Sometimes it’s the simplest toys that make the biggest hit with kids. This is so true of the Playskool Busy Gears at my house. My boys received this toy as a Christmas present and have yet to tire of it. My 2.5 year old and 10 month old are both fascinated with the Playskool Busy Gears, spending a lot of time sorting and rearranging the colorful gears, taking them off, spinning them, and toting it all around the house. They actually play with the toy together, with my older son showing the younger one how to put the gears on, stack them, and to take them off. It is such a simple toy, with one button that plays a little tune and causes lights to flash and the gears to spin. That’s all it does, but it is hands down the favorite toy in the house right now. I can even spend some time doing housework, bills, etc. if I put this in front of them. That alone makes it a worthy buy in my book!

The Playskool Busy Gears is a colorful toy which has 11 mulicolored gears that can be rearranged, sorted and stacked. A red button at the bottom of the toy causes lights to flash, a song to play, and the gears to spin around. It also has an automatic shutoff feature which conserves the batteries. For more information about the Busy Gears and other Hasbro/Playskool toys, please visit Hasbro’s Playskool Website.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The Evenflo Exersaucer is a fun and colorful activity learning center for babies. It may seem like your little one will only use this item for a few months, but oh what a glorious few months those can be! My son loves his Exersaucer. It keeps him happily occupied for long stretches at a time, which allow mommy to get things done around the house, such as loading the dishwasher without him trying to load himself into it! He loves that he can bounce up and down and play with toys, all while spinning around 360 degrees. Even when he is not sitting in the Exersaucer, he’s cruising over to it and holding onto it standing up, trying to play with all of the toys. Also, it’s quite portable, so I can bring it into whatever room I need and he’s right there in view.

The Evenflo Exersaucer has seven toys arranged in a 360 degree fashion around the child as he sits in the center. The seat is removable and washable. The Exersaucer can be adjusted to 3 different heights so that it can grow with your child. There are also 3 flip-down feet which stabilize the unit if you do not want your little one bouncing around too much. The manufacturer recommended age of use is at least 4 months. From my own experience, I believe it is best if your child has great head control and pretty good trunk control as well, which was a little older than the recommended 4+ months.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Sometimes it is so nice to have a toy that does not need weekly changes of batteries. The Melissa and Doug Learn-to Play Piano is a brightly painted wooden upright piano, which does not require batteries and plays pretty much like a small version of a real piano. I have had this upright piano in my house since my son was able to sit upright (about 6 months old). I would sit him in front of it, and he would happily bang away on the keys. It kept him busy, because he was so fascinated by the sounds he was able to make by swatting his hands wildly about on the keyboard. Now, at age 2, he randomly bangs out an indiscriminate tune while trying to sing along to a song he just made up. I believe, though, that his little brother is going to become the new Mozart. He gently taps his fingers on the keys and listens intently as each key plays softly. Again, he can be kept busy by this piano for a long time.

The Learn-to-Play Piano has 25 keys for two full octaves. It is available at retailers such as Toys R Us and even online at QVC and Amazon. For more information, please visit the Melissa and Doug Website.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I have very active kids, who are constantly in motion and absolutely love jumping! I noticed that every time I would hold my son under his arms, all he wanted to do was kick his legs and jump up and down. I got the Fisher Price Jumperoo when my oldest son was young, and not quite able to walk yet, with the hopes that it would help him burn off any extra energy and satisfy that urge to kick their legs. I never knew how much both of my kids would end up love it! My youngest is currently using the Jumperoo and can occupy himself with jumping for a good 15 minutes. It is nice because it can free up your hands to get things done while your little one happily jumps next to you. And that’s one of the perks, that you don’t have to be limited to a doorway (which I never thought of as too safe) and can basically place this thing anywhere that you are. The Jumperoo easily folds and has handles which help you take it from room to room. But best of all is the smile on my sons face while he is flying through the air is just priceless!

The Fisher Price Deluxe Jumperoo is made of a very stable and sturdy steel base, and the springs are covered with soft cloth. There is a removable, toy tray in the front that has lights and music activated by the jumping motion. The Jumperoo also features 4 height adjustments so that it can grown with your child. The weight limit is 25 lbs and the height limit is 32″. For more information please visit the Fisher Price Website.

Popularity: 14% [?]

I got a Fisher Price Doodle Pro for my son on his first birthday, and he was immediately fascinated with it. He scribbled on the screen to his heart’s content, and the best part was that there was no mess to be had! He watched as I erased the screen with the erasing bar, and was soon able to do this himself. He would play with it for hours, scribbling something on the screen, erasing it, and starting all over again. I then decided to start using the Doodle Pro as a teaching tool. I would draw pictures of things and name them, and I would do letters and numbers. It was with this that he first learned how to count to 10 and started to recognize letters of the alphabet. Now he pulls out his Doodle Pro asks me to draw stories for him on it, after which he grabs the pen from me and starts to “color” everything in. He loves his Doodle Pro so much that I ended up buying two more, one to keep at grandma’s house and a small travel size version to keep him entertained in the car.

The Fisher Price Doodle Pro is a magnetic drawing board that comes in all the colors of the rainbow, and they have even come out with some themed sets, such as Disney’s Cars and Dora the Explorer. They also come in several sizes, from the standard large Doodle Pro to the smaller travel size one. All of the Doodle Pros have a pen that is attached to the board, so it won’t get lost, and the large Doodle Pro has a additional drawer with four magnetic shapes. The Fisher Price website states that this product is for 3 years and up, however I let my son use it from 1 year old - I just took away the magnetic shapes until he was old enough to play with them properly and made sure I supervised him while he played with it. For more information about the Doodle Pro, visit the Fisher Price website.

Popularity: 5% [?]

My son has a lovey, and it just happens to be his Froggy Munchkin Teether Baby. I got it as a gift when I was in the hospital having him over two years ago. This Teether Baby is one of the original versions that Munchkin released, and they have since released a brand new set of Teether Babies which you can put in the refrigerator. Little does my son know that I lost the original “Froggy” and had to go scavenging on eBay for another one since the older model frog was no longer being made. He also doesn’t know that I bought two so that we still have one in the box in case this “Froggy” goes missing as well.

The Munchkin Teether Babies are just too cute! The beanbag body is so soft and colorful and their hands and feet double as soft teething surfaces with different textures. They are machine washable and dryer safe.

There are several on-line stores that carry the original Munchkin Teether Babies and you can also find them occasionally on eBay. The new generation of Teether Babies are currently available for purchase on Amazon.

Popularity: 6% [?]