Navigating baby toys can be a whirlwind. We have no shortage of options today, and almost everything is pitched as “educational,” but is it really? In this guide, we’ll demystify toy jargon so you can feel like a calm and confident shopper as you build your baby’s first toy collection.

Learning for babies and young children is effortless, as they are learning and developing at their own lead, with or without toys. Your baby is learning when they are doing tummy time, gaining strength to crawl. They are learning when they are in the grass, processing the sensory input of being outside. They are learning when they engage in simple peekaboo.

Toys can be considered tools that aid their learning, but they aren’t the sole means of how babies learn.

Many toys can be pushed as educational even if they are more entertaining, making the child more of a passive observer than an active thinker.

It can help to ask, “Will this activate my baby to play independently, or will it mostly invite my baby to watch something?”

There is nothing morally inferior to passive entertainment. However, when the goal is to source toys that spark learning, the play should be rooted in active engagement. All children inherently share a need to move, think, tinker, and experiment. Sourcing toys that foster active engagement will better match their need to play.

Montessori is a common educational label to see tacked on to toys. However, there is no such thing as a Montessori toy.

Montessori is a child-led method of education named after its founder, Dr. Maria Montessori, who created classroom learning materials that activate the child’s senses and are close-ended. These materials have specific use cases that make academic concepts more accessible and concrete to the young child’s mind. The main goal of a Montessori approach is to respect the child’s capability to develop at their own pace, with a great emphasis placed on life skills.

Many families who extend Montessori at home do not duplicate classroom learning materials, but they do source toys with a few preferences:

Waldorf is another method of education that many families can extend as a philosophy to play at home. However, Waldorf is a play-based method of early education, whereas Montessori is not play-based. This makes it more straightforward to find Waldorf toys since there is such a thing as Waldorf toys!

The Waldorf method was founded by Rudolf Steiner and Emil Molt in the early 1900s, and it is aimed at providing a holistic approach to educating children. Waldorf is teacher-directed but believes in providing free play and plentiful outdoor time to students. Formal academics are not introduced in the early years, and it’s common to see imaginative play, fantasy, music, and the arts emphasized – a noticeable contrast to Montessori’s emphasis on reality and practical life activities.

Worry less about specific toy labels, as often they are overused or even misused. It doesn’t matter if you have Montessori-aligned activities, Waldorf toys, or a mixed bag, but it can help to accrue toys that inspire your child to think, prompt them to move, and nourish their senses.