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A grandmother on the floor reaching for a spoon her baby grandchild has dropped from the high chair, with a stacking ring toy, a board book and a rattle nearby.

The Discovery Year

Infants: The year everything wakes up

By Alison Richardson, MS·Ages 0–12 months·Last reviewed

What a baby in the first year is developmentally working on, what they need from a grandparent, and the toys that match it.

What should I get my baby grandchild?

For a baby under one, the best gifts reward the three things they are doing all year: kicking, mouthing, and looking at faces. Rattles they can grip, soft books, a mirror, a stacking toy for the back half of the year. The thing they want most is your face, close and unhurried, so pick a toy the two of you use together rather than one that performs on its own.

No other year of life packs in this much change. A newborn arrives running on reflexes and cannot hold up her own head. Twelve months later she is pulling up to stand, waving bye-bye, playing pat-a-cake, and looking at your face to decide whether something new is safe.

Here is what is happening, month by month, and what it means for the way you play.

Jump to the toysWhat is happening at this age
0–12 months
Infants

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  1. 0–12 monthsInfants
  2. 1–2 yearsToddlers
  3. 3–4 yearsPreschool
  4. 5–7 yearsEarly Elementary
  5. 8–11 yearsPre-Teens
  6. 12–17 yearsTeens
  7. 18–25 yearsYoung Adults

What is happening

What your grandchild is working on

The first 13 weeks: the “fourth trimester”
The first three months are their own little season. Movements are jerky and reflexive, the head needs support, and crying is the main way of talking. But the big social moments arrive fast: the first real smile aimed at a person usually shows up around weeks 5 to 7, cooing begins around weeks 7 to 8, and many babies laugh out loud by three months. Tummy time starts in short, supervised sessions from the first days home, not later. By 13 weeks a baby can track a toy, grab your finger, and laugh at a silly sound. The newborn stretch is over, and the fun is starting.
Sources: Better Health Channel · American Academy of Pediatrics · Mayo Clinic

Body and movement

  • By 2 monthsHolds the head up during tummy time, moves both arms and legs, opens the hands for a moment.
  • By 4 monthsHead is steady when held. Holds a toy you put in the hand, swings at toys, pushes up on the forearms.
  • By 6 monthsRolls from tummy to back. Pushes up on straight arms. Leans on hands to sit.
  • By 9 monthsSits without support. Gets into a sitting position alone. Passes things hand to hand.
  • By 12 monthsPulls up to stand and walks holding furniture. Picks up small bits of food with thumb and finger.

Source: CDC

Senses

  • BirthSees best at 8 to 12 inches, about the distance to a face that is holding her. Prefers faces over any other picture. Hearing already works well.
  • By 6 weeksThe eyes start moving together, so following a face gets easier.
  • By 3 monthsMakes eye contact, begins to tell colors apart, and goes quiet to listen to a familiar voice.
  • All yearEverything goes in the mouth. That is how this age studies the world.

Source: Better Health Channel

Sounds and words

  • By 2 monthsMakes sounds other than crying and reacts to loud sounds.
  • By 4 monthsCoos (“ooo,” “aah”), makes sounds back when you talk, turns toward your voice.
  • By 6 monthsTakes turns making sounds with you. Squeals and blows raspberries.
  • By 9 monthsBabbles “mamamama” and “babababa.” Lifts arms to be picked up.
  • By 12 monthsWaves bye-bye, says “mama” or “dada” (or a special name), understands “no.”

Source: CDC

Feelings and people

  • By 2 monthsCalms when picked up or spoken to. Smiles when you talk or smile. Watches you move.
  • By 6 monthsKnows familiar people. Loves a mirror. Laughs.
  • By 9 monthsMay be shy, clingy, or fearful with strangers. Looks when her name is called. Loves peek-a-boo. Looks for a toy that dropped out of sight.
  • By 12 monthsPlays games with you like pat-a-cake. Looks at your face to decide whether something new is safe. Looks for things you hide.

Source: CDC

A note on milestones: the ages above come from the CDC and mark when most babies (three out of four) can do something. They are checkpoints, not deadlines, and premature babies may be tracked on an adjusted timeline. If something worries you, mention it gently to the parents as a teammate, and leave the diagnosing to the pediatrician. Source: CDC

Did you know?

