toys for a 6 month old?

[Eeek]

Hi - my ds seems to be getting bored with his toys, and if he isn't I am! Like many others I've spent money I don't really have on stuff I don't need so can I ask your advice? What have you found to be really popular with your dd/s, good value for money etc. Thanks in advance, EEEK

wooden spoons, cotton reels, saucepans, my tupperware containers, shredding loo roll. Bought things - one of those set of plastic stacking cups, an Ikea bead frame, Neo toy (I think its called - it rolls and has a twisty top), Whoozit.

I used to sit DSs in the washing basket with cushions propping them up and lots of scrunched up paper. You do need to check they're not eating it (top tip : don't use newspaper!)

stacking cups.

A wooden spoon and a saucepan.!!
Balloons filled with different stuff, like flour and water, rice, dried beans / pasta etc etc.
To be honest my dd loved playing with her socks and/or feet more than anything else!

Someone sent my dd a hideous talking/singing frog called Baby Tad from Amazon. She loves it so much! Also a bouncy ball made by Tomy that makes funny bouncing noises when you throw it.

I have hardly bought her any toys as she loved plastic cups, wooden spoons and chasing the dog in her walker as much as anything!

Something called Barney funny hats which I threw out of the window and it went next door (dead ladies house!!) so could not get it back - DD loved it but drove me slightly inmsane - have bought it for every other child I know though - am responsible for madness of half mothers in SE London and Essex by now!!

Oh and Baby Mozart video - fantastic!

clothes pegs to empty out of plastic box...mind you, its boring having to keep putting them back in!

my dd (7 months) loves the vtech rhyme time learning centre we got her at the baby show. The only other place I've seen it is here it's all singing, all dancing with flashy lights, great tunes, loads of nursery rhymes (in an english voice), spinning things, pushy things, a book page to turn etc etc and it's really improved her sitting - I think great value for money at £25.

Or how about the cookie jar thing from Argos? again it plays music and the shape sorter bit speaks both numbers and shapes - she's not got used to that yet but gets excited whenever she see's it. About £15ish I think.

Or one of those inflatable see through tube thing with balls in it - supposed to encourage crawling although dd just looks at it and then us as if to say 'now what?' £10 from toys r us.

oooh my first link - and it works too!!!

I'd second the stacking cups - 2.99 from local chemist's baby section and it's still her best fave almost 4 months later. Also:

Pans and wooden spoons, plastic water bottles, like Volvic etc, with a little bit of water and beads in, lid taped shut with lots of duck (or is it duct, I never know) tape. Empty foil crisp packets and any empty food boxes, especially cereal ones for some reason (and she looks very funny with them wedged on her head too). Oven gloves and washing machine (will sit chewing one, while watching the other) and the plastic washing liquid dosing balls.

IMO Vtech toys are the devil - dd loves them but they drive me round the twist, especially the red nursery rhymes book, do you know the one I mean? DD just sits opening and closing it as fast as she can which makes it repeat "Storytime!" "The End!" "Stor-" "The E-" "Storyti-" "The En-" "St-" "The" until I snap and take it away and give her a quieter thing. Am I evil?

I would definitely recommend stacking cups - we've got 2 sets now, one in the bathroom and one in the lounge. Think we probably first got them when dd was 4-5 months old, she's now 15 months and still loves them. We were given the cookie jar toy for christmas when she was about 8 months and it's been pretty popular - she could take the lid on and off and put the shapes in and out of the top but only now starting to be able to put them into the actual shapes.

My mother has a VTech train which was bought roughly when dd was 6 months to play with at her house (think it might say it's suitable from 9 months or something) and dd has always absolutely loved it so I would say this was my second recommendation after the stacking beakers (again she still enjoys it now at 15 months).

My overall best buy though seems to have been the inflatable galt ring, but I know not everyone thinks these are worthwhile. We bought ours from an NCT sale and couldn't initially blow it up at all but finally had one last go before about to throw it out and got it inflated only when dd was about 9 months (usually get these to help them sit up at 4-5 months). She absolutely loves it and plays with it more than anything else - now she's walking she loves throwing herself in it, sitting on the sides and bouncing, putting her toys in it etc. It's gone way beyond the helping to sit up stage. However, they are expensive, but worth getting secondhand (think they're £30 new but I only paid £8.50 secondhand).

Ebay is a good place to get toys. Most of DS' have come from there. He likes balls and wheels and things that roll. Bead frames are also good.