For baby and toddler educational and developmental toys and gifts, ebeanstalk.com has about all you could want. The site allows you to shop by age and has a neat feature called The eBeanStalk Gift Series, where you can order a year of age appropriate gifts for a child. Four gifts will be delivered every three months over the course of a year to match the child’s stage of development. The toys on their site are also lead-tested and selected by child development professionals.
WonderBrains.com is another site geared specifically towards educational toys. Toys are grouped by age on their site and range from toys for babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers on through adolescent toys. They also group toys by many categories, such as arts and crafts, books, Montessori, music, science, spatial, wooden toys and more. So if you have a particular toy in mind it could be easier to find. Like ebeanstalk, they also list toys by brand, also useful if you already have a particular toy in mind.
Educational Toys Planet is another toy store focused on educational products for young children. Their colorful site features age appropriate toys up to 8+ years. One their home page you can go right to bestsellers, sales and discounts, popular categories, new arrivals, and toys grouped by interest.
While Amazon.com is not exclusively a toy store, it is the largest retailer on the web. They have a section for Toys and Games, where you can search for products by age, type and activity. One of the search sections is for toys and games that fall under “Learning and Education”. You can also browse products by brand, Toys & Games Categories
Little Tikes has toys available by age group up to 4+ years. The site features a lot of outdoor toys you can set up in a backyard, for instance. These include playgrounds, playhouses, kid-sized picnic tables, water toys, toy vehicles and more. They have sections for musical toys, sports, and role playing. One cool feature is their package specials, which allow you to buy a set of toys (like a set of four ride-on toy cars) for a big discounts (e.g. some packages save $30, some save over $70 than if you were to buy them separately). Perfect if you need to buy more than one toy for kids in the same age group.
The Discovery Channel Online Store features a section with unique and educational toys and games grouped by age (from babies through young adults) or type of toy. They also feature their best selling toys, award winners and eco-friendly toys to help you find a gift tailored just for your loved one.
Babyearth.com is an interesting site in that you first think all of their products are environmentally friendly or organic, based on the name and design of the site. Reading the about us, you realize that not all of their products are organic or environmentally sustainable. That said they feature a useful guide to eco-friendly products, which explains terms like fair-trade, lead, non-toxic, PVCs, defining the recycling numbers on packaging, and more. The also have a new link specifically to organic baby products, which inlcude some toys. They will also recycle baby gear like stollers, car seats, high chairs, etc. that you no longer need.
