Wooden Frog croak

It's hard not to love this chunky, hand-carved wooden frog. When the percussion stick (cleverly stored clamped in its mouth when not in use) is stroked over the ridges on the frog's back, it produces a surprisingly clear, realistic croaking sound. The baby is highly amused by it, my husband probably even more. Great for working on hand-eye coordination as baby tries to figure out how to make the frog croak too. And when it's not making noises, it's simply looks nice on the shelf.

We bought ours from the Horniman Museum (a wonderful place) shop, but you can find them all over. And it's nice to know that it's a Fair Trade product.

Veggy Knitted Rattle Set

These were bought before Issey was born. I thought they were very unusual and funny. I couldn’t resist getting several: Carrot, radish, pea pod, cauliflower and squash (in the wash).

Issey plays with them regularly now, especially since she started shaking anything that rattles. They are soft and nice to handle and easy to keep clean, just pop them in the wash with baby's clothes.

Available from Urchin.