Things you will not find on most milestone sites

These come from peer-reviewed studies. They are the kind of detail that changes how you play.

Singing calms a baby longer than talking does

In a lab study, babies 7 to 10 months old stayed calm for about nine minutes while someone sang to them, but only about four minutes while someone talked, even when the song was in a language they had never heard. The tune and rhythm did the work, not the words or the singer’s skill. Your voice is good enough.

Source: Corbeil

To a baby, a grown-up on a phone is a blank face

By two to three months, babies expect a face to respond to them. In the famous “still-face” experiment, repeated hundreds of times since 1978, a parent who stopped reacting and held a blank expression for two minutes produced visible distress in the baby within seconds. Put the phone down and the whole visit gets better.

Source: Tronick

It is the back-and-forth, not the number of words

Researchers found that the number of conversation turns a baby experiences predicts language scores and activity in the brain’s language area better than the sheer number of words heard. So coo, then wait. The pause is the point: it leaves room for the baby’s turn.

Source: Romeo et al.

If you speak another language, use it in person, now

Six-month-olds can hear the difference between the sounds of every language on earth. By 10 to 12 months they have tuned in to the language around them and lose that ability for the rest. One study found babies kept the ability only when a real person spoke the second language to them; a video or recording did not work. A grandparent with a heritage language is a gift no app can match.

Sources: Kuhl · Werker & Tees

How to connect at this age

  • Hold her at face distance, talk softly, and watch her cues. Newborns tire and look away, and the pauses are part of the conversation.
  • Coo-and-wait games (“your turn, my turn”) from about two months on. Go slowly and leave room for her answer.
  • Peek-a-boo, mirror games, and “drop it, pick it up” around six to nine months, right when she figures out that hidden things still exist.
  • If a once-happy baby cries when handed to you around 8 or 9 months, that is normal stranger awareness, not rejection. It passes. Stay close, stay calm, and let her come to you.
  • Live video calls count. Babies learn from a real person on a screen who responds to them, which is why the AAP leaves video chat out of its screen-time limits for children under 18 months.

Sources: Better Health Channel · CDC · American Academy of Pediatrics

So the best toys for a baby reward reaching, grabbing, kicking, mouthing, and face-to-face play. That is exactly what the toys below were chosen for.

Gifts & toys

Award-winning toys for infants, 0–12 months

Ten toys for the first year: this year’s award winners, a few long-time favorites, and one Gran Life Recommended pick that Alison has used with her own grandchild. Each one is matched to something a baby is working on right now, from reaching and kicking to teething and stacking.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, The Gran Life earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. The price range on each card is a general guide from the maker’s list price; current price and availability are on Amazon. How these toys were chosen →
Gran Life Recommended
Cause & Effect / Motor / Early Language
Baby Einstein

Baby Einstein 4-in-1 Kickin' Tunes Music and Language Play Gym

A Gran Life Recommended pick: Alison has used this gym herself and recommends it from personal experience.

Kick-activated piano rewards baby's leg movement with music, building cause-and-effect understanding and gross motor strength; overhead toys encourage reaching and batting; tummy-time mode supports neck and core development; converts to a take-along piano for sit-up play through the first year.

$25 to $50maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Gross Motor & Crawling
Fisher-Price

4-in-1 Cuddle & Crawl Duck

Named a Good Housekeeping 2026 Toy Award Winner.

Soft plush duck with electronic roll-and-chase features. Encourages tummy time, sitting reach, and crawling chase.

$25 to $50maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Visual & Tactile Sensory
Tomy / Lamaze

Freddie the Firefly Sensory Plush

A longtime favorite that earned The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval (the program closed in 2024).

High-contrast fabrics, hidden mirror, crinkle wings, and squeakers designed specifically for developing visual acuity.

Under $25maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Sensory & Comfort
Wild Republic

Poppykins Mini Penguin

Named a Good Housekeeping 2026 Toy Award Winner.

Soft, squeezable plush sized for small hands; GH's 2026 testers singled it out for babies and toddlers.

See it on Amazon
Spatial Reasoning & Tactile
Fat Brain Toy Co.

InnyBin Shape Exploration Box

A longtime favorite that earned The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval (the program closed in 2024).

Innovative shape cube with elastic bands. Promotes tactile problem solving, frustration tolerance, and fine motor reach.

