BUY: Cheap toys for kids (and change from $20).

Is it just me or is everyone surrounded by babies at the moment? There are two new babies in my immediate family and plenty of family and friends with little ones as well as a couple who are due any day.

I find babies harder to buy for than my dad on Father’s Day. You have to find something age-appropriate, in keeping with their parent’s ideology and something they don’t already have.

My baby gift-buying philosophy revolves around two equally important principles: Affordable and Online.

Enter Big W.

It’s not often that I find a toy purchase more affordable than what Big W has on offer and since they introduced online shopping, majority of my toy purchases are from Big W. However, affordability is only half of the equation. The fact you can shop online is not only convenient but it prevents your own children asking for toys while you are shopping for an impending birthday. Even buying something little for three children adds up. Online is such a blessing. Pester power is made completely redundant.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Big W. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

Here are my top 20 toys for babies all under $20.

WIN a $100 Big W gift card ( seriously – you could almost buy this entire list with that type of moolah) To enter – click here.

1.     Fisher Price Baby’s First Blocks $10

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When it comes to buying for babies, you can’t go past Fisher Price. They are the safest, highest quality baby toys around and their use of primary colours means they are educational as well. Most babies have trouble mastering the art of finding the right shape for the right hole so this is a game you can play together. Watching babies progressing from sucking on the blocks to handing them to you to figuring out the correct shape for the correct hole is just wonderful.

2.     Lamaze Musical Inchworm $12

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I just bought this for my baby niece and it she loves it. It’s full of colours, is safe to nibble and suck on and you can play great games like flying it through the sky to kiss her on the nose. I love watching her try and grab it.

3.     Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Rock a Stack $10

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Is it a toy, is it a set of teething rings. Once again Fisher Price delivers with the Rock a Stack which provides hours of fun. The best part is that my nine-year-old is pretty into it as well. He makes a beeline for it under the guise of playing with his niece and nephew but I’m onto him.

4.     Tinkers Robot $12

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Here’s a toy dads love giving to their kids. Cue robot voices… The Tinkers Robot is a brilliant gift for little ones. When I started my babies on solids I used to make it look like it was holding the spoon of food and feeding them. It worked like a charm.

5.     Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Friendly Flip Phone $12

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I love buying little flip phones for babies. They see their mums and dads using them all the time and love copying them. Plus it is portable and a great toy to keep them busy while they are in their pram or high chair.

6.     Tinkers Push and Sort Snail Buddy $12

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Toys for babies that teach them something are great. They learn a fine motor skill like pushing or pulling and receive an award. With the Tinkers Push and Sort Snail Buddy they learn that if they push it lots of toys move around inside the snail. Brilliant.

7.     Fisher Price Chatter Phone $10

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Every baby deserves their own chatter phone. It’s a rite-of-passage and a history lesson. These were the sort of phones their parents remember from their own childhood. Waiting for the number you’ve just dialled to roll back to its original position is half the fun.

8.     Lamaze Octivity Time $12

This is one of the best toys you’ll ever buy for your baby. Every single one of this brilliant toys tentacles offers a new and exciting experience. Some are soft to the touch, some are crackly and some are hard and could use a good nibble.

9.     Fisher Price Count and Explore Keys $12

Once again, a brilliant gift for a baby as it is portable and makes for a great toy for their highchair and pram. I trained my daughter to collect her toy keys and toy mobile phone before we left the house each day, from as soon as she could crawl. It was super cute and kept her busy in the car and in her pram.

10.  Disney Plush Piglet $15

Look, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Winnie the Pooh but I have a major soft spot for Piglet. This super soft toy could become the favourite, so buy two just in case you lose it. Piglet, I love you!

11.  Safety 1^st Bath Toy Bag $11

I used to leave my kids toys strewn all over the bath and it looked horrible. I then read that those bags oranges come in make brilliant bath toy bags, but boy are they ugly. Enter the Safety 1^st Bath Toy Bag. It looks great and the toys dry out. Buy it for every parent you know!

12.  Bright Stars Parade of Pals Baby Bouncer $15

Here’s a secret most mums never find out until it is too late – bouncers don’t have to cost hundreds of dollars. A simple bouncer like this is best as your main bouncer or as a secondary bouncer you keep in the car for when you visit family and friends.

 13.  Fisher Price Activity Puzzle $12

What a cute toy! This looks just like a cuckoo clock and it will keep babies happy for hours. It’s flat so you can lay it in front of the for tummy time. It will teach them everything they need to know about opening, closing, pushing and pulling.

14.  Tinkers Chicken and Egg Stacking Cups $12

My kids love Easter but I hate how they binge eat chocolate on the day. The Tinkers Chicken and Egg Stacking Cups is a brilliant Easter gift for kids and also for babies who are too young for chocolate.

 15.  Fisher Price Little People Floaty Bath $10

Look, I don’t mean to be disloyal to rubber duckies but seriously, is this not the most adorable bath toy ever? The key to bath time is to make it fun and the Fisher Price Little People Floaty Bath is a lot of fun, and will fit nicely into the bath toy bag. The toy together make the perfect gift.

16.  Tinker Interactive Play Set Bus $12

Do you need a prop to help you out while on your twentieth version of the song “The Wheels on the Bus”? Well, this is it. This interactive play set will teach your baby all about buses and introduce the subconscious message that buses are fun. Seriously, I haven’t met one child who doesn’t love buses.

17.  Pillow Pets $15

To the multi-billionaire who invented Pillow Pets, thank you. What a brilliant idea. A Pillow Pet can be their favourite comfort toy and a pillow. My daughter uses it in the car, during sleepovers and she also uses it while sitting in the trolley while grocery shopping. Cute.

 18.  Thomas & Friends Take and Play $9

Thomas is awesome. When I was little I loved the TV show, the books and now my kids do too. Except they are scared of the cranky trains, just as I was. My son holds his Thomas while I read the books at bedtime and sometimes plays out what is happening. Little genius.

19.  My First Footy $5

Now show me a new mum who doesn’t want their baby’s first footy ball brought to the hospital room as soon after the birth as possible. This is Australia after all. Make sure to include this in a bag with a ‘Congratulations’ balloon for boys and girls. Get them started early and hopefully you have a future footy star.

20.  Fisher Price Suction Spin Toy $12

This suction toy is great for keeping babies happy in their highchairs. It sticks right on any plastic surface and they play while you shovel food into their little mouths. They completely forget to complain and make a mess. Yay.

The BIG W Baby event is now on – online or in store. The biggest brands and the lowest prices you’ll find on everything baby. Don’t miss out! Ends 19th Feb.