Toys For 10 to 12 Month Old Baby – Types, Benefits and What to Buy

What to Consider While Buying Toys For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Choosing the right set of toys for your almost 1-year-old is not very complicated if you know your baby well. Here are some factors you need to consider before buying:

1. Skill Level

Choose toys depending on your baby’s skill  level. The toy must match their current skill level and slowly push them to improve.

2. Age-Appropriate

Choose toys that are designed for your baby’s age group. Check the age recommendation on the packaging. Your baby should not be too young or too old for the toy.

3. Challenging

While toys have to be fun, they must be challenging too. It should make your baby come out of their comfort zone, push their current limits and do a little more each time. This aids in the healthy development of your baby’s abilities.

4. Open-Ended

Buy some open-ended toys – toys your baby can use in multiple ways. Babies are creative at this stage and won’t play in a single way. Open-ended toys give your baby a chance to explore and get creative.

5. Encouraging

The toy must encourage your baby to do more, learn more and try more. If the toy is fun and challenging enough, you will see your baby preferring it more than other toys.

List of Top 11 Types of Toys to Buy For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

Here are a few varieties of toys you may want to consider buying for your almost 1-year-old.

1. Educational Toys

Toy manufacturers are innovative and bring in important concepts through toys. Giving these to your baby can help them learn and understand important concepts, ideas, and lessons through play.

How Can Educational Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Easy to Grasp	Anything taught with toys in a fun manner is easy to grasp and retain for longer periods. Babies tend to learn more than just one idea when they get repeated exposure to educational toys.
Learning At Own Pace	Your baby can learn at their own pace without any pressure. Stress-free learning is the best learning experience you can give your baby.
Fun Way to Introduce Concepts	Toys make learning any new concept fun and interactive. They can learn without being “taught”.

Educational Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Puzzles
• Books
• Blocks
• Flashcards

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Baby Educational Toys

• Endow Toys
• Skola
• Virgo Toys
• Creatives
• Shumee

2. Language Development Toys

When babies play with toys that teach them a language, they learn it faster and better than you sitting and teaching them the words every day. It can be an interactive fun time between children and parents. Eventually, they learn to play with them, independently too.

How Can Language Developmental Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Teach Words and Sounds	Babies get exposure to many words and sounds from an early age. this helps them pick up a language easily when spoken around them at home or at school.
Teach Self Expression	When they know the right words and understand the language, they can express themselves better. This also paves way for a confident child who is not shy to be vocal about their needs.

Language Developmental Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Flashcards
• Sound books
• Baby laptops
• Interactive Plush toys

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Language Development Toys For Babies

• Tutu’s Lab
• Brainy Bear
• Brainsmith

[Read : Speech And Language Developmental Milestones]

3. Books

Books can be a lot of fun and very enlightening for babies. They can use it as much as they want and you don’t have to worry about their vision or brain being affected negatively.

How Can Books Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Avoids Screen-Time	Books are the best way to avoid screen time for babies. They can learn from, feel and explore books as and when they want. It is safe for their eyes and brain.
Self-Paced Learning	Learning can be slow or fast as per the baby’s own pace. They can go back and forth and learn words and images well. There is no rush or anyone else to keep up with.

Books You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Sound Books
• My first books
• Shapes & Colours Books
• Animals books
• Picture books

Few Top Publisher in India For Buying Picture Books For Babies

• Karadi Tales
• Tulika Books
• Tota Books
• Wonder House

4. Activity Toys

Babies love to perform actions and take control. At this stage, they want to exert their independence and do everything on their own without any adult help. Activity toys facilitate this need and also teach in the process.

How Can Activity Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Increase IQ	Doing challenging activities in the form of play will increase your baby’s IQ and make them smarter. It helps them understand and grasp concepts more effectively. They can learn more in a shorter time when they perform related activities.
Improve Concentration	As babies grow, they need to focus more and concentrate longer on an activity. Toys promote this and encourage them to sit with an activity for a longer time.
Develop Problem Solving Skills	Problem-solving is an important cognitive development that will help babies become independent and think for themselves. It reduces dependency on others to tell them what to do.

Activity Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Activity cubes
• Transfer/pouring activity toys
• Pounding toys
• Balancing toys
• Puzzles

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Activity Toys For Babies

• Funskool
• Ariraro
• Shumee

[Read : Motor and Cognitive Skills Development Of A Baby]

5. Balls

Babies love to run around and play at this stage. If they are not running yet, they will move in some form or the other. They love to hold and play with a ball – by themselves and with others.

How Can Balls Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Teach Spatial Awareness	Babies start understanding the ball is away from them and they need to move in order to reach it. they understand distance when they perceive the ball is near or far. They may readily move to get a ball that is close by and just ignore when the ball moves far away.
Help Identify Colors	Colorful balls can be a fun way to teach your baby different colors. You can ask them to bring a certain color ball to associate colors with their names.

Balls You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Bouncy balls
• Small and big balls
• Beach balls
• Inflatable balls
• Squeeze balls that make noise

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Balls For Babies

• Funskool Giggles
• Magicwand
• Babygo

6. Toys With Buttons and Dials

Babies love buttons. They love the way it goes in and comes out when they press it. Similarly, they love to turn things using their fingers, which is exactly what toys with dials facilitate.

