Great toys and activities for baby ages 7-9 months old. Find toys that encourage exploration and fulfill your baby’s curiosity.

As we think of the best toys for babies in this age range, there are many toys I have covered in past posts that will work for this age group. Old baby toys still can be fun for babies this age.

I again take us back to the 0-3 month and 4-6 month lists (see Best Toys for Baby: Ages 0-3 Months and Best Toys for Baby: Ages 4-6 Months).

With our list for 0-3 months, many things can still apply, but your baby will outgrow many during this time period if he hasn’t already.

At best, some toys can be turned to every few days, but not every day.

Also, your 8 month old baby might return to some of those toys he left behind in the 4-6 month range. A 9 month old baby might decide the rattle is super fun again even though she snubbed it as a 6-month-old.

For example, maybe he grew tired of the gym, but now finds it fascinating as he can view it from a different level, from sitting up, to crawling, to perhaps even standing up.

Post Contents

New Toys for 7 Month Olds, 8 Month Olds, and 9 Month Olds
Household Items
Anything She Can Hold
LeapFrog Music Table
Fisher-Price Stacking Rings
Nesting Cups
Shape Sorter
Stuffed Animals
Toy Keys
High Chair Toys
Baby Piano
Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Musical Faryard Cube
Soft Fish Baby Toy
Tummy Time Floor Mirror
Blocks
Montessori Object Permanence Box
VTech Bright Lights Soccer Ball
VTech Wiggle and Crawl Ball
LeapFrog Remote
Bath Toys
VTech Turn and Learn Driver
Flap Books
Teether Books
Touch and Feel Books
Conclusion
Related Posts
Reader Advice/Thanks
Best Toys Series
Best Toys for Baby: Ages 0-3 Months
Best Toys for Baby: Ages 4-6 Months
Best Toys for Baby: Ages 10-12 Months
Best Toys for PreToddler: 12-18 Months
Best Toys for Toddler: 18-24 Months
Very Best Toys for Toddlers: 2 and Up
Best Toys for Toddler...2.5 and Up
Best Toys For Preschoolers age 3 and Up
Outdoor Toys Children Will Love
The Very Best Bath Toys for Babies and Kids

New Toys for 7 Month Olds, 8 Month Olds, and 9 Month Olds

This seems to be a time period when baby starts to show a lot of boredom and frustration if you don’t change his toys to match his changing abilities, so be sure to be mindful of that (see Out With the Old, in With the New (toys) ).

Household Items

This is a good time to introduce things around the house that are safe and acceptable for the baby to play with.

Remember, everything is new to your little one so it doesn’t take much to fascinate your baby.

A spoon you use to mix things with might be interesting to her. Measuring cups are a classic hit. You can set her on the floor with some pots and pans along with some spoons and let her play.

Anything She Can Hold

Especially during the early part of this age range, your baby will like anything she can just hold in her hand easily. This can be anything safe for her to hold and doesn’t have to be a fancy toy.

LeapFrog Music Table

If I could only buy, say, five toys for my child, the LeapFrog Music Table would be one of them. They love it starting young and continue to love it as they get older.

I remember when Brayden was 3.5 and still played with it from time to time.

For Kaitlyn, at 19 months, it was still a favorite. My kids all loved to play with it for years, making it one of the best investments you will make.

Fisher-Price Stacking Rings

This toy is a classic. Your child won’t be able to stack these correctly for a while, but she can practice.

This is something that can be fun as they grow older, also.

When Brayden was learning spatial relationships, I would tell him to get the biggest ring, or the smallest ring.

When he was learning colors, I would tell him to find the yellow ring, etc. He really enjoyed these games.

Nesting Cups

Nesting Cups were Kaitlyn’s favorite toy from about 7 months until 17 months. As she got older, the way she played with it changed, but she just loved it. It was a great church toy because she would just sit on the floor and concentrate on it for about 45 minutes straight.

They are also fun because of the holes in the bottom. It makes them fun toys for the bathtub or water table.

