Favorite toys for 6 month old

[Plarka]

What are the must have toys for a 6 month old? I'm becoming reallly anti-plastic because of the chemicals, so wood or rubber or anything non-plastic only please! We already have Sofie, and I just ordered a wooden ring stacker from Plan toys.

[busymama77]

We have some light up stuff and hand-me-downs from DS#1, so the only wood/non plastic we have is the wooden ring stacker from Plan and a shape stacking clown from Haba, I believe. Subbing for more ideas!!

[aramat]

Anything and everything! My baby is all over my laptop lately but will also spend forever with a piece of paper, picture books, a sock...absolutely anything, especially if it can make noise or is the color red -- they are so easy to amuse at this age; just rotate a different item each day!

[Plarka]

Aramat, she has played with everything in the house I've been able to find that isn't dangerous! Everything in the kitchen, the shelves in the living room....even some food I know she can't eat, like limes, kiwis, apples....She gets bored of stuff so fast, I need new things! Once she's played with it once, she never wants to play with it again.

Mostly I'm asking the question because I got out dd1's 6 monthish toys and they're all plastic, so I need new nonplastic ideas for 6 months on!

[ErinYay]

There's a school of thought that one can create a novelty-seeker for life via constantly making sure babies and kids have new, fresh toys. I'm not sure what I think about that, but having a baby who does really like novel stimulation, I do a LOT of toy rotating. Maybe 1/5th of our stash is out at any given time, and I usually leave that bunch out for a week. We also have some toys that live in certain places- bath toys, living room toys, kitchen toys- she usually always loves the room-specific toys, as they're like special treats for playing quietly while momma does the dishes!

[Jaesun's Dad]

Originally Posted by Plarka

Once she's played with it once, she never wants to play with it again.

Hmmm ... our son seems to enjoy familiar toys. He's very fascinated now by things that aren't toys, but once I give him an old favorite he's usually pretty happy. I do bring new things in every couple weeks, but he's still playing with stuff he's had since three months. About the only 6 month specific toy I have for him yet is a fisher price dump truck toy that encourages him to sit upright while he plays with it. I haven't gotten any wooden toys yet because we're afraid he'll bash himself over the head with them and hurt himself. He gets a little wild with the arm flailing sometimes, though it's starting to mellow out a little as he moves toward seven months and beyond ..

[tzs]

at that age i would let her rip a magazine for hours....but that was short lived b/c i figured i had to cut it out before she learned that ripping books etc was ok.

the crinkley wipes package was an all-day event.

it's plastic but we liked munchkins mozart cube. it's even fun for adults because you can add and subtract different instruments and it's not so tacky.

and board books to pull off the shelf and flip through.

oh...and little wooden cars from the target dollar section but i imagine those would be way more chemically than most bpa free plastic toys.

[jillmamma]

The smaller blocks (I think 1.5 or 2"?).
Cloth books with crinkly noises.
I know you are anti-plastic, but DD loves playing with a bunch of plastic link things together.
A couple of rattles and/or teethers.
Something to hang toys off of (like those play gyms) so she can reach up and play.
1 or 2 soft cloth stuffed toys.
Taggie type blanket or toy.

[Boot]

My DD's favourites are crinkly cloth books and various cloth toys and wooden rattles. I'm contemplating a sophie.

[carmen358]

Originally Posted by tzs

at that age i would let her rip a magazine for hours....but that was short lived b/c i figured i had to cut it out before she learned that ripping books etc was ok.

DD loves doing this but she eats the paper...clearly not a safe toy for her and her eating habits

Cloth books and stuffed toys (she got some really nice organic cotton ones) are always a big hit, soft blocks too. She also has some really nice wooden toys that she loves - some blocks and a little plan toys car.

[Tway]

DD loves her books. She has 4 or 5 of those touch-and-feel animal books where the "fur" is real, and she pulls at the sheep's wool or rubs her finger over the sandpaper cat's tongue. She can go for an hour flipping through those things. She even meows, woofs, and quacks in all the right places!

[Truckerdoo]

Originally Posted by Tway

She can go for an hour flipping through those things. She even meows, woofs, and quacks in all the right places!

Wow that is SO cute! At what age did she start doing that?

DS is really into his bpa-free plastic bowls and spoons that we feed him with. He just likes to bang those around.

And his favorite toy might be our dog. He's been obsessed lately with our Lab! Our lab does not reciprocate all the time.

[Tway]

Originally Posted by Truckerdoo

Wow that is SO cute! At what age did she start doing that?

Um... 9 or 9 1/2 months? She meows at every squirrel we see in the park, too, so she hasn't exactly perfected the art yet.

She's the most curious, inquisitive child I've ever seen. It's fascinating to watch her, although she does keep us on our toes (and awake a whole lot...).

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by tzs

oh...and little wooden cars from the target dollar section but i imagine those would be way more chemically than most bpa free plastic toys.

I was going to say: if you're trying to avoid chemicals, wood toys are not necessarily the solution. I mean, many of them are at least varnished if not painted, and unless stated otherwise, paint is made of chemicals.
There must be some good resource for safe wooden toys, like some online shop or brand....does anyone know of one?

I feel blessed to live in Germany, the homeland of wooden toys. There is an abundance to choose from here. But now that you mention it, I want to start checking for what kind of paint is used on them and find a brand that uses non-toxic paints or finishes.

[Plarka]

Originally Posted by P.J.

I was going to say: if you're trying to avoid chemicals, wood toys are not necessarily the solution. I mean, many of them are at least varnished if not painted, and unless stated otherwise, paint is made of chemicals.
There must be some good resource for safe wooden toys, like some online shop or brand....does anyone know of one?

I feel blessed to live in Germany, the homeland of wooden toys. There is an abundance to choose from here. But now that you mention it, I want to start checking for what kind of paint is used on them and find a brand that uses non-toxic paints or finishes.

I've looked into it a bit and Plan Toys use safe coloring. I'm Toys might also but I'm not exactly sure. I'm sticking with Plan Toys for now since I know they're safe!

[carmel23]

Haba makes lovely baby toy.

My baby's favorite thing to play with, though, is his siblings, and his bead train. Or his Keptin Jr.