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
- How Much Playtime Does a 6 Month Old Baby Need?
- When Should You Start Buying Baby Toys?
- What to Consider While Buying Toys For 6 Month Old Baby?
- List of Top 13 Types of Toys to Buy For a 6 Month Old Baby
How Much Playtime Does a 6 Month Old Baby Need?
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.
When Should You Start Buying Baby Toys?
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.
What to Consider While Buying Toys For 6 Month Old Baby?
Here are some points to consider before splurging on toys
1. Cost-Effective
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.
2. Challenging
The toy must challenge the baby on various levels to help improve their skills.
3. Age-Appropriate
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.
List of Top 13 Types of Toys to Buy For a 6 Month Old Baby
If you are unsure about which type of toys will suit your 6-month-old, here are some interesting and helpful options.
1. Building Blocks
Babies love to build and create things. When you let their imaginations run wild, they are very happy and content.
How Can Building Blocks Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Building Blocks You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Big size building blocks
- Different shaped blocks
- Matching blocks
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Building Blocks For Babies
- Syga
- Funskool
2. Noisy and Flashy Toys
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.
How Can Noisy and Flashy Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Noisy and Flashy Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Moving toys with music and lights
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Noisy and Flashy Toys
- Ratans
- MeeMee
[Read : Baby’s Vision Development]
3. Books and Puzzles
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.
How Can Books and Puzzles Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Books and Puzzles You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Animal – 2 or 4 pieces jigsaw puzzle.
- Cloth Books
- Bath Books
Few Tops Brands in India For Buying Puzzles
- Playquid
- Creatives
4. Activity Toys
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.
How Can Activity Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Activity Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Activity box
- Shape sorter
- Toy Hammer
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Activity Toys
- Endow Toys
5. Calming Toys
Babies feel anger, irritation, sadness, and love just like grown adults. They need something to help pacify them.
How Can Calming Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Calming Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Squeeze ball
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Calming Toys
- Winmagic
- Shumee
- Zephyr
6. Crib Toys
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.
How Can Crib Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Crib Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Hanging arch mobile
- Musical crib toys
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Crib Toys
- Thasvi
7. Stacking and Plugging 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.
How Can Stacking Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Stacking Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Rainbow stacker
- Stacking cups
- Stacking barrels
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Stacking Toys
- Giggles
- Endow
- Ariro
[Read : Motor and Cognitive Skills Development Of A Baby]
8. Bath Toys
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.
How Can Bath Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Bath Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Keying toys
- Floating toys (boats/ships)
- Bath books
- Stackable toys
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Bath Toys
- Ariro
- Shumee
- Babyhug
9. Soft, Plush and Stuffed Toys
Who doesn’t like to cuddle something soft and plush? Babies love soft toys for various reasons.
How Can Soft, Plush and Stuffed Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Soft, Plush and Stuffed Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Stuffed animals
- Plush animal-shaped pillows
- Interactive soft toys
- Musical plush toys
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Soft, Plush and Stuffed Toys
- Endow
- Winmagic
- Shumee
[Read : Social Emotional Developmental Milestones in Infants]
10. Cause And Effect Toys
There is a reaction for every action. Learning what leads to what is very important for cognitive development.
How Can Cause and Effect Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Cause and Effect Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Press and go vehicles/animals
- Pound and tap bench
- Ramp racer
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Cause and Effect Toys
- Smile’s Creation
- Ariro
- Varnam
11. Push and Pull Toys
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.
How Can Push and Pull Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Push and Pull Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Wooden cars and animals
- Walkers
- Pull along toys
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Push and Pull Toys
- Smile’s Creation
- Toyshine
- Varnam
12. Crawl Toys
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.
How Can Crawl Toys Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Crawl Toys You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- Tops
- Keying toys
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Crawl Toys
- Kreeda
[Read : Baby’s Gross Motor Skill Development]
13. Play Gym For Babies
A ply gym involves multiple activities that make all parts of the baby’s bodywork. It is effective for both physical and cognitive development.
How Can Play Gym Help a 6 Month Old Baby?
| 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. |
Play Gym You May Want to Consider For a 6 Month Old Baby
- MeeMee
- Babyhug
Few Top Brands in India For Buying Baby Play Gyms
- MeeMee
- Ariro
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.
