Top 6 Toys for a 6 Month Old

Our favorite 6 toys for a 4-6 month old baby

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Buying toys for babies can be a weird and confusing experience. Everything is sold as an “educational toy” that will “boost your baby’s brain development,” so how can you know what is actually a good toy? While the toy shelves at stores are often filled with flashing, singing, plastic toys, the reality is, babies don’t need much when it comes to toys. Here are our top 6 toys for a 4-6 month old babe. (You can find links to all of our favorites below!)

1. Scarves

Scarves have been a staple for E from around 4 months old. We prop them up for her to grab at while on her back or tummy. We throw them up in the air and let them land on her. We bury her in them and all giggle wildly while we unbury her again.

Now that she is a little older and grabbing at things more accurately, we have been combing them with a bamboo Keurig pod holder. We set it up with multiple scarves poking through the holes and leave her to go at it. Reaching, pulling, and knocking the whole thing over.

We love scarves because they are open ended and have the ability to grow with her and adapt to whatever stage of play development she is in.

2. Balls

Balls are another toy that I know will continue grow with E. To start, we only put out balls that were easily graspable by little hands. We often reached for the Infant Oball as it was easy for her to get her little fingers locked around. (Also fun to shove scarves in!) Another great one for uncoordinated hands is a teething tangle ball. One of E’s favorites was what we called her “coronavirus ball” (Covid babies, am I right? lol). She loves grabbing the the little nubs and chewing on them. The other ball we found great for little hands was the soft plush ball from Ikea. It was fun to squish, shake, and encouraged E to start using two hands together to hold it!

3. Mirror

I highly recommend having some sort of mirror for your little ones. Babies love looking at themselves and it’s a favorite during tummy time for E. It provides us a great time to play and talk together. I love this soft-sided mirror because now that she loves picking it up, I know she is safe to explore it. I highly recommend playing peek-a-boo with the mirror; it provided endless fun and giggles!

4. Tag Blanket

E was so lucky to receive a handmade tag blanket from a dear friend. It was one of the toys she really started interacting with around 3.5 months, and it has been a go to ever since. E will snuggle in with the soft blanket in her carseat, she’ll suck on the different textured tags, she’ll try to work her fingers through the little tag loops. We keep her taggie with us all the time!

5. Stacking Toys

Okay, okay, 6 month olds aren’t stacking any toys yet, so why on Earth would I recommend stacking toys? I love them because we can keep a few in multiple places! We always have some stacking toys in every room, the car, the stroller, and the diaper bag. The Mushie stacking cups have been great and E just LOVES them. (also I just swoon over the colors!) She’ll grab two and bang them together, she’ll bring them to her mouth, wand wave them around. We also love this silicone stacking tower. The little disks are great for a teething babe, easy to hold, and they even make a fun noise when you squeeze them. (Just don’t bring them in the bath, because the water will get stuck inside and lead to mold.)

As E gets older, the stacking toys will eventually be great for stacking, but for now, she loves just getting to explore while holding them

6. Books!

To nobody’s surprise, books are on my top 6 toys for 6 month olds. E loves to reach out and touch the book, she is learning how to turn the pages, and sometimes even likes to slobber all over the pages. I love board books for babes at this age because the can really withstand the curious hands of a book loving 6 month old. And for books that we can hand over to E for free exploration, we go with the Indestructibles. They make great car seat and diaper bag books and really can stand up to a teething, flapping babe.

We still read our regular books, but we will often read those with her out of reach, with another toy in her hands, or on our tummies to help protect the more gentle pages.

So there you have it, our top 6 toys for a 6 month old.

Click on the items above to purchase our favs on Amazon!!