 | Learning Block Books: Numbers, Colors, Shapes and Animals by Susan Estelle Kwas
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $6.94 Great for reading and playing. A great way to teach a love of books through playing with books while also teaching new words (expanding vocabulary size) and beginning reading skills.
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 | Tiny Love Gymini - Black, White & Red
Babies love this developmental play gym, with colors and designs based on child development research. Priceless! (I also recommend the accessories, which you can take in a car or stroller.)
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 | Ocean Wonders Aquarium
Buy new: $52.49 Great for the crib. Make your baby's space time in the crib be time to learn and play.
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 | Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
Buy new: $7.95 / Used from: $0.01 A huge book collection is priceless. Introduce board books early in life; this book is a super classic. Vocabulary size by age 2 is an important predictor of intelligence, so read early and often.
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 | Lamaze Play & Grow: Celeste
Buy new: $13.99 Babies like to interact with this happy, interesting developmental toy. Toys like this are so valuable for a child. Another good hand-held toy is the "Lamaze Multi-Sensory Clutch Cube."
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 | The Singable Songs Collection by Raffi
Buy new: $22.99 / Used from: $20.17 Must have! 3 of the best kids CD's ever: "Singable Songs For The Very Young," "More Singable Songs," & "Corner Grocery Store." Winner of Director's Choice & NAPPA awards. Happy & singable!
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 | Singable Songs For The Very Young: Great With A Peanut-Butter Sandwich by Raffi
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.88 Raffi's masterpiece first album set the standard for young children's music. A few million have been sold. "Raffi's Christmas Album," "In Concert," Baby Beluga and "One Light, One Sun" are great, too.
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 | LeapFrog LeapStart® Learning Table
Young kids love to play at this table... and learn while playing with it. Very well designed.
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 | My Playhouse
Buy new: $249.99 This will encourage many, many hours of creative playtime. Winner of an Oppenheimer Toy Portfolio award. Buy/make puppets and dress-up clothes to go with it. Also consider a play kitchen.
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 | LeapPad Plus Writing
Buy new: $99.99 Very entertaining. Your best choice is to buy a huge book collection and visit the library, but the LeapPad Plus is about as good as a toy can get for fun learning.
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 | Melissa & Doug Band in a Box
Buy new: $20.41 A classic collection of sturdy rhythm instruments. Other good instruments are a child xylophone, harmonica, kazoo and recorder.
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 | Brain Boosters for Babies
Buy new: $23.98 / Used from: $4.50 Great music is great for kids! This 3-CD set of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and more is so pleasant for both children and adults. Includes the CD "Bach for Babies," which is also available as a single CD.
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 | Giant Building Block 40-piece Set
Buy new: $46.48 An all-time classic toy set. Time tested.
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 | Radio Flyer Town and Country Wagon
Buy new: $99.96 A little red wagon is a time-tested classic. Can be used for many things. Bicycles and scooters are great toys, too.
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 | My First Learning Library (My 1st Board Books) by DK Publishing
Buy new: $11.55 / Used from: $5.10 An outstanding collection of outstanding board books. Make books an important routine in your child's daily life starting very early in life. Board book sare for reading and playing.
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 | One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (I Can Read It All by Myself) by Dr. Seuss
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $0.01 Dr. Seuss books are essential. This is maybe the best one for young children. Other "must have" Dr. Seuss classics are "Green Eggs & Ham," "Dr. Seuss's ABC" "The Foot Book" and "The Cat In The Hat."
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 | Crayola Travel On Case
Crayons, markers and pencils are super for fostering creativity - and cheap. Buy paper, tape and a stapler. Give your child free access to it and your child's creativity will emerge on its own.
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 | Fisher Price Little People Sweet Sounds Home
Buy new: $139.99 This classic set of Little People fosters the imagination through pretend play. Be sure to buy the Little People farm, too.
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 | Candyland
Buy new: $9.76 A classic game for young children. Must have.
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 | Soft Velour Shapes
This is a fabulous toy set and shows that some great toys do not cost a lot of money.
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 | Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - A Day at the Circus (with Toy)
Buy used from: $12.45 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is THE best program for young kids. He takes children on field trips, encourages creativity, and teaches life lessons. Recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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 | Set Of Wooden Knob Puzzle
Puzzles always make a great gift. Good puzzles for curious minds.
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 | The Educated Child: A Parents Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade by William J. Bennett
Buy new: $12.24 / Used from: $0.19 A parents guide for raising smart, educated children. Another great book is "What Your Kindergartner Needs To Know," A collection of stories, songs, poems, fables, history, art, etc. by educators.
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