The Best Holiday Gifts for 6-12-month-olds
Between 6-12 months, your baby develops independent sitting balance, starts transitioning from sit➡️crawl, crawls, pulls up to stand….and they might even learn to WALK 👀 Your baby is also working on important fine motor skills, like developing a pincer grasp. Here are the toys I would buy over and over to help your little meet those milestones through play.
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I’ve tested thousands of toys and this is one of my all-time favorites (and yes, my own baby plays with this daily). The silicone of the tissue box makes this toy especially intriguing for littles who are developing fine motor skills. It comes filled with different textured sensory sheets for baby to practice grasping and visual-motor coordination while pulling the sheets from the box!
2. Figgy Play Couch
Is it silly to buy a play couch for a literal baby? No-it’s brilliant. I love recommending toys that will give you the most bang for your buck-and your baby is going to use this play couch for years to come. That’s why it’s worth the spend on a higher quality one.
These are incredible for baby’s gross motor development. Set a toy on the couch to encourage baby to climb up to practice crawling skills. Place a toy on the edge of the couch while baby is seated on the floor to encourage them to hold the high kneeling position, which strengthens their core. Use the play couch as an opportunity to practice dismounting feet-first (instead of head first!). The list goes on and on!
3. Hape Pound and Tap Bench
This one is a classic-and a favorite for babies well into toddlerhood. Babies can use the hammer to hit the balls onto the xylophone, or the xylophone can be removed from the bench to play on it’s own.
Using the hammer to pound with intention strengthens your baby’s visual-motor integration skills (this is how they use feedback from their eyes to inform hand movements!). Baby is also practicing balance by reaching outside of their base of support, and strengthening their core for crawling skills!
4. Manhattan Toy Activity Tree
This activity center is the perfect height for babies practicing sitting balance, standing balance, pulling up to stand and cruising. The bead tracks are placed high and low to encourage baby to explore around the tree, which gets them moving! I love this for core strength and motor coordination.
5. Hape Push Walker
I’d skip buying baby a sit-in baby walker (for lots of reasons) – but THIS push walker is one of the best developmental toys for babies. This has an old-school rotary music box in the wheels, to give baby a little extra motivation to keep walking. It has a wide base, to give baby just enough balance support while they are developing the confidence to walk – and the handlebar is at the perfect height for developing a natural motor plan for walking.
Babies and toddlers are obsessed with this – and it is also featured on my gift guide for one-year-olds. For babies, it’s perfect for practicing grasping different shapes. As baby gets closer to the 12-month mark, you can start to push a piece into the barn and let them isolate their pointer finger to push it all of the way in. Between 12-18 months, baby can start to help you match pieces into their spot on the barn. This toy also offers so many opportunities for language skill development!
7. Melissa & Doug Pull-Behind Frog
This is extraordinary for encouraging crawling and walking skills, and more complex skills like squatting down and running. Your baby will be chasing after this from 6 months to 2+ years.
This is a classic for a GOOD reason! The tunnel encourages babies and toddlers to bear weight through their arms while crawling – and build confidence while crawling through the tunnel. Crawling helps baby develop bilateral coordination, visual scanning skills, and strengthens and stabilizes the muscles and joints of their arms!
This one’s a classic for good reason! While babies explore the pop-up buttons, they are developing cause-and-effect skills that fuel their cognition. Baby is also strengthening their fingers for important fine motor skills, and coordinating their visual and motor systems while playing with this! The simple challenge makes it a great one for developing focus skills and building the foundation for independent play skills.
This one lasts forever. Babies will watch as the gears spin off of the stacker, developing visual tracking skills and practicing sitting balance while you replace them. As your baby grows into a toddler and develops more hand dexterity, they will place the gears on independently-one by one. This is one of the best for developing independent play, visual tracking and bilateral coordination skills.
