24 Toys for 9-Month-Olds That Check All the Playtime Boxes

“When your baby is transitioning from a crawler to a walker, this toy is exceptional for walking development and teaching balance,” says Caplan-Colon. This particular walker provides adequate support while baby stands and starts to take assisted steps. The wheels also come with a resistance setting so they’ll go at a slow pace as baby gets comfortable on their feet. Of course, you must have safety gates installed at the top and bottom of stairs as your baby learns to crawl and walk, per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

With over 70 sing-along songs that will stimulate attention and assist in the learning of shapes, colors, sounds and animals, the walker also offers interactive learning, creative opportunities and motor skill development. Both of my daughters loved playing with the interactive panel throughout toddlerhood, especially the phone it comes with. 

“My favorite part about this walker is that the play panel is detachable and can also be played with on the floor without the wheels,” Caplan-Colon says. “This way a caregiver can sit down and interact alongside.”

The Fisher-Price Baby's First Blocks shape sorter is ideal for 9-month-olds who are beginning to develop problem-solving skills.

Both of my daughters have played with this toy and I love that each shape is its own color, which was nice for directing them to pick up the right one (for example, “Try the green triangle!"). The storage bucket is portable and light enough to carry with you to grandma’s house, especially with the thick handle. Another plus? These chunky geometrically shaped blocks are easy for baby to grasp and practice fine motor skills and large enough that they can hold and safely chew on them.

Melissa & Doug’s adorable hand puppets are a fun way to introduce your little one to the world of pretend play, while helping them learn basic animal names and their respective sounds. This set is made to fit both adult and kid hands (though some say they are a little tight on grown-ups), to encourage playing with your child. Plus, they’re nice and bright, so baby can see all of the details on each character (a pig, cow, chicken, duck, horse or sheep). 

They can be fun to use when reading to make books more interactive and they’re so soft and cuddly that kids will love snuggling with them too. Bonus points for the fact that these are machine washable and small enough to stuff in a diaper bag for on-the-go entertainment. 

These colorful blocks are a great choice for the younger set, because they're made of a soft, squeezable BPA-free material that doesn't have any sharp edges. This means that the blocks won't hurt when they topple over and are perfectly safe for teething babies to gnaw on. At 9 months, you'll likely have to help baby build their towers, but they'll love learning all about cause-and-effect as you build, knock down and rebuild.

Once baby gets a bit older, you can add to the fun by identifying the numbers and images on each block. When you're ready to move on, just stuff the blocks back in the included clear storage case. Parents really appreciate how soft these are, because they don’t have to worry about their babies hurting themselves when playing, and because they’re also durable enough to be chewed on without being destroyed.

Have you ever met a kid who doesn't love to push buttons, twist knobs or move levers? Exactly. That's why the Battat Pop-Up Pals toy has quickly become a must-have for parents of 9-month-olds. It has easy-grab buttons that baby can push, slide or flip to reveal an adorable pop-up animal like a lion or dalmatian.

Baby can push down the animal to start the whole process over again, which will teach him cause and effect, and practice his fine motor skills. Best of all, the toy is lightweight, portable and doesn't require batteries. A lot of parents appreciate that the buttons can easily be pressed by their baby, with some saying it actually captures a little one’s attention and others noting that the animals are adorable to look at.

This spinning, singing, light-up LeapFrog alphabet toy will delight your curious 9-month-old. When they push the frog or rabbit buttons, slide the bee or spin the ball, the whole thing moves and flashes, encouraging visual development. Fine motor skills will also be put to work as your child tries spinning the wheel on their own. With every move, your LO will learn about letters (expanding their vocabulary), and animals and tune into classic songs like “Old MacDonald.” In other words, if you’re on the market for an interactive toy they can play with independently, this may be your best bet.

If you have the space, consider investing in this five-piece climbing and crawling set. With five interchangeable soft pieces you can place in any configuration you want, it offers a multitude of play options. It also gives babies a safe space to explore crawling, climbing up a slight incline and sliding back down. 

While each bock is sturdy, they’re also light enough for your little one to pick up, carry, stack and knock down — all while working on fine and gross motor skills. Stuffed with phthalate-free, CertiPUR-US-certified foam and covered in vegan leather, parents share these are easy to keep clean, requiring a gentle wipe down at the end of each day. 

The colorful, patterned and textured rings make this an age-appropriate upgrade to baby’s first stacking toy. A sensory delight, these are even safe enough to double as teethers. Your little one will learn sorting, sequencing and building along with developing an understanding of what’s big versus small as they assemble the tower. Plus, each of the eight rings is numbered to get an early start on counting, though parents note these are great for babies to throw, stare at or simply chew on.

