Growing out of playmats

[Belle82]

Hi all,
You are always so helpful on here so I'm hoping I could get some advice on something.

My baby sits completely independently now, we have a couple of playmats for her but she seems to be loosing interest in them now. What would the next stage in toys for a baby be around 7 months? Is there anything like mats or is it best just to get an array of toys for her to play with?

Also, what are the best toys your little ones had at around 9 months? I'm planning Christmas presents.

Thank you very much xx

Does she have anything like a door bouncer or jumperoo?

Not yet, I've been looking on marketplace to get a second hand one.
Are they as good as they say they are?x

Mine are older now. We just had a door bouncer which they both loved.

How about making some edible finger paints and put her in the high chair and let her play with them on the tray?

You could put some toys in front of her on the floor and let her crawl towards them.

DS had something similar to this for his first Christmas

Activity stations are good whether wooden cube ones with beads of a wire and various bits to twist and turn, push & pull or plastic versions (Leap Frog or Vtech do them ... others must do too) with buttons to press which lead to flashing lights and that sort of thing.
If your DD isn't moving yet, just put an array of toys around her on the floor and then she can choose the ones she wants from that selection. "Treasure baskets" are good at that age - some sort of container filled with random household items which are different gestures, shapes & sizes. My DD was particularly taken with a bendy ruler, a slotted spoon and a sponge.

For other ideas of toys, it's a good idea to go someone like ELC or Toys R Us and just have a look. If you have a big supermarket near you, they'll have a good selection of their own brand stuff too which is always reasonably oriced.

How about a mirror for tummy time?

Definitely jumperoo.

Also at this stage a lot of fisher price and tech toys come into play... a tea set? A walker? One of the dancing robot thingys?

I think a jumperoo might not be worth it as I guess it will only be used for a couple of months! I would perhaps look at getting items that promote crawling now as that's the next stage! A walker type toy, mine liked the activity station tables that they can pull themselves up onto. The tomy hide and squeak eggs are always a favourite and my 4 year old still plays with them in her toy kitchen! Lamanze type toys and wooden blocks!