From about 7 months infants, when an infant is presented with a new toy, they will habitually engage in a series of actions: shaking, banging, turning it over, mouthing passing it from hand to hand.

In this set of video  you see Will, 9 months, Will playing with several different toys. The  video very nicely illustrates some important aspects of development at this age.

• Will spends time looking at, manipulating and exploring possibilities with each new toy. 
• He is able to shift his attention from his exploring focus, to my actions as I move around the room and then back again to the toy. He also makes visual contact with me from time to time.
• He watches my demonstrations of what the toy can do carefully, and then goes on to do his own thing. 
• The shaking toy sequence is particularly interesting. He watches as I put to toy down, and then picks up the toy and shakes it vigorously. Notice how the shaking action disturbs his balance and head stability. Shaking activities are a good way elicit head and trunk stabilizing action in newly sitting infants.