Toys and kids seem to go together and for a new parent it is a chance to indulge in some very cool toys like those that you had when you were young, or that you wish you had as a child.

For very young children toys can help begin the process of lifelong learning by stimulating their hand eye co-ordination and sense of touch. Toys like Lamaze baby toys can help young children awaken their senses and start to discover the world in gentle and colourful ways.

Newborn babies cannot see very far at all but can hear very well so the best baby toys have bright, contrasting colors and noticeable but not obnoxious noises. For example a toy designed for use at this early stage may have black and white, contrasting stripes or checks and have an element that makes a crinkling sound when squeezed.

If you have a newborn you will know that one of the ways they experience the world is with their mouth so learning toys also factor this in. They may have numerous elements that have different textures on them, all designed to be felt with the mouth but without the danger of being swallowed.

The best learning toy is one that does all these things to encourage your child to reach out and explore the world and experience it with touch, sight and sound but also is compact, light and, let's face it, looks good.

Lastly, there is no use having a great toy that does all these things if it looks like something a cow burped up.

Your child won't mind if it looks bad, as mentioned earlier their eyesight is not that great early on. Luckily toys for this age group are designed with both mother and child in mind. They have an element of the cute factor that mothers are generally drawn to, it reminds us of our own childhood or how we would have liked it to be.

And after all it's going to be featured in lots of photos so make it one that appeals to you too!