Top 5 colouring toys and sets
Our favourite black and white toys for newborns around now
Why buy them?
Newborn babies can see very little for the first few weeks. To begin with, the highly contrasting colour combinations of black and white rather than paler, pastel and even primary colours are easier for them to focus on. So toys with black and white patterns will stimulate them visually and help their developing sight, as they’ll be able to pick out shapes and patterns much more easily.
What to spend
You can buy a range of high contrast black and white patterned items, including items such as baby gyms and mats, but the majority of toys available are smaller items, such as books and mobiles, and often don’t cost more than £20.
What to look for
These toys come in lots of different forms, but look for simple graphic prints and patterns in black and white, sometimes with bright contrasting colours added too. Anything that can be hung up is a good idea, so newborns can gaze at it as they lie in their pram or cot.
Baby’s Very First Cloth Book, £5.99, by Jo Lodge
Faces fascinate all babies, so this is the perfect first book for them. There are several pages of high contrast black and white illustrations, plus a mirror so baby can discover their own face, and also a handy tag so the book can be hung on a pram or cot.
Pyramid toy, £6.99, Baby Einstein
Mixing black and white with vivid primary colours to encourage focus, this pyramid-shaped hanging toy has lots of interesting features to stimulate little ones. Each detachable toy has a different feature including a rattle, a teether and a clacker, and there’s also a large baby safe mirror for baby to enjoy.
Art Cards for baby, £12, Wee Gallery
These cards are deceptively simple way to stimulate a newborn’s developing eyesight, encouraging them to focus on a range of simple black and white line drawings that parents can place near them. There are six cards in a pack, each made from laminated card with soft, rounded corners that are safe for babies to handle.
Mind Shapes, £22, Manhattan Toy Company
This set includes three soft sculpted shapes all with different textures for stimulating young babies. There’s a ball, pyramid and cube with crinkly paper, a rattle, and chiming sounds for children to discover. The graphic images of faces, dots and checks are ideal for stimulating a newborn’s developing eyesight.
Penguin Mobile, £23.50, Flensted
There might be more sophisticated mobiles on the market, but this simple black and white model is all a newborn needs in the early weeks and months. They’ll be able to focus on the penguins to help with early visual and multi-sensory development. You can also buy versions with whales, sheep or elephants all in shades of black, white and grey.