Motor development is the real magic that happens to babies during their first year. They meet huge challenges which seem to be easily overcome but observing how much time it takes them to rest, we can conclude that those challenges are not easy at all.
The first days are difficult. A new world, new people and a new way of life are tiring and frightening. This period doesn’t last long if babies are approached cautiously. Try to disturb them as little as possible until they have known you all and started trusting you.
At about two months of age, the fun starts. Babies know their parents and siblings already and they are happy to see them. They start lifting their arms and legs and it is the right time to start exercising.
Lift Your Head, Baby!
Our main task here is to find a suitable stimulus to encourage our baby to practice. They are babies and they need something enticing to make them move. It is usually their mother’s voice calling them, but except for vocal, they look for visual motivation as well.
As explained in another blog, you may place them on their tummies and put a toy near them. It will encourage them to raise their heads and move towards the toy. However, the size of the toy limits the neck movement. Over time, the toy should be lifted so that small heads could make progress.
When this period comes, the baby gym is a very suitable stimulus. It consists of a base and several toys hanging from above. It’s perfect for exercising neck muscles but also for leg and arm coordination practice. Wooden is the best choice because wood is a natural element that doesn’t contain any harmful substances.
Suggestion Number 1
My top suggestion is Color Fun Play Gym. I would rank it 9.5/10. The height is adaptable depending on a place where babies play, lying down or in the seats. It also needs to be adapted with the babies’ growing.
Made of beech wood and birch plywood, it is light and can be easily moved from place to place when not in use or when the place of play has been changed. Approximate measures are 23.6″L x 17.7″ W x 21.6″ H.
For smaller babies, there are cheerfully colored wooden disks on the sides that make pleasant bang nose when pushed against each other. A charming little frog is hanged on the discovery bar. It has a ring as a final element so kids can grab it and move it from side to side.
Hanging toys are enticing for their eyes too. Thus they practice their visual abilities and later when they grow they practice hand-eye coordination by trying to catch the hanging ones.
There is plenty of space to add your own hanging toy collection, the one your baby loves. I wrote about the safety importance in this blog.
Apart from being almost perfectly safe, what makes this toy my choice number one is that it is made of sustainably sourced wood. Haba is know to take care of the safety of children in the first place but also for the safety of the environment our children will live in.
You probably wonder why I say “almost perfectly safe”. It’s because I am too careful around my children. I think they are never safe without our supervision. So always be there when they play. That will add up 0.5 points and make the toy and their play completely safe.
Suggestion Number 2
Similar but not the same is Wooden Play Gym Dots. Elegantly designed and made of high-quality birch plywood. It has the same purpose and the same goal. They all encourage children to practice and develop gross and fine motor skills while having fun. So what is different?
The dimensions are similar, but this one is just 6″ higher than the first one. Here, the arch is provided with holes where the toys should be hung. The limited number of toys and the inability to move them left and right limits this toy to my choice number two.
However, fixed places for toys and the movability hinderance have their advantages, too. They prevent the hanging toys from tangling.
Foldable construction enables removing, changing or adding other elements in the gym. Hanging elements are unfortunately not provided with the toy. They have to be bought separately. It adds the ability to either put the ones you already have and your baby loves or buy the new ones of your choice.
It is made of birch plywood from sustainable forests which is well sanded to make it smooth for soft babies’ hands. It makes a nice present.
As I have already explained, no toy and no play is safe without your attention at this age. Please, never leave your child unattended during their play!
Suggestion Number 3
Baby gyms are not entertaining without the toys that will attract babies’ attention. You have to hang something so that your baby starts looking at it enhancing visual skills, then connecting visual with the sense of touch and this way practice hand-eye coordination and finally starts lifting their heads eager to discover the details.
So let’s make sure we choose the toys with the purpose to stimulate flexibility, encourage gross and fine motor skills and brain development and sensory stimulation.
Dangling Figure Bear looks very attractive and is specifically made to catch baby’s attention by a colorful design and interesting shape. To add to its attractive looks, it also makes sounds with the loosely hang circular parts added to the main body. They are firmly attached and a customer’s experience says that they do not fall off.
Let’s respect the experience of others, but let’s not allow us to be the first ones with a bad experience. So observe them during the play!
The same goes to another very enticing hanging toy – Dangling Figure Parrot. It has five wooden discs that are able to rotate, one large wooden ring for grasping and a bell that jingles. Kids love this merry sound of jingling bells.
This hanging toy is made of beech and maple wood and the bell is of course made of metal. It is visually attractive but sound sensation adds the top of the experience.
The same as in all my suggestion, hanging toys include small choking hazard objects. For this reason, I have to repeat and ask you to never leave unsupervised children to play with this toy. If the rope on which it is hung breaks, you have to be there to remove the small elements immediately.
Let’s sum up
I love all the suggestions. They all look very attractive even for us parents and not to mention children. They will love their present whichever you choose.
Still, if you ask me, on one hand, I would choose the my first suggestion for baby gym and the dangling parrot to gang on to it. I like that the hanging toys can move left and right and I like the merry jingle sound.
On the other hand, I would go for number two baby gym for the reason of aesthetics and the inability of the hanging toys to tangle. And I would choose the bear hanging toy as it looks very attractive especially when rotated.
Kids will definitely love and appreciate your choice. They will use it with great enthusiasm and thus develop as many skills as possible. However, parents’ supervision should be emphasized!
To finish this blog I have to say that you won’t go wrong whatever you choose. Just use it nicely and safely.
Good luck!
