Two new baby toys by Early Years have double play potential as they provide multi-sensory experiences for your baby and later pretend play props for your toddler or preschooler. Here are my reviews:

“Baby Tea Party” by Earlyears is a fuzzy 6 piece set for baby’s first exploratory tea party. Full of varied textures, colors and sounds, each piece has a friendly face to invite investigation. With a teapot that sings, “I’m A Litt

le Teapot,” two cups with the tea bag string hanging out, a croissant and a cupcake, this set provides lots to talk about and feed important language learning. Clearly the cupcake was a favorite as kids opened and shut the Velcro top to reveal a mirror  to play a little peek-a-boo with themselves. All the careful details provide things for Mom or Dad to describe for their baby–the satin pink frosting, sprinkles, cherry and a leaf on the top and brown corduroy cupcake liner. Don’t put this toy away when your baby gets older because this set is a load of fun for pretend play for the toddler set.

Recommended Age: 12 months and older

Grab your recyclable bag and head off to your pretend grocery store with your “Lil’ Shopper Playset” by Earlyears. Babies learn all about textures, colors and sounds exploring this bag full of food. The shiny blue carton of milk was popular as kids opened the top Velcro and peered at themselves in the mirror while the apple had appear for it’s easy rattle and stem with a leaf on top. The orange opens to reveal a cross section, the banana can be peeled, and the lettuce shakes and crinkles. Prominent smiley faces on each food invites kids to interact and talk. This shopping bag will hang out for a while in the playroom as your child gets older and starts to play pretend. Toddlers and preschoolers loved creating imaginary scenarios with the soft

Recommended Age: 12 months and up

The above is solely the opinion of the author. Both products were provided for review by International Playthings