As a mom of two daughters who have explored countless toys, I’ve seen firsthand what truly captures the attention and imagination of a one-year-old. From interactive learning toys to classics like dolls, these favorites have been thoroughly tested in our household. In this guide, I’ll share the best toys for 1-year-olds that have brought endless joy and many hours of play in our home.
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A little kid table is great for one-year-olds because it provides a dedicated space for them to engage in various activities, fostering independence and confidence. It helps develop fine motor skills and coordination as they explore drawing, building, and playing. Additionally, having their own table encourages social interaction and cooperative play with other children.
Amazon Link: Kidkraft Table Set
A walker toy is great for one-year-olds because it supports their developing mobility, helping them gain balance and coordination as they take their first steps. It encourages physical activity and strengthens leg muscles, contributing to their overall physical development. Additionally, walker toys often come with interactive elements that stimulate sensory exploration and cognitive skills, making learning to walk a fun and engaging experience.
Amazon Link: V-Tech Sit to Stand Learning Walker
A toy barn is great for one-year-olds because it sparks imaginative play and storytelling as they explore the different animals and farm scenes. It aids in developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through handling and manipulating small figures and accessories. Additionally, a toy barn introduces basic concepts of animals, sounds, and farm life, enhancing early cognitive and language development.
Amazon Link: Toy Barn
A toddler cookbook is a great gift for a one-year-old because it makes mealtime fun with easy, yummy recipes they’ll love. It’s a perfect way for parents and little ones to cook together, creating special memories in the kitchen. Plus, it helps them learn basic cooking skills and encourages healthy eating from the start.
Amazon Link: Good Housekeeping 1 2 3 Cook! My First Cookbook
The VTech Jiggle and Giggle Fishing Set is a fantastic gift for a one-year-old because it’s super fun and colorful. It helps little ones improve their motor skills as they try to catch the fish. Plus, the cute songs and phrases make learning numbers and colors a blast!
Amazon Link: VTech Jiggle and Giggle Fishing Set
Cleaning toys are a great gift for toddlers because they love to imitate adults, and these toys let them feel like they’re helping out. They help develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination while making chores fun. Plus, cleaning toys can teach kids about responsibility and taking care of their environment from an early age.
Amazon Link: Toddler Cleaning Set and Stand
A water table is a perfect gift for a toddler because it turns playtime into a splashy adventure! It’s great for sensory play, helping them explore and experiment with water. Plus, it’s a blast for outdoor fun and can keep them entertained for hours.
Amazon Link: Step2 Water Table
The LeapFrog Shapes and Sharing Picnic Basket is a perfect gift for a toddler because it’s a fun way to learn shapes and colors while having a pretend picnic. It’s packed with interactive features that keep little ones entertained. The are different levels so my 1 year old can play with is and my 2.5 year old plays with it by listening the it’s directions like “put in the basket, something orange”. The basket will know if it’s correct or not!
Amazon Link: Leap Frog Shape and Sharing Picnic Basket
The Durable Pound A Ball Toy is a blast for toddlers because it combines pounding, stacking, and learning in one fun package. It helps develop hand-eye coordination, motor skills, and problem-solving while keeping kids engaged and entertained.
Amazon Link: Pound a Ball Toy
A little pull wagon is a great gift because it’s perfect for toddlers to transport their favorite toys and treasures around with ease. A true winner in my house!
Amazon Link: Green Toys Pull Wagon
A stuffed dog classic gift that can stay with them through their early years. My daughters have this exact dog and it is such high quality (enduring baby pulls and toddler throwing).
Amazon Link: GUND Brand Stuffed Dog
An animal noise book is a great gift idea because it’s both fun and educational, letting toddlers learn about different animals and their sounds. It keeps them engaged with interactive pages and helps boost their language skills. Plus, it’s a fantastic way for parents and kids to enjoy storytime together!
Amazon Link: Look and Sound and Touch Animal Book
My baby loves popping the “bubbles” in the book. She will even sit on her own and do it. One of her favorites as a one year old. There are different ones, but we like this version for the colors and pictures.
Amazon Link: Poke a Dot Who’s in the Ocean Book
A soft balance beam for toddlers is nice because it provides a safe, cushioned surface for little ones to practice their balance and coordination. It’s perfect for building confidence in their physical abilities while minimizing the risk of bumps and falls. Also, it’s great to have for building obstacle courses in the house on our rainy days. Plus it folds in half for easy storing. (I should add my one year old didn’t use this right away. It was around 1.5 years old)
Amazon Link: Foldable and Lightweight Balance Beam
This farm animal toy is fantastic for little ones, my baby loves it because she loves opening it and finding the animals inside. It will even be great when she gets older for teaching counting, sorting, and colors.
Amazon Link: Montessori Farm Animals and Barns
This is a great gift idea because It’s a great way for toddlers to stay active and burn off energy, all while having a blast indoors. This is the exact one we have owned for years and I can vouch for its quality & durability!
