The best way to get a bird to play with a toy is for you to play with the toy first. You have to appear to be genuinely interested in their toy. If it is interesting to you, it will probably be interesting to your bird. You must talk to the toy, make noises, kiss the toy and make it it is desirable as possible for your bird.

Note: Never introduce new toys into a bird cage latter than mid day - as the sun goes down, shadows may make the new toy scary.

That said it's important to keep in mind the purpose of toys for birds. We feel that toys are like the leaves of a tree that the bird lives in, in the wild. Toys serve multiple purposes. You should have so many toys in your cage that you can't see the bird (in the top 1/3 of the cage). This will  help give your bird a sense of security because he or she can hide behind the toys.

Birds in the wild will also spend many hours per day foraging. Foraging is the act of looking for food. They will look for food in trees or under rocks on the ground.

Eclectus parrot's beaks can grow uncomfortably long and soft at the tip when fed a diet high in seeds. This is something to be  especially mindful of. Toys provide a tool for good beak health. The single most anatomically important part of a bird's body their beak. Foraging is chewing up pieces of whatever,  in different objects found in toys that helps keep the bird's beak in good shape.

Because birds so darn smart, just like us they need to be mentally stimulated. Thus toys are also away to keep your bird entertained. You can buy all sorts of toys from websites like Windy City Parrot, quite frankly the bird doesn't care where the toy comes from as long as it's engaging mentally and/or physically stimulating.

It's easy to be creative with household items ( always using common sense of course). Here is a list of some free toys from common household items.

Some of the bigger birds like the large Macaws & big Cockatoos may appear to be tremendously destructive. They don't know the difference between a $1000 dining room and a pile of scrap wood, to them it's all something to chew on to keep their beak healthy and, in their mind perhaps find food.

For the big Birds that have an insatiable appetite for chewing stuff up watch this video on making your own cheap bird toys for big birds