“Row row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream ” Isaac’s favourite nursery rhyme

Such a lovely toy by HABA! One of my favourite brands for its social and environmental ethics as well as making great quality toys for almost a century!

The ball track rocking dinghy is one of our favourite toys. If you place the ball on the top track, it will make the boat rock as it rolls downwards, making a ting-a-ling sound as it hits the bell on the middle track and rolls away once it leaves the boat, which is still rocking.

At 12 months Isaac’s play is becoming more purposeful. Before now, things just ‘happened’ ; now he can make things happen and he loves it

One of his favourite activities is to drop and throw things about. This toy comes with 2 balls; the make different sounds when thrown on a hard floor. The see through ball is solid and made of acrylic glass and goes ‘bang’ . The coloured one is lighter, made of beech wood and makes a “rattling” noise. Thus using the balls alone encourages his perceptual and listening skills.

Something else exciting is happening, he is learning how objects are used together.

“If I place a ball here it will cause the boat to rock”

It’s not simply a cause and consequence I am talking about, more how one object (the ball) changes what the other object (the boat) does, thus forming a connection between the 2 objects.

Motor skills also gets refined as Isaac aims to get the ball right on the spot where it will fall straight to the middle track

It appears the fascination extends to his older siblings too, especially Isla. I think the pictures speak for themselves

You can check HABA’s website here

• Parenting