This fabric-covered toy has bold, bright geometric prints to help baby focus and lots of brilliant colors to stimulate visual development. The screen is a large, true-reflection mirror that reflects baby’s image. Colorful tabs on the top of the screen announce their colors in English and Spanish when baby pushes them. The keys can be pressed to hear colors in English and Spanish, musical notes, or silly rhymes and sounds. When it’s time for a break, baby can close the laptop and tote it around using the fabric handle. "This toy encourages language development by exposing baby to colors and rhymes and music, all activities that help baby's brain build connections," Peggy Barrett, PR consultant at Barrett Marketing Communications, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2, 2009.
Parents can attach this little apple, banana, onion or eggplant to the handle or side of the shopping cart to entertain baby. The fruit and veggie characters have smiling, symmetrical faces with high-contrast eyes. Black and white striped leggings and tethers provide visual stimulation and focus for even the youngest babies. Each little character wears tennis shoes and has interesting textures to touch and teethe on. Smooth teethable rings circle one leg on each character for added tactile exploration. Each character makes a soft rattling sound and most have leaves, or petals, that crinkle to the touch. The toys come two to a pack and hook on to shopping carts, strollers, infant carrier handles, high chairs, and other surfaces with simple plastic clamps. Launch date: July 2009.
This clear, lightweight barrel is filled with an assortment of brightly colored soft plush monkeys, plastic barrels and bunches of bananas. The monkeys have symmetrical, smiling faces, designed to have a calming effect on babies and young children. The soft monkeys are easy to grasp, squeak when squeezed, and encourage baby to reach out and strengthen gripping muscles. The wide mouth jar encourages baby to fit the pieces back in. "The toy encourages baby to play using fill and spill activity, which helps develop motor-cognitive processing skills and is a precursor to shape-sorting," Peggy Barrett, PR consultant at Barrett Marketing Communications, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2, 2009.
A mini Ferris wheel, the Sensation Station has four activities that spin and rotate on a center axis. The toy features the full spectrum of colors to appeal to the well-developed vision of a child 6 months or older. Lots of bold, bright patterns are designed to engage baby visually, too. A bright red bug with high-contrast eyes sends showers of beads in motion as it spins, making a pleasing sound. A cylinder is filled with colorful rattling beads and makes a cheery sound when baby bats at it. A textured disk is split in the middle, allowing the two parts to spin together or independently. Bumpy dots on the ridges invite exploration by finger and mouth. The toy is two-in-one: secured into the wide suction cup base, it is a high chair toy; when removed from the base, baby can grasp the black-and-white-striped, textured handle and play with the toy using both hands. "All the moving parts encourage baby to manipulate, explore and investigate this toy," Peggy Barrett, PR consultant for Barrett Marketing Communications, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2009.
Suitable for babies ages 3 months and up, the smooth handle of this rattle holds three colorful, wooden leaves that make a clacking sound when shaken, as well as colorful velour and fleece fabrics.
Beginning Bites teethers inspire baby's sense of taste. A baby will have fun exploring the various textures and shapes while teething. Sold as a 2-pack.
Four spinning pieces with a variety of bright colors, textures and shapes draw baby’s eyes, ears and mouth to play with the Illumination Station. Like Sassy’s classic Fascination Station and Fishy Fascination Station, this toy can be mounted to a high chair tray or other flat surface with its sturdy suction-cup base. The moon ball glows from within when baby spins or shakes the Illumination Station.
Bathing baby is easier with the Soft-Touch Rinse Cup. Just fill with warm water and pour gently over the baby's head to rinse off shampoo. The cup is soft and flexible to prevent bumps and bruises.
Little hands will snap and unsnap 20 large beads in bold, bright colors with many textures. The beads have a vanilla bean scent to stimulate the sense of smell, too. At first, baby will dump the beads and pull strings of them apart. As muscles coordination improves, baby will learn to snap the beads together and even sort them by color and shape. The beads pack up in a clear reusable plastic storage bucket with a convenient carry handle. "Vanilla scent helps stimulate another sense. The set has two large pieces with three attachment points to allow more building variety and fun," Peggy Barrett, PR consultant at Barrett Marketing Communications, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2009.
This retro, little phone receiver has chewy textures, soft rattling noises and clear, bright colors to engage and stimulate baby’s senses. A bold, black and white bull’s eye on one end fosters visual acuity. Two beads — one black and the other white — circle around a mirrored funnel on the other end for additional visual stimulation. The lightweight rattle has a thin handle to fit even the tiniest grasp. This product received a 2009 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award and an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio SNAP Award.
These lightweight oval rattles are made for little hands to grasp and little mouths and fingers to explore. The set comes with a yellow rattle with raised, textured, orange stripes and a red handled rattle with raised, purple stripes. A smooth, clear plastic ball perches at one end of the rattle, spinning and sending colorful beads popping along. Inside is a spinning disk with a mirror on one side and a symmetrical, smiling face on the other. It comes in a two-pack and received a 2009 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award. Launch date: October 2009.
