Best toys for babies: from a first playmat to a teether, 0 to 12 months

How babies play, and what that means for toys

In the first months, much of a baby's play happens with the eyes. Bold patterns and faces hold attention, so a toy for a newborn does not need to do much; it needs to be worth looking at. Soon after, hands join in: batting at something hanging overhead, then holding and shaking a rattle.

By around the middle of the first year most babies sit with support, pass things from hand to hand and put everything in their mouths. That is when textures, crinkles and teethers earn their place. Every baby moves at their own pace, so follow the baby in front of you rather than the calendar.

• Something to look at: high-contrast patterns and a mirror.
• Something to reach for: hanging toys on a play gym.
• Something to hold: a light rattle or ring.
• Something to chew: a teether marked for their age.

Baby toys by age: newborn, 3 months and 6 months

From birth, a playmat and gym gives a baby somewhere safe to lie and something to watch. The Mamas & Papas My First Playmat & Gym and the Tummy Time Snugglerug are both marked 0m+, and the Another Fox black-and-white toys are made for those early weeks of looking.

From about three months, grasping toys come into their own. Wrist rattles reward kicking and waving, the Grateful Garden flower ring is light enough to hold, and the Silicone Teether - Star is marked from 3 months for when chewing starts.

From around six months, toys with more to discover keep a sitting baby busy for longer. The Babyplay Folding Activity Cube unfolds to reveal eleven features, and the Another Fox Folding Cubes can be squeezed now and stacked later.

Black-and-white toys for newborns

High-contrast toys use bold black-and-white patterns. Mamas & Papas says its Another Fox range is designed this way to stimulate visual focus and support eye coordination from day one. Three toys from that range are here: the clutch ball, the folding cubes and the zebra activity toy.

Each does a slightly different job. The clutch ball is easy to grip and clips on with its C-ring. The cubes are light shapes to grab and squeeze. The zebra packs the most in, with flip faces, a hidden mirror, a rattle, taggies and teething rings.

Playmats and tummy time

A play gym gives a young baby a padded space to lie on with toys to look at overhead. The My First Playmat & Gym has two arches with soft hanging stars and a mirror, a padded base about 80 cm square and a soft teddy bear.

Read the maker's warning on the arches: Mamas & Papas says to remove them as soon as your child starts to push up on hands and knees, at about five months. The mat itself stays useful for floor play after that.

The Tummy Time Snugglerug is a soft elephant pad with a grabber rattle, for time spent on the tummy while awake and supervised. Mamas & Papas warns not to place it inside a cot and not to use it as a support.

Toys for the pushchair and car seat

Clip-on toys keep a baby entertained on a walk or a journey. The Babyplay Travel Spiral wraps round pushchair bars and carrier handles, with three hidden safari creatures and a leaf that doubles as a teether. The Another Fox clutch ball clips on with its C-ring.

Wrist rattles travel well too: they fasten round a wrist or ankle, so they cannot be dropped over the side of the pushchair.

Teething toys

A teether gives sore gums something to bite. The Mamas & Papas Silicone Teether - Star combines soft silicone with grooves and textures and a firmer beech wood ring, and the two parts come apart for cleaning. It is marked from 3 months.

Several other toys here include a teether: the Folding Activity Cube, the Travel Spiral's leaf and the zebra's teething rings. Check each one regularly for wear, and follow the maker's cleaning instructions.

Safe play for babies

Start with the age marking and read every warning on the box before the first use. Buy from a seller you can identify, check toys for loose threads or damage as they age, and remove anything that is wearing out.

Play time is awake time. Supervise floor play, take the arches off a play gym when the maker says to, and keep play items such as the snugglerug out of the cot, as Mamas & Papas advises.

How these baby toys were chosen

All ten toys are Mamas & Papas' own designs, including its Another Fox collaboration. We read each one's age marking, contents and warnings on mamasandpapas.com on 6 October 2026, and each links to Mamas & Papas through Awin. We left out soft toys and comforters on purpose, because a babies list is better focused on toys for awake play.

They are arranged by age marking, youngest first, which is not a TopTenToys ranking. For the next stage, see our guide to toys for toddlers aged 1 and 2.