Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Learning and Development Disguised as Play
20
items Not all toys are created equal! These are some of the toys that have taught great lessons while providing plenty of memories.
Sections
2
Toddler years
Infant years
Toddler years
Water table that turns sensory table when summer months fade away. This has been a staple in our home for my little and his friends.
Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Toddler Water Table
Audio books for when you just can't read another board book. Best part is if the character gets lost the stories still play!
Little Tikes Story Dream Machine & Paw Patrol Headphones
Toddlers cleaning up is a milestone but why give then toys when a real device cleans real messes? Help them help you! I no longer need my dust bin 🤣
The Toy that Helps Mom
Little hands trying to do big things. These give him just enough help to remove the frustration while those fine motor skills develop.
Safety Training Scissors
Ready to step up from matching puzzles but not quite ready for real ones? These are a great challenge while still being durable for toddler destructo-hands.
Intro to Jigsaw Puzzles
These have been the cutest way to teach alphabets and animals together. Not to mention they're cost efficient compared to others I found.
ABC Magnets
Exposing him to everything I want him to learn sometimes misses other languages and this has been helpful to fill that gap. Great to help him with his fine motor skills too.
Bilingual Talking Flash Cards
This was a gift that turned out to be amazing! Numbers, shapes, colors, and Spanish all rolled into learning with music and singing. It's been over a year and he still loves it.
Mix & Learn DJ Activity Center
I don't know if this will ever grow out of style. We started him small and used it for tummy time with just a handful of balls. Now it's a full pit that he runs and launches into and creates new games every other day.
Pop Up Ball Pit
A great pack that covers multiple topics and durable! They survived my toddler and will be passed down to our youngest.
Wooden Puzzles
This has been a great toy that is growing with him. At first we just gave him pieces to splash with, then he started experimenting with how water moved down the slides. Now it's becoming a full affair with pretend play and rearranging the pieces.
Water Slide and Play
An absolute favorite for almost 2 years running. This is not an indoor machine because the amount of bubbles is insane. It rotates or stays stationary, lasts for at least an hour, and can adjust angles up or down. My favorite feature - it's rechargea...
Rechargeble Automatic Bubble Maker
Ok so I went with 1200 and it is perfect for the popup pen we got but 800 would have worked as well. These have survived a couple years and double as chew toys and other pretend game pieces.
Play Pit Balls
Oh the endless games we have used these for! Numbers, shapes, letter for recognition and now phonetic learning are just to name a few. Use dry erase markers or dot stickers to customize these over and over.
Large Writable Dice
Infant years
This was a great beginner sensory table for us. 2 separate bin and we've used it for wet and dry activities. The detachable legs made it great as he was learning to sit and stand. It also saved money because I didn't need a lot to fill it. He still u...
Sensory Bin
A cost efficient option to get the basic development toys. Fine motor skills, spatial awareness, concentration and determination are just some of the skills these helped him develop.
Baby Expansion Pack
I almost regret getting these because they helped him stand early. They clip onto the play yard we used perfectly!
Stand Up Rings
An absolute favorite for almost 2 years running. It rotates or stays stationary and can adjust angles up or down. The wonder of having bubbles float around him was often his happy place.
Rechargeble Automatic Bubble Maker
An underrated gem! Once you start exploring the different configurations you can help baby develop way more than kicking. Side rolling, tummy time, sitting up, discovering feet, fine motor skills... it keeps going into toddler years with shapes, col...
Infant to Toddler Play and Learn
Stroller, car seat, play pen, bouncer... I can't think of a place we didn't put this to help him work on reaching and buy us time to rest our arms.
Baby Arch Toy