Toy Tips will have a bi-monthly toy review in Pregnancy Magazine. See our pick in the upcoming May Issue or visit pregnancy360.com. Tell us about your best baby toy, it may just be the next one we choose. Of course, all toys are tested through the Toy Tips review process and final toy report cards are published!

Play fosters intellectual, social and physical development. Adults are encouraged to view toys as learning tools with different types of toys as builders of various life skills including creativity, self-esteem and cooperation. Another bonus: a toy that is fun as well as educational will engage children for more than one holiday season. The following are general guidelines to keep in mind when choosing toys for the child, or children, on your holiday list: 1. Allow children to identify their own strengths with self-discovery toys. Toys kids play with by themselves, such as dolls, science activity kits and magic sets, help teach them important lessons about responsibility, values and respect for others. 2. Increase confidence and build pride while children are young with self-esteem toys like art projects, model-building and construction toys. 3. Support open-ended play that allows free expression and lets kids use their imaginations. Bring out the creativity in kids with theater/puppet shows, cooking sets and pretend play projects such as tea parties. 4. Help children learn how to think independently with toys that promote concentration, competition and deductive reasoning. Thinking and logic toys include detective puzzles, ant farms, construction sets and memory games. 5. Build social skills and family togetherness with family interaction toys. Recommended games include dress up, board games, sports activities and battery-controlled car and boat races. 6. Encourage cooperation with friends and peers with relationship toys. Team communication skills are improved with sports, contests of skills, and toys such as medical and chemistry kits. 7. Let kids run, crawl, climb, throw and kick with toys like climbing structures and ride-on toys that use large muscle groups. Gross motor activities help kids develop balance and exercise gross motor skills. 8. Improve hand-eye coordination with fine motor activities that require hand movements such as grasping and pinching. Smart choices include stacking games, puzzles, writing and coloring books/activities. 9. Strengthen language skills and stimulate listening, speaking and imitation sounds with speech and hearing toys. Musical toys, play telephones, phonics-based sets and voice-command games are suggested. 10. Teach kids, especially infants and toddlers, about their environment through textures, tastes, smells and sight with sensory activities. Clay, activity quilts, blocks and shape games are all good choices.

When you are out and about, pick up a copy of the Dec/Jan Issue of Pregnancy Magazine. The cover story is all about the best toys for infants (newborn-12 months).

For all children, toys are props and the process of play is valuable in the development of physical, cognitive, social and emotional skills. The toys an infant plays with today may shape the child she becomes tomorrow.

In the infant years, the first toy a child needs is YOU. It is important to monitor a child's progress milestone by milestone and introduce new sensory textures once you recognize a child has learned a new skill. Once baby crawls, climbs and stands, small climbing structures and ride-on toys foster use of large muscle groups. Gross motor activities helps develop balance and exercise with the whole body.

Look for toys that will encourage a baby to build on naturally occurring developmental skills. Buying more advanced toys to speed the process is not advisable. A toy that is too complicated or too difficult to use will often frustrate your little one.

The concept of sticking to a task and learning a difficult new skill is one that is many years off. Babies are much more grounded in the present. As a child learns something new, enhance that skill and choose toys that will allow her to practice the skill. This raises self-esteem and creativity and provides your child with a sense of accomplishment.

Keep in mind toys for an older sibling are not recommended for the hands or within reach of a younger child. Small pieces, sharp edges on a toy, magnet toys and a storybook with non-rounded edges are inappropriate. Any toy that is fun most likely will engage repeat continued interest.

For a list of the best infant toys, visit toytips,com.

Remember, toys are toys but playing with your infant creates a bonding, parent-child interaction that is priceless.