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My niece loved board books that had cats in one or farm animals or something like that. It ended up being her best learning tool, she would sit with the nanny or another adult and learn the words, now at 18 months she can pick different animals and objects out of magazines or tv.
Any toy a child plays with is educational, especially at that age. Personally I would go with less high tech stuff for a while and stick with blocks, shape sorters, push/pull toys, etc. Babies need to learn about their environment at that age and how things work. You will notice that when they start crawling they go for the narrowest spot in the room to crawl through, etc. It is about learning where their body ends and the world starts. It is a HUGE developmental process they go through.
Any toy a child plays with is educational, especially at that age. Personally I would go with less high tech stuff for a while and stick with blocks, shape sorters, push/pull toys, etc. Babies need to learn about their environment at that age and how things work. You will notice that when they start crawling they go for the narrowest spot in the room to crawl through, etc. It is about learning where their body ends and the world starts. It is a HUGE developmental process they go through.
I agree. My daughter is 2 and still doesn't really grasp the idea of the "high-tech" stuff. Toys with texture are great at that age, or the ones where they see a reaction from their action-ex: those toys where you push all the animals down and then push, twist, pull, a button and they pop up. She really really loved that Fisher Price bouncing zebra thing at that age (now even more since she's learned to better balance herself).
Balls, wooden blocks, and stacking blocks are nice. But, then so are Tupperware containers, plastic bottles filled with neat things, edible play dough, and fat crayons (watch he doesn't eat them). All of those "educational" toys are just bunk designed to guilt parents and grandparents into spending their money needlessly - don't drink the Kool-Aid!
If you're really looking for a Leap Frog toy, I'd get the alphabet thing that sticks to your fridge. It comes with all 26 letters. When you stick the letter into the slot and press, a kid's voice says (for example), "E! E says ee! And E says eh! (now singing) Every letter makes a sound, E says ee! And eh!" A lot of fun for kids. It took my older child until about 15 months before she was able to get the letter into the slot, but she LOVED the toy, and still plays with it (she's almost 3). It also sings the alphabet song with the standard tune but jazzed up rhythm. We just leave the whole setup on our fridge, and the kids play with it in spurts. There's a volume control and we always keep it on low, which is PLENTY loud.
If you're really looking for a Leap Frog toy, I'd get the alphabet thing that sticks to your fridge. It comes with all 26 letters. When you stick the letter into the slot and press, a kid's voice says (for example), "E! E says ee! And E says eh! (now singing) Every letter makes a sound, E says ee! And eh!" A lot of fun for kids. It took my older child until about 15 months before she was able to get the letter into the slot, but she LOVED the toy, and still plays with it (she's almost 3). It also sings the alphabet song with the standard tune but jazzed up rhythm. We just leave the whole setup on our fridge, and the kids play with it in spurts. There's a volume control and we always keep it on low, which is PLENTY loud.
"And every letter makes a sound..e says ee"
My toddler loves it as does my 8 month old. We've had it since #1 turned 1 & it has good staying power. Like stated above, our son has played with it in spurts & sometimes I just put it away & brought it back out a month or two later & it was like a new toy for him.
The farm animal one is also very popular in our house.
I'm a fan of the low-tech toys myself... we have a rule in our house that once the batteries die, you have to use the toy without them. (Obviously we've relaxed on the rule since my kids are bigger... but it did help my sanity when they were babies/toddlers and the grandparents insisted on buying the most obnoxious "educational" toys they could find!)
Blocks, board books, people and animal figurines to play with and act with, fat crayons, finger paints (or vanilla pudding/yogurt with a drop of food coloring, LOL), sidewalk chalk, bubbles, shape sorters, those bead "mazes" with the beads strung on the thick wire, dolls, soft puppets, balls. Those types of things were favorites in my house for one- to two-year olds. They grow so fast at that age, that something that seems ridiculous to give to a 13 month old is appropriate for an 18 month old.
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