What toys should I buy my 6 month old?

[celandine]

He's got 2 huge boxes full of rattles and soft toys which he will happily play with but now he's older I think I really should give him something more developmental.

Any ideas? I've been told some kind of stacking bricks are good but I don't know what else.

not just stacking bricks, but cups, they were the favourite toy of my dd's for ages and are great for pouring in the bath etc and popping in your handbag. my 9 mth old loves a toy my mum got her for christmas which is a sort of musical merrygoround, which is easy enough forher to push down and work for herself - it plays a tune and lights up. she loves banging things together eg her sister's castanets (some home made!) - but lego explore is just as good...

Second the cups - ds still plays with them now and he's two!! They're a top holiday/going out toy too as they're easily portable.

Anything noisy - all the sorts of toys mums tend to hate because they're headache inducing, babies and young children seem to adore no matter how inane they look Mothercare used to do a drum which had beads inside to rattle as you hit it, a simple xylophone and bells all in one small plastic unit which was a favourite for ages. Ds had it from around 8 months I think but it would be suitable from 6months+ I would have thought.

Do you have a baby gym?

What a good mother you are, Celandine. I think guiltily about my dd2's development from time to time...

dd still loves her cups at 2 ! Ikea did a really cheap set which have holes etc for water and sand play later and are very compact for holidays. Simple things that make noises are great, like a Wiggly Giggly ball, or Lego did one which has little heads that pop out as it rolls. It never goes far either so is good when they aren't very mobile. Also soft toys with built in textures and sounds are good for exploring whether mobile or not, try Boots or toyrus.

Both ds and dd loved a very simple toy from Fisher Price which had a mirror on one side and a activity centre on the other. It was freestanding and both loved to push themselves up to admire themselves ! They then progressed onto the flicking, sliding, turning bits on the other. Woolworths are good for those sort of toys at good prices. Also later on we had an activity table and some of these have the activity bit detachable for those who are not yet pulling up.

hth

stacking cups I agree are the best - also my dd loved a simple shape sorter (Tomy do a good one)

Ooo Ooo... the fisher price pull up ball blast thing! You've just reminded me LIZS with your activity set thing! I think ds was a little older though, but it's not just for babies you want to encourage to stand - they can play quite happily "posting" the balls down the spiral and hearing the noises it makes.

I read stacking cups on here when my ds was 6mths and went right out and got them and at 1 he still loves them - they've been great!

DD had the Ball Blast thing and loved it. This Christmas we took it to nursery (to make room for new stuff)and the children in her room (walking to 2.5 years approx) all think it is great. The babies occassionally get a look in next door and those who are just learning to stand, hold onto it wiggling their bums to the music

A baby safe mirror - DD loved looking at herself.

Same goes for a baby safe photo album (M&S do one) which opictures of familiar people. At 21 months DD still sepends ages looking at pictures of people so it'll last a while.

Hard/card books with lots of lovely piccies in too.

And, as Georgina says - probably anything noisy!

(if you are ever in Ikea, they do stacking cups for oooo 90p)

Thanks for all these great ideas. I found some stacking cups in a secondhand shop for 50p so bought those. I feel quite cheated now considering I could've bought new ones at Ikea for 90p!! (But hey, I gave to charity so have good humble feelings )