My daughther will be nearly 8 months old at chirstmas. What are some of the best toys for that age? I don’t want to get her ridiculous amoutns of toys, just some really good ones. I was excited at her half birthday, because to my surprise, she could open her own presents.
She has wooden baby blocks, two ring stackers, one cloth, and one plastic fisher price, a dog and a duck that talk when moved, rubber duckies, bathtime cups, a fisher price zylophone, teddy bears, and her very own sock monkey.
Boxes.
And some pretty paper to destroy.
Get her one of those hollow deals with the different shaped holes in the sides to stick matching-shaped blocks through. My kids loved those when they were babies. They both also liked the wooden peg board things with the little hammer to pound the pegs in. Also, plastic or cloth books. And she’s about at the age for a play phone – Fisher Price used to make a neat one.
Lamaze makes some good baby toys. Aaron had a “fishbowl” made of cloth and clear plastic (the opening was too small for his head) with little cloth fish that made different sounds. He loved it. The idea is for the baby to put the fish in the fishbowl, but he didn’t grok that concept. He just liked to play with the fishbowl and the fish. He also had a cloth box that he could open that was filled with little cloth shapes.
They’re not very expensive (about twenty bucks each) and considering how much Aaron loved them, were worth it.
I got them at Zany Brainy toys.
Another thing you might do is take her to a bookstore and let her pick out some books. Aaron and I do this when he’s been especially well-behaved. We go to the board-books section, I show him a few that he might like, and the one he seems to like best is the one we get.
Robin
The stuffed toy a kid bonds to for childhood is the one received on the first birthday. Those that were around before instantly become orphaned.
Pat Mat, sponge shaoes inside a water filled bladder. I love this toy. (My granddaughter is getting one for Christmas.) Not for households with cats.
How about one of those round things, where you pull the string, and there’s an arrow in the center that spins. Winds up pointing to an animal, and a disembodied voice goes, “THe ____ goes _____”. Do they still make those? Not sure how age-appropriate it would be.
Weird suggestion: Make her a scrapbook of things from this year. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world right now. Include a letter to her, and then give it to her in fifteen years or something. Sort of delayed, yeah, but I think it’s a cool idea.
Electronic toys that make sounds are a mistake. Trust me on this one. Babies love pushing the button again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again…
My Mother-in-law made my son a small photo album called “People who love me.” She got photos of people from both sides of the family and filled it up and labelled them. My son still loves to look at it. I’ve seen these done with lots of nice stickers and sheet protectors and such.
Get her her own personal mirror that can be put on the floor. Babies love to look at themselves
But I also agree that boxes are a great choice
Yes, NinjaChick, they still make them! They’re called See’N Says and made by Fisher Price. I had one when I was a kid, so did my husband, and so have my two older children. Heck, I think the See’N Say is a childhood standard! One change has been made. They no longer have a string. It was a safety/choking hazard, so Fisher Price replaced it with a nifty lever!
See’N Says http://www.fisher-price.com/us/seensay/
I think the See’N Say should be saved for the next 1/2 birthday, though, since the age range is 18 months and up.
I’ll second MsRobyn on the Lamaze Toys. Our youngest (now almost 2)has some of their products, and we’ve been very happy.
Lamaze Toys http://lamaze-baby-toys.bava.biz/
Happy shopping!
FaerieBeth
Like Ms Robyn said- Zany Brainy is the place to shop. Sometimes I think I have as much fun as my daughter, just cruising through the place and checking things out. 
I prefer toys that have direct noisemakers, as opposed to electronic. I do like her dog and duck though, because she likes them so much.
Shape sorters are a good idea too! She is enamored of tags now, like the cloth fiber content tags on clothing. She adores biting, examining, and generally fondling them. I am contemplating making her a stuffed toy with lots of ribons on it like tags.
I don’t think you should get your kid anything.
She’s 8 months old, I expect she gets lots of stuff anyway (if my family is anything to go by everytime an aunt,uncle, grandparent, friend come to see a baby they bring them something).
She’ll never ever know that she got nothing for her first christmas.
Wait until she knows what’s going on before you “do” christmas.
I’m going to be a terrible father…
She delights in ripping off wrapping paper. Her half birthday was a test run for Christmas. If she did not seem to get what was going on, I was going to downplay it a bit. Not only was she able to unwrap the gifts, she delighted in doing so, so she’d at least enjoy spooje’s suggestion. Beesides, it made for great pics to the grandparents.
She really doesn’t have all that many toys. I listed about all of them here. So far her grandparents have given her a blanket, a sock monkey, and some clothes. She was also given a stuffed rabbit by a great aunt.
The reason I am asking for suggestions is that I want to get her a few things she would play with at her age and having been 8 months old so long ago I have forgotten whats good.
My daughter was 7 months at her first Christmas and she really liked the Twirlin Whirlin Garden by fisher price… but that song made us insane.
This year for my son (he’ll be 3 months at Christmas but I didn’t want nothing for him under the tree) We’ve gotten him some Peek-a-Blocks by Fisher Price. The blocks are big and clear and they all have a different toy in them. I’m not describing them well but they are adorable and they go into some other toys there’s a tumblin giraffe and a dump truck and a wagon…
If she’s a tag fan, get her a **Taggie **http://www.taggies.com/images/takealong.jpg
I second the votes for ** Lamaze** toys, as well as shape sorter toys. Big hit in this household.
the taggies look perfect!
Does she already have a Plasma TV or a home stereo system or a new PC? Because I bet she’d love to have one of each.
Get a Dr. Seuss book or two. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is, I believe, just about the right speed for her now. You or another adult will have to read it to her now, of course, and not let her rip it up, but it’s a good start. I’m pretty sure that the Fish book is good because it talks about numbers and colors, and it’s easy to understand and remember. It’s never too early to start reading to a child. I read to my daughter from the time she was about 3 months old, I think, and she always enjoyed it. Even though she has dyslexia, she was motivated to work at improving her reading, because she knew that books are INTERESTING.
Do NOT get Fox in Socks yet. Not unless you like tongue twisters. That book is dangerous, and should only be approached with clear eyes and mind.
