- When working with families
as an occupational therapist, they often ask me what toys they should get for their little bub. So in this video, I'm gonna cover the toys that are really beneficial for your baby at six to nine months of age, because it'll ensure their communication, gross motor and fine motor
skills continue to develop. And most importantly,
I'll tell you what toys you should definitely avoid at this age. (upbeat music) If this is your first time here, my name's Emma and this
channel's all about helping you gain some
confidence as a parent, by giving you the tips and tricks that I've learned practicing
as an occupational therapist and also being mom to two children. So if you wanna make parenting
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developmental checklist in the description box below, so make sure you click on that. So, what toys do I recommend at this age? The baby gym is still a really good peek elect toy for your baby. And that's because when they're sitting, they'll be starting to reach out and kind of grab those toys that are hanging from the baby gym. The other thing is that's great, is that you can pull those toys off the baby gym, 'cause
they're generally soft toys and then your baby will
love to explore them or you can purchase some other soft toys. I really do like these
toys, the Le Mars toys and that's because they're really bright, they're lightweight and they make lots of noise for your baby
and they got those little tags. So even if you just
wanna buy one of these, then that will be fantastic for your baby. What you can do at this
age, is grab those links off your baby gym and
make it into a chain. So essentially becomes like a long rattle for your baby and it's a free resource. So make sure you do that because you've already got all those links. The oball is another toy that
I really like at this age. And that's because it
helps your baby learn to transfer the ball from
one hand to the other. It's also really lightweight,
it's not gonna hurt your baby and it helps with that
fine motor development. If you don't wanna have that, then you can look at purchasing a rattle because that's something
they're gonna move on to, particularly at this age,
they're gonna start using. So this rattle's a really good one because it's lightweight, it's
easy for your baby to hold and they'll love shaking it. Now, there are lots of other
versions of rattles out there. They're really cheap. I do tend to like the circular rattles because it's easier for your baby to hold and move between hands, but make sure, if you're looking at other rattles, make sure you look for
ones that are lightweight and easy to hold, not
the really heavy ones because your baby's gonna
find that difficult to hold. At this age, your baby is
going to be teething a lot. So teething rings are really beneficial. I really liked Sophie and that's
because she's lightweight, easy to clean and your baby will be able to put it in their mouth when they're mouthing,
so that is an option. If you look at other teething rings, then I would just look
at those circular ones because they're easy for your baby to hold and place in their mouth. The next toy I really like at
this age are shape sorters. And that's because at this
age, we're working on posting. So you're not expecting them to be able to put the toys into
these individual holes. What I do at this age, is remove the lid and what you would do, is you'd use like the blocks that it came with, and I would use them just to teach a baby to drop the toys into the open container. You can use a metal
mixing bowl and just use these kinda shapes inside
that, or some balls or you could use an ice cream container, but shapes sorters are
a really good investment because in like nine to 12 months, I'll be starting to put one shape in. It's generally the circle and it's towards the end of the 12 months, that they can put the circle in the top, but it's something that
they will progress on to. So you could get it now, knowing
that we just remove the lid but we'll put it back on
when they're a bit older. Another great toy at this
age are the ring stackers. Again at six months, I
would take the rings off and just give it to your bubs for something to play with,
because they're lightweight and they're circular and they
can move it from hand to hand. Towards the end of sort
of, more like nine months, what you're wanting to
do, is for your baby to remove the rings from the ring stacker. You're not wanting them
to put it on at this age but this is a really great toy again, that we can kind of break down. So at six months we can give
it to them as individual rings, nine months they're removing it, and then towards the
end of the first year, they're putting it back on, the rings on, not in any order though,
just putting it on. At this stage, I also like
those touch and feel books again, or board books,
and that's simply because your baby's not gonna rip them. It's another way that you
can kind of talk to your baby because you're gonna talk
about what's in the book and work on those kinda
communication skills because sometimes it's really hard to know what to say to your bub. But this gives parents a
way to talk to their baby if they're feeling a bit
uncomfortable with that. But also again, this is a toy or a book that they'll
learn to kind of grow into. And that's because at 12
months, we're wanting to work on that pointer and that pincer
grip, in turning the pages. So it is a great toy that
they'll kinda grow in to. And lastly at this age,
I really do like blocks and that's because it helps to work on that in three fingered
grip, but also at six months, they're gonna be banging
it mainly on the table. And then they learn to bang it together. But that's something that
they'll use quite regularly, and then we can use it to post, so we can use it for
dropping into containers. And then later on, we're
gonna be using blocks to build on top of each other. So at 12 months, you'd be wanting one block on top of the other. So again, it's another great
toy that you can buy now and they'll continue to use. So what toys should you avoid at this age? It's definitely those jolly jumpers, the baby play stations
and the baby walkers. And that's because it's been
shown to place your baby at risk for sustaining injuries when they're using that
piece of equipment. And the other thing is,
it also increases the risk of your baby sustaining
developmental delays because it's not necessarily working on those skills that
we're wanting at that age. Now, if you wanna know more details about why the jolly
jumper's not that beneficial for your baby, check out this video where I talk about that and also give you some alternative
strategies that you can use because I know it's
really hard to be having to hold a baby all the time, so you just want some other avenues, so that you can have your hands free. If you haven't already,
make sure you subscribe to this channel, to make
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