Smartphones might seem like the perfect solution when you want to keep your child busy if you have other things to do. The problem is, real phones come with risks and could damage your child’s cognitive development (1).
An ideal solution is getting your baby or toddler a toy phone. Because we care about you and your child, we’ve created a buying guide to help you make an informed decision.
We have also gathered and reviewed some of the best toy phones for babies and toddlers. These phones are educational, entertaining, affordable, and made to withstand rough play — unlike mama’s phone. Find a phone that will entertain and inspire, and keep your little one from wanting to steal yours!
- More than 15 phone activities
- Educational and Musical
- Easy to use
- Brightly colored keys
- Adorable design
- Safe, toxin-free material
- Ringing rotary dial
- Classic roll-along pull-toy
- Friendly interactive design
- 10 realistic phone apps
- Voice activation
- Enjoyable and educational
- 12 light-up pretend apps
- Customizable
- Helps improve hand-eye coordination
- iPhone toy replica
- Educational
- Affordable
- From chemical-free rubberwood trees
- With wrist strap for easy carrying
- Magnifier screen
- Sleek, slim design
- Four colorful lights with music
- 20+ sing-along songs & phrases
- Easy to hold
- Encourages sing-along & role-play fun
- 12 entertaining applications
- Realistic phone sounds and light
- Perfect for little hands
- 8.25-inches tall
The Best Toy Phones for Babies and Toddlers of 2024
Here are 13 great toy cell phones for you to consider.
LeapFrog Chat and Count Baby Phone
Best Overall Toy Phone
With more than 15 activities, this LeapFrog smart little phone is designed for ages 18 months and over. The toy phone features songs about counting that your child can sing along to and fun animations that will introduce phone manners, numbers, and more.
It comes with 10 buttons, and one of the best parts is that you can connect with LeapFrog online to customize the learning insights. Your toddler will learn early number sense, social skills, and pretend play.
User Experience
Joyin Cell Phone and Key Toy Set
Best 2-Piece Set
Joyin is a classic toy phone loved by many for its bright, beautiful colors and the key set it comes with. The phone features different sounds and music that will keep your baby entertained and relaxed at all times.
The great design of this phone, which includes brightly colored, attractive buttons, will stimulate your baby’s imagination and keep them occupied for long periods. The set is well built, lightweight, and intended for babies of 3 years and up, although some would buy this for their kids as early as 12 months old.
Personal Perspective
Fisher Price Classic Retro Chatter Phone
Best Retro Toy Phone
This retro chatter phone is the ultimate kid’s telephone. Even though most toddlers these days won’t recognize this initially as a phone, the rotary dial design makes it highly entertaining.
This timeless classic has been on the market since 1961, and this cute phone never fails to intrigue little ones. Your toddler will fall in love with the way its eyes roll up and down as it moves.
The design features beautiful illustrations that give it a vintage feel. You’re also likely to be captivated! The rolling eyes, the mouth chatters, the dial rings, and the colors are mesmerizing for children 12 months and over.
Community Feedback
VTech Call & Chat Learning Phone
Best for Chatty Toddlers
Your toddler will absolutely love this phone, which features 10 realistic apps, including music, games, a clock, and photos. Toddlers can talk and play on their imitation cell phone, just like you do on your phone.
This toy phone comes with a pretend phone book, a special chat button, and a chatty parrot to guide them through the activities.
The phone is designed for ages 2 to 5 years and will teach your toddler about time, letters, and numbers with its fun games and apps. It will entertain your toddler with five different ringtones and a voice activation feature that always delights.
First-Hand Impression
VTech Touch and Swipe Kids Smart Phone
Best Educational Toy Phone Design
Featuring an animated LCD screen, this VTech toy phone looks just like a real phone. It comes with 12 light-up pretend apps that will introduce your toddler to letters, numbers, and melodies. It’s suitable for children who are 6 months to 3 year old, and your child is sure to love the pretend play.
With a pretend calendar, a clock, and weather apps, your little one will learn about the day while the touch screen and slider build hand/eye coordination.
User Experience
YoyoStore Children Learning Education Mobile Toy
Best Interactive Phone for Babies
This is one of the most interactive toy phones on our list. It features several different modes, including music, number, and color modes. This toy is an iPhone replica toy version. It’s designed for babies ages 18 months and above. It comes with sweet music and educational tutorials that will stimulate your baby’s senses.
We especially love that the volume is adjustable on this one.
PlanToys My First Phone
Best Natural Design
This simple phone design includes a magnifier screen and colorfully beaded dial pad that encourages imaginative and interactive play. This toy phone is suitable for children 12 months and above, and it helps develop cognitive and dexterity skills.
It’s made of sustainable rubberwood and coated with a non-toxic finish. The colors are made from vegetable dye, which makes it completely safe for little teethers.
Community Feedback
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smartphone
Best Sing-Along Toy Phone
Featuring 12 large app tile buttons, your baby will love this phone. It has more than 20 sing-along songs, lights that dance to those songs, and phrases to teach your baby counting, greetings, numbers, and more.
