When it comes to stocking up on the essential products you’ll need before bringing home your new baby, make sure you add a baby play gym from Melissa & Doug to your shower registry or must-have shopping list.
Childhood development experts generally agree that a baby play gym can be a critical tool in helping your baby develop important early skills, while also entertaining your child, encouraging them to explore the world around them, and providing them a safe space to play.
There are a host of benefits that babies receive through playing with a play gym. A play gym encourages movement, stimulates a baby’s vision, hearing, tactile, and speech development, improves hand-eye coordination and motor skills, and boosts cognitive development.
If you’re in the market for a baby play gym for your little bundle of joy, here are some important factors to consider before making your purchase. Plus, be sure to shop for critical developmental and learning toys for little ones of every age and stage, as kids build critical life skills through play.
Shop our Ocean Easy-Fold Play Gym
The Melissa & Doug Ocean Easy-Fold Play Gym with Quick-Close™ storage is thoughtfully designed to encourage babies to play and learn through multiple stages and ages! Sturdy, wide wooden arches are pre-assembled for easy set-up, and offer caregivers easy access to the baby. The arches stay secure on the comfy, reversible play mat with sensory ribbons and a crinkling peek-a-boo clam shell. One side of the mat features high-contrast black-and-white graphics for early visual stimulation, and the other includes a full-color ocean scene to keep older babies engaged as vision develops. Attach the included soft, skill-supporting toys to the gym or play with them independently! Mat and toys are machine washable. Press the innovative Quick-Close™ button to unlock the frame and easily fold for storage or to take the play gym on the go! The included Play Guide illustrates the many ways the play gym supports the powerful role play has in brain development, physical well-being, and creating connections. Skills at Play: Encourages sensory stimulation, hand-eye coordination, gross and fine motor skills, and cognitive development.
What is a Baby Play Gym?
Also called an activity center, baby play gyms are designed and constructed as a self-contained play space meant for kids aged newborn to around 1-year-old. Their purpose is to promote a child’s physical growth and development through play.
A play gym usually consists of structural arches, generally made from wood or plastic, set on a padded play mat that your baby will use for tummy time in order to strengthen their neck, back, and core muscles. The arches can hold toys, which encourage the baby to reach, grasp, grab, and manipulate the toys through play.
Baby play gyms provide a safe, self-contained area for your baby to play, but please note: You should NEVER under any circumstances, leave any infant or baby unattended in a play gym for any length of time. Only use a baby play gym with adult supervision!
Benefits of a Baby Play Gym
There’s a reason many child development experts recommend a baby play gym—they work great!
Baby play gyms and activity centers offer a host of important benefits when it comes to tummy time. Depending on the various features and accessories, play gyms can help stimulate development of a baby’s hand-eye coordination and gross & fine motor skills; visual, auditory, and speech processing; physical strength; sensory stimulation; and cognitive ability.
What to Look for in a Baby Play Gym
Proper Size, User Friendly, Arch Design
Start by taking a look at the big picture, and consider several questions about your baby’s play gym at the outset before you even make a purchase:
- Is the baby gym the appropriate size for the space you have at home? If you live in an apartment or don’t have a lot of extra square footage in your home, space concerns may come into play. Look for something that best fits in the space you have when it’s open and in use.
- Does it have a user-friend design? Many play gyms sport a one push-button design that allows the play gym to easily fold up. That’s something that many new moms may want to consider, especially if they’re still physically recovering from the baby’s delivery—new moms definitely don’t need to be wrestling with complicated apparatus that’s impossible to open and close. Also, consider the arch design and placement—does it allow parents and caregivers easy access to their baby when it’s in use?
Is it Good to Go?
For families who expect to constantly be on the go, you’ll definitely want to consider the convenience and portability factors when considering a baby play gym. Moms recovering from delivery need something light enough that won’t put any undue strain on their bodies. And if it takes 30 minutes and multiple steps to fold up the play gym for storage, that’s not convenient for anybody.
Material Matters
You definitely want a play gym that features safe, non-toxic materials—because everything in that play gym set—toys, mat, arch, accessories—WILL be going in your child’s mouth and touching their skin. Babies especially can have skin sensitivity and allergy issues, so it’s critical that your baby baby gym consists of safe, non-toxic materials.
You’re likely to see a lot of wooden play gyms on the market these days, because many families—especially from younger generations—don’t want plastic-based toys that end up in landfills. The fact is, a majority of plastic toys can’t be recycled at all because of mixed materials restrictions, so some toymakers and baby product makers turn to safe, sustainable materials such as wood, as a safer, more sustainable, and longer lasting alternative.
You’ll also want to take into account the baby play gym’s overall aesthetic. If you spend time and effort curating your space at home, you want a baby play gym that’s going to mesh well with your home’s decor. Plus, a more minimalist design could also help avoid overstimulating your child, which is a real consideration to take into effect—too many bright colors, patterns, graphics, and characters can overwhelm an infant or young baby.
Finally, look for a baby play gym that’s easy to care for, preferably something you can just wipe clean easily.
All About the Toys
Your baby will definitely appreciate—and benefit from—having a variety of toys with specific features that encourage them to engage and explore:
- Toys should be DETACHABLE from the play gym, so babies can develop gross and fine motor skills while reaching, grabbing, and manipulating them.
- Toys should provide SENSORY elements—different textures, crinkly materials, a mirror for the baby to see their reflection, hard vs soft play, bright primary colors and/or black-and-white graphics. Sensory play helps babies develop critical skills such as visual and auditory processing, cause & effect, emotional regulation, early speech, and cognitive development.
Grows With Your Child
Consider how versatile your play gym is—you’ll want to look for one that grows with your child through various ages, stages, and milestones. Some models even offer helpful play guides to help you get the most out of your baby gym set-up.
In Conclusion
Families expecting the joyful arrival of a new baby should definitely consider purchasing a baby play gym for their little one. Childhood development experts generally agree that play gyms can be one of the best baby products you can buy for your newborn because of the wide variety of developmental benefits they provide through play. There are hundreds of play gyms available on the market, but knowing what to look for with this helpful blog guide will make your purchase that much easier, so you can give your little bundle of joy the developmental boost they need through play.
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Check out more great toy content from Melissa & Doug:
New Toy Spotlight: Ocean Easy-Fold Play Gym
Diaper Bag Must-Haves: Our Top Baby Toys to Take on the Go
Skills At Play!: A Guide to Toys That Teach Important Developmental Skills
Introducing NEW Developmental Toys for Infants & Babies
Shop All Melissa & Doug Learning Toys
Shop Melissa & Doug Toys by Age
Learn More Melissa & Doug Skills at Play
