ACTIVITY toys
Encouraging your child to play with a wide range of activity-based toys and games is a great way to foster their independence, hand-eye coordination, and gross motor skills.
bayside toy library has a bunch of really cool and exciting activity toys for all stages of your child’s development, as well as to play on their own, with the family, indoors or outdoors!
what are activity toys
Activity toys are usually associated with the “bulky items” at the toy library or simply “the ride ons”. There’s so much more to them!
Activity toys help children develop their gross motor and coordination skills. Push, pull, stand, walk, run, balance, coordination… anything and everything that gets your kid ACTIVE will be in this section of the library.
Some parents think that if they don’t have an outdoor area then they cannot make the most out of this category… don’t be disheartened! For example, rocking items (mibase ID 1580, 2486, 3101, 3270, 8621) are usually “indoor” activity toys, balance toys don’t take up too much space (for example, Spooner Boards or Bilibo!), and the super popular Pikler Triangle (mibase 11583) is incredible for kids all ages and can be the center of all attention.
Come and explore all the options and don’t worry about having a bulky item at home permanently. You will return it and move onto the next item, but not before your child have had loads of fun with it.
OUTDOOR activity toys
Playing outdoors helps children in many ways: they develop gross motor skills, confidence, social skills at the same time they are enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.
Bayside Toy Library offers a range of outdoor toys for all ages. Some pretty cool examples include the famous Cozy Coupe (mibase ID 8306, 8446, 8715, 9496, 9497, 10420, 10727, 11223, 11386), Activity Gyms —also labelled Castles by some of our members— (mibase ID 3457, 3458, 7899) and Balanced Bikes (mibase ID 9277 9359 9360 9361 9368 9909 10003 10606 11173). During the summer months, water play is also a big hit, and our Water & Sand tables (mibase ID 9633 and 9634) will be worth their weight in gold!
activity GAMES
When thinking of games, you immediately think of board games right?But what about games that can get your kid (and the whole family’s) body moving?
At Bayside Toy Library we have the most amazing and fun activity-based games like Twister (mibase ID 7629 and 9983), Bowls (mibase ID 1971) and Sake Race Kit (mibase ID 8493)
activity toys as kids grow
As you can see, the range of toys is quite broad! (in mibase, make sure you filter by category = ACTIVITY).
Toddlers will favour toys that get their basic gross motor skills working, like stand, walk, push and ride. Preschoolers will love balance-based toys like bikes and boards, they can practice their surf, snow and skateboarding skills plus, their core strength, stability, balance and coordination will benefit greatly. And early learners will love to develop their independence and courage as they try more “grown up” ride-ons like scooters and bikes.
And yes, there are some toys more suited for younger toddlers, and others for older kids. However, never underestimate the power of imagination. A balance board can be used as a rocking seat by a toddler, and a skateboard practice by an early learner. Large narrative-based toys such as toy busses, tractors and cars can be fun for a toddler to push along, and can have your preschooler enthralled in hours of imaginative play.