The sleek and slim design allows for easy handling, and the moving slider makes song activation easy for a baby to move. Your child will learn motor skills and hand-eye coordination from the slider feature. For ages 6 to 36 months.
First-Hand Impression
VTech Little Smartphone
Most Imaginative Play Phone
This is an incredible toy phone designed for ages 6 months to 3 years. It comes with a pretend calendar, button light-up, music, and 12 realistic applications your child will love.
It’s small enough for your baby’s hands, and the buttons are large and colorful to catch and keep their attention. The toy phone features sing-along songs, 15 melodies, and an automatic shut-off feature.
User Experience
Minnie Happy Helper Why Hello Cell Phone
Best Cartoon Character Fun
Toddlers love Minnie Mouse, and with this cell phone, they’ll be too engrossed to become bored. It features several Minnie phrases, very realistic phone sounds, a large keypad, and lights. It’s recommended for ages 3 and up and is the perfect toy phone for big imaginations.
The phone is designed with a cute Minnie hair bow at the top, and it has even cuter Minnie buttons at the bottom. The screen is colorful, with several apps to keep your child captivated.
Personal Perspective
Joyin My Learning Remote and Phone Bundle
Best Combo
A toy from Joyin is a perfect pair consisting of a learning remote and a phone. This is definitely something most children will love to play with. Both of them are made of durable ABS plastic which is child-friendly. It features various sound effects like that of an animal. In addition, it has a calculator and camera, making it look more realistic.
The phone stimulates imaginative play as your little one can mimic how you make calls and play games. It’s designed for babies from the age of 3 months and above, and when it comes to giggles, it truly delivers.
Community Feedback
Barbie Unicorn Cell Phone
Best Character-Inspired Phone
Designed for toddlers aged 3 and above, this phone gives your toddler a great role-playing game. It has two pretend credit cards and a detachable strap.
It comes in bright colors with features, character phrases, and sounds. This phone is not only good to look at but will help your child use their imagination and make sense of their world.
First-Hand Impression
Infantino Flip and Peek Fun Phone
Best Flip Phone Design
The Infantino Flip and Pick phone is one of the best toy phones for babies. Flipping is fun, but your baby also gets to hear sounds, phrases, and greetings to keep them occupied. One unique feature of the toy is the bilingual feature that allows English and Spanish learning.
The toy is also tiny enough for your baby to hold comfortably and includes a peek-a-boo mirror so your baby can admire their reflection. It comes in beautiful and vibrant colors and a fun flip design kids love to open and close.
User Experience
How to Choose a Toy Cell Phone
The toy phone market is booming, and the variety is simply overwhelming. How do you decide which toy phone is best for your kids? What exactly should you be looking for?
Functions and Features
Though it’s a given that toddlers are intelligent and might take note of your phone, they don’t have a sophisticated understanding of how it works. This means that the functionality and features of a toy phone don’t necessarily need to match the real thing.
Toy phones have various features for different age groups. You can consider beeping and light-up buttons, text and talk modes, icons, touch screen functions, large buttons, bright colors, and size.
Most of these toys have pretend apps and games. True-to-life display or dummy phones come with a realistic design and are great for toddlers who refuse to play with “baby” phones.
Imaginative Play
Toys inspire imaginative play, and everything about the toy phone, from its colors to its functions, should attract. Some toy phones are themed with cartoon characters that inspire children to grow their imagination and pretend to interact with those characters.
Durability
A baby is bound to drool all over their toy, and a toddler is likely to bang and drop it occasionally. The phone should be durable, with a sturdy case and minimal components that could break.
Toy Phone vs. Display Phone
Toy phones usually come with very entertaining features and bright colors. Most are made of ABS plastic, which is safe for babies and toddlers. Display phones, on the other hand, come without any working features.
These are incredible for toddlers because they’re hard to damage, even when immersed in water, and they inspire imagination. However, some toddlers may notice they don’t work or make sounds like a real phone and could quickly lose interest.
Toy Phones FAQs
Why are Toy Phones Good For Toddlers?
Toy phones are good for toddlers as they mimic adult behavior, encourage imaginative play, and can be used to teach numbers, colors, and greetings. They also aid in building fine motor skills and cognitive abilities.
What Age is a Mobile Toy For?
Mobile toys are typically for babies and toddlers between the ages of 6 months and 3 years. The ideal age can vary based on the complexity and functionality of the toy phone.
Why are Babies Obsessed With Cell Phones?
Babies are often obsessed with cell phones because they see adults using them frequently, and they’re attracted to the lights, colors, and sounds. Phones are also the right size for little hands, making them intriguing objects to explore.
How Do Cell Phones Affect a Child’s Brain?
Excessive use of cell phones can affect a child’s brain by potentially impacting attention span, sleep patterns, and learning abilities. It’s important to limit screen time and ensure that any interaction with technology is age-appropriate and balanced with other activities.
Are Phone Screens Bad For Toddlers?
Excessive screen time on phone screens or any digital media can be bad for toddlers, as it can interfere with sleep, physical activity, and other developmental needs. Most professionals recommend that any screen time should be high-quality and interactive.
