What will baby hear? Lift the flaps on the peek a boo pages and baby will see and hear the sounds of a toy train, peeping chicks, a honking car, frogs that ribbet, and a baby who giggles. As always, Karen Katz's lively colorful art feels exactly on target for laptime readers. Indeed, her books are among the best choices for turning your baby into a book lover.

Age: Infants, Toddlers. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Hot pink satin on one side and velour prints on the other side, this 12"X 12" blanky has textures to explore and some crinkle sounds. There are satin knotties, ribbons tabes, plush loop, felt tabs and a crinkly shimmery silver ruffle. This is an eye catching lovie that babies may find both stimulating to explore and comforting to hold.

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2011.

A marvelous Diva fabric 8" chime ball with a jolly jingle safe inside and plenty of surface textures to explore. There are colorful satin knotties, textured loop to hold, a crinkle velour patch, ribbon tabs and furry no-shed fringe. Each segment of the ball has a different fabric--high contrast black and white, velour with stars and another with hot pink splotches, silvery dots, and corded lavender velour.A perfect toy for first social games. Rolling the ball back and forth or crawling after it.

Age: Infants, Toddlers. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Frog is one of three 10-inch Comfort Cuddly toys. His body is green checked cotton with licks of orange calico checks, blue feet and a bold patterned tummy. His features are stitched for safety and his eyes sit high like two bumps on top of his soft as silk velour head. Like the other Cuddly Blankies, this is an unstuffed doll that is easy to clutch. It is not really a blanky in the traditional sense, but it just may become a comfort toy that kids like to hold onto as they rest. It makes no sounds, but there is plenty for eyes to see and textures for little hands to explore. Also see O is for Owl and L is for Lion Cuddly Blanky toys. Infants and up. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

An eye-catching first doll with a quiet little jingle inside. Elf Grenadine is just nine and half inches and dressed in non-removable velour-like and knit fabrics. Her face is vinyl with painted on features. Grenadine is done up in bright red with licks of orange and white stripes and a jaunty orange hat.  If you prefer more pastel tones, look for Elf Apricot with a light pink body, hot pink hat and apricot arms and trim. Either of these makes a cozy choice for baby to explore and for you to use for lap time games. 

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Put this on the high chair tray or a low table in easy reach. Little hands love playing with the many colored beads as they slide up, down and around the wire loops. This kind of play involves fine motor skills as baby pushes the beads over the wires. With older tots talk about the colors and do a little counting as the beads fall and tap on the wood base. There are suction cups on the base to hold it in place. Little children love toys with multiple little pieces. Since all the beads are tethered, this is one plaything with small parts that kids can enjoy safely. 6 months & up.

The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Newest in a line of well made play mats, and this one is better than most. Tiny Love was the company that introduced play mats with crossbars and tends to do them better. This big new mat is no exception. It has bold animal graphics that can be enjoyed for tummy time. The cross bars can actually slide on a mechanism that allow you to change their position with ease. The designers have not put a lot of "stuff" on the mat that would be unpleasant for baby to lie on. Soft animal toys and rattle rings attach to the bars and can be slid down to the corners or above for gazing. There is a good-sized unbreakable mirror that will slide down for tummy time looking. The musical attachment plays electronic sounds that are less annoying than most and there is also a not-too-bright-light mechanism that changes color when the sound is turned on. Happily there is a volume control and the mat can be enjoyed with the sounds and lights turned off completely, too. 

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Hang this bright yellow duck up for baby to gaze at. For tracking games you can get baby's attention with a push on Ducks belly--that sets off a series of quacks. Though the quacking sounds may be a little startling for very young babies it will amuse older babies and even encourage some to reach out to try. With its stitched features and bright orange beak and feet, Duck has other eye catching features. It's chest is covered with orangey patterned fabric that looks like Eric Carle's art work, as does the little dangly fish, and underside of the duck with multicolored dots. Once baby is into the teething stage there are gum-pleasing wings and a textured ring that will be soothing. Duck also has a small reflective mirror with small satin ribbons to finger. In short, this is a toy for all the senses. Infants and up. Surface washable only. The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

Age: Infants, Toddlers. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

We liked the sweet pink Piglet and Tigger best of the four comfort Cuddly dolls in this collection of classic lovies. That said, Pooh and Eeyore are also sweet and interesting to the touch. They have no stuffing and are designed for clutching and feeling with tiny fingers. Their corduroy tummies, stitched features, cottony ears and velvety bodies make them a good choice for babies who are learning about the world of things through their senses. Infants and up.
The company has signed a verification form complying with our safety requirements. We did not independently test this toy in a lab.

Age: Infants. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Ever thought of playing three card Monty with your baby? Well, that's sort of what the Peek-a-Shoe Talking Octopus does. It comes with four balls that slide down one of two chutes and asks baby to find where the ball has landed. Is it behind the red shoe, the blue shoe, or the green, orange, or yellow shoe? Baby lifts a shoe and the octopus reinforces the color name of the shoe lifted. There is also a  number mode and the shoes are marked with the numerals from 1-5. This is more of a toodler toy in the concept department, however, for kids young enough for this peek-a-boo toy, we'd say the cause and effect action will be rewarding.  Number recognition and color words are not top priority for the sitting-up baby who will chiefly like the repetition and peek-a-boo fun. With time, the simple color and counting concepts will interest toddlers as they grow into the next level. 9-36 months.

SNAP: A useful toy for reinforcing color names and numerals. There is no real counting involved here, but you can do that with this little game: Tell your child no peeking. Now, put a treat such as a cracker or small pretzel under the shoe with a three on it. Say to the child: Listen. I will clap to tell you where the treat is. Now you clap three times. Does the child lift shoe 3? Make a fuss if the child opens the 3 shoe and gets the treat. If need be, repeat the clapping and have the child count out loud as you do so.

Age: Infants, Toddlers. Award Year: 2011. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.