The colorful, plush Lamaze Octotunes has a big friendly face and eight colorful tentacles. Babies will love the bright colors and the vanilla scent, but the best part–for older babies who can use both hands to grip–is that Octotunes will respond to squeezes with a different note from each tentacle-horn. Great for budding musicians!

Recommended price $24.36 at Amazon.com.

Yes, you read that right. I couldn’t believe it either - but it is true! Metallica in lullaby form!

Rock the house with these timeless Metallica rock songs that have been transformed into beautiful instrumental lullabies. The soothing sounds of the glockenspiel, vibraphone, melltoron and other instruments will lull your baby into a sweet slumber. On this album, they’ll enjoy Metallica’s biggest anthems without the pesky earplugs you didn’t bother to wear growing up. Say your prayers kiddos - tonight the sandman will be gently rocking you to sleep with these essential rock n’ roll masterpieces!

There are also lullaby renditions of U2, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Bob Marley and The Beatles.

Recommended price $13.99 at Amazon.com.

Your child can be a computer whiz now just like you!

The Fun 2 Learn Laughtop is designed to look just like a pint-size laptop. This colorful toy helps preschoolers build key academic skills. It helps develop phonics, upper and lowercase letters, letter recognition, and letter order and features a green backlit LCD screen. Requires 3 AA batteries (not included). For ages 2–7 yrs.

Recommended price $29.99 at Target.com.

The VTech Rhyme & Discover Book™ makes reading impossible to resist! Baby will play the nursery rhyme songs and stories again and again to see and hear the light-up smiling face that giggles each time a page is turned. Plus, as babies play with this colorful, interactive book, they learn new words and develop important motor skills. With all the opportunities to slide, turn, press and play peek-a-boo, this wonderful learning toy truly transports your child into the exciting world of reading fun.

Recommended price $14.99 at VSmileshop.com.

Hello and Hola! Are your kids ready to “Shake Their Sillies Out” with these adorable maracas?

With these LeapFrog Learn and Groove Counting Maracas, little movers and shakers can move to a learning groove. Sing, dance and count with these colorful maracas that engage your child and encourage interaction. Lights, sounds and music accompany your child as she learns counting, colors and music in both English and Spanish.

The music play mode lets baby explore and create music, which encourages creative interaction and open-ended play. The counting mode introduces baby to counting 1 - 10 in both English and Spanish, which helps promote an understanding of number order. And the color mode introduces the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, also in both English and Spanish. Aside from getting an early start on important skills, this learning tool also offers a traditional favorite for kids: making noise!

Recommended price $11.99 at Amazon.com.