Top Toys for Babies

Looking for a great gift idea for your one or two year old? Some say this age group is the hardest to buy for since they can't really tell you what they want yet. Well fret not, here you will find the top toys for babies up to age two for 2006.

Up first is my favorite, the V.Smile Baby. This ingenious little game system plugs right into your television and comes with a simple, soft, brightly colored controller that's just the right size for your little ones hands and is wireless for ease of use and safety. Babies get to laugh and learn at the same time with a variety of different Smartridges (sold separately) that offer unique learning experiences while capturing your baby's attention and enhancing hand-eye coordination. The V.Smile Baby retails for $39.99 and the Smartridges retail for $14.99. This toy is available at most major retailers and online as well. The recommended age group for the V.Smile Baby is 9-36 months.

Next is the Laugh and Learn: Baby Grand Piano by Fisher-Price. This musical toy captures your baby's attention with its lights and sounds and helps them learn about musical concepts, numbers, colors, and more! There is a friendly little dancing character that moves along while your baby plays and there are tons of additional features to explore. Things such as a sing-a-long song book, a slider that changes the pitch, and a metronome pal that replays songs are sure to keep you baby entertained. The Laugh and Learn: Baby Grand Piano is available at most major retailers and online. The recommended age group for this toy is 9-36 months.

Now let's move onto the Musical Magnetic Easel from Fisher-Price. This easel is so much more than your ordinary easel; it's a complete creativity center! Babies are rewarded with music each time they place a chunky magnet on the easel and have tons of fun pushing the lever and watching the magnets slide off the easel into a soft basket below. Not only can your baby create stories with the magnets but the easel also holds standard letter-size paper too! You baby is sure to have a blast and they wont even know they are learning about colors, shapes, animals, and more. The Musical Magnetic Easel is available at most major retailers and online. This toy retails for $34.99 and the recommended age group for the Musical Magnetic Easel is 9-24 months.

Fourth up is the Little People Touch & Feel Circus by Fisher-Price. The Touch & Feel Circus introduces your baby to the wonders of a real circus with its sounds, animals, and action packed accessories. Your baby can have the animals ride on the trapeze, high dive, dance, teeter-totter, play with the fun house mirror, or perform on stage. This toy also introduces your child to textures with animals that bend, have leathery ears, fleecy manes, and poofy fur. The combinations of play are endless and your child is sure to be entranced with it all. The Touch & Feel circus is available online, in most major retail stores, and retails for $29.99. The recommended age group for this toy is 1-5 years of age.

Last up is the LeapFrog Little Leaps Grow with Me Learning System. This system is similar to the V.Smile Baby but has several other options not included in the V.Smile Baby system. The system interacts with your DVD player, is wireless, and has a baby and toddler mode. The wireless controller has a simple side with three buttons to push for babies and it flips over to reveal a joystick and two buttons for toddler play. There are lots of learning discs (sold separately) for both baby and toddler mode and they teach things such as animals, shapes, colors, cause and effect, numbers, phonics, animal facts, and more! There are even four different language modes (English, Spanish, French, and Dutch)! Babies will love the familiar LeapFrog characters and parents will love watching their children learn while having fun. This system is available at most major retailers, online, and retails for $39.99 (learning discs retail for $14.99). The recommended age group for this system is 9-36 months.

It may indeed be hard to buy for this age group but now that you have the five hottest toys for 2006 on your list, your shopping should be a piece of cake!