• Encourage imagination & curiosity
• There’s no right or wrong way to play with the toy
• Allows your child to do the thinking/learning
• Inspires creativity & experimentation 
• Encourages independent play
• Children can start playing with open-ended toys as early as 1 to 2 months old 

• Close-ended toys play for your baby (e.g. push a button and a sound comes on) and promote passive play. 
• Best practice: Provide your child with a variety of toys and lean more towards open-ended toys when possible. 

Simply put, children who learn social-emotional skills do better in all areas of their life including academics, relationships, and extracurricular activities. This development influences their self-esteem, self-confidence, empathy, and their ability to foster healthy relationships. 

Why get children’s books as gifts?

• Opens up conversations about important topics.
• Helps guide what you teach your child + promoting age appropriate conversations.
• Wonderful way to connect with your child on a regular basis.
• Books provide opportunities to continue conversations in non-threatening ways
• Teaches children new skills such as important life skills, social skills, emotional regulation, and so much more!  

1. Stackable Blocks 
   • 6 months + 
   • Provides tactile and visual stimulation 
   • Doubles as bath toys 
   • Learn hand/eye coordination, balance, concentration, cause/effect, counting, and matching
2. Stacking Cups  
   • 6 months + 
   • Doubles as bath toys
   • Promotes counting skills, hand-eye coordination, creative thinking, color recognition, motor skills, sorting skills, problem solving skills
3. O-ball Rattle
   • Newborn and up
   • Keeps your child busy and engaged 
   • Promotes motor skills as babies can grip, catch and throw the ball with ease 
   • 3 rattles in one 
   • Easy to bring on the go 
   • Perfect for little hands to grip and play 

• Vulli Sophie The Giraffe Teether Toy 
  • Awakens baby’s senses and provides sensory stimulation
  • Provides soothing from sore gums
  • Perfect for baby’s small hands 
  • Easy to bring on the go

1. Expression Babies Plush Dolls 
   • Children of all ages 
   • Encourages child to identify & label feelings (which is the first step to independent emotional regulation) 
2. Tummy Time Floor Mirror 
   • Newborns and up
   • Point out parts of their face & identify feelings 
   • Promotes back and forth conversation/engagement with your baby 
   • Helps develop self-awareness, which is key to social-emotional development

1. Making Faces: A First Book of Emotions by Abrams Appleseed
2. Baby Faces Board Book by DK
3. See, Touch, Feel: A First Sensory Book by Roger Priddy
4. My First 100 Food We Eat (ages 0-3)  by Wonder House Books
5. My First Book of Baby Signs: 40 Essential Signs to Learn and Practice (ages 0-1) by Lane Rebelo
6. Let’s Count Soft Book – World of Eric Carle The Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Teething Crinkle Book by Eric Carle
7. Just Like The Animals Cloth Book (6-12 months)  

1. My First Crayola Touch Lights, Musical Doodle Board (Ages 24 months +)  
   • Provides sensory stimulation (touch lights, music)
   • Mess free creativity 
   • Reusable doodling fun 
   • Perfect for on the go
2. LEGO DUPLO My First Number Train (Ages 18 months+)  
   • Inspires imaginative role play
   • Improves fine motor skills as they drive the train, load, unload, stack and story number bricks 
   • Discover colors and numbers 

3. MEGA BLOKS 80-Piece Building Blocks (ages 1+)
   • Endless learning fun and open ended play 
   • Sparks imagination, creativity, and innovation
   • Promotes fine motor skills
4. LEGO DUPLO My First Bath Time Fun: Floating Animal Island (Ages 18 months+)
   • Bring lego fun to the bathtub! 
   • Build, play, and learn with fun animals and floating island 
   • Sparks imaginative play 
5. Melissa & Doug Wooden Building Blocks Set (ages 2+) 
   • Considered the gold standard for early childhood play 
   • Spark countless hours of innovation, creativity, and fun! 

