Best Baby Toys for 9-12 Months

Updated on December 19, 2008
B.B. asks from Dewitt, MI
18 answers

Hi Moms,
My son is almost 10 months old and I think he's getting bored with his toys. I want to make sure I spend my money on a few good, tried and true toys. What toys were a big hit with your babies? Also, do you have any favorite books for baby?

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S.S.

answers from Detroit on

You might want to try "rotating" the toys. Then he won't get bored. Every time he sees a new batch, it would be big fun!

Good luck!

S.

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A.M.

answers from Saginaw on

My son absolutely loved "Brown Bear, Brown Bear. What do you see?" If you are reading books to him any of the Dr. Suess books are fun for them to listen to.

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A.K.

answers from Detroit on

Hello. My son is almost a year old so we've got a few favorites. Books wise- he loves Bow Wow, Sandra Boynton, Where is Baby's Belly Button, and the Bear ones someone mentioned previously. The above are few words and great color pictures. Toys he likes are any that light up and make noise. V Tech has a great farm, piano, and laptop. He also likes a Playschool Train. You hit buttons and three balls twirl around, it can move, so they chase it on the floor. Kind of irritating but he loves it. Also, Playskool has a sitter to walker thing. My son really likes it and it's sturdy so it can help them pull themselves up. The transition toys are good at this time so they can work on pulling themselves up and sturdy their walking.

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M.M.

answers from Detroit on

My son is now nearly 22 months, and he has loved wooden puzzles since he was about a year old. He is very spacial and now he does the puzzles by himself. He also really does not care much about most of the toys that people bought him. His favorite book is a book that is full of animal pictures. He loves pointing to the pictures and having me make the sound the animal makes.

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N.B.

answers from Detroit on

As for books...my daughter loved (and still loves) all the books by Sandra Boynton. My daughter is currently 3, and she has all of the books memorized so well that she reads them to her little brother.

S.S.

answers from Detroit on

This ball popper is a big hit with the little guys and the older kids too! I got mine at a garage sale for $2 but in the stores I think it is around $20. It is money well spent.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2264669

The kids quickly learn how to press the large button and it turns on a blower/fan that causes the balls to blow up and out of one side and then they slide down the shoot and do the rounds again. The kids love trying to catch the balls or just watch them!

The kids will put other toys down the shoot but so far everything that has gone in has come out amazingly easy.

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A.H.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Brown Bear board book for sure!

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L.M.

answers from Detroit on

My son loves the Leap Frog ride on Train and the Leap Froy activity Table. Leap Frog makes very good products. They can be a bit pricey but they are great toys as well as educational. Just check Toysrus.com, the Train and the Table are rated 4 or 5 star.

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A.A.

answers from Kalamazoo on

Here's a link to a blog I read just the other day that addressed this exact question! http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/12/best-toys-for-bab...

For Christmas when my son was 10 months old, we got him a ride-on toy and he has loved it ever since! It's been the best and most used toy we've gotten and he's almost 3 now.

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K.P.

answers from Detroit on

I'd look at what your son grabs at! We let our son (12 months) play with safe household stuff that he seemed interested in. He loves metal cooking bowls with spoons or whisks. And any kind of water bottle. He also loves my swiffer. We stopped keeping him from stuff that he couldn't use "properly" and started letting him play with things as long as they were safe for him...and he wasn't being destructive.

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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

do you have the basics...

wooden blocks stacking cups

my son loves his vacuum.

do you have a tunnel to crawl through?

that was a big hit for my daughter.

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S.T.

answers from Detroit on

My daughter loved her Bee Bop Band. It is a drum with other instruments contained inside. She is now 5, and she still plays the instruments. In fact, we are giving one to her 9 month old cousin this Christmas. It is made by Parents and carried by Target (if not in stores, on line).

Books:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear
Very Hugry Caterpillar (all by Eric Carle)

Usborne Touch and Feel books (trucks, trains, etc)

Wheels on the Bus (fun to do motions while you read)

Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny by Margaret Brown

The Hat
The Mitten both by Jan Brett

The Napping House (can't remember the author)

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J.M.

answers from Detroit on

My little guy just turned 1 three weeks ago. He LOVES his Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen. We bought him his own plastic spatula, spoon and plastic food to go with it. He pretends he's cooking. Also, if you don't mind magnets on the fridge, Leap Frog has some really cute magnets to play with. One is a barn and you can mix and match animals and the other one is a car wash with different types of transportation. You can get these at Target. My son will play with this for 30 minutes and has now discovered that the pieces stick to the diswasher too. So now he walks back & forth from the fridge to the dishwasher. Keeps him busy.

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/fridge_phonics/fridgefarm.html

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A.H.

answers from Detroit on

My kids love the books "I Love It When You Smile" by Sam McBratney, "Bad Dog, Marley!" by John Grogan, and "Anything for You" by John Wallace...Blocks are always good gifts for kids, or the big Duplo legos. My 20-month-old likes her shopping cart. Hope you enjoy your holiday with your baby! It's the best!

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C.L.

answers from Detroit on

Around that age my son played with tupperware containers and other household things he could get into.. my friend made a box and put a bunch of lids inside a small opening.

You could start getting some push toys.. we have a little mower and some other cart type things.

My friend has a website with creative toys.
www.downtoearthtoys.com

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L.H.

answers from Detroit on

We like blocks -- the nesting/stacking kind! My advice is to NOT buy any of the plastic junk or anything that takes batteries!! And we LOVE books books books! I sell Barefoot Books (it's an independent children's book publisher) and there are some great board books, which work well for little fingers. My 13-month-old likes the baby animals in "Who are You, Baby Kangaroo" or "How Loud is a Lion?" Perfect gift -- and free shipping through the end of day today. Thanks and good luck --

www.mybarefootbooks.com/LoriHachenski

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P.R.

answers from Detroit on

At that age, he needs face time with adults and not so many toys...

What do you mean you think he is "bored"? Need more info.

If he's not playing w/ you and toys together, check out the CDC's web site for "Learn the Signs" and double check your boy against the developmental milestones they have there to make sure his development is on track.

K.H.

answers from Detroit on

My daughter LOVED (and still does) the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2265260

It is kind of pricey, but if you keep your eye out you can get one on craigslist or at 2nd hand shops for pretty cheap (I got mine for $20).

Also, the laugh & learn piggy bank was and still is a great hit. Well, actually, any of the laugh & learn things were great for this age since they can start to play with them and they can still play with them for a long time and not get worn out on them. When my daughter gets worn out on her toys I put them in a box and switch them with another set of toys. When she gets bored with those, we pull out the old box and she plays with those like they're new again!

Books are great to learn how to get those arms, hands & eyes working in unison... The doodle pro or magna doodles are nice too cuz they can experiment with drawing without coloring all over everything.

Oh, also the mega bloks are good. Nice and large for little hands. I always stacked them up and let my daughter knock them down. She thought it was great fun to see it topple over!

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