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Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner
Infantino Pop-Up Ball Pit
Credit: Infantino
Bring the play space experience home with this ball pit, which comes with a set of 50 balls and folds up when it's not in use. Good Housekeeping Institute tester families appreciated how it's easy to carry around, like a grocery bag. "My nearly 1-year-old will climb in and out of this all day," one parent said. Ages 9 months+
RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards
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Fisher-Price Linkimals Sit-to-Crawl Sea Turtle
Credit: Fisher-Price
If you want to encourage a baby to crawl, give them something to chase! This seat turtle rolls across the floor with lights and sounds, tempting new crawlers to go follow it. It also has a stationery mode with songs, a clicker head and soft flippers to explore. Ages 9 months+
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Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Award Winner
'MiniTouch: Animals' Board Book
Credit: Happy Yak
Lots of 9-month-olds love a book with a touch-and-feel element, but this one goes beyond having a few fuzzy pages. "My daughter’s favorites in this book are fish scales and the hedgehog’s prickly back," one Good Housekeeping Institute parent tester said. Ages 0+
RELATED: The Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Awards
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Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award Winner
Ms. Rachel Official Speak & Sing Doll
Now 15% Off
Credit: Spin MasterMs. Rachel is like Elvis for babies and toddlers, and our Good Housekeeping Institute testers were thrilled when they had a version of her they could hug and cart around. “My 2-year-old recognized that it was Ms. Rachel right away,” one parent said. “She especially enjoys the songs.” Press the doll's hands to her either one of 16 phrases or four songs. Ages 6 months+
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Playskool Busy Ball Popper
Credit: Playskool
The 9-month-old in your life just needs to push the button, and then watch as the power of air pops the balls up to the top of the ramp, where they roll back down again. Sometimes the balls pop off the ramp entirely, and kids get to chase them, grasp them and put them back on the ramp. Following the balls is good for eye-tracking, and music and sound effects add to the experience. Ages 9 months+
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VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
Credit: VTech
No doubt you've seen this one stroll by on the playground: It's so immensely popular, it has more than 83,000 five-star reviews on Amazon. It has a five-key piano, a pretend phone, rollers and gears, numbers and shapes and a removable activity panel, all loaded into a push toy that encourages walking. Ages 9 months+
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Credit: Fat Brain ToysTechnically, the age grading for this is 10 months and up, but it's worth the one-month wait. The InnyBin comes with five different shapes of different textures and a box threaded with stretchy elastic bands. Kids will have to use their fine motor coordination to push the shapes through the bands and into the box, and then use their problem-solving skills to get them out again. Ages 10 months+
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Melissa & Doug K's Kids Pull-Back Vehicle Set
Now 43% Off
Credit: Melissa & DougAmazon reviewers have given these vehicles more than 10,000 five-star reviews, saying that they really go far and fast with just a little pullback. Parents also appreciate that they're soft, which is good for kids who still like to throw their toys around. (And who doesn't?) The set comes with a school bus, a fire truck, a police car and a family sedan. Ages 9 months+
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What's a better lesson in cause-and-effect than a drum? You bang it and it makes a sound! This one goes even further: The red and blue circles make two different tones, and they also activate different colored lights. Or, if a baby rolls the drum, it sets of an automatic drum beat and light show. Ages 6 months+
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Radio Flyer Tumble Town Blocks
Credit: Radio Flyer
Good Housekeeping Institute parent testers reported that these foam blocks kept kids engaged in active play for a long time — good for keeping those little bodies moving. It comes with six blocks of different shapes that can be arranged and re-arranged into different configurations for climbing, rolling and tumbling. Ages 9 months+
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Crawligator Tummy Time Toy
Credit: Crawligator
Good Housekeeping Institute parent testers thought this was an ingenious tummy-time helper that encourages crawling. Kids lay across the top — parents loved the raised sides, which helped keep them from falling off — and start off by lifting their heads. As their bodies grow stronger, they can use their feet to push around — the alligator has wheels on the bottom, and they'll roll! Ages 4 months+
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Melissa & Doug Rollables Treehouse Twirl Toy
Now 25% Off
Credit: Melissa & DougWhen 9-month-olds take the round fox and raccoon characters and drop them down the tree, they can watch the animals roll all the way down — a process which works on fine motor skills, eye tracking and cause-and-effect. The animals, which are firm enough to roll but still squishy enough to grasp, also have chimes inside, which add a sensory component. Ages 9 months+
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Melissa & Doug Pineapple Soft Stacker
Now 42% Off
Credit: Melissa & DougThis stacking toy looks adorable all on its own, just sitting on a shelf. But the fun really begins when kids take it apart and try to reassemble it again. Each of the pieces has its own special feature, like a post that rattles, a ring that crinkles, a plastic segment with textures and a topper with crinkly leaves and ribbons. Ages 6 months+
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Little Tikes Perfect Fit 4-in-1 Trike
Credit: Little Tikes
This trike is designed to go from a push stroller to a child-operated tricycle between the ages of 9 and 30 months. It starts off with full adult control: Parents push and kids can neither pedal nor steer. Eventually, kids can pedal along, then pedal and steer while the adult still pushes, until it's finally a fully functioning child tricycle. It comes in three colors and has a sun shade. Ages 9 months+
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Color the Ocean Color Magic Bath Book
Credit: Mudpuppy
They'll be so engrossed in this book, they won't even notice you're rinsing their hair. (Mostly.) It starts off with blank illustrations of animals, and water makes the colors appear. No bath crayons necessary! Ages 0+
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LeapFrog Fruit Colors Learning Smoothie
Credit: LeapFrog
Good Housekeeping Institute parent testers loved that they didn't have to stop babies from putting this one in their mouths — the straw is actually meant to be a teether. It also lights up in different colors and has songs and phrase about fruits of that color. That's one way to get them to like their fruits! Ages 6 months+
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Edushape Original Sensory Balls Boho Chic Mega Pack
Credit: Edushape
There are so many ways kids can use these to improve their motor coordination. They can grasp and grab at the smaller balls, roll the bigger ones and eventually move on to throwing and catching. All of the balls have a little give to them, making them easier to hold, and the different textures are fun to explore. You can also get them in different sizes and color combos, including a four-pack of the smaller balls for $22. Ages 0+
Parents feel good about buying these plush animals (or giving them as gifts) because they're made from 100% recycled materials. But the good news is that kids love them too: Good Housekeeping Institute tests found kids responded to the 13" size, which is great for hugging and snuggling, and one parent reported this became the favorite take-along toy. In addition to the duckling, you can get a kitten, a bunny, a lamb, a puppy or a bear. Ages 0+
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Lovevery Explorer Play Kit
Credit: Lovevery
Our experts have long been a fan of Lovevery, whose Play Kits come packed with high-quality toys tailored to where a child is in their development. Not only that, the kits come with information for parents about how best to use the toy to nurture their developing skills. The Explorer Kit, for kids ages 9 months and 10 months, comes with items that let kids experiment with gravity, practice balance and develop emotional intelligence, among other things. Ages 9 months+
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KiwiCo Pop-Up Shape Sorter Puzzle
Credit: KiwiCo
This is a shape sorter and a game of peekaboo rolled into one! When kids push the shaped blocks into the correct spaces, it makes a face pop up — another good exploration of cause-and-effect. It comes from KiwiCo, and if you like their offerings, you can also get the PandaCrate subscription, which regularly mails boxes of toys tailored to a child's age and stage. Ages 0+

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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