It’s that time of year again. Kids make their Christmas wish list to send to Santa Claus and wait for the big night where he goes from house to house delivering presents to all the good boys and girls. But bringing learning through play toys to children everywhere can quickly become a challenge for parents as their children are drawn to toys that emphasize instant gratification over long-term development.
In the spirit of the season and the fact that the “12 Days of Christmas” song is once again stuck in our heads, Discovery Toys breaks down 12 of the best toys your kids will love this Christmas. The choices range from the best brain toys for toddlers to toys that your eight-year-old and up will love.
The First and Second Toys of Christmas — 0-5 Months
While your newborn doesn’t have a full grasp of the meaning of the season or who the guy in the big red suit is, you can still get them educational and development-focused toys this holiday season. With the Discovery Toys’ Welcome to the World Play Pack, you can get your little one an array of toys that have their enjoyment and development at heart. The Play Pack Includes:
- “I Kissed the Baby” board book
- Super Yummy Sensory Teether
- Boomerings® Links
- Baby Barbells Rattler set
- Try-Angle Activity Center
- Groovy Frog
- Rainbow Ribbons
With these toys, you can create and establish an engaging and fun learning environment for your baby.
The Third and Fourth Toys of Christmas — 6-12 Months
Babies getting closer to their first birthday are ready for some more complex toys that further their brain development and help them interact with more children their age. One such play pack that you can get for your baby is our Moving and Grooving Play Pack. These toys are included in the play pack:
- Discovery Toys Small Parts Cylinder parent safety tool
- Peekaboo Apple board book
- Baby Band musical rattle set
- Go Go Caterpillar push & go toy
- Tangiball sensory ball
- Squeeze-A-Lot Blocks Sensory set
At this age, babies are becoming more mobile and taking more agency to interact with the world around them. The toys that they play with the most should emphasize the continued development of their motor skills and cause and effect relationships, among other critical skills they continue to develop throughout childhood.
The 5th and 6th Toys of Christmas — One-Year-Old Toys
When your child celebrates their first birthday, they begin to explore the world around them in earnest. At this stage, they begin walking, touching everything, and wanting to exercise their creativity in new ways. To help foster that development and creativity, consider the Beginner Builder and Go Go Caterpillar! With the Beginner Builder, your child can use the jigsaw-like shapes to build various constructs while expressing their burgeoning creativity.
While the Beginner Builder helps foster creativity, the Go Go Caterpillar helps your child develop their locomotion skills. Having a toy that jets across the floor help give them something to chase after as they continue to build their crawling, walking, and eventually running skills as they mature.
The 7th and 8th Toys of Christmas — 2-Year-Old Toys
As your children continue to mature and grow, they begin to learn more complex concepts regarding the world around them. They will also start interacting with children their age outside of their immediate family. As they continue to grow, getting them Christmas toys that aid these developments is essential. With toys such as the Castle Marbleworks® playset, you’ll give your children a set that emphasizes both the cause and effect relationship as well as their creativity by allowing them to create their own tracks. This toy can also promote sharing and letting others have a turn.
Additionally, the Giant Pegboard® provides your child with a toy that helps develop their pre-math and pre-reading skills in fun and engaging ways! As they begin stacking, they are introduced to math and reading concepts that help prepare them for organized learning in ways that they would not otherwise receive. It’s also one of those toys that can grow and scale with your child as they continue to mature and learn more complex concepts.
The 9th and 10th Toys of Christmas — 3-4-Year-Old ToysOnce your children reach pre-school, they’re interacting with children and adults outside of the immediate family unit; their development becomes influenced by various external sources. Some of those influences can come in the form of the television, iPad, and cell phone screens that we use to keep them entertained. However, too much time spent in front of screens can prove detrimental to their ongoing development. That’s where our Screen Time Busters bundle can help!
The Screen Time Busters bundle has the goal of delivering engaging play experiences without the external influence of screens and mass entertainment. Included in the Screen Time Busters pack are:
- Tactile Sand
- Stacking Owls
- Tilt & Fill
The 11th and 12th Toys of Christmas — 5-7 and 8 Years Old and Up Toys
Most parents feel like you blink, and the next thing you know, you have a kindergartner that’s going to school, playing with other kids, and quickly becoming their own person. Finding toys for kindergarten aged kids that help further their development and help promote the skills that will help them succeed becomes paramount for parents around Christmas. One such toy that can help is our Mazzle Ball Track. This toy provides your child with multiple options to design and build their very own mini mazes for the balls to travel through, allowing them to exercise their creativity and imagination in new ways.
Children progressing through grade school wind up developing a wide range of interests that can help boost their interest in science and history. Combining those two interests and giving them a new toy to help foster them comes in the form of the Dig and Discover Dino Tyrannosaurus Rex! It’s the perfect toy for the child in your life that gets excited when someone asks them what their favorite dinosaur is. This particular toy helps simulate the actual unearthing of a dinosaur fossil, allows them to assemble a t-rex from the assorted bones they uncover, and comes with an information card that tells them more about their favorite dinosaur!
With Christmas on the horizon, you want to ensure that your child has the right toys to open underneath the tree to help make it a holiday to remember. Taking the time to ensure that the toys you pick have an added educational value to their ongoing development is a nice bonus. Browse through the Discovery Toys inventory to find your child’s next great Christmas gift today!