High contrast geometric stripes, polka dots and a surprising light up feature grab baby’s focus. The lime green rattle has two textured handles with teal stripes, perfect for two-handed play. There are two spheres on the rattle. One lights up as it spins. The other is clear with a bug character smiling on a rotating disk inside. It is available with either blue or pink accents and has received a 2009 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award and SNAP Award. Launch date: October 2009.
This soft, padded playmat features a high contrast, smiling ladybug. Overhead, white polka-dots on a black arch are designed to catch baby’s gaze, allowing him to focus. Three brightly colored toys with geometric patterns and high contrast designs dangle overhead to provide added visual stimulation. A soft, curved cushion securely cradles baby. It doubles as a tummy time bolster. A self-standing, True Reflection™ mirror offers tummy time entertainment. Many textures encourage baby’s tactile sense while sounds stimulate baby’s hearing. "The playmat is so versatile, with activities for back-lying babies and tummy time too. The high contrast, geometric patterns help baby develop visually, sounds and textures stimulate the other senses," Peggy Barrett, PR consultant for Barrett Marketing Communications, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2009.
These sleek, boldly colored ladybugs can be refrigerated so that their water-filled sections provide cool comfort for sore gums. Bendable, squishable textures and raised polka-dots encourage exploration by mouth. A smooth, black head provides bold contrast in color and texture to the rest of the little bug. Nubby antennae offer additional teething fun. They are available in two-packs with either a red and a purple ladybug or a red and an orange ladybug. Launch date: October 2009.
Caregivers can refrigerate this colorful, water-filled rattle to bring cool relief to teething babies. On one end, a red, squishy, water-filled, oval ring with nubby bumps invites baby to soothe his gums. In the middle, a curved, white handle features raised, black stripes and three colored rings click-clacking around it. The handle is thin enough for even young babies to grasp. There is a black ball with white polka-dots on the other end of the handle to help baby focus. Launch date: October 2009.
When baby gums or bites the largest soft disk on this teething ring, it vibrates, offering comfort and a lesson in cause and effect. A disk with bold, red and white stripes catches baby’s eye. Raised stripes and smooth sections encourage teething. Completing the ring are six chewy, textured disks filled with orange, purple and red beads. Some are water-filled and, when refrigerated, provide a cool diversion from sore gums. Varied textures cultivate tactile sensitivity, helping to develop communication skills. Launch date: October 2009.
This colorful set of eight links comes with a large black and white ring to hold them all. Parents can use the links to help baby identify colors or even to link other toys together.
This gift set is full of toys designed to surprise and delight babies during their first days of play. The gift set includes an assortment of five rattles and teethers in a variety of shapes and vibrant colors to stimulate and help develop interaction, communication and motor skills. The rattles are aim to inspire movement while the teethers provide soothing relief. — As of 8.24.10, this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 35 reviews on Target.com and was listed in the top 30 best-selling toys and games. PROS: Cute and engaging.
An update of an old favorite, this high chair toy has a big suction cup to fasten on the high chair or it can be detached from its stand and used for two handed play. The bold contrast spinners are sure to attract visual attention and delight babies who love the power of toys that they activate with ease. There are two see-through balls with spinners inside and bright colored clackers that invite exploration by little fingers. Awards: Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Blue Chip Classic Award Winner, 2009.
Sassy Ring O Links offers youngsters a variety of textures to enhance tactile experiences. A bright, bold spectrum of colors keeps kids interested- no link is quite the same. The bold black and white pattern on the ring itself offers high-contrast imagery that is ideal for developing eyes. — As of 05/20/2011 this product had 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com from 65 reviews. Pros: Durable; Multi-use (toy, teething rings); very colorful. Cons: Cheaper to just get the "bag o links;" the large black and white link detaches too easily from other links.
The Sassy sensory ball set has three unique balls inspire all of baby's senses. One ball engages baby's sense of touch with its fabric textures and baby's vision with its bold colors and patterns. The next ball captures baby's sense of hearing with an easy-to-grasp hard plastic ball with a chime ball inside. The third ball is made of squeezable BPA-free plastic that has been scented to smell like vanilla, a calming scent that appeals to the baby's sense of taste. Awards: 2011 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award; Snap Award. — As of 12/13/2011 this product had 4.3 out of 5 stars from 10 reviews on Amazon.com.
Bright colors and bold patterns help engage baby’s developing sense of vision. The easy-to-grasp loops help baby tug and toss the ball for a fun activity. The clacking rings and a pleasant chime inside easily engage hearing. The soft ball construction is appropriate for baby’s stimulating environment. Awards: 2012 Dr. Toy 100 Best Toys