1. Feelings & Emotions Dough Mats (ages 24 months – age 6)
   • From a silly face to a look of surprise—children boost social-emotional learning as they shape with dough! Kids simply choose a mat featuring a scene that corresponds to an emotion, then use dough to mold a mouth, a nose and more—creating facial expressions for each feeling! Set includes 24 reusable mats with 6 emotions and 4 different skin tones.
2. Hape Eggspressions Wooden Learning Toy (ages 2+)
   • Set includes six expressive wooden eggs with an idea book 
   • Promotes emotional maturity as children identify feelings 

1. My First Library : Boxset of 10 Board Books for Kids (Ages 1-3)  by Wonder House Books  
2. First 100 Words: A Padded Board Book (Ages 1-3)  by Roger Priddy

3. The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions (Ages 2-5)  by Anna Llenas
4. Grumpy Monkey (Ages 2-5) by Suzanne Lang
5. In My Heart: A Book of Feelings (Ages 2-5) by Jo Witek 
6. Consent Ninja: A Children’s Picture Book about Safety, Boundaries, and Consent (Ages 2+)  by Mary Nhin
7. Yes! No!: A First Conversation About Consent (Ages 1-4) by Megan Madison
8. Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race (Ages 2-5) by Megan Madison
9. Antiracist Baby Picture Book (Ages 1-6) by Ibram X. Kendi 
10. Love Makes a Family (Baby to age 4) by Sophie Beer
11. Bodies Are Cool (Ages 2-5) by Tyler Feder

1. Magna-Tiles (Ages 3+) 
   • Promotes math, science & creativity 
   • Encourages tactile & spacial skills 
   • Sparks imaginative free play 
2. Cool Variations of Magna Tiles 
   • Magna-Tiles® Safari Animals  
   • Magna-Tiles Car Expansion Set  
   • Magna-Tiles® Arctic Animals
3. Safari Animals Figures Toys (ages 3+)
   • Great pretend play props to enhance vocabulary, language, creating thinking and cooperative play 
   • Can be used inside + outside the bath 
4. PicassoTiles (Ages 3+) 
   • Improves hand-eye coordination, counting, sorting, attention, and creativity/innovation 
   • Encourage creativity for STEM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) 
5. Wondertoys Wood Logs Set (Ages 3+) 
   • Easy building and hours of fun 
   • Build log cabins, cottages, fences, paddock, school houses, etc 
   • Strengthens hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, problem solving, spatial awareness and imagination 
6. STEM Building Blocks Toy Kit (Ages 3+) 
   • All the blocks needed to build windmills, towers, animals, and whatever strikes their imagination 
   • Helps with hand-eye coordination, problem solving, fine motor skills, and logical thinking

7. Marble Run Set (Ages 3+) Promotes endless hours of innovation, problem solving, critical thinking and creativity 
   • Challenges kids to build structures to allow the marble to go through the tubes and make it to the bottom. 
8. Bug Catching Kit (ages 3+) Discover and learn about nature 
   • Easy access for a closer look and lets you quick release bug friends
9. Play Kitchen & Accessories
   • Play Kitchen
   • Kitchen Accessories  
10. Kinetic Sand (Ages 3+) 
11. Play Doh (Ages 3+) 

1. The Original Mood Flipbook for Kids (Ages 3+)  
   • Book comes with 20 different moods 
   • Blank space to write their own positive action they can take 
2. Big Feelings Pineapple (ages 3+)
   • Build face and help child to express their feelings
   • Two sided pineapple helps kids learn opposites by building two faces at once
   • Helps kids learn how to recognize, understand and feel their feelings 
   • Cooperative Games – Great for promoting memory, strategy, creative problem solving, shared decision making and a non stressful play environment! 

