The best toys based on your child's age
Posted on April 02 2023
Every age-group is a crucial year in your child’s physical, cognitive and emotional development. Our toys can help nurture the development of these skills, while providing your child with long-lasting and quality play perfect for their age and interests.
Best Toys for 0-12 Month Olds:
While their physical capacities are limited, young babies spend their time exploring their world through sensory experiences and basic play. Our range of toys are designed to foster a baby’s development whilst providing plenty of fun. Our range feature toys with bright colours, interesting textures and varying shapes that aid a child’s understanding of grasping, manipulating and moving. Children are learning about muscle control, recognising external stimuli, so the perfect toys will feature captivating sounds and movements.
Find the best toys for 0-12 month olds here.
Best Toys for 1 Year Olds:
New toddlers spend their time stacking, pulling and tipping things over as they further refine their gross and fine motor skills. They love getting around any way they can, whether that be crawling, walking or cruising along on a ride-on. Children of this age are continuing to learn about basic muscle control, recognising external stimuli and forming attachments with people around them. While their speech may not be understandable, 1-year-olds love to chatter away while they play and use single-word communication to articulate what they want. They are beginning to pick things up, squat and kneel while playing, as well as repeat behaviours to have their desired effect, with our toys helping to both entertain and cultivate these developments.
Find the best toys for 1 year olds here.
Best Toys for 2 Year Olds:
At this stage in their lives, children are working hard to understand and reconcile their environment with internal cognitive processes that are still developing. Toys for 2-year-olds focus on ensuring this process is both fun and beneficial for their development. 2-year-olds are toddlers, where they transition into a stage of being more aware of their environment. They are interested in exploring and experimenting, but this should be a supported and guided journey. To facilitate this, toys for 2-year-olds present new challenges and opportunities without overwhelming them and their learning journey. Our range of toys has been selected for their sight and stimulatory benefits, serving to support their development while excite them as they become engaged in more independent, make-believe play.
Find the best toys for 2 year olds here.
Best Toys for 3 Year Olds:
3-year-olds like playing with others while also learning to enjoy playing on their own. They are beginning to hone their development skills, and our toys can help facilitate this type of cognitive and emotional learning. Children are also beginning to engage in basic counting of numbers and reciting letters and rhymes. With improved spatial awareness, toys that help them develop their balance and gross motor skills are important during this time in their lives. Imagination and make-believe play become a more prominent aspect of their lives, so they will love animals and characters that encourage this.
Find the best toys for 3 year olds here.
Best Toys for 4 Year Olds:
At this age, children will have developed independent, personal interests. Good, quality toys will retain their interest for years, while stimulating their cognitive and physical growth. At this age, children are beginning to practise much more sophisticated social behaviours and thus may be ready for more intellectually-challenging toys. Being able to visualise, design and build shapes with blocks can help logical and creative thought processes, as well as dexterity and fine motor skills. Our range of toys for 4-year-olds has been selected to help your child work on their social, communicative and physical growth, while simultaneously engaging and entertaining them.
Find the best toys for 4 year olds here.
Best Toys for 5 Year Olds:
Children this age tend to engage in complex play using their imagination. They are better at sharing and enjoy stories which they may then use in their play. Colouring, puzzles and construction toys may aid their fine motor skills, with their gross motor skills developing as they become more energetic through ball games, dancing and running around. Children become more independent as they begin school, with writing, counting and creating skills being encouraged at home through our range of fun and educational toys.
Find the best toys for 5 year olds here.
Best Toys for 6 Year Olds:
Toys for 6-year-olds provide children with a pathway to their own mind and the world around them. At this age, make-believe and invention are the most important elements of play, and a child will begin to determine their own relationships and thought processes. Our range of curated toys for 6-year-olds is a specially selected assortment designed to help your children reach their potential while having the most fun a child can possibly have. Learning and enjoyment go hand in hand, and our range of toys will provide endless afternoons of make-believe creative fun while enabling your child to train their social, intellectual and physical capabilities.
Find the best toys for 6 year olds here.
