toys for new born and up?

anyone got any really good toys their youngers have enjoyed? i need some ideas...on what to get my daughter..........what shell enjoy as she grows..

hi there, I am a Recreation Therapist, and have a special interest in play. If you are looking at toys and games for new borns, try and get some visual stimulation (black and white for, say, first 3 months) .. try www.envisagedesign.com/ohbaby/infstim/graphics.html for examples. They're free to download. Then move into lots of coloured patterns from 3 months on ... I've just bought some material and made some cot surrounds (make sure of safety with ties and tendency for surrounds to flop down into cot). Lamps taht throw light patterns are good, an overhead mobile/cot gym, and lots of auditory stimulation - music like Vivaldi 4 seasons and nursery rhymes etc, rattles. BUT most of all, your voice singing to them and rocking them and playing with them is most important.
I hope that gives you some ideas - quite inexpensive really ... which is what you want as they grow out of stuff so quickly.

Hi there, I bought my daughter the singing stars musical playcentre/piano by Fisher Price. It is around $80 and you can get it from any toy store, target, Kmart, Big W etc. It has 3 options for different development stages. The first stage is when bub is lying down to play - it hangs over them and when they hit the stars it plays music (mostly classical pieces as this apparently stimulates development). the next stage is when they learn to sit up - it converts to a piano they can sit at. The last stage is when they can stand - it becomes a higher piano they can stand at. My daughter loves it so much - it was well worth the money we paid for it.

Hi! I bought one of the activity mats that have the toys that dangle from above them! My daughter has really loved this and being able to see the toy above her! I have found lately that it is helping develop her hand eye coordination as she is now 3.5 months and trying to reach up and grab them! Best wishes!

Hi there,

As a book lover I introduced my daughter to books from the age she could sit up. I have a pile of those cardboard page books that are looking pretty ratty now as my daughter now 12 months plays with them every day. She sits and opens the pages and points at pictures she likes and is now at the age where she will babble to herself while looking at her books. It is so cute.

Also my daughter loves toys that have some kind of music or sounds. I have a fisher price aquarium on the side of her cot which she has adored since she was one month old and she still loves it at bed time now.

I've found with most toys keep it simple. Music, lights, sounds. touch and feel... things that stimulate the senses are great.

The very first toy my daughter ever got was a Lamaze Monkey, with colours, shapes and bits that rattle and rustle, plus it is a plush toy.

Goodluck

I also agree with the aquarium. My daughter loves it, and doesn't sleep as well without it! She's now 8 months and sitting and crawling and loves the fisher price activity wagon, with the peekablocks. it lights up and makes noises and she can activate this relatively easily, by just touching it in some areas (she can't put the blocks in properly yet though, so she'll still get lots of use out of it, and different use, later as she grows.)

Books are also fantastic (I say that from both a mothers and early childhhod teachers pov!) and you should introduce them early

steph

I bought my daughter, now 3, the fisher price musical mirror, it has a mirror in the middle and flashing coloured lights around the outside and it plays different tunes. It has a cylinder in the bottom with beads in that rolls around when they hit it. She loved it and now so does my 3 1/2 month old boy. It was cheap at $19.95. And my daughter still plays with it at 3! A playgym is also good but make sure you buy one that you can remove the toys from and put your own on for when they get bored. Read books to her also - if they are an alert baby they will look at them quite early and enjoy the colours... good luck with your baby