3. Count Your Chickens Cooperative Counting Game for Kids (Ages 3+)
   • Players must work together to help mother hen collect her chicks and bring them back to the coop. 
4. Dinosaur Escape Award Winning Cooperative Game (Ages 4+)  
   • Kids work together, use their memory and incorporate simple strategy to rescue the dinos. Help each other remember what tokens are flipped over & save the dinos so everyone wins.
5. Mermaid Island – Cooperative Board Game for Kids (Ages 5+)  
   • Players work together to help mermaids swim to Mermaid Island before the witch gets there. 
6. Feelings and Dealings: An Emotions and Empathy Card Game (Ages 3-6)  
   • Comes with 48 expressive feelings card + 3 educational games 
   • Teaches empathy and emotional intelligence such as how to identify feelings through facial expressions, body language and social contexts 
   • Helps them learn ways to express their needs 

1. My Body Bubble: A Children’s Book About Personal Boundaries, Consent and Respect, Kids Safety, Emotions & Feelings (Ages 3+)  by Michael Gordon
2. What Should Danny Do? (The Power to Choose Series) (The Power to Choose) (Ages 4-7)  by Adir Levy
3. The Magical Yet (Ages 4-8) by Angela DiTerlizzi
4. I Can Do Hard Things: Mindful Affirmations for Kids (Ages 3-7) by Gabi Garcia
5. Listening to My Body: A guide to helping kids understand the connection between their sensations (Ages 3-8) by Gabi Garcia
6. Roaring Mad Riley: An Anger Management Story for Kids (Ages 3-5) by Allison Szczecinski M.Ed.
7. My Mouth Is A Volcano: A Picture Book About Interrupting (Ages 4-7) by Julia Cook
8. Let’s Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent and Respect: Teach children about body ownership, respect, feelings, choices and recognizing bullying behaviors (Ages 4-7)  by Jayneen Sanders

9. My Body! What I Say Goes!: A book to empower and teach children about personal body safety, feelings, safe and unsafe touch, private parts, secrets and surprises, consent, and respectful relationships (Ages 3-6) by Jayneen Sanders
10. I Said No! A Kid-to-kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private (Ages 4-7) by Kimberly King
11. Amazing You!: Getting Smart About Your Private Parts (Ages 3-6) by Gail Saltz 
12. When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree (Ages 2-7) by Jamie L.B. Deenihan

1. Let’s Talk Discipline eBook
   •  Let’s Talk Discipline is a positive parenting guide to raising happy, respectful children without compromising your sanity! It’s packed with practical information on how to strengthen the parent-child relationship and prevent behavioral issues. It also discusses how to set limits and consequences with ease and confidence. Filled with real-life examples throughout the book to help you learn how to apply the information.

2. Ultimate Tantrum Guide eBook
   • This 25-page guide will teach you all you need to know about how to understand, prevent and manage tantrums. I have also included tips to manage your anger during those moments and a section for frequently asked questions (FAQs) including public tantrums, separation anxiety, bedtime tantrums, what to do when your child has a tantrum right as you’re headed out the door, and so much more!

3. Potty Training Bootcamp – This online course is perfect for any stage of potty training! 
   • Potty training is a huge milestone for both kids AND parents. It can feel daunting to know where to start or how to work through all the troubles that come along the way. This Potty Training Class includes positive, practical, & easy-to-follow tips & scripts to use while potty training at any stage! 
4. Positive Discipline Academy
   • A practical self-paced online parenting course designed to take the guesswork out of disciplining young children (10 and under).

My 5 Newborn Must Haves

1. Ergobaby Omni 360 All-Position Baby Carrier for Newborn to Toddler 
2. Diaper backpack by Ruvalino 
3. Baby Shusher The Sleep Miracle Sound Machine
4. Baby Basics Kit by Frida Baby
5. HALO Sleepsack 3-Way Adjustable Baby Swaddle

Top 9 Things in My Hospital Bag 

1. Ekouaer Nursing Pajamas for Women Hospital Maternity Pajama Set
2. Soft Kimono Bath Robe
3. Nursing Bras
4. Non slip socks
5. Unisex Newborn outfits & Hats
   • Newborn Cotton Nightgowns 
   • Ribbed Outfit Set 
   • Organic Cotton Newborn Beanie 
6. Toiletry Travel Bay by Bagsmart
7. Boppy Nursing Pillow
8. Maternity Underwear
9. Lansinoh Lanolin Nipple Cream for Breastfeeding