Infant & Toddler Toy Guide  

Infants and toddlers learn best through sensory exploration, interaction, and play. The right toys can support early sensory-motor development while keeping our little ones curious and engaged. Our infant and toddler toy guide highlights thoughtfully chosen toys that promote foundational developmental skills in a fun, meaningful way. Below, you’ll find some of our favorite picks and how each one supports your child’s growth, learning, and overall development. 

Toys by Developmental Age: 

0-12 months:  

When choosing toys for your infant, look for options that provide high contrast for visual interest, feature soft materials and varied textures for sensory exploration, and are safe for mouthing. Ideal toys are easy to hold, encourage reaching and grasping, and support early motor skills such as tummy time and head control. 

• Suction Cup Spinners: These engaging toys stick to smooth surfaces like high chairs, tables, or bathtubs and they spin when they are touched. They encourage reaching, batting, and visual tracking while supporting cause-and-effect learning.  

• Classic O-Ball: The O-Ball is a lightweight, flexible ball with large holes that make it easy for little hands to grasp and hold. It supports early grasping skills, bilateral coordination, and exploration through touch and mouthing. 

• Foot Finder socks & Wrist Rattles: These soft, wearable toys feature bright colors, patterns, and gentle sounds to capture your baby’s attention. They promote body awareness, kicking, reaching, and early coordination as babies learn that their movements create sound and motion. 

• Montessori Tissue Box Toy: This toy allows babies to pull out soft fabric “tissues” of different textures and colors. It supports fine motor development, sensory exploration, and early problem-solving while keeping little hands engaged. 

• Never Drop Teething Toy:  Designed with multiple textured surfaces and a flexible loop, this teething toy is easy for babies to hold and chew. It soothes sore gums while encouraging grasping, hand-to-mouth coordination, and sensory exploration. 

12-18 Months: 

When choosing toys for your early toddler, look for options that encourage eye-hand coordination and support developing fine motor skills such as holding, banging, shaking, and releasing. Toys should also promote gross motor skills like standing, cruising, and walking. They should also foster an understanding of cause-and-effect and provide early opportunities for problem-solving and independent exploration. 

• Inny Binny: This soft shape-sorting toy allows toddlers to push blocks of different shapes and colors through flexible openings. It builds fine motor strength, hand-eye coordination, and early problem-solving skills while reinforcing cause-and-effect. 

• Pop-up School Bus: This simple wooden toy is great for early learners. It encourages finger isolation, cause-and-effect learning, and sustained attention through play. 

• Piggy Bank Toy:  A classic coin-drop toy helps toddlers practice grasping, releasing, and aiming objects into a slot. It supports fine motor control, hand-eye coordination, and early understanding of object permanence. 

• Walker & Push Toy: Push toys provide sturdy support as toddlers practice standing, walking, and moving independently. They promote balance, coordination, and confidence while encouraging active exploration of the environment. 

18-24 Months:  

At this age, your toddler is probably on the move and exploring the world in new and exciting ways. Toys and activities should encourage more refined eye-hand coordination and the development of fine motor skills such as opening, closing, turning, and placing objects into specific spaces. Play should continue to build on cause-and-effect concepts, promote more advanced movement throughout the environment, and begin to support simple pretend play and imagination. 

• Critter Clinic: This animal-themed activity toy lets toddlers open doors, turn knobs, and match keys to unlock animal compartments. It strengthens fine motor skills, problem-solving abilities, and early pretend play. 

• Squigz: These colorful suction construction toys stick to each other and to smooth surfaces, making them fun to pull apart and connect. They promote fine motor strength, bilateral coordination, creativity, and sensory exploration. Although not why they were originally created, they are great for oral exploration as well! 

• Peek a Boo Learning Farm: This interactive toy keeps kids engaged when they open the colorful barn doors to discover adorable farm animal surprises inside. It reinforces cause-and-effect learning, supports language development, develops object permanence skills and encourages pretend play.  

