Toys for the Rolling, Sitting & Crawling Stages
A PT Momma’s Guide
As a Pediatric Physical Therapist, my mind automatically thinks about how to use toys to promote a motor skill & what toys are developmentally appropriate at each age. As a Momma, I would never have time to figure that out if it wasn’t already second nature to me. My hope is that this Guide will take the guesswork out of it so you can focus your energy on some of the other things on our seemingly never-ending to-do lists. Often when you’re preparing for baby’s arrival, toys are not given much thought & left off of the registry in lieu of more trendy items like bouncers, exersaucers, infant seats, seated walkers & jumperoos. While one or two of those items can be nice to have when used mindfully as tool for YOU to be able to get something done, I’d honestly encourage you to return most of those items if possible & use that money to purchase some of these items instead. Most of the toys listed below, if purchased with a younger skill level in mind, can continue to be used with purpose at later stages & loved for many, many months. I promise that you don’t need “all the things” but having 1 or 2 of these items for each stage can make play a whole lot of fun & instantly more purposeful.
For ROLLING, consider
small hand rattles
teething toys
hand-to-hand discs
nesting cups
wobbler toys
wrist/ankle bracelets or socks
In order to roll, your baby needs to be able to turn their head to look for an object, reach across their body, activate their tummy muscles, lift their legs off of the floor, shift their weight & coordinate all of those movements into a roll. So the toys pictured below are my favorites for helping your baby explore all of those little skills that make up this one big skill! The Classic Oball makes grasping easy for little hands just learning & promotes bringing both hands together, a critical skill at this stage. Hand-to-hand discs will also promote bringing hands together & eventually learning to transfer toys from one hand to another. Teethers promote bringing your baby’s hands to their mouth — another critical skill your baby should be working on around this stage. Allowing safe options for your baby to explore with their mouths really help with oral sensorimotor development. Stacking or nesting cups, when stacked, will encourage your baby to reach upwards & work on shifting their weight to one side while on their bellies. They will also be fun for challenging sitting & encouraging your baby to get up onto their hands & knees. Wobbler toys are also great from encouraging reaching & weight-shifting. While your baby plays on their back, they should be taking notice of their hands & feet. Fun wrist & ankle bracelets will help your baby become more aware of their hands & feet and encourage them to reach for their feet — an important skill that helps prime those tummy muscles for rolling, sitting & crawling.
This is also the stage where you really want to start considering a “yes-space”. This is a safe place purposefully set aside for baby to have free roam with no worries for you. It can be as simple as a small baby gate or two or using a Pack ‘N Play. We personally preferred the larger Play Yard style similar to the ones below. We had a portable option to take with us to Grandma’s (with a bonus sunshade because we are ALWAYS outside) & a more permanent/less moveable option for in our own home. I’ve tried to accommodate multiple price points & various personal tastes.
Shop my favorites using my special affiliate links (The Baby Movement Coach, LLC may earn a small commission on what you spend at no additional cost to you.) by clicking the images below or the linked text above.
For SITTING, consider
balls of various sizes/textures
a coin box
activity triangle
This stage is still all about sensory exploration. Babies around this stage enjoy banging balls or blocks together, putting things inside of containers & dumping them out. They are learning that even when items disappear, they still exist. They are continuing to work hard on their grasping skills as many will begin to explore finger foods around this stage. I love the activity triangle to encourage reaching down & forwards for babies just starting to explore sitting. This position encourages “prop-sitting” & will be their most stable position for play in sitting for beginners. Your baby will love pulling the sensory squares out of the tissue box & this will challenge their sitting balance in addition to fine motor skills. The small drum pictured below, can actually be placed on it's side where it will roll away & encourage your baby to crawl after it at a later stage. The activity table pictured is short enough to be used in sitting & is great for kneeling work as your sitting baby begins to explore pulling up to stand. The wooden balance board can be used to place toys on top of for your newly independent sitter to reach for or you can place baby inside of it to play with your baby’s sitting balance as you gently rock it side to side. It will go on to be used during play for YEARS.
Shop my favorites using my special affiliate links (The Baby Movement Coach, LLC earns a small portion of what you spend at no additional cost to you.) by clicking the images below or the linked text above.
For CRAWLING, consider
soft blocks
a tunnel
cars/trucks with larger wheels
a fun beach ball
At this stage, I love toys that move away from your baby as they play with them. This will motivate your baby to keep moving forward (or sometimes backwards at first…totally normal!). Stacking blocks into a tower for your baby to knock over is a fun game to get your baby up onto hands & knees & movin’. Elevating toys encourages your baby to look up & looking up leads to pushing up which eventually leads to your baby getting up on “all fours”. Remember those nesting cups you weren’t sure you needed from the ROLLING stage? Those are also super fun to have on hand at this stage.
Shop my favorites using my special affiliate links (The Baby Movement Coach, LLC earns a small portion of what you spend at no additional cost to you.) by clicking the images below or the linked text above.