Starting at about 9 months, babies play by shaking, banging, throwing, and dropping toys. They enjoy searching for hidden objects, taking objects out of containers, and poking their fingers into holes. Your baby will be able to grasp objects with her fingers and put one object on top of or into another, such as a ball into a box. Stacking and nesting are another way babies develop eye-hand coordination and learn about spatial relationships. Sorting helps babies to understand the relationships among objects—how they fit together and spatially relate to one another and how they differ in size and shape.

Suggested toys
Lightweight balls, nesting and stacking blocks or cups with rounded edges, pop-up toys that require sliding, toggling, pulling, and turning, squeeze and bath toys, soft dolls, puppets, and baby books, musical toys, and toy telephones and push-pull playthings.

See best toys for newborn to 3-month-old babies and best toys for babies 4-10 months old for more buying advice.