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OVERVIEW
An activity table is a small, toddler-sized table made of plastic or wood that includes interesting activities meant for beginning walkers to age 3. They are small, portable and provide endless hours of entertainment for otherwise busy walkers. Anything that gets a toddler to stand still in one place for more than a minute is a good buy in our book!
Activity tables fall into one of two categories: electronic and not. For a fistful of batteries, electronic tables will sing, recite the alphabet, light up, play music and generally dazzle all (all who don't have to listen to it five million times, that is). Non-electronic tables include the old-fashioned awe of plastic building blocks or loopy roller coaster beads with all manner of things that can be slid, spun and slapped for just a little manual effort. We love no-frills idea of the non-electronic, wooden block tables, but they are heavy, hard to move (and also especially rough on top-heavy little heads) and frequently recalled for pesky little problems like flaking lead paint and small choking hazards.
Some activity tables have legs that are detachable, so babies can grow into it and use the table from sitting to crawling to standing. Activity tables can help babies just learning to pull up develop the leg strength they need to walk, but the plastic tables especially are not heavy and can tip over, so a parent should hold a non-walker steady in front of the table.
Many activity tables are educational as well as entertaining, introducing baby to colors, shapes, textures, letters, numbers, rhyming words, cause and effect and musical creativity.
FEATURES TO CONSIDER:
- Electronic or not
- Size
- Educational Content
- Durability
- Music
P.S. -- The "Other" Activity Tables
Just to confuse new moms, there is another breed of product also called an activity table (or sometimes a "train table"). These are large, furniture-quality wooden tables meant for bigger kids to use with their own toys: train sets, Legos and the like. The main features include storage drawers and optional play mats, and your main buying decision is probably price (they start at $200) and does it match your decor.
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