At 6 months, Neve is now getting to the age where she has begun to play. Actually play. It is so lovely to watch. In recent weeks, she has become fascinated by shapes, colours and texture, and loves nothing more than to reach out and touch, pull, or feel the world around her.

When Erin was little we fell in love with the Lamaze range of toys, and she was a huge fan. It appears Neve is no different. We were lucky enough to be able to put two of the recent additions to their range to the test.

Lamaze Munching Max

Munching Max is a happy chipmunk! When you pull on the clip he vibrates while chomping away on his acorn.

Max includes a hook to clip on to the car seat or pushchair, making it easy to take out and keep little one entertained without risk of it being dropped every five minutes or getting lost.

At first Neve looked a little confused by Max’s moving acorn, but would watch him ‘eating’ it as the acorn vibrated up and down. When doing this, he makes a ‘clicky clacky’ sound which really captures her attention. In recent weeks however, she has suddenly learnt the humour in this, and now finds it hilarious, letting out a little cackle every time the clip is released.

Max is soft enough to cuddle, with bright colours, and a friendly inviting face. Neve also enjoys pulling and touching the ribbons attached to his tail – which is great to help improve her fine motor skills.

Max retails at £12.99 and is suitable from birth.

Freddie the Firefly Rattle

Erin had the original Lamaze Freddie the Firefly when she was a baby, so I was really pleased to see that there was now a rattle version too!

Neve absolutely loves Freddie, with her little face lighting up when I get him out of our changing bag. He is perfect for babies going through those difficult teething months, as is a toy and teether combined!

Perfectly sized for her to hold on to and grip, the rattle features four teether wings, which rotate and can be moved around or clamped together. They feature bumps and textures making them perfect to chew on and explore.

The clear base of the rattle has brightly coloured balls that move and as she shakes it, and she stares intently at them as they move around!

Freddie the Firefly rattle is suitable from birth, is just £8 and small enough to take anywhere with you!

Overall, we really love both items, and as always, think that you can’t really go wrong with the fun range of sensory toys from Lamaze. I would whole heartedly recommend Lamaze toys to any new parents or parents to be!

You can learn more about the full range of Lamaze Toys on the Tomy Website.

Disclosure – We were gifted two items from the Lamaze 2016 range. All thoughts and opinions are our own*