Best 1st Birthday Toys | Best Toys for a 1st Birthday | Baby's 1st birthday presents

Are walkers the best toys for a 12 month old baby?

Walkers do make excellent 1st birthday toys. My son was given a walker with bricks when he was 10 months and he still plays with it now he is 2 years old. Before he could walk it was a great walking aid which he could push around. The bricks have always been good for building towers (which he still does). There are letters on his bricks which he now recognises and he still loves to whizz around the house pushing the trolley.

Top toys for a 1 year old

One year olds love balls and they love sitting in ball pits, throwing, rolling, picking up and dropping balls. My son loves ball pits and when he was younger would literally sit in one for ages just playing with the balls. A great gift to keep a one year old occupied and quite still for a while.

The Best 1st Birthday Present?

Is the Fisher Price Bounce and Go the best 1st birthday present? We haven't got his toy ourselves but I had to include it as it seems like so much fun, I wish we did have it. It's a zebra that a child sits on and it bounces and around. There's music which rewards movement and lights too. The reviews on Amazon are also very good.

Shopping from the UK? Check out the Fisher-Price Baby Gymtastics Bounce & Spin Zebra on amazon.co.uk

More of the best presents for a 1 year old

A great toy for a 1 year old

We had a mailbox which my son loved. He would spend ages just trying to fit the letters into the slot. The Fisher Price version below looks even better than the one we had with music and voices to encourage speech, numbers, letter and colors.

Educational 1st birthday toy - Activity table

Activity tables are great. They will occupy a one year old for ages and are normally educational too, teaching language and concepts such as colors, number and animals. There are some great picks below.

Shopping from the UK? Click here for details of the LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table in the