When most people consider buying gifts for a baby girl, they tend to gravitate toward the frilly pink clothing, toys, and other baby accessories. However, when it comes to toys, are people doing babies a disservice by only thinking in terms of their gender when picking them out?
For infants and toddlers, playtime also means developing physical and mental skills, which sometimes baby girl toys don’t emphasize. When it comes to girls, could the lack of participation in science, tech, and mathematics be a result of what they play with as babies?
Although playtime is fun for babies, it is also vital to their development. Through play, they begin to learn their numbers, colors, shapes and improve their physical skills as well. Babies' senses like touch, hearing, and sight also improve during play. However, certain toys may be better for developing their interests later in life.
For instance, construction toys can help babies and toddlers with logical thinking and problem solving, but it is mostly boys who get building toys like Legos, K’nex, and puzzles as gifts. Playing with these toys can help babies with spatial intelligence, which is the ability to conceptualize, that can lead to an interest in science, engineering, or architecture as young adults.
Parents and other well-meaning adults often buy toys sorted by gender, which can affect how girls learn during playtime. Although pink is a pretty color, when it comes to toys, infant and toddler girls don't care what color the toy is, just that it interests them.
When looking for toys that can help children increase their physical and mental abilities, consider buying those that teach problem-solving, creativity, and logical thinking. These toys include things like puzzles, building blocks, shape-sorters, nesting cups, and art supplies like clay, crayons, and paints.
Manual toys that have beads or levers that turn, slide and flip can help develop babies’ fine motor skills and start to teach them about colors, numbers, and letters. Electronic toys can be fun, but they often isolate children because most of them encourage solitaire play instead of socializing and sharing with others.
This toy review has many toys you should consider for baby girls, and they are rated to help parents and others find the best ones to give to a child.
While researching toys for baby girls, we read about the manufacturers, features, and reviews and testimonials from parents and others who bought them for the little girls in their lives. After gathering this information, we rated each toy between one and five stars, with five being the highest rating, to help people find the best baby girl toys.
If you need to buy a toy suitable for an infant, the Skip Hop Bandana Buddies Activity Center may be ideal. It is a soft plush toy with textures that can help develop babies’ sense of touch. As their hands explore the toy, they will discover it crinkles, rattles, and makes other sounds.
Their Bandana Buddy has teething toys at the top and at each side for infants to soothe themselves when they need relief from teething pain. One of the teethers detaches, so it can be worn around mom's wrist to keep it accessible to the child when they are going out.
The plush toy is safe for babies as it is PVC and Phthalate-free. The toy is available in seven different Bandana Buddies, including:
LeapFrog is a well-known brand that manufactures electronic toys for babies, toddlers, and young children. This toy is a picnic basket with pretend food, plates, glasses, and utensils that can help babies from ages six to 36 months begin to learn their shapes and colors.
When they open the colorful picnic basket, it has sound effects and instrumental music. The basket has a 14-piece playset that includes six food pieces and two plates, forks, and cups. It has a checkered blanket that comes with the basket as well.
This toy also encourages creative play and sharing since it comes with two table settings. The picnic basket is light and small enough for a child to carry with them when going to a friend's house for a playdate, to play outside, or their grandparents' house.
The Baby GUND Princess Castle will be one of the baby girl toys that many little Princesses will love because it comes with a unicorn and castle. Each piece of the playset is soft, so babies can explore it and improve their sense of touch.
The set includes five pieces, which are a unicorn that makes sounds, a princess that crinkles, magic mirror, squeaker wand, and the castle. The castle doubles as a carrying case for the set and is easy for an infant to open and close. This set is also washable, and it has embroidered details, so there are not any sharp edges on it. The Princess playset is suitable for babies from newborns and up.
The Dimpl toy by Fat Brain is a sensory that allows babies to push, grab, and poke the bubbles to make popping sounds. Along with developing their sensory skills, this toy also helps infants learn about cause and effect, and it helps improve their fine motor skills.