Best Toys for 7 Year Olds:
Children at this age have a greater sense of growing up and like to show the skills they have mastered over time. They are much more confident having spent a few years at school and will have developed a sense of pride after having achieved mathematical and reading skills. Physical development is more about refinement than major changes. Children will enjoy spending time with friends and family but will also appreciate the joy of spending time alone and using their imagination to entertain themselves. Many are curious about the world and will endeavour to explore their social horizons and discover more about others. As they have improved memory and learning skills, it is a great time to make sure they are engaging in creative projects and activities.
Find the best toys for 7 year olds here.
Best Toys for 8 Year Olds:
Good toys at this stage of a child’s development should be expansive rather than restrictive, and open children to the expanse of their imagination and creative-thinking. It is a great time for them to engage in methods of play they thoroughly enjoy, as well as learn more about the world around them and develop their skills and interests. Toys for 8-year-olds are a great way to engage parent interaction and guidance, as adults can enjoy the entertainment and benefits as well.
Find the best toys for 8 year olds here.
Best Toys for 9 Year Olds:
Children at this age become more independent, with a stronger sense of right and wrong as well as understanding the importance of teamwork and friendship. Their reading and writing skills will have improved, as well as their ability to talk about their thoughts and feelings. 9-year-olds enjoy spending time with peers, and sport is important during this time to help them develop their cognitive and physical skills, as well as enable them to get active and make new friends. Children might transition to more active and challenging modes of play when seeking entertainment, and it is important to nurture and encourage this through play.
Find the best toys for 9 year olds here.
Best Toys for 10 Year Olds:
The early double figures or ‘tweens’ can be a challenging experience for parents. But with a little help from the right toy selection, it may just prove to be a little less challenging. At this age, learning isn’t just occurring in the classroom - children are developing socially, physically and emotionally. Children are developing a better sense of who they are in the world, as well as trying to keep up with school work, family and friends. Toys that can provide more relaxed, meditative play may be beneficial for children of this age. As they begin to work on harder concepts and subjects at school, children may begin to formulate their own opinions and transition toward greater organisational skills. Many 10-year-olds love to engage in sports that keep them active, as well as invest themselves in pop culture-related interests they may have acquired.
Find the best toys for 10 year olds here.
Best Toys for 11 Year Olds:
Finding toys for 11-year-olds can be testing. At this age, children are more aware of what is and isn’t ‘cool’. The idea of ‘big-kid’ toys can become dated, and free imaginative play may sadly be left aside. However, toys for 11-year-olds can still assist children in reaching their developmental peak without limiting on engagement and fun factor. At this stage, children may be willing to see structured learning as fun. Fact books, gadgets and science kits can all be great gifts for the hungry and young mind. Similarly, craft kids and model building can stimulate creativity and imagination. Our selection of toys for 11-year-olds has been carefully chosen to appeal to these most individualistic children while promoting intellectual, social and communicative growth. It can be difficult to reach children at this age - our big kids toys should give you a leg up!
Find the best toys for 11 year olds here.
Best Toys for 12 Year Olds:
Children this age tend to experience moments where they seem more youthful, and some where they seem more mature. As they get older, they become more opinionated, independent and mature. They begin to make decisions and friends become more important. Abstract thinking, logic and problem-solving are developing, but organisational and control skills still need development, and our toys can help aid this. 12-year-olds enjoy dedicating their time to organised activities like sport, games and social events. As their communication and school skills are also improving, it is important to find toys that facilitate these developments, while providing long-lasting fun and education. Our toys include a range of art, science, maths and robotics kits that will mentally challenge and stimulate your 12-year-old, while keep them occupied for hours.
Find the best toys for 12 year olds here.
Best Toys for 13+ Year Olds:
While teens 13-years and older may not be interested in toys anymore, we still have an excellent range of products to cater to a variety of ages and interests. Being both fun and educational, many of our products will be an extension of the subjects your teen is already learning at school while also providing a fun and innovative outlet for them to indulge in. Providing a fun and stimulating challenge, these products will not only invigorate your teen’s skills and imagination, but provide quality time with family as everyone works together to help construct the STEAM devices.
Find the best toys for 13+ year olds here.
We hope the above age groups help you to choose some fun, educational and age-appropriate toys and gifts for all the different children in your life. Hopefully these recommendations help you navigate the ‘sometimes-overwhelming’ task of selecting the right toy at the right time.
