106 Gifts for 1 Year Olds

Once they turn 12 months old, babies’ curious minds are primed for learning, experiencing, and developing. For proper development, toddlers must have access to toys that stimulate their cognitive development and motor skills. We recommend a combination of Montessori learning toys and physically stimulating activities to keep them engaged, learning, and happy as they celebrate their first year of life.

Choosing the best toys for 1-year-olds

When choosing toys for your 1-year-old, the most important thing to think about is safety. Babies and toddlers often explore things with their mouths, so none of the toys must pose choking hazards. The reason children explore with their mouths is due to the bundles of sensory nerves that provide them with information as to what something is.

With older babies, typically 7 to 12 months, you’ll find that they’re starting to become more active. They’re crawling, scooting, and trying to stand up and walk. The toys that they receive should aid this process. Good options are things they can pick up and put down, things to build with, and things to use their larger muscles for. They’re also starting to explore words, pictures, and stories, so when considering toys facilitating this new learning stage, think of picture board books and things to create with. 

How we identified the best toys for 1-year-olds

When evaluating the best toys for 1-year-olds we considered important milestones the child will reach at this stage.

1-year-olds have reached the stage of clambering around objects and getting to know more about how their bodies work. Our gifts are suited to helping them navigate the world around them through climbing and movement and the development of their muscles.

Playing with toys is a great way to raise happy and confident children as they develop their cognitive skills, motor skills, psychosocial skills, and emotional and linguistic skills, and the skills learned through playtime help future development to be used when they are older. We chose items that your 1-year-old can bang around, move, put down and pick up and play pretend.

We also included gifts that will advance the linguistic skills and movement skills they’ve already picked up. This act of play develops three important skills: internal control, the freedom to suspend reality, and finally, framing. Framing is what helps them understand behaviors and cues that they learn while playing.

Tips for buying the best toys for 1-year-olds

1. Make sure it is age-appropriate
   Everyone likes to think their child is smarter than average, and while this may be true, toys that are too advanced can lead to boredom and frustration, so it’s important to ensure that the toy is age appropriate and developing the necessary skills that come with being a 1-year-old.
2.  Safety is a must
   As we mentioned, 1-year-olds have an oral fixation at this age to learn more about objects. Ensure that whatever toy you do buy is safe enough so that in the instance they do decide to explore with their mouths, there’s no danger present.
3.  Buy toys that facilitate learning
   This doesn’t have to be limited to things like linguistic skills and more intellectual learning concepts, but it can also be just learning about movement. They’re developing their motor skills and trying out new things, and toys that aid this can be greatly beneficial. Playsets, building blocks, and shapes are all great choices in this regard.