Book excerpt: A delightful collection of crochet amigurumi patterns for interactive, activity toys for babies and toddlers. Evidence shows that play contributes to the development of important cognitive, motor, emotional and linguistic skills and plays a key role in raising self-confident, creative and happy children. And what could be better than a handmade crochet toy. The crochet projects in this collection all have an interactive and educational element for play and this helps toddlers to meet important developmental milestones in a fun way. Author, Svetlana Golova, has designed a range of toys which can be played with in several different ways to enable children to develop a wide range of skills. Some of the toys feature different materials that make a noise in order to enhance the interactice experience and there are instructions for which materials to use. The Monkey Shape Sorter, Elephant Stacking Toy, and Giraffe Threading Toy— along with other toys in this pattern book—will entertain babies and young children for a number of years and then, as the child grows older, they will become treasured members of a soft toy collection. Other toys, including the quiet books and the Farmyard Activity Cube will appeal to adults and children alike who will enjoy playing and reading them together and making up their own stories. The toys have been designed around popular themes such as farm animals; sea life; dinosaurs and wild animals and all of them have an interactive element. Projects include shape sorters; stacking toys; an activity cube; threading toys, rattles and quiet books. All of the patterns are written in US crochet terminology, and range in difficulty and there are ability ratings so you can build your skills by starting with the simpler projects. The patterns use basic crochet stitches so there are no complicated new stitches or techniques to learn, and the construction of the toys is explained with step-by-step instructions and photography. All of the key crochet techniques are explained in the General Techniques section.