The time has come, right? Your little wonder is about to embark on another milestone – that of becoming a tiny Christopher or Christina Columbus! The era of autonomous exploration is about to begin.
Sure, it will start with a little hand reaching for the sofa, or a side table, or a bookshelf for support, and slowly but surely, they’ll begin to circumnavigate the room by themselves.
And, before you know it, everything will happen completely unassisted.
Right now, it’s all about helping them get there. A walking toy is ideal. It gives them something to hang onto as they shuffle from one discovery to the next.
And while the little sponge that serves as their brain works overtime to grasp this new concept of spatial awareness, the walking toy will allow your little one to confidently continue their journey to bipedal independence!
To help you get an understanding of the walking toys available on the market, what to look out for, and what they do really well, we’ve compiled a list of these little helpers that will serve your little explorer best.
- VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
- WowWee Pinkfong Baby Shark Melody Walker
- LeapFrog Scout’s 3-in-1 Get Up and Go Walker
- Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Learn with Puppy Walker
- Wooden Push and Pull Learning Walker for Boys and Girls
These products have all been designed with your child’s development needs in mind, and they’re all excellent!
Let’s have a look at them individually.
VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
This is an interactive walker with a play panel you can remove. It incorporates a couple of piano keys – each making its own musical sound – that really stimulates creativity and averts boredom.
There are a whole bunch of other features that are great for super-charging motor skill development – a colorful phone handset, rollers that spin and make a noise, a shape-sorting game, and buttons that light up when you press them.
Batteries are included in your purchase.
Babies and toddlers are bound to find this fun – from the age of around 9 months, all the way up to three years.
Pros
- It has a long-life design, this walker! It will keep your child busy from the age of 9 months until three years.
- It is really entertaining – an incredible variety of colors, shapes, and sounds. All the buttons are located so your baby can reach them when sitting down too.
- Super-easy to clean
- Durable and high-quality components
Cons
- The kids will love it, but maybe not the parents – it can be noisy!
- It may be a little distracting when your baby is doing the hard work when learning to walk.
WowWee Pinkfong Baby Shark Melody Walker
Here’s another one designed so your baby can play when they sit or when they’re doing their rounds!
As soon as the child stops, this toy will stop the song it’s playing. The baby soon learns that to listen to the song, they have to walk. This is great encouragement! And the buttons and lights ensure endless hours of entertainment.
Four wheels make sure your toddler or baby is always balanced, and this feeling of safety allows them to develop both their motor and sensory skills without fear of falling over.
The great feature for parents – you can actually ADJUST THE VOLUME!!!
Pros
- The four wheels provide worry-free stability
- Great entertainment with the lights and colors
- Musical encouragement when the child stops walking
Cons
- The wheels may have too little resistance for the baby – it may go faster than the child can move.
LeapFrog Scout’s 3-in-1 Get Up and Go Walker
This toy grows with your child. With all the dangly toys, it’s perfect as a baby gym. But it easily transforms into a speed-controlled walker. And it has an activity panel with its light display for in-between!
It plays sound effects and music, splashes color, and introduces letters and shapes. Above all, it encourages physical movement. Fine motor skills are also covered. It has a handful of piano keys, spinning beads, toys that dangle and move, and a whole lot more.
And, you can actually adjust the resistance on the wheels of this toy. It is easily set to accommodate your kid’s ability.
It’s designed and built for ages between three months and up to 3 years.
Pros
- The activity range is great
- Excellent for motor skills development
- The adjustable wheel resistance makes a whole lot of sense
Cons
- There are problems with the battery bay on some of the units
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Learn with Puppy Walker
This is a toy designed for kids aged 6-months to 3-years. As the baby grows, it can play sitting down, standing, or walking. The musical variety is excellent – it extends to around 75 different songs!
It also has a whole bunch of phrases to aid linguistic development – these include the alphabet, common phrases, and even Spanish vocabulary.
In addition, it has flashing lights, piano keys, a roller and spinner, a page-flipper, and a whole lot more.
The handles are super-easy for the baby to grasp, and that aids in confidence.
Pros
- The easy-grip handles are really important
- The sheer variety of sounds and lights mean never a dull moment
- The linguistic tool is fantastic, especially since it includes Spanish
Cons
- It may not be sturdy enough for bigger babies
- The wheel speed is not adjustable – the toy may move faster than baby
Wooden Push and Pull Learning Walker for Boys and Girls
This toy is top-notch craftsmanship all the way. The wheels have rubber linings – it will protect both your carpets and floors. And all the paint on the toy is guaranteed non-toxic. The toy introduces a whole bunch of fun activities – there’s a bar of beads, a xylophone, a drum for pounding, and a shape-sorting game.
This toy is gender-neutral.
The whole design principle behind this toy is that it becomes and whole activity center. It pushes imagination, does wonders for social skills, develops motor skills, and sets fire to the child’s imagination.
Great to think all this happens on the way to your child’s first steps!
Pros
- It’s great as a comprehensive activity center
- The design is REALLY good, and the build quality is tops
- The rubber-lined wheels really do protect carpets and floors
Cons
- It may be hard for smaller kids to push
What to Bear in Mind When Buying A Toy Like This
The Safety of The Design
Remember – this type of toy is NOT the same as a walker. There are too many safety concerns with walkers – in fact, the APP has asked for walkers to be banned outright because of the number of kids ending up in emergency rooms because of them.
This kind of toy is an activity center. It should be easy to push, and ideally, you should be able to set the resistance on the wheels so the toy can’t outmaneuver the baby’s abilities.
How Versatile Is It?
These toys offer a host of activities – and these include sounds, shapes, the alphabet, music, words, and so much more. The sky is actually the limit. The more there is, the more your baby will be entertained and inspired to move and learn to walk.
On What Kind of Flooring Surface Will It Be Used?
This is important, and it has everything to do with the specific toy’s wheel design. If your floor surface is smooth, make sure the toy you buy will not become a runaway hazard. Similarly, if you have a thick carpet, make sure your baby is actually able to push it across the carpet.
Conclusion
Your little one is entering one of the most exciting stages of their development. But it can also be worrisome. All this independence, and they have no sense of danger yet!
As long as you make sure the toy you buy was designed with a whole lot of common sense and that the brand really cares for the safety of your child, you’ll be fine. And your baby? They’ll be entertained and inspired!
