Baby Toy

Baby toys from nature

Everything a child does in the first years of its life serves to learn and to discover itself, the people around it and the world. In doing so, it develops the skills and abilities it needs to be and do something that makes sense to it. For although the play of babies and children is in a way purposeless, it is full of meaning, nurtures the senses, learns about the world and also promotes motor skills in a playful way.

In Waldorf education, we assume that babies and toddlers do not need abstract, prefabricated toys, which are usually not very free in their design and use, offer little tactile experience and therefore tend to hinder the development of imagination. The bright, bright colours, the smooth, cool plastic and the often accompanying sounds often overtax the senses of babies and toddlers rather than stimulate them in an age-appropriate way.

The ideal toys for babies and toddlers are the gifts of nature. Lovingly crafted wooden toys or toys made of wool and organic cotton let children play full of fun. That's why you can find selected wooden toys of the brands Ostheimer, Grimms and Grapat online at Waldorfshop. Unexciting toys for the optimal development of your child!

Toys for healthy baby development

At no other time in a person's life does development take place so rapidly. From birth, children develop, progressing step by step. In pedagogy, these developmental steps are "measured" with milestones. In doing so, we can recognise a guideline, but every baby, every toddler is individual and, if you as parents, those around them and the environment let it, takes the time it needs for its very own development.

From birth

Babies' first play is called functional play. The child does not need any sophisticated toys for this. At the beginning, its own body is enough and later a wide variety of objects are suitable for exploration and play. They should be made of natural and different materials in order to promote the sense of touch appropriately. And of course they must not be a source of danger for the child.

Toys bought before birth or given as a gift at birth are mainly decorative in the beginning, but a wooden grasping toy can be stimulating even in the first few weeks. You can find a selection of educational grasping toys from Grapat, Grimms and our own brand waldorfkind in our online shop.

A baby mobile with soft colours and gentle movements above the sleeping area or the changing table can have a calming and stimulating effect on your baby at the same time as his eyesight increases.

One of the most popular baby toys at this age is, of course, the wooden baby rattle. The rattle is, after all, the first musical toy and toddlers have great fun making noises with it.

If you are looking for rattles, you will find a convincing selection of natural and colourful, high-quality baby toys made of wood in our online shop.

From 5 months

The child is constantly busy and, apart from sleeping and eating, is immersed in a kind of continuous baby play. Grimm's Mini Baby Roller is ideal for this. It is made of wood and therefore very stable. When the baby lets it roll, the wooden marble and the little bell inside make a pleasant noise and encourage it to crawl behind. The colours mix when rolling and thus show the harmonious colour gradient of the rainbow.

The first simple, natural wooden figures, e.g. from Ostheimer or Grimms, are also interesting now, as are dolls and cuddly toys. There is no real play yet, but 6-month-old babies love to discover new things.

Babies also love singing and finger games. You can find a nice selection on our waldorfkind Blog and on our Youtube Channel.

From 7 months

Grabbing something over and over again, only to throw it away again immediately, is one of baby's favourite games. To ensure that the toy doesn't break immediately, high-quality wooden toys and cloths made of natural materials such as wool, cotton and silk are particularly suitable.

The familiar "Where am I?" games now become more relevant, as babies now know that people or objects, such as the toy, are still there when they are outside the field of perception. In pedagogy, this is known as object permanence.

Now the time may come when the familiar toy becomes boring and the child throws it aside after a brief glance. Instead of always buying new toys, you can make the toys interesting again with two tricks.

First, you can put half of the toys out of sight, and after a few days, you can replace them and for the child, who is developing rapidly, they will be almost new again.

On the other hand, you can buy toys that are not too fixed. Free-standing wooden toys, for example, can be combined with other toys. If the child had a ring made of wood and a cloth made of organic cotton, for example, the cloth can now be tied to the ring and immediately this new "thing" is interesting again and can be examined!

From 9 months

In the 9th baby month, most babies can crawl and sit. Children still discover something new every day. Toys that stimulate movement, such as a soft felt ball or wooden cars are particularly suitable at this time.

The functional play mentioned above is accompanied by information play or also called exploration play. Here, as the name suggests, it is about exploring the function of objects and toys. The child explores, investigates and tries things out systematically. In the process, it gathers information about the nature and characteristics of the objects. Toddlers take great pleasure in taking things apart, putting them back together and using one thing over and over again in a new way.

The wooden toys from Grapat are particularly suitable for this. The toys consist of many loose parts, such as rings, small bowls, coils, figures made of wood, which offer endless combination possibilities with their simple shapes. Just right for the curious explorers. The small and large rainbow from Grimm's is also ideal for this time!

From 11 months

At the age of 11 months, the child plays everyday situations more and more often. It is nice when, for example, household activities are not done in the absence of the child but with the involvement of the child. If the toddler is also allowed to handle a hand brush or a cloth and if he has his own pots and wooden spoons to play with, he can follow his inner urge to imitate.

t the beginning of the 2nd year of life, construction play comes more and more to the fore. The most popular baby games at this age are stacking things, knocking them over, loading them in, unloading them, putting them in and taking them out again. Treasures from nature are also particularly suitable for play here. Pine cones in a basket can bring a lot of joy over a long period of time. Anything that can be put inside each other, rolled, filled, emptied, rolled up etc. is suitable as a toy, e.g. or box set from Grimms, felt strings, wooden building blocks or a ball.

In the 12th month, babies enjoy movement toys with which they can practice their newly acquired standing and walking skills. Movement toys, such as wooden marble runs and rocking horses are a lot of fun for the children!

Picture books are also becoming more and more exciting and the time spent looking at pictures and telling stories together can be very enjoyable.

If, in addition to baby toys, you are looking for basic equipment, products for baby care or baby clothes, then feel free to browse through our other baby categories and discover many other wonderful items for baby!