This Baby Einstein wooden piano can be played three different ways: Auto, where the piano plays the tune based off of the included sheet music for one of six songs; guided, where you can play the music notes with the color-coded keys; or freestyle, where baby makes up his own tunes. This toy can grow with baby, allowing him to first practice fine motor skills by “pressing” the keys and understanding cause-and-effect as he hears the sound play. Later, he can try to match the key color to the sheet music. Parents like that the keys are painted on as opposed to being separate pieces, making it easier to keep clean.

My first daughter got this toy as a gift before her first birthday, and has played with it for years – my second loved it also, and it has maintained a top option for me when picking out gifts for other babies. I love that they can match the key color to the sheet music to actually “play” music or that they can just do whatever they want with it. It’s adorable to look at and to display on a shelf, and the music doesn’t sound obnoxious.

At this age, you don’t need anything fancy to capture baby’s attention, says Dr. Lytle. These soft toy vehicles from Melissa & Doug do the trick. You can roll the cars and trucks using the pull-back-to-roll function. “This encourages baby to track the toy by following it with their eyes as it moves across their visual space,” Dr. Lytle says. As your child grows older, they can chase the cars or use them for more creative play. 

Each piece is very lightweight and small enough to make them portable and diaper bag-friendly. These are also really easy to clean: the wheelie insert is easy to remove so that you can toss the soft cars into the washing machine. 

Ball pits are a guaranteed hit with any little one, and this Melissa & Doug option is the perfect size for 9-month-olds. Shaped like a turtle, the soft fabric is designed to be sat in. Simply open the zippered shell and surround your child with 60 squeezable plastic balls. Plus, the skid-proof bottom should prevent it from damaging your floors or moving all over the place while they’re inside. 

Unlike many other ball pits, this one is super easy to store – when not in use, all the balls go back inside and it closes up tight to keep everything inside. The soft surface and sensory items on the outside also makes it fun to play with when it’s closed. Ball pits are messy in general, but this is probably the least chaotic option out there. 

My daughter has an older version of the Fisher-Price Linkimals, and when I tell you my kids love them, I’m not exaggerating. Both of my girls still playing with these; the songs and sounds they emit are equally entrancing for younger and older kids alike. 

This particular pick is shaped like a koala and doubles down on a math theme, with buttons to press for songs, tunes and phrases all about counting. They can learn more about numbers and shapes, so it’s as educational as it is entertaining. One really cool feature I appreciate is the fact that these can sync up to other Linkamals (there are several different types available —16 total!) to interact with each other for an expandable, unique play experience.

For little ones on the verge of making moves, this VTech ball is sure to get them in gear. The interactive ball wiggles and wobbles on its own, encouraging your little one to chase it, while sounds and songs play to add to the fun. As your child grows and his motor skills improve, switch the ball to the second or third learning stage, which introduces more words, numbers, phrases and animal sounds to begin fostering his verbal skills.

I used this toy with my second daughter and wish I had it for my first as well. She loved to crawl after it, but she also loved playing with it even as she got older, pushing the different buttons and looking at all of the brightly colored graphics.

Aside from the fact that this water-friendly toy is a seriously adorable caterpillar, these stacking cups are great in and out of the bathtub. (They work great as part of a sensory water table station, too.) Each cup has drainage holes so that babies can strain and pour water. To add to the fun, the top cup has a spinner that is even more mesmerizing. 

Your little one will never know it, but this simple set is teaching hand-eye coordination, cause-and-effect, fine motor skills and more. As a bonus, the cups are easy to clean, with no hidden crevices where mold can sneak in. Since they stack neatly, they’re great for storage and travel.

The VTech Pull and Sing Puppy will help get your baby active and encourage them to start moving. Even if they’re just sitting down, they can still push and pull this toy. It’s also great for crawling — parents can pull it out of reach for little ones to chase. When they’re old enough to take their first steps, they’ll love tugging this toy behind them as well. As a parent of two, I’m partial to those that will grow with my kiddos. 

Babies can also build their gross motor skills while pressing the three colorful buttons; each one will introduce them to various numbers, colors and parts of the body. This four-legged friend plays music and puppy sounds — it even lights up! — to hold your child’s attention for even longer.

For plenty of rockin' fun, this LeapFrog music tableplays over 70 different songs, tunes and sounds, including readily recognizable classics like the "Itsy Bitsy Spider." There's an educational component for baby's budding vocabulary, too. The table also introduces your tot to numbers, letters, shapes and colors. For babies not yet cruising, take off the legs and let your little one play on the floor. Once baby is a little stronger, put the legs back on to encourage him to build his leg muscles and start moving around the activity center.

This VTech Drop and Dump truck is more than just a colorful toy truck. With over 30 sounds and interactive features, this offers plenty of things for your little one to do. It comes with three little balls (“rocks”) that they can drop into the top so they can tumble through to the bucket of the truck. That bucket can lift up so everything can be dumped out. They can sit and play with it, but there’s also a pull string so that they can tote it around behind them as they toddle through the house. 