Shape Sorter

This is another toy baby isn’t going to be able to master in this age, but he can start to play with it.

If it is something that carries his interest, you will be surprised at how good he gets at it. Brayden was able to put shapes in holes between 7-8 months–though he wasn’t able to distinguish which shapes to put in which holes yet.

There are many different types of shape sorters available. Here is a classic version.

You can get the stacking rings and the shape sorter as a package deal at a discounted rate here!

Stuffed Animals

By this age your child has likely shown an interest in certain animals.

Brayden was in love with monkeys. For Kaitlyn, it was doggies. If your child has shown an interest in a certain animal, now might be a fun time to get that stuffed animal.

Something random for each of my old two children had a favorite stuffed animal, and it was a giraffe.

Neither had ever shown a particular interest in giraffes when reading books. They like to look at them at the zoo, but not so much that I would think the giraffe is the way to go.

My mom got Brayden a Ty Beanie Baby giraffe when he was young. Kaitlyn loved Brayden’s so much that when my husband and I were in Washington DC one spring, I got her a giraffe at the Museum of Natural History. You never know what your kiddo will love.

A really great baby stuffed animal is this baby teething toy from Infantino. It doubles as a teething toy.

Toy Keys

At this age, Kaitlyn really liked those inexpensive, plastic keys. These are very portable and quiet. They make great church toys and great toys for car rides.

High Chair Toys

High chair toys are great for having something you can let your baby play with while you eat lunch or dinner. They are great for having some table time with your baby each day.

A great one is this suction cup high chair toy from Sassy. It has colorful beads and improves hand-eye coordination.

You could also suction this to the floor for some tummy time or for your baby to sit up and play with.

Baby Piano

This is so simple, but fun for baby. They learn a lot about cause and effect and have fun making noise with this baby piano.

Melissa & Doug K’s Kids Musical Faryard Cube

This toy has crinkling sounds and animal sounds. It has a variety of textures and places for your baby to grab onto. It works sensory skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and more. Melissa & Doug is my favorite toy brand for kids of all ages.

Soft Fish Baby Toy

Another great toy for sensory play is this soft fish. This toy squeaks and crinkles and is multi-textured. It is easy to clean, which is great for a soft baby toy. This is great for fine motor development and is a great developmental toy to add to your collection.

Tummy Time Floor Mirror

Babies love to look at themselves. This tummy time floor mirror can make tummy time more tolerable for your little one if tummy time is still a thing.

Blocks

Blocks are a classic baby toy. These blocks from B. toys are great for this age because they are super soft. They are safe for baby to mouth. They can be squeezed and make a squeaky sound when you do. You can use them for teaching colors and numbers over the years also!

Another fun option for blocks are these blocks from Infantino. They are also soft blocks, but come with balls that offer different textures and little animals.

Montessori Object Permanence Box

This box is super creative for helping infants learn about object permanence. This is the age range that separation anxiety really hits, so the more you can do to teach your baby about object permanence, the better. Your 7-month-old baby will greatly benefit from this.

VTech Bright Lights Soccer Ball

This is a soft and brightly colored ball that is motion censored. When you roll, throw, drop, kick, or shake the ball, it will play music in response. It teaches cause and effect to your baby.

VTech Wiggle and Crawl Ball

Another fun ball option is the Wiggle and Crawl Ball. This ball wiggles and wobbles on its own. It has fun tunes for your baby to listen to as she chases after it. This helps develop milestones as it encourages your infant to move and crawl after it. It has cute animal buttons to push to learn more about the animals.

LeapFrog Remote

If you have a baby obsessed with the remote, this can be a great toy to play with instead. It has lights, music, and teaches about counting, numbers, shapes, and more. It offers great entertainment but also works a lot for your child’s development.

It is very stimulating with all of the noise it provides. Always be aware of stimulating toys and make sure they aren’t overstimulating your baby and interfering with sleep.

