What do we think the key toys are for children's different ages and stages as they grow up?

[Gincognito]

So the classics for various ages, which link up with key developmental milestones, eg

0-6 m
6-12 m
12-18 m
18-24 m
2-3 years

Etc?

Just nosy as my 15mo's toys are heavy on the press-a-button-to-make-something-light. I'm always impressed by toys others have for theirs and try to copy when I get home - I'm not nearly as creative!

0-6m The parents.
6-12m Stacking cups.
12-18m Shape sorters.
18-24m Something that'll start to encourage imaginitive play. Teaset or something. Something that encourages active play like rideons.
2-3yrs playdoh and other crafty stuff.

Sorry that's really vague, I should be good at this considering my line of work!

From 3 months - listening to music, books, they love being read to and looking at pictures and even the simplest of picture books will grow with the child up to 18 months or so. Rattles, mirror, balls - they love to watch them roll though they may not roll them themselves till about 6 months.
From 6 months - stacking/nesting cups, maracas, glockenspiel, tambourine, drum, push along cars, teddy/doll (our LO started to develop a strong bond with her special teddy (a useful comforter/settler) at 6 months).
From about 10 months - wooden/jigsaw puzzles, shape sorters, pull along toys, castanets and triangle.
From 12 months - train set, kazoo (loves that!!), keyboard, walker and ride-on toys, playdough, duplo, button board, magnetic shapes board, wax crayons, finger paints and baby ink stamps, tool bench, toy cooker/toy food etc. Loves role playing at cooking and "feeding" teddy and dolls, makes pretend "eating" noises etc..
From 16 months - toy farm, baby lacing beads and basic lacing cards, fuzzy felt, sticky mosaic/sticky dot art.. She still plays with all the other stuff too - it's only the rattles and teethers we have got rid of!

OK, so if I could have only had one toy for DS at each of these ages..

0-6 m a mirror
6-12 m the jumperoo
12-18 m books
18-24 m still books (so far)

Breaking my own rules but would also have stacking cups from 6 months and cars (don't think there's a huge amount of developmental value in them but he LOVES them).

Gourd, really? Your from 12 months list seems far too old for my ds even now. Crayons, paints, buttons etc - no interest in these except putting em in his mouth. Pretend play (e.g. Feeding teddies) doesn't seem to be happening yet...

My 15 month old likes playing with her crayons, but mostly just taking them out of the container and putting them back in. 12-14 months seemed to be all about carrying things around and putting things in bags. 15 months seems to be about wandering around aimlessly.

She will also occasionally try to feed teddies/us/the cat but I'm not sure I'd classify it as pretend play yet!

Ds is 15 months old and loves his MegaBloks and wooden bricks. I think from 1, DD loved them and still does at 5! Scuttlebug is quite popular too..
Otherwise he just needs any raised surface for climbing

If you visit your local childrens centre they often have a toy library. They are fantastic. They have a huge variety of toys (including wooden, sensory toys) and have story sacks etc. Normally a few pounds to join then you borrow them for a few weeks for free. Always good to see what your child is interested in too.