• Push & Ride Racer: This ride-on toy allows toddlers to push, scoot, or ride, supporting balance, coordination, and gross motor development. It also encourages active play and confidence with movement. 

• Small Ball Pit: A small ball pit provides opportunities for climbing, throwing, and full-body play in a safe environment. It supports gross motor skills, body awareness and sensory processing. 

24-36 Months: 

When choosing toys for your toddler, look for options that expand pretend play and introduce early cooperative play with others. Toys at this stage should provide opportunities for planning, building, and problem-solving, promote balance and movement throughout the environment, and encourage eye-hand coordination away from the body through activities like throwing, kicking, and drawing. These play experiences also help build important daily life skills, such as turn-taking, independence, and flexibility, that form a strong foundation for future learning and success. 

• Flower Garden Building Toy: This colorful building set allows toddlers to mix and match pieces to create flowers and designs. It supports fine motor strength, creativity, color recognition, and early planning skills. 

• Nugget Couch: A modular foam couch that can be rearranged for climbing, building, and lounging. It promotes gross motor development, balance, imaginative play, and cooperative play with peers or siblings. 

• Let’s play House Pretend Play Set: This pretend play set encourages role-playing everyday activities like cooking, cleaning, and caring for others. It supports language development, social-emotional skills, and imaginative thinking. 

• 3-Wheel Scooter: A three-wheel scooter offers stability while helping toddlers practice balance, coordination, and steering. It strengthens gross motor skills and confidence with movement. 

• Water Doodle Mat: This mess-free drawing mat lets toddlers use water-filled pens to create pictures that magically disappear. It promotes early drawing skills, creativity, and hand-eye coordination while encouraging independent play. 

Play Using Common Household Items: 

Don’t have all these toys at home? Don’t worry! You don’t always need fancy toys to support your child’s development – everyday household items can be turned into fun, educational play experiences for our little learners. Using common objects encourages creativity, problem-solving, and sensory exploration, while also helping little ones practice fine and gross motor skills, early language, and social interaction. Below are a variety of simple activities you can try at home to keep playtime engaging and developmentally meaningful. 

• Give rides in a laundry basket  

• Play at the sink or bathtub with water and toys or textures (e.g., foam soap, finger paint, sponges)  

• Make a simple rattle with a toilet paper roll and some beans or rice. Tape the ends  

• Tape a paper towel roll to the wall, creating a spout.  

• Drop objects into it and try to have them land in a bowl  

• Have large, colorful magnets on the bottom of the refrigerator  

• Toddlers love to put things in. Provide a variety of options: buckets, shoe boxes, pots, cups  

• Poke holes in a shoe box and use large straws to push in and pull out  

• Make homemade dough  

• Create some music with kitchen pots and utensils  

• Pull pipe cleaners or scarves out of a whisk  

• Cut holes in a yogurt container and use colorful popsicle sticks to push in and pull out  

• Make a tactile bin (beans, rice, popcorn kernels, Cheerios, etc.)  

• Put strips of painter’s tape on the wall, leaving the end slightly loose. Your toddler will love to pull them off  

• Use painter’s tape to tape puzzle pieces or small toys to the fridge or high-chair tray  

• Straw soccer: crumple up pieces of paper into small balls, use a straw to blow them across the table into a ‘net’  

• Tie one end of a scarf to a laundry basket and have your toddler weave the scarf through the holes  

• Place stuffed animals in the laundry basket and use the tied-on scarf to pull the basket and give them a ride  

• Keep those delivery boxes: make forts, airplanes, trains, and towers 

Choosing the right toys for your child can feel overwhelming, but we are here to help! We hope this guide has helped highlight creative, purposeful toys that build important skills while still keeping play enjoyable.  If you are looking for even more ideas, be sure to explore our 2025-2026 toy lists: 

2025-2026 Occupational Therapy Toy List 

2025-2026 Speech & Language Toy List 

2025-2026 Early Intervention Toy List 

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