The material for the colorful bubbles is food-grade silicone, and they are in ABS plastic that is BPA-free. This high-quality toy is small, so it easily fits into little hands. It only weighs 4.8 ounces and measures 5.5 x 5 x 1-inches. The toy is for children 10-months-old and up.
This Vtech activity cube has seven activities for infants and young toddlers to play with and explore. Each side of the cube has a different activity to help babies learn their colors, shapes, and numbers. As they play, it entertains the baby with over 75 songs, sound effects, phrases, and melodies.
It features five piano keys that your baby girl can press to hear numbers, animals, or musical notes. They can develop their fine motor skills by turning knobs, flipping pages of a book, pushing blocks to turn them, and moving gears with their fingers.
The cube is available in pink or red, and it is for infants ages nine to 36 months old. This Vtech toy needs two AA batteries. It comes with demo batteries, but new ones will be necessary to keep the toy playing longer.
Vtech makes this interactive Musical Rhymes book that allows small children to turn the pages, press buttons to hear musical sound effects, and slide or twist some of the other features on the book. The activities help to develop a child's fine motor skills, musical appreciation and helps them start to identify colors.
The book plays over 40 songs, sounds, melodies, and phrases. The star on the left side of the book lights up and flashes along with the sounds it plays. As they turn the pages, they can keep up with the songs or stories by listening to the voices and playing the activities on each page. The plastic is BPA-free, so it is safe for children. The book is appropriate for children who are six to 36 months old.
A teething baby needs all the help they can get when they’re in pain from cutting teeth. This cute little teething purse from Bright Starts is perfect for little girls who need something to chew on when they’re feeling the pain of emerging teeth.
The purse has water in it, so the teether can be chilled in the refrigerator to help reduce the swelling of babies' gums. It should not go in the freezer. The purse handle has beads on it the baby can play with as they are using their teether. The plastic is BPA-free, so it is safe for children to chew or suck.
The purse is small, so it is easy for a baby to handle. It weighs 3.04 ounces and measures 4.5 x 1 x 3.8-inches.
This friendly electronic duck by ToyThrill flaps its wings plays song melodies speaks and has flashing lights that can captivate a child's attention for hours as they play. Your child can press the buttons on the duck’s chest to play the music or hear the other sounds that it makes.
It can help them learn about colors and cause and effect when they press a button, and it plays music, sounds, or it turns on the lights. The duck is brightly colored to capture a child’s attention and glides across the floor, so your baby can crawl or walk after it to chase it down.
Each button triggers a specific activity. They include:
The toy requires three AAA batteries, which are not in the box, and it has a volume control, so it could be set to play music or other sounds and turned down to lull a baby to sleep.
The Tapiona play mat is suitable for babies of any size, starting from those who are one month old to three years old. They can lay down on their backs or tummies and play the piano keys with their feet or hands, tug and bat at the hanging toys, or shake the rattles.
Some of the hanging toys light up to capture a baby’s attention, and they easily detach from overhead to allow the baby to play with them. The mat also plays melodies that can build your child’s appreciation of music and, when they get tired, help lull them to sleep.
If the mat gets food or milk on it, its soft arches, the piano keyboard, and toys are removable so the mat can be thrown in the washer to get clean. Since the piano is detachable, a baby can take it with them wherever they go, whether it is to another room in the home or the car on a trip.
The piano requires three AA batteries, which you need to buy separately. The activity mat helps babies develop their fine motor skills, learn about shapes, and improve their ability to distinguish between materials and textures as well.
While there is nothing wrong with giving a baby girl pink toys, look beyond the color when buying little girls gifts for their birthday, the holidays, or just because you want them to have toys at grandma and grandpa's house. Select toys that help build on skills that they will use for their rest of their lives.
Building blocks, puzzles, construction toys, and art supplies that are age appropriate will help develop problem-solving, spatial intelligence, and creative thinking skills. They can also help teach kids to improve their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and eyesight as it develops.
Baby girl toys don’t always need to be pink and dainty. They allow girls to be as hands-on as the toys their male counterparts play with, and they can learn things that they may use as they get older. Look for girl toys that teach logical thinking, building, and other essential skills that they will help them live a healthy, productive life.
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