Wonder no more ! Choosing a gift for a baby should be simple. Just ask yourself what delights a baby.

There are many things which delight a baby. But toys are undoubtedly at top of list. Children, even at a very young age, have already been delighted with good toys. Playing with toys is baby's work. And if you shop wisely, not only baby will get fun toys which you feel good about giving. She will get educational ones too.

So why not give a nice baby educational toy this holiday season to baby of your life ?

Choosing an infant toy which is fun, safe and educational sounds simple, but in reality it is not that simple. Go to any toy store and you will know what I mean. Today's market seems to be saturated with baby toys, all marketed as baby educational toys. Deciding which toy to buy is becoming an art that not everybody are skilled in doing.

Here are few tips to make your shopping for baby educational toys easier:

First, toy has to meet safety standard. This means that you have to adhere to manufacturer's recommended age. Don't buy toys which are intended for older children, even if you think baby is genius. For safety reason, don't buy any toy which has these followings : sharp parts, small parts which can easily be put into mouth and swallowed, and long string.

Second, buy toys which are durable and have a good play value. Aim for a toy which can be played in many different ways and at same time can grow with child. Get good quality version of toys of this nature because they are worth it.

Third, if you plan to buy more than one toy, try to get toys which address as many as key developmental area as possible. What are key development areas we talk about here ?

By Dian Dewi

It’s December, and as holiday season drew closer, you found your preschooler saying this to you, “Mom, I want this and that toy …My friend is going to get those from his mom. ”

When you went and checked price online, you were shocked with price. You couldn’t believe that a child toy can be that expensive. To make things even worse, you doubted that those toys would make a good buy and did not feel good about giving them to your precious little one.

Does this situation sound familiar to you ?

If your answer is yes, don’t despair ! Chances are, almost every parent, have come across this situation. In one hand, you want to make your children happy, but in other hand, you know that you dislike those toys and buying those expensive toys will definitely create a huge dent in your pocket.

The question is, how are you going to deal with this situation ?

These are some strategy you can use to deal with this situation and at same time dramatically decrease your spending on toy and other gifts during holiday season. The key are: skillful budgeting, advance planning and creativity.

To begin with, figure out your budget for each child. If you don't like your child's choices of toys, you can do either of these followings:

• not buying toys that your children want, but replacing them with toys that you know your children will definitely like.
• buying one toy that your children want, and add some more toys of your choice.

To find out which toys are best buys , I suggest you to jot down previous toys your children got during holiday celebration. Make note on how often those toys are used and estimated price. By doing this, you can roughly determine cost of use for each toy. You may find that something like board games or construction toys are best buy. In this case, plan on buying a different version of these toys. Chances are that your child will also love them.