Bath Toys

You always want bath toys that your baby loves to play with during bath time. Bath time is a great opportunity to offer a variety of sensory play opportunities.

These Munchkin Float and Play Bubbles toys are very popular for the bath. They float in the water and are textured.

VTech Turn and Learn Driver

Brayden was obsessed with all things cars, so this was the kind of thing he loved. It is a great toy for imaginative play and a great toy for sitting on the floor and playing with it.

Flap Books

In addition to the books listed in the previous two posts for the age ranges, I love flap books.

They are great starting at this age because the baby is really in that peek-a-boo mode.

These books are of interest for a very long time. They really aren’t the type of book you leave a baby alone with, but they are fun for the baby to look at.

Dear Zoo is a really cute lift the flap book. Another great one is Toes, Ears, & Nose! by Karen Kratz.

I also love this Peekaboo book from Melissa & Doug. A great thing about this one is it is a soft book, so your baby can’t rip the flaps off. It makes it the perfect “first” lift-the-flap book you get.

Teether Books

Kaitlyn also liked this book at this age. It crinkles, they can chew on it, what isn’t to love.

Touch and Feel Books

This is a great time to try out touch and feel books.

One of our favorite series for this book is the “That’s Not My…”

They are great touch and feel books. There is a long line to suit your child’s interest: monkey, train, truck, dolly, mermaid, dinosaur, kitten, princess, dragon, plane, bunny…so many to choose from!

Conclusion

Please do not feel stress nor pressure to get every toy on this list. It is intended to be a comprehensive list of toys that are great for 7-9 month old babies. I have provided a lot of options so you can choose what you think is best for your individual baby.

Reader Advice/Thanks

lsmith said…
These “baby’s favourite toys” posts are great!At this age, my daughter’s favourite toys were a bead roller coaster [Bead Roller Coaster] from IKEA and she loved board books, especially those featuring other babies. If we’d had a musical activity table, I’m sure she would have loved that too! But we didn’t get it until her first birthday.
Babywise Mom said…
Thanks for your additions lsmith! Those roller coasters are fun. We don’t own any because my parents do and the doctor’s office has them; I like to keep some things like that novelty items 😉
blessedwife_mom said…
I totally agree with the Stack a Ring toy’s versatility and ability to engage a baby. While my baby is still too young to understand how to put the rings back, she has loved this toy from 5 months of age (which is when I purchased it). It’s so easy to just take a few rings on the go, and when we’re home she can play with the whole toy. The best thing is that it “grows” with the baby and it’s affordable!
Babywise Mom said…
Thanks for your “second” blessedwife_mom!
Nathan and Rachel Greenfield said…
Noah (just turned 7 months) is really into balls, I bought him the Leap Frog alphabet ball and he really enjoys pushing that around. He can’t press the individual letters yet, but enjoys the music it makes whenever it’s rolled. he also really likes:- tupperware- Fisher Price puppy (beware- it’s super noisy and way sensitive to the touch so it NEVER finishes a song if you so much as breathe on it!) We don’t bring it out too often because it’s so obnoxious, BUT it’s great every few days and his face just lights up- Johnny Jumper[Johnny Jumper]- he just LOVES this thing! I love it because it keeps my little mover stationary for a while.Yesterday, I showed him a youtube video of a baby laughing to see what he would do and he LOVED it. I thought it was pretty funny. I have loved every stage (even newborn) but now my interaction with him really makes me laugh. I love it!
Babywise Mom said…
Thanks for your ideas Rachel. We have some toys we try to hide away also 🙂

This post originally appeared on this blog in December 2008

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1 thought on “Best Toys for Baby: Ages 7-9 Months Old”

Trae Emery

June 28, 2013 at 6:40 AM

Thanks so much for these recommendations. I don't want to flood my kid with heaps of toys that don't get played with. I picked up the Roll-a-rounds and stacking rings at a consignment store and bought the LeapFrog table and they are all an immediate hit with my 7mo LO. And I can see them being played with for a long time to come too.