Amazon Link: Wooden Pikler Triangle Set
It’s perfect for keeping my kids entertained and active indoors. This is the exact set I have in our playroom. I didn’t want something super expensive, but I didn’t want a cheap one that would fall apart either. I did my research and this one is good quality for the price!
Amazon Link: Indoor Soft Foam Climbing Play Structure
It’s a classic toy that can be cherished and loved for years. I couldn’t wait to give my daughters their first doll.
Amazon Link: Melissa and Doug My First Baby Doll
My toddler was obsessed with giving her baby doll a bath… so I found this tub and she plays with it every day! I haven’t even used the water feature on it (didn’t want to deal with a wet mess everyday, haha). She doesn’t know and the tub itself is worthwhile for her.
Amazon Link: JC Toys Working Bathtub for Dolls
And of course, the accessories! She loves to feed her baby doll. Can’t forget the bottles too!
Amazon Link: Doll Accessories Doll Bottles
Amazon Link: Baby Doll High Chair
Soft foam blocks are a great gift for my one year old because she is learning to stack blocks and when they inevitably fall down, these won’t hurt her.
Amazon Link: Melissa and Doug Soft Building Blocks
Hands down, one of the best toddler gifts ever! It is in our living room, gets played with multiple times a day (by both my 1 year old and 3 year old), and keeps them occupied while I cook dinner. This is the exact set we have… I researched for a long time to find one and this has been perfect for the corner of our room.
Amazon Link: KidKraft Corner Kid Kitchen Set
An activity stand is great for a one-year-old because it keeps them entertained with a variety of interactive features that promote learning and development. Plus it is fun for her to push the buttons, flip the “book”, and just play with all the features.
Amazon Link: Leap Frog Learn and Groove Musical Table
We are big “pop-it” fans in this house. These were a unique twist on the original-looking ones. My 1 year old will play with this in the car, thank goodness!
Amazon Link: Fidget Popper Sensory Pop-It Toy
My First Fishbowl Toy is a great gift for a baby because it captures their curiosity with its colorful sea creatures and engaging textures. We actually received this as a hand-me-down and would have never thought to buy this… but this toy has become an MVP in my house. If your baby loves to put things in & out of stuff – this toy is perfect.
Amazon Link: My First FishBowl Set
The 8-in-1 Montessori Toddler Toys House is a great gift for a 1-year-old girl because it packs a ton of fun into one toy! It has all sorts of activities that help with learning and play, so it keeps them entertained while building important skills. Plus, it’s perfect for birthdays or Christmas and will grow with them as they explore and learn.
Amazon Link: 8-in-1 Montessori Toddler Toy House
My daughter loves bubbles. This bubble wand is her favorite because she can hold it herself.
Amazon Link: Butterfly Bubble Wand
My one year old loves this toy. When you hit a key, a ball pops up. It helps her learn cause and effect while they play and explore, all while having a blast with the piano tunes. Fun, interactive gift for one year olds.
Amazon Link: Playskool Little Wonders Pop-A-Tune Piano
My Sports Bag is a great gift because it’s like having a mini sports set for toddlers. Fun, soft balls with a bag to put in & out.
Amazon Link: My First Sports Bag
My one year old got this for her birthday but didn’t start playing with it until a couple months later… but now we can’t get her to stop! She loves opening the doors and finding the apples. Then trying to put them back in. There are also slots on the top to put them and see where they go.
Amazon Link: Learning Resources Hide & Seek Treehouse
The Melissa & Doug GO Tots Wooden Barnyard Tumble is a great gift because it’s a fun and interactive toy that keeps toddlers entertained with its colorful disks and barnyard theme. It’s perfect for developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they stack and tumble the disks. Another toy my daughter started playing with a couple months after her first birthday and now goes to it every day.
Amazon Link: Melissa & Doug GO Tots Wooden Barnyard Tumble
The Fisher-Price Little People Share & Care Safari Playset is a great gift because it’s packed with interactive features like lights and sounds that make pretend play extra fun. It is 2-ftt tall and has 7 safari figures, so lot’s of different ways to play with it. Both my daughters love it.
Amazon Link: Fisher-Price Little People Share & Care Safari Playset
The MEGA BLOKS First Builders Activity Table is a great gift because it comes with 30 colorful blocks that are perfect for toddlers to build and create. The activity table makes it easy to keep everything organized and is perfect because it has built-in building surface. We used mega blocks for a long time before discovering this and I wish I knew about this sooner.
Amazon Link: MEGA BLOKS First Builders Activity Table
These look weird, right?! Trust me, these are attention focusers for kids and mine are entertained by the Fisher-Price Linkimals. They’re great for teaching things like numbers, letters, and shapes through songs and interactive play. Plus, my daughters love pushing the button to make him dance (so cute to watch them dance along!)
Amazon Link: Fisher-Price Linkimal Sloth
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