One of the more fun baby registry categories to shop for is, of course, toys and books.  Many baby shower invitations now request that guests “please bring a book instead of a card” – a new tradition I can totally get behind. Below are the baby toys and books that my children loved the most during their first year of life.

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Activity Gym

An activity gym is great to have when your baby is not yet mobile.  The mat allows the baby to practice tummy time while hopefully distracting the kid with fun patterns and colors to look at, hanging toys, and a mirror.  The gym is easy to store and something you will find yourself using every single day.

Kick ‘n Play Piano

All of my babies have loved this piano activity mat.  The babies swing their arms to hit the toys and kick their legs to hit the piano keys which in turn play music.  The toys and mirror can be moved around to facilitate tummy time as well.

Musical Table

My child still plays with this musical table but we had to remove the legs (easy to do) because she started to climb on top of it.  There are both English and Spanish options as well as musical and learning features to switch back and forth from.  This toy keeps her entertained for long periods of time.

Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker

When your child starts to use furniture to help him/her move around this learning walker is wonderful for children to push around.  The front toy part also detaches so you can use it without the walking part.

Stacking Rings

A toy that has been around forever and ever but for good reason – children love it!  The five stacking rings help with motor development and kids feel a great sense of accomplishment when they finally get the rings stacked correctly.

Blocks

All babies need a set of blocks. We received many different blocks as gifts and by far these blocks are our favorite for babies.

Take Along Tunes Musical Toy

If you put one toy on your registry it should be this one.  This musical toy completely saved us on long car rides.  We would often have it in our diaper bag as our go-to distraction toy if our baby started freaking out somewhere.  A bonus is the classical songs don’t annoy you like other children’s toys that make noise.

Musical Rainbow Tea Set

We were given this toy as a gift and I have to say our daughters play with this tea set almost every day.  The girls love to “make tea” and hand it out to guests to sip. I think our oldest starting playing with this toy around 9 months of age.

Tunnel

I would highly recommend having a toy you only take out on rainy days to keep it special and that helps children burn off energy.   This tunnel is great for crawling babies and older children to have a lot of fun with.  Many games of peek-a-boo are played with ours. It also collapses and stores flat!

My Busy Town

One of our absolute favorite toys is this wooden activity cube. It has provided hours upon hours of entertainment.  It is also great to pull out when you have playdates with children of varying ages because everyone loves it.

See ‘n Say

An inexpensive toy that has stood the test of time, the see ‘n say toy helps kids learn animal names and sounds.

Oball

All parents swear by this ball including me.  Babies love this toy because it is very easy for their little fingers to grasp.

Lots of Links

Another toy we were given as a gift and at first I didn’t really understand the appeal.  But I ended up finding these links helpful for lowering hanging toys so my babies could reach them more easily.  Plus, kids just enjoy playing with the links themselves (and putting them in their mouths).

Books

You really can’t go wrong when picking books for babies as long as you choose softcover books or board books because your baby will chew on them. Here are just a few of our favorite first books;

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Good Night Gorilla
• Numbers Colors Shapes
• Sassy Peek-a-Boo
• Are You My Mother?
• Dinosaur Dance
• Llama Llama Red Pajama
• The Foot Book

For more great books take a look at my post about books you and your toddler will love.

   

I hope this list of toys and books has helped you start/continue your baby registry list.  For my complete baby registry checklist sign up for my monthly newsletter directly below;