The truck also has lots of sounds to help them learn numbers and letters, as well as melodies to keep it even more engaging. It’s lightweight enough for a 9-month-old to handle, but very well-made. I used this with my daughter around 9-months and she still plays with it now at almost 2-years-old. She loves filling the bucket with things and pushing it around.

The Fat Brain Toys Inny Binis a favorite because it’s simple but super engaging. Each of the six chunky blocks comes in a unique shape, color and texture, plus a cube covered in elastic bands. It encourages babies to push the blocks through the elastic bands and then take them out again while playing. It’s just challenging enough to keep them entertained without being so hard that they’ll give up and never figure it out. It also helps them work on hand-eye coordination and grasping skills. 

It’s also pretty versatile: Even if they don’t want to push the blocks through the bands, they’ll have fun playing with them on their own. These are perfectly sized for little hands and easy to grasp, offering a sensory experience that’s sure to delight. 

At 9 months, books really started to pique my daughters’ interest. Even if it was simply to flip through the pages and look at the pictures, I was brought books to read. Musical stories have always been a particularly huge hit in my house; both of my girls can spend up to 20 minutes or more sitting there looking through them and pressing the buttons of the Fisher-Price Storybook Rhymes. It also features colorful and fun graphics inside with easy-turn pages.

Babies can hold this in their lap – the plastic means you don’t have to worry about pages ripping or getting wet. Sounds and music teach numbers, shapes and other developmentally appropriate words and phrases, along with six classic nursery rhymes. This one also has a carry handle that makes it easy to tote along and bring on the go for car trips or grandparent visits. 

If you’d prefer a toy that doesn’t make noise or require batteries, this Melissa & Doug Wooden Surprise Gift Box is a great option. The concept is simple – it’s a small wooden box filled with small toys – but it will keep babies occupied for a surprisingly long time. The cloth-wrapped box has a peek-a-boo mirror at the bottom for them to find (and stare at), and comes with a plush toy bear, squeezable fuzzy ball with a chime, a crinkle cloth, and a cloth book. Babies will love taking these things out of the box and putting them back in, but they’ll also love playing with each item on its own. 

I got this toy for my second daughter, but both girls have absolutely loved playing with it in so many different ways: They play with each item individually or all together, and my youngest loves the tiny toy bear that comes with it. It really encourages exploring and I love that it leads to more open-ended play. 

Toys that encourage crawling or walking are great for 9-month-olds who are just starting to become more active while getting ready to take their first steps. This Bright Starts Roll & Glow Monkey does exactly that: When you press a button, it lights up, plays music, and starts rolling all over the place. Your baby will immediately want to crawl after it as fast as possible to get to it and make it start rolling again. 

Although this isn’t the most educational toy out there, I have to say that my second daughter loved it, as did my toddler who was almost 3-years-old at the time we got it. This toy cracked them up and had them laughing like crazy every time it was on, and they loved pushing it around over and over again. 

Brigitt Earley contributed to this article. 

While 9-months-old is a little young to start getting into pretend play that goes hand in hand with baby dolls, they may still show an interest. The Creative Minds Basket of Babies makes a great first baby doll – or, actually, six first baby dolls. Soft, cuddly and small, they feel more like stuffed animals with smiling, engaging faces. They come in a little basket that makes them easy to store. 

With a variety of diverse dolls included, these encourage empathy and multicultural understanding and can also help with the development of social-emotional play. They come with small outfits and hats that can be removed and put back on, which they’ll love doing as they get older, giving them staying power through toddlerhood. 

The Kidoozie Ball Tower is bound to be endlessly entertaining for your 9-month-old, who more than likely loves the concept of picking up an object to drop it somewhere else. This comes with four balls that can be placed through the top; they’ll love watching them wind around a track before popping out at the bottom. This simple concept is fun and exciting for little ones, while simultaneously helping develop fine motor skills, sensory stimulation and even assisting in learning about cause and effect. 

And since these balls feature rattles inside, making noises as they’re moved around, your 9-month-old will enjoy playing with them individually, too, even just to roll them around. Plus, the size of the tower is great for both babies who can stand and those who aren’t there yet – it might encourage them to start getting on two feet!

My youngest daughter has always had a special love for music, making this melodious octopus one of her all-time favorite toys. Trust me when I say it will have your little one understanding different notes and rhythms, encouraging them to take on the role of conduct. Each of the six play pieces, when put in a different spot, produces six different songs or a ton of sound effects (drums, guitar, piano and saxophone). My daughter loves feeling like she is in control of the music by moving the pieces around. I also appreciate that each of the six melodies is not too short. 

We’ve had this for a few years now, and both my 3-year-old and 5-year-old still love dancing around the room to this octopus’s songs. While I will say that it’s a bit loud and can get irritating after a bit, it’s worth listening to for the endless entertainment this toy has provided. It also takes months for the batteries to die, which is a huge plus.