A toy she can *do* something with . . .

[aphel]

Looking for some suggestions here, wise ladies.

DD is a little over 6 months and seems to be getting bored with her toys. Up until this point, she's mostly played with the standard infant fare - a couple vulli chew toys, burp cloths or other scraps of fabric, a ball, a few souns letters, etc. Generally, things that are simple and don't really "do" much (mostly for eating!).

She seems to be getting bored with these though. The one thing that she seems most interested in is a cloth book that has some different textures, a squeaker, a hard rubbery spine, some doodads hanging off  . . . . I think she likes it because it has different things going on. She also has a little piano that she likes to bang on, when I'm not available to help her sit at the big girl piano.

I'm looking for toys that are simple but interactive, without being all flashy-lights-and-singy-songs. I was thinking maybe a nice wooden car that she could learn to roll around . . . . ?

Ideas anyone? What are your 6 month olds playing with?

[Knitting Mama]

I hate to say it, but what she loved most were lights-and-sounds toys. I'm sorry! But babies at that age really seem to love instant reactions, and those toys provide them.

[octobermom]

 Mine loves noise makers I've filled small plastic containers with beads bells rocks ect and then glued and taped them closed asn shes loves just shaking and now stacks and knows which are her favorite ect..

Deanna

[Knitting Mama]

That's true-- a shaking toy might save you from the lights-and-noise ones-- for now.

[weliveintheforest]

haba makes some wooden rattles with different moving rings and sliders that might be fun. We also had some that had bells in them, but I don't know who made them.

[Buzzer Beater]

Hi Aphel!

GG likes big books with cardboard pages. She will spend 20 minutes with one, kissing the pictures and patting everything, turning them over and over in her lap and making hilarious noises. She also likes the bead mazes like they usually have at peds offices and libraries, so we got her a little one today and she's quite happy with it. Of course she was quite happy with the box it came it as well. 

[Blessed1]

We are in the same boat!

I just stumbled on another thread regarding treasure baskets! I am making one tonight and giving to my babe tomorrow morning :)

Google it.  :)

[LittleBirdy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

I hate to say it, but what she loved most were lights-and-sounds toys. I'm sorry! But babies at that age really seem to love instant reactions, and those toys provide them.

Mine too!  Yet another example of how my parenting ideals were thrown up against reality.  Somebody gave us "Scout" (talking singing dog in case you haven't come across him) when DS was 2 months old and he loves it.  LOVES IT.  Can't even play with it on his own but he loves to hear the songs and watch Scout's collar light up.

For non singing lighting up type stuff though, he really likes this http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Toy-200980-Skwish-Classic/dp/B000GI0S4E/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1296995422&sr=1-1  (ours isn't painted but just natural wood, I know it came from Amazon though.)

 

[octobermom]

tee hee no we have those too.  BTW I read in an earlier post yours had the leap frog table thing.. Whewre did you find one? I had one with my oldest and she LOVED it.. after so many years though trying and failingwith pregancies I ended up giving hers away but I know this one would love it as well...
ee heee oh we have those too

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

That's true-- a shaking toy might save you from the lights-and-noise ones-- for now.

[tzs]

they have these plastic rainsticks for babies that are pretty cool too that we have in our music box.

my favorite "do something" toy is actually a plastic light up but i think it's pretty non-tacky (I DO allow plastic but it has to be open-ended and neutral as far as gaudiness) is the mozart cube by munchkin. seriously, even i as an adult have fun with it so i think it's really going to last. it plays different songs and then you can add or subtract individual orchestra instruments to see how it changes the song. so fun.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Munchkin-Mozart-Magic-Cube/8031884

my babe, now toddler has always loved cars but even at 16 months she is just now getting that the smaller wooden cars can roll but still doesn't do much with them. she prefers like, a bigger truck that she can really push around. she has a big tonka-type metal dump truck that has been a favorite since she could really crawl. now she walks with it and puts stuff in the back and wheels it around the house. so for cars i'd stick with something BIG.

she has also loved an old computer that we gave her to bang on and at one point she had a basket of "mommy stuff" which included a real key ring with different shaped keys, an old cell phone with battery removed, a starbucks cup with lid, and a pill bottle filled to make it rattle. kind of dysfunctional but she liked it.

she also at that age started to love balls so i made a basket of them. one of those clear ones with sparkles that float in it, a tactile spiky one, a wiffle ball one with holes. she loved throwing them around and later crawling after them.

[aphel]

Treasure basket . . . . ooooo . . . .I like! I also like a basket a different balls, shaking sticks, so many awesome ideas  . . . . Buzzer, unfortunately, we are still in the books are for eating stage. When I read to S I have to be several feet away, and she has to have something to occupy her hands or the book goes straight to the mouth.

We're not so opposed to light up stuff. The piano has keys that light up. Frankly, if we didn't own that, no one would have clean clothes around here!

[LittleBirdy]

Originally Posted by tzs 

she also at that age started to love balls so i made a basket of them. one of those clear ones with sparkles that float in it, a tactile spiky one, a wiffle ball one with holes. she loved throwing them around and later crawling after them.

For his first month or so of daycare, I went in and nursed my son at lunch time and spent a lot of time watching the other babies there.  The spiky ball was a huge hit.  And for the crawlers!  The floor at daycare is tile, and one day the babies all seemed to want this one plastic green ball about the size of a whiffle ball... they were "fighting" over it, so she dug out every similar sized ball she could find and put them all on the floor.  The babies started chasing them around and the room turned into a giant game of hungry hungry hippos!  It was a riot and the babies loved it.

[tzs]

yeah....i always thought of making a ball pit out of a swimming pool and i think they sell big bags of cheapo balls for that purpose...but never got around to it. plus it was summer when she was a babe so we put actual water in the pool.

[Knitting Mama]

I scoured Craig's List for weeks until one came up for sale and got it for $10.
 

Originally Posted by octobermom 

tee hee no we have those too.  BTW I read in an earlier post yours had the leap frog table thing.. Whewre did you find one? I had one with my oldest and she LOVED it.. after so many years though trying and failingwith pregancies I ended up giving hers away but I know this one would love it as well...
ee heee oh we have those too

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

That's true-- a shaking toy might save you from the lights-and-noise ones-- for now.

 

[Knitting Mama]

We're planning on doing that with her never-used pack n' play.
 

Originally Posted by tzs 

yeah....i always thought of making a ball pit out of a swimming pool and i think they sell big bags of cheapo balls for that purpose...but never got around to it. plus it was summer when she was a babe so we put actual water in the pool.

[PatienceAndLove]

At 6 months, DD was obsessed with the fisher price peek-a-boo blocks.  She also had a musical table that I liked because I could put it on the floor when she was wee, and then it had legs when she was bigger.  The one I had had a volume control on it, so that made it much easier to bear.

I am also a fan of the classics- shape sorter and stacking rings

[Mawood]

Our daughter loved and still loves board books. She was into books before she was 6 months old and loved the black and white ones for a long time. Also she liked it when the book has a mirror page or to play with a baby mirror and look/kiss her reflection. She loved anything with tags too and would be examining those for a long time. I am at a RIE group and like their approach to toys as it is mostly household stuff (baby safe of course). They call it play objects and you can find most of it at Target or sur la table: stainless bowl in different sizes, cup cake liners (plastic though) to chew on, etc.