Best Toys for 8-Month-Olds of 2021

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Our Top Picks

Best Cause and Effect: Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube at Amazon

"Safe for any age, this innovative cube includes instrument sounds and inspires creativity and interactive play."

Best Blocks: Fat Brain Toys Tobbles Infant Stacking Toy at Amazon

"The innovative toy challenges babies to balance, spin, and stack these spheres in gravity-defying angles."

Best Musical: Fisher-Price Groove and Glow BeatBo at buybuybaby.com

"The colors and sounds of the plush toy engage the senses while helping develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination."

Best Gross Motor Skills: VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker at Walmart

"Complete with five piano keys that play music, the walker also encourages creativity and aids baby as they take their first steps."

Best Travel: Bright Starts Lots of Links Take-Along Toys at Amazon

"The links are fun on their own or can be attached to your car seat, stroller, diaper bag, or anything else."

Best Teether: Munchkin Twisty Figure 8 Teether Toy at Amazon

"Complete with five gentle and stimulating textures, it provides fast relief for your baby's sore gums."

Best Bath: Munchkin Little Boat Train at Amazon

"Make bathtime or a beach day more fun with these boats that float and link together, teaching your little one about numbers."

Best Sorting: Fat Brain Toys Oombee Cube Sorter at Amazon

"Made for little fingers and safe for teething, this sorting toy will help baby recognize shapes and strengthen fine motor skills."

Best for Vocabulary: Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Magic Color Mixing Bowl at Amazon

"Complete with six removable pieces, it'll introduce your 8-month-old to the alphabet, numbers, and colors."

Best Book: Eric Carle Six Classic Board Books Set at Amazon

"Build up baby's library with this classic board set, featuring six books that are sure to become family favorites."

8 months old is a transitional phase for babies. Some can begin to sit up on their own and start to seek out the world around them. Many 8-month-olds are very busy, since they love to explore, crawl, and discover (often by putting objects in their mouth). This age is a perfect time to introduce toys that will feed their development as they reach new milestones.

Find the right toy for your 8-month-old with these ideas.

Our Top Picks

Best Cause and Effect: Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube

Babies at this age are often just discovering cause and effect and how things happen. Add a love of music into that learning and this toy is so well suited for 8-month-olds. Safe for any age, this innovative cube includes instrument sounds from the harp, flute, French horn, piano, and violin. Press each button for individual sounds or press the Orchestra button to play all the instruments at once. This toy will inspire creativity and interactive play while teaching babies how sounds combine, so it’ll be fun for a long time.

Best Blocks: Fat Brain Toys Tobbles Infant Stacking Toy

Perfect for ages 6 months and up, these versatile and stylish blocks are great for sensory exploration, motor skills, coordination, spatial reasoning, and imaginative thinking. Busy and curious little kids will be engaged as they balance, nest, spin, and stack these blocks in gravity-defying angles. Many reviewers appreciate the thoughtful design of these modern blocks.

Best Musical: Fisher-Price Groove and Glow BeatBo

This guy is a little musical buddy that’s fascinating for kids 6 months and up. Press his belly to start the music, songs, and dancing. The colors and sounds engage the senses while helping to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Parent reviewers note how much their little ones love this little guy and the five sing-along songs are cute and bearable for adults.

Best Gross Motor Skills: VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker

Help your little one enhance their gross motor skills with this versatile sit and stand walker. For sitting babies, the removable play panel is engaging with shape sorters, light-up buttons, and more. As your growing baby begins to walk, move the panel back to the walker and your kiddo can play with it standing or use the walker for some helpful support.

Best Travel: Bright Starts Lots of Links Take-Along Toys

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A versatile toy that is perfect for any age, this set includes 24 flexible bendable links. The links are fun on their own or can be used to attach other toys to your car seat, stroller, diaper bag, or anything else. Great for when on-the-go, throw a few links in a bag and you’ll have an easy way to entertain a fussy baby. The strong, durable plastic is easy to wipe clean with a wet wipe or a quick dip in soapy water.

Bright Starts Lots of Links Review

Best Teether: Munchkin Twisty Figure 8 Teether Toy

Babies will love that they can twist, shake, or chew on this figure-eight teether rattle. The four textured surfaces will help soothe the baby’s gums while also providing stimulating tactile exploration. Safe for babies 6 months and up, the integrated rattle will make noise anytime it gets moved around. Parents appreciate that this well-made toy is sized just right for little hands.

Best Bath: Munchkin Little Boat Train

Lightweight and easy to grasp, these six colorful boats float and link together to create a bathtime boat train. They each have funny faces and are numbered making them perfect for counting, ordering, and number identification games. Great for bathtime (or the beach or a water table), the boats can scoop up and pour out water over and over again. Beneficial for hand-eye coordination, these versatile toys are safe for kids of any age.

Best Sorting: Fat Brain Toys Oombee Cube Sorter

Little hands will love this shape-sorting toy which invites kiddos to slide each shape smoothly and snuggly into each of their respective slots. The pieces are rubbery, textured, and squishy, so they are made for little fingers and safe for teething. Shapes include a triangle, square, oval, circle, pentagon, and a double circle. Time with this toy will strengthen fine motor skills, shape recognition, and visual-spatial skills.

Best for Vocabulary: Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Magic Color Mixing Bowl

Introduce your 8-month-old to the alphabet, numbers, colors, and color mixing with some playful songs, sounds, and phrases. The toy comes with six removable pieces including a milk bottle, two measuring cups, a spoon, and more. Adding the “ingredients” into the bowl will result in exciting sounds, lights, and songs. Safe for babies 6 months old and up, parents will appreciate the volume control switch.

Best Book: Eric Carle Six Classic Board Books Set

From beloved author-illustrator, Eric Carle, this set of six classic board books all feature simple and engaging texts. The six books come in a sturdy box, so young ones will have fun taking out and putting away their special books. With thoughtful and repetitive text, these classic reads are sure to become family favorites.

Why Trust Verywell Family

Maya Polton is a former marketing manager and current freelance writer who covers food, home, and parenting. She’s a mom of a 10-year old son, 7-year old son, and 3-year old daughter. Her favorite toys for 8 month olds are a set of classic board books. They have long-lasting appeal as that 8 month old can someday read them back to you (or younger siblings).