine to 12 months,
I'll be starting to put one shape in.
It's generally the circle and it's towards
the end of the 12 months, that they can
put the circle in the top,
but it's something that they will progress on to.
So you could get it now, knowing that we just remove the lid
but we'll put it back on when they're a bit older.
Another great toy at this age are the ring stackers.
Again at six months, I would take the rings off
and just give it to your bubs
for something to play with, because they're lightweight
and they're circular and they can move it from hand to hand.
Towards the end of sort of, more like nine months,
what you're wanting to do, is for your baby
to remove the rings from the ring stacker.
You're not wanting them to put it on at this age
but this is a really great toy again,
that we can kind of break down.
So at six months we can give it to them as individual rings,
nine months they're removing it,
and then towards the end of the first year,
they're putting it back on, the rings on,
not in any order though, just putting it on.
At this stage, I also like those touch and feel books
again, or board books, and that's simply because
your baby's not gonna rip them.
It's another way that you can kind of talk to your baby
because you're gonna talk about what's in the book
and work on those kinda communication skills
because sometimes it's really hard
to know what to say to your bub.
But this gives parents a way to talk to their baby
if they're feeling a bit uncomfortable with that.
But also again, this is a toy
or a book that they'll learn to kind of grow into.
And that's because at 12 months, we're wanting to work
on that pointer and that pincer grip, in turning the pages.
So it is a great toy that they'll kinda grow in to.
And lastly at this age, I really do like blocks
and that's because it helps to work
on that in three fingered grip, but also at six months,
they're gonna be banging it mainly on the table.
And then they learn to bang it together.
But that's something that they'll use quite regularly,
and then we can use it to post,
so we can use it for dropping into containers.
And then later on, we're gonna be using blocks
to build on top of each other.
So at 12 months, you'd be wanting
one block on top of the other.
So again, it's another great toy that you can buy now
and they'll continue to use.
So what toys should you avoid at this age?
It's definitely those jolly jumpers,
the baby play stations and the baby walkers.
And that's because it's been shown to place your baby
at risk for sustaining injuries
when they're using that piece of equipment.
And the other thing is, it also increases the risk
of your baby sustaining developmental delays
because it's not necessarily working
on those skills that we're wanting at that age.
Now, if you wanna know more details
about why the jolly jumper's not that beneficial
for your baby, check out this video
where I talk about that and also give you
some alternative strategies that you can use
because I know it's really hard to be having
to hold a baby all the time,
so you just want some other avenues,
so that you can have your hands free.
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