Baby Toys

From rattles to push walkers, baby toys follow what the baby can reach:

a newborn mostly looks and grabs, so the first toys are light rattles, black-and-white picture cards and the play gym, a padded mat with an arch of hanging toys to bat at. Once the baby sits up come stacking cups, shape sorters, cloth and board books, and bath toys, which share a shelf with the rest of the baby care gear. Teethers run across every stage, in silicone, natural rubber or wood. Last comes the push walker a baby pulls up on to stand, along with the soft toys and spiral rattles that clip onto a stroller bar. The small pieces cost a few dollars new, which is why used rattles and stacking cups change hands by the bag rather than one at a time. A plastic musical push walker runs around $25 to $30 new, a solid wooden one closer to $100. Second-hand, the wooden walker keeps far more of its price, since a set of wheels and a few blocks have nothing inside to fail, while the plastic one loses its value the moment the speaker crackles or the lights stop answering.

Talking toys in English, Spanish or both:

worth checking on any piano or learning table. Plenty of electronic baby toys sold in the United States speak only English; others come from bilingual lines with a mode that sings colours, numbers and first words in Spanish as well. If the baby hears Spanish at home, that mode separates a favourite from a toy left on the shelf. Without a speaker, material matters more: solid silicone, natural rubber and smooth wood wash easily, while foam letters and fabric books hold on to dirt. Read the age grade on the box or label, and the ASTM or CE mark beside it, because a toy graded for older children can carry small parts that do not belong near a baby who still puts everything in the mouth.

Squeezing the bath toys and opening the battery cover:

two checks that settle most used baby toys. Squeeze every bath toy with a hole in it over a white tissue: black flecks mean mould has grown inside, and it does not rinse out of a squirter. Unscrew the battery cover on anything electronic; the screw should bite and hold, and white or green crust on the contacts means old batteries leaked and the toy may only half work. Then pull on the eyes and nose of a soft toy, the beads on a teething ring and the wheels of a walker. Run a fingernail over silicone and rubber teethers: a tacky surface, cracks or bite marks through the material mean it is finished. Wood should be smooth, with no splinters or lifting paint. Copies of well-known teethers and character plush turn up with no maker’s name, no age grade and a sharp chemical smell. If you know the model, look it up for recalls before you pay.

Counting the pieces before a shape sorter changes hands:

a sorter missing two shapes or a stacking set without its smallest cup is the complaint that follows a sale, so count every piece and state that the set is complete, or say exactly what is gone. Wash everything first and say how it was cleaned: dishwasher, boiled or wiped down. Photograph each toy on a plain surface, with close-ups of teethers, seams and the battery compartment. Put fresh batteries in anything electronic and film a few seconds of the lights and sound. Group the toys by stage, newborn, sitting and first steps, because parents shop for the months ahead. Set a bilingual piano to Spanish before the family coming from Santiago de Veraguas arrives, then switch it to English and back while they listen: that short demonstration answers the question they made the drive for.