June 2013 Notable Toys — Infant & Toddler

My First Doll is made with soft plush in a vibrant shade of pink and has adorable embroidered details. She makes a wonderful gift for your child to love and squeeze.
— "Our best plush items are some of the cute Kids Preferred items, like their soft baby dolls," Kim Emigh, manager of e-commerce at Growing Tree Toys in State College, Pa., told TDmonthly.

Aurora’s two new activity dolls feature enough buttons, zippers, knots and Velcro to keep any child happy and busy for hours. The dolls are squeezable soft and their open arms and warm smiles beg for a child’s attention. The precious girl doll has a pretty pink dress with embroidered butterfly while the boy’s yellow shirt features a red car with buttons as tires. (size: 15 inches).

Ride into imaginary depths of the wild with our sturdy rockin’ alligator! Features a stable rocker base, foot rests and handle bars.

Jef the colorful little dog transforms into a brightly-colored football. The little bells jingle when you throw it!

A charming representation of HABA with natural colored beech wood along with a rainbow of wooden beads. A cheery addition to any baby’s rattle collection. Non toxic water based stains. 6mo+
— David Stelzer, owner of Shananigans Toys in Baltimore, Md., told TDmonthly in an April 2015 survey that Haba rattles and toys are their store's best-selling infant & toddler toys.

Ten cups to stack or nest are great companions to water and sand play.
— Patti Tepper-Rasmussen, owner of Learning Tree Toys, Games & Books, Inc. in Oklahoma City, Okla., told TDmonthly in an April 2013 survey that these stacking cups are among her store's best-selling bath toys.

Designed for little hands with big plans. Beeps, flashes & spins.
Easy to turn when it hits an obstacle. Radio signal works across rooms. Auto-off feature conserves all that power. Try it in the dark - colors light up your room like a toddler disco.
— Mary Porter Green, owner of Curiosity Zone in Ashburn, Va., told TDmonthly in an April 2013 survey that their best-selling infant/toddler toy is "probably the Battat 'Wheeee-mote Control Car' - we always seem to be ordering more."

One part teether, one part toy. The Green Ring is perfect for teething and beneficial skill building infant fun. The Green Ring is 100% compostable and features GreenDot, a MADE IN THE USA biomaterial made from corn! The GreenRing toy is comprised of a 3 inch loop of smooth maple wood encircled by our soft, corn starch bio-resin. This clip friendly ring is great for travel, easy cleaning, and is 100% eco-friendly. The bright green outer ring can be removed and sanitized in the dishwasher.
— Gladys Griffin, owner of Main Street Toy Shop in Columbus, Ga., told TDmonthly in an April 2013 survey that Green Ring is one of their best-selling infant/toddler toys.

Children will enjoy making music by tapping the xylophone keys one by one. Even better, when children want to move on to another toy, simply unfold the instrument and it becomes a pull-along train. Children can tug on the string to watch the colorful 17"-long train chug-chug behind them! An attached mallet will help children reveal six different tones. For 12 months and up.

TDmonthly recommends looking at Schoenhut for similar, high-quality musical toys and instruments.

Children will be delighted by this adorable 9.5" toy featuring six removable shape-sorting and color-matching gears! Once all of the gears have been correctly placed, they will move ‘round and ‘round with a simple turn of the knob, encouraging children's hands-on exploration and discovery. And as a lively bonus, Busy Buddy’s eyes blink and ears wiggle when the gears move. For ages 9 months and up.

Ages 3 months to 24 months.The Octo-Brush from Baby Banana is a 100% silicone toothbrush and teether in one. The unique design of this product has nubs, bumps and suction cups on its unique tentacles, making teething and brushing 8 times more exciting for little ones. Specially engineered token bristles on the underside of the tentacles help children get used to manipulating a cleaning device in their mouths, while still having fun and being able to hold the Octo-Brush all on their own!