Written by Sindhuja Prabhu
As your baby grows and becomes more active, they need more toys and items to help develop their skills on various fronts. Babies spend a lot of time observing and understanding everything around them. Toys for 6 month old baby are an interesting way to teach them something new. Since babies of this year are going through quick growth and development phase, the right toys are essential to keep them stimulated and encourage their overall growth and development.
The market is filled with a variety of toys from local and international brands. Each cites their big list of advantages. How can you be sure which toy is appropriate for which age group? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
In This Article
A 6-month-old is awake longer and is more active. They will play, observe and try to mimic at this stage. Anywhere between an hour or an hour and a half will be sufficient. Some babies may want more. You can let them play more but look for tired-out cues. Too much exhaustion can cause babies to get cranky and irritable.
Your baby is ready to hold, play with and explore toys from the time they are just 2 or 3 months old. You can go ahead and buy age-appropriate toys from this stage onwards.
Here are some points to consider before splurging on toys
From here on you will be buying many toys for your baby and opting for cost-effective toys can be very helpful. Too expensive toys may not always mean more play time.
The toy must challenge the baby on various levels to help improve their skills.
Your baby is growing and a 2 month old’s toys may seem cute and appropriate for a baby but your 6 month old will need more. If your baby is showing fast progress, you may consider toys designed for 6 month or older babies.
If you are unsure about which type of toys will suit your 6-month-old, here are some interesting and helpful options.
Babies love to build and create things. When you let their imaginations run wild, they are very happy and content.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Perceive Height | Stacking the blocks vertically will help babies understand the concept of height. From spreading the toys around them, babies learn to go up in height. |
Improves Motor Skills | Picking small blocks, and placing them carefully without toppling the rest that is already there, improves both fine and gross motor skills. |
Babies love a lot of light and noise. It helps stimulate their vision and hearing sense organs development in different ways and also successfully keeps them occupied. However, if you are a parent concerned about screen time due to its effect on their eyes and brain development, you may not prefer these toys for your baby yet.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Stimulates Hearing | Repetitive hearing of a particular music or seeing a set of lights can trigger those senses. Babies will learn how to recognise the music and the words if any. |
Improves Vision | Being exposed to colorful and flashy toys will stimulate the baby’s visual senses and improve their vision and their ability to identify and distinguish colors. |
[Read : Baby’s Vision Development]
Babies can’t read yet, but they will love to hear your voice as you flip through the books for them. Also reading books to babies from a younger age helps them in developing their language skills by increasing their exposure to language. Puzzles can be a good start to challenging their brains.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Language Development |
Reading to the baby will teach them new words, sounds, and dialects. They pick up the language faster this way. |
Picture Recognition | Picture books help babies associate words with their pictures and recognize them later. |
Learning by the form of doing activities can be a good method for babies of all age groups. Exposing them to the right activity toys can help them achieve better.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Self-Learning | Babies will learn without any assistance. This form of learning is very helpful to give them confidence and encourage them to keep trying without giving up. |
Discovery | Trying new activities and exploring paves way for discovery. Babies will discover new ways to use and play with the toys. |
Babies feel anger, irritation, sadness, and love just like grown adults. They need something to help pacify them.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Offers Comfort | These toys are designed to offer comfort in different ways. Some babies may like the noise, and some may like the light. Every baby gets a chance to find what medium offers them comfort. |
Channelize Emotions | When babies do not know how to handle their excess anger, frustration, or fear, calming toys can be a good distraction to channelize their pent-up emotions. |
The crib is their special place and special toys just for them can make the baby feel very loved and secure. These toys are excellent to keep your baby entertained when in the crib.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Self-Soothing | Teaches them to calm down and soothe themselves without adult intervention. It is an important emotional requirement for independence. |
Independent Sleeping | Babies learn to sleep with their crib toys. They form a mental connection between sleep and the crib toys. They may even learn to sleep well in new places if they have their crib toys. |
Learning to stack toys on top of one another or hide them one inside the other can be a lot of fun and also help in the development of fine motor skills. It can keep your child occupied for a good while.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Fine Motor Skill Development | Lifting and placing the stable toys in order helps improve their fine motor skills. They have to move their hands with intention and focus. |
Cognitive Development | Babies begin to understand how to stack different sizes. They find ways to keep their toys from falling. |
[Read : Motor and Cognitive Skills Development Of A Baby]
Some babies might love the water while some can find bath time utterly terrifying. Interesting bath toys can make a big difference in your baby’s bath routine.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Understand Floating | Still too young but they will understand some toys won’t disappear under water. |
Learn to Search And Find | When the toys move around the water or sinks, the baby will have to try and pull them out. They will learn to turn their heads and torso to find the toy. It improves upper body strength. |
Who doesn’t like to cuddle something soft and plush? Babies love soft toys for various reasons.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Offer Comfort | Babies form an attachment with the soft toys they carry around. It reassures them and offers them comfort when they are in a new place or surrounded by unknown people. |
Evoke Compassion | As your baby takes care of their soft toy, they develop attachment, compassion, and empathy. This is an important emotional development milestone for a human being. |
[Read : Social Emotional Developmental Milestones in Infants]
There is a reaction for every action. Learning what leads to what is very important for cognitive development.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Cognitive Development | Such toys challenge their brain and show them how toys can move, dance or create music as a result of their actions. They will understand more about pushing, throwing and kicking. |
Increases Curiosity | When certain actions cause the toys to move in a certain way or do certain things, babies try to explore and understand how it happens. Curiosity is an important requirement for overall development. |
The concept of push and pull is very important for understanding movement and distance. Toys that move or dance when pushed or pulled can teach the concept very effectively.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Develops Fine Motor Skills | Pushing and pulling toys and moving along with them will help develop the strength in all four limbs. Babies will learn to grip and pull along the toys as well. |
Understand Cause and Effect | Babies will understand movement. Understanding how things move when you push or pull it will teach them all things do not move on their own. |
Babies get stronger and will try to start crawling when they are 6 months old. Toys can be a great way to motivate them to explore this new world.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Encourages Movement | When the toy moves slightly, a baby will want to catch it. It will encourage them to move as a part of the play. When you do not force a baby to move, the movement is more fluid, comes from self-interest, and is stress-free for the baby. |
Strengthening Limbs |
A baby will crawl or drag their torsos across the floor to move from point A to point B. this improves their arm and core strength. If they crawl on all fours, it strengthens all four limbs. |
[Read : Baby’s Gross Motor Skill Development]
A ply gym involves multiple activities that make all parts of the baby’s bodywork. It is effective for both physical and cognitive development.
Skill Development | Benefits |
Improves Gross Motor Skills | Various hanging parts will encourage the baby to kick and pull. Both hands and legs will work and get stronger. It can occupy the baby for long periods. |
Improves Focus | The baby will see a hanging toy or the musical keys and try to touch or kick it with purpose. They will keep trying until they succeed. It improves their focus, which is very essential as they grow up. |
Buying the right toy for your 6-month-old need not be stressful. Buying age-appropriate toys can help in achieving various milestones at the expected times. However, babies will stay content and explore even limited or old toys.
Sindhuja, a mother of two, is an obsessive mom with a keen interest in psychology, especially child psychology. Her quest for knowledge and way with words led her to become a passionate content writer. She transformed her love for writing into a full-fledged career which incidentally also turned up being the perfect stress buster for the last 5 years.Read more.
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