We are stoked to launch the Stage-based Activity Center, PortaPlay Monsterland Adventures. In an earlier post we discussed 5 reasons it's the best baby Activity Center out there! Read here, if you missed it.

Now let’s talk more about the toys! The first year in a child’s life is crucial to mental and physical development and the toys that a 5-month-old plays with, might not be as effective for the development of an 11-month-old.

The toys in PortaPlay Stage-based Activity Center are colorful and probably the cutest monsters ever, but more importantly, they come with 10 play modes to be used at the two different stages of development. This makes it easier for you parents to understand your baby’s stage-based needs.

Stage one: 5 to 8 months
Early Development Toys

PowWow: This colorful drum toy has a Monster Sound Mode that lets babies bang on the three buttons, each creating a different ‘monstrous’ sound.

It helps with fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and begins to introduce the cause and effect phenomenon. The Musical Tone Mode builds awareness of pitch and tone differences. 

Jiggler: This frown-y rattle toy wobbles and jiggles and makes a rattling sound when pushed by little hands, once again hones fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. It encourages babies to grab, twist and whack it!

Creepers: As your baby moves the little discs or ‘leaves’ along the vines, the ladybug moves up and down the tree! Endlessly fascinating, great for dexterity, eye-hand coordination and develops the ‘pincer grasp’ skill.

Mischief Mirror: This toy comes with changeable graphic cards featuring bold black-and-white images. They stimulate the optic nerves and encourage cognitive development, while also developing fine motor skills as your baby spins the wheel.

Chewy: Perfect for teething babies, this chew toy is absolutely safe and can be swatted or grabbed and chewed on as babies at this stage are likely to do. The patterns on the toy create tactile stimulation, important for sensory development. The food grade silicone material is also a great soother for teething babies.

Stage two: 8 to 12 months
Advanced Activity Toys

PowWow: As your baby grows, the drum toy can be switched to a game mode to develop cognitive skills. The Musical Game Mode is inspired by whack-a-mole, a favorite from our childhood! One of the three drum pads lights up and when banged on, it goes “yay!” and if not it says “Oh oh!”. This game helps with recognition, memory and problem solving skills.

Mischief Mirror: An extension of the graphic wheel that works perfectly for increased developmental needs. A cute mirror with bright primary colors to engage with, improve self-awareness, increase curiosity and provide lots of giggles!

Pushey pulley: Think of this like a monster-themed tissue box! Soft, monster patterned cloths that can be pulled and pushed to improve fine motor skills, understanding of cause and effect as the baby learns to anticipate which cloth monster will get sucked in when grabbed, eye-hand coordination and provide tactile stimulation through the different fabrics and textures.

Nom Nom: The food bowl is a familiar feature from our other activity centers, making it easy to snack while playing. It promotes baby-led weaning, allowing your child to try self-feeding and making a mess is part of the fun! It lets children explore and understand food, be visually stimulated, improve fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination, along with better chewing skills.

Bubbles: This poke toy is great for sensory exploration, understanding of cause and effect and improving fine motor skills. The colorful ‘bubbles’ can be poked and pushed all the way through, keeping babies amused for longer, as well as have a calming effect on the mind. This toy can even be detached from the activity center so that the fun continues anywhere!

Now that we’ve told you how these toys help your baby, it’s also important to know that every child is different and therefore their minds also have different developmental needs. Feel free to switch the toys around without sticking to the ‘stage-based’ list above. If you feel your baby will enjoy the PowWow game mode earlier, go for it! If you feel a little more time is needed with a simpler toy like the Jiggler, that’s fine too. You and your baby know best.

Get your PortaPlay today! Click HERE!

We hope you enjoy this new PortaPlay as much as we enjoyed making it. Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

Want to find out more? Watch the full video of this PortaPlay Stage-based Activity Center below!