How Can Toys With Buttons and Dials Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Promote Independent Play	Babies will spend a lot of time twisting and turning the dials. Independent play is an important milestone.
Improve Fine Motor Skills	Turning the dial with their tiny fingers will strengthen it and teach them how to move things in a certain direction using just their fingers. Pressing buttons and turning dials are very important to operate household items later.

Toys With Buttons and Dials You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Baby telephone
• Activity boxes with dials
• Toys with switches

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Toys With Buttons and Dials For Babies

• Funskool giggles
• Toyshine
• Babyhug

[Read :  Baby’s Fine Motor Skill Development]

7. Household Items For Babies

Unless physically out of reach, no items around the house are off-limits for a baby. They are curious to explore and use items everyone around them is using.

How Can Household Items Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Teach Practical Skills	Pouring, pounding, moving, and transferring are important skills one must learn as one grows. It helps the baby become independent as they grow.
Teach How To Use Real Life Items	They are growing and exploring household items will teach them how these items actually work. They get first-hand experience handling real-life items rather than toys.
Promote Independent Play	It promotes playing by themselves rather than with others. The focus is more on how to use the item rather than the game they can play with it.

Household Items You May Want to Consider for a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Sponge
• Spoons & Ladles
• Cups & Tumblers
• Cloth

8. Push and Pull Toys

Babies will like to sit up, push and pull back their toys in a repetitive motion. They like to see how it moves under their hands.

How Can Push and Pull Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Strengthen Big Muscles	The constant moving to and fro action makes their muscles work harder and in turn, makes them stronger. Arm strength is important to carry, move and handle things. It makes their shoulders strong too.
Help Sit Up	To play with these toys, the baby will have to sit up for a long time. The more they are engrossed in playing with these toys, the longer they will sit up.
Encourage Movement	They will start crawling with the toy or to get the toys that move away from them. They will move more than usual when they are playing with these toys.

Push and Pull Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Walkers
• Push-n-Go toys
• Crawling toys
• Wooden trains/cars
• Baby tricycles

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Push and Pull Toys For Babies

• Ammi enterprise
• Funskool
• Shumee
• Thasvi
• Miniature Mart

9. Stacking and Building Toys

Give your baby a pile of items and they will immediately start stacking. They love to build and make things look tall.

How Can Stacking and Building Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Teach Perception of Height	They begin to understand everything cannot keep going up vertically and it will eventually fall. They understand blocks can be stable only up to a certain height and if you need more height, you need to work on the base first.
Encourage Perseverance	Despite the toys or pieces clattering to the ground, your baby will start building again. Babies don’t give up easily and they keep doing it until their brain is tired. It teaches them to keep trying without giving up easily, which is a very important life lesson.

Stacking and Building Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Rainbow stacker
• Building blocks
• Stacking cups/discs/rings
• Vertical puzzles
• Animal stackers

Few Top Brands in India to Buy Stacking and Building Toys For Babies

• Pluspoint
• Little’s
• Shumee
• Incredible India
• Smartcraft
• Toyshine

10. Sorting Toys

Arranging or categorising toys based on their texture or looks improves your baby’s senses. Babies will love to sort anything and everything in their own style. Just watch and understand what they are trying to sort.

How Can Sorting Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Improve Attention to Detail	The more complicated sorting toys require your baby to pay close attention to all details. The more they play with such toys, the more they will start noticing. This in turn will increase their attention to details others generally might miss.
Expand Vocabulary	You can teach them the name of the shapes as they sort them. Babies will learn the name of the shapes more easily this way.

Sorting Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Shape sorter with pegs
• Shape sorter without pegs
• Wooden puzzles

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Sorting Toys For Babies

• Funskool
• Babyhug
• Ratnas

11. Role-Playing Toys

Babies try to mimic adults and do what they see or hear around them. At this stage, parents have to be conscious about what they do or speak in front of the babies as they are grasping everything around them.

How Can Role-Playing Toys Help a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby?

Skill Development	Benefits
Fuel Imagination	Babies will combine multiple scenarios and come up with their own stories and ways to role-play. This helps build imagination and memory as they try to recall details from their real life.
Teach Compassion	Playing with their dolls will encourage empathy and compassion, which are very important milestones for the emotional quotient of a human being.
Help Understand Toys Are Not Real	Babies slowly understand toys are not really like them or the people around them. They start differentiating between toys and real living beings.  For example, they will understand their dog’s soft toy is different from a real pet dog.

Role Playing Toys You May Want to Consider For a 10 to 12 Month Old Baby

• Kitchen Set
• Doctor Set
• Board on stand
• Battery-operated miniature toys

Few Top Brands in India For Buying Role Playing Toys For Babies

• Toyshine
• Mamushop
• Toyzone
• Pluspoint

Babies love to play. Interactive and independent play help them develop multiple skills at their own pace. When they get practical exposure through toys, they learn better and faster. You can teach them even important textbook concepts through play, with toys. As your baby gets older, you can introduce them to STEM activities to help them understand difficult concepts, in a simple yet effective manner.