$25 to $50maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Oral & Tactile Exploration
Fat Brain Toy Co.

PipSquigz High-Chair Sensory Toy

Food-grade silicone suction toys featuring varied ridges and rattles, holding baby attention on trays and high chairs.

Under $25maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Sensory & Fine Motor Dexterity
SMART Toys and Games

Krumples BOP & POP

Named a 2026 ASTRA Play Award Winner (Baby).

Flexible, pop-able, sensory silicone toy designed to strengthen infant grip, bilateral coordination, and tactile intrigue.

Under $25maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Aesthetic & Balance Coordination
Hape

William Stacker (The Met Collection)

Museum-inspired wooden stacker combining artisan aesthetic with early balance, grasp precision, and spatial nesting.

Under $25maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Oral Sensory & Teething Relief
Ravensburger North America

Dragon Fruit Teether

Ergonomically contoured multi-textured teether engineered to soothe aching gums while developing palmar grip.

Under $25maker’s list price
See it on Amazon
Sensory & Teething
Goliath

Lil' Jellies Jelly Stacker Toy

Named a Good Housekeeping 2026 Toy Award Winner.

Stackable rings filled with varied sensory materials (kinetic sand, beads, glitter). Safe for teething and tactile exploration.

Under $25maker’s list price
See it at Target

Not sold on Amazon right now. This is not an affiliate link; we just think it is a great toy.

Behind the list

How these toys were chosen

We did not pick these toys off a bestseller list. Almost every toy on these pages has won a recent award from an organization that tests toys with children and teens. Confirmed awards are named. Here is who they are and how they decide.

Good Housekeeping Institute

Engineers, product analysts, and child psychologists test toys in the GH labs, then send them home with more than 350 kid and parent testers. They check safety (drop tests, pinch points, small parts), durability, clear instructions, and whether kids keep coming back to play.

The Toy Association, Toy of the Year

The toy industry’s top honor. Retail buyers, journalists, academics, and toy designers judge innovation, design, and play value, and the public gets a vote too.

ASTRA Play Awards

Hundreds of independent neighborhood toy-store owners, early-education teachers, and play specialists. They look for open-ended play, imagination, screen-free engagement, and the kind of quality that turns a toy into an heirloom.

Shop TODAY Best Toy Awards

Editors at TODAY narrow the field, then real kids play-test the finalists and the kids’ favorites win.

NAPPA (National Parenting Product Awards)

Early-childhood educators and pediatric specialists paired with family home testers. They judge how well a toy lines up with real developmental milestones, from tummy time and pincer grip to logic and teen maker skills.

For ages 18 to 25

Toy awards stop at the teen years, so the young-adult gifts come mostly from published gift guides at NBC Select and Grown & Flown, with a few award-winning games for the younger end of the range.

Two things we looked for

Open-ended play. The judges asked whether a toy invites a child to play with it again and again in new ways, or whether it is a toy a child plays with once or twice and forgets. The toys here are the first kind.

Kid-tested. Many of these toys were tested by actual children, not just grown-ups with clipboards. One of the ways that works: put a room full of toys in front of a group of kids and watch which ones they go back to. Not every organization used every method, but taken together, these toys were chosen by experts and by kids who played with them.

A few older favorites carry The National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval. That program closed in 2024, so we say so and do not claim a year for it.

A note from Alison

Where this list is headed

Alison Richardson, MS, founder of The Gran Life

I am just starting that journey, so right now you will see only a few picks marked Gran Life Recommended. The rest earned their place by winning an award, or by being named in the gift guides above. As I test more, that gold badge will show up more often.

Gran Life Recommended — Alison has had this one in her own hands: used it with her grandchildren, or ordered and inspected it herself.

Gran Life Community Recommended — grandparents in The Gran Life Community have used this one and vouch for it.

Why shop through our links? If a toy is exactly right, wonderful. Buying through our link costs you nothing extra and helps keep our free services going, like the Milestone Message texts. And if a toy is close but not quite it, click the brand name on the Amazon page. It takes you straight to that maker’s store, where you may find the one you were looking for.

grandparent with purpose

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, The Gran Life earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.

The research behind this page

Sources and references

Everything on this page comes from The Gran Life’s developmental reference guide, which draws on the sources below. Milestone ages are from the CDC and mark what most children (75% or more) can do by that age. Links open the original source.