26 Toys and Gifts for Babies 9-12 Months Old

The best toys to help teach language don’t actually make any noise on their own. In fact, “children learn language best through back-and-forth interactions with responsive caregivers,” says Carly Tulloch, co-founder of pediatric speech pathology brand Wee Talkers. Experts like Kukla and Tulloch recommend “toys that can be things rather than do things,” Tulloch says, like dolls, stuffed animals and books. Use these toys to narrate, but the trick is to keep talking! “Children need to hear a word 6-20 times before they try to say it. For kids with language delays, it’s even more,” says Wee Talkers’ other co-founder, Katie Sterbenz. Before you know it, baby will be saying their very first words.

Get your best peek-a-boo face ready, because object permanence is a milestone at this stage. It’s an exciting time, as “babies understand that objects still exist even when out of sight,” says Dr. Janet Lazieh, a pediatrician at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ. “They may start looking for hidden items or love discovering hidden pictures [in lift-the-flap books].” Similarly, babies at 9-12 months old start to learn cause and effect—Dr. Lazieh recommends giving them blocks to stack up and knock down to help them really understand this skill.

Along with their first words, baby’s first steps are on their way too. “Most babies will have mastered crawling or some form of movement [like] scooting or army crawling,” Dr. Lazieh says, so now’s when many babies start pulling themselves up and cruising along furniture. To help baby learn to keep steady, Dr. Lazieh recommends toys like push walkers and pull-along toys. Along with these toys, “parents can encourage these milestones by giving babies plenty of floor time to practice crawling and placing toys slightly out of reach to motivate movement,” says Dr. Natalie Barnett, VP of Clinical Research at the Nanit Lab.

Fine motor skills at the 9-12 month age range mainly involve pincer grasp, which is when a baby uses their thumb and index finger to pick up small objects like pieces of food, Dr. Lazieh says. But you want to avoid choking hazards, so she recommends choosing larger graspable toys like stacking cups, rings or bead coasters.