Age 0 to 6 Months

All Toys

  • Toys for this age are primarily for: looking, listening, sucking, or fingering.
  • Infants 0 to 2 months enjoy seeing and hearing interesting things.
  • Infants 2 to 6 months show growing interest in touching, holding, batting, turning, shaking, kicking, mouthing and tasting objects.
  • Infants like to see:
    • Bright primary colors.
    • High contrast.
    • Simple designs.
    • Clear lines and features.
    • Human face features (especially eyes).
    • Bull’s eye pattern.
  • Infants enjoy watching hanging objects or "mobiles" that move by wind, wind-up action, or infant’s own activity.
  • Toys for watching should be suspended only 8 to 14 inches (200 to 360 millimeters) from the infant’s eyes and angled toward his/her eyes, then moved up out of reach when he/she can touch them.
  • Toys for watching are more appealing if they move and make noise (but movement should be slow and noise not too loud or sudden).
  • Infants enjoy variety.
  • Infants enjoy producing effects on toys by their own activity.
  • Toys for holding should be light and easy to grasp.
  • Mouth-able toys should have all safety features recommended for infants:
    • No sharp points or edges.
    • No small parts to be lodged in throat, ears, nose.
    • No electrical parts.
    • Nontoxic materials.
    • No glass or brittle plastic.
    • No parts to entrap fingers, toes, hands.
    • No long strings.

Active Play

  • Push and Pull Toys - Not suited to age group
  • Ride-on Toys - Not suited to age group
  • Outdoor or Gym Equipment - Infant swings (with adult supervision)
  • Sports Equipment - Clutch balls, texture balls, and/or soft squeeze balls are allowed for ages of 6 to 8 weeks.
  • All balls given to this age group should be at least 1 and 3/4 inches (44 millimeters) in diameter; however if any object appears to fit easily in the child’s mouth, keep it away from the child

Manipulative Play

  • Construction Toys - From about 4 months - Soft blocks
  • Puzzles - Not suited to age group
  • Pattern Making Toys - not suited to age group
  • Manipulative Toys - Simple rattles, teethers, light, sturdy cloth toys, squeeze toys, toys suspended above or to the side of infant for batting and grasping
  • Manipulative Toys - From about 4 months - Disks, keys on ring, interlocking plastic rings, small handheld manipulable items, crib gyms (children who can push up on hands and knees can struggle on crib gyms - be sure to remove crib gyms from crib or playpen at this time)
  • Dressing, Lacing, Stringing Toys - Not suited to age group
  • Sand and Water Play Toys - Not suited to age group

Make Believe Play

  • Dolls - Soft baby dolls, soft bodied dolls, or rag dolls all with molded not loose hair.
  • Stuffed Toys - Small plush animals, music box animals (operated and monitored for safety by adults), grab on soft toys
  • Puppets - Soft hand puppets (held and moved by adults)
  • Role-Play Materials - Mirrors (Large, unbreakable) fastened to crib, playpen or wall (Peak interest in mirrors 4 to 6 months)
  • Play Scenes (including small figures) - Not suited to age group
  • Transportation Toys - Simple push cars (one-piece)
  • Projectile Toys - Not suited to age group

Creative Play

  • Musical Instruments - Not suited to age group
  • Art and Craft Materials - Not suited to age group
  • Audio - Visual Equipment (Adult Operated) - Records, tapes or CDs (gentle regular rhythms, lullabies), music boxes

Learning Play

  • Games - Not suited to age group
  • Specific Skill Development Toys - Not suited to age group
  • Books - May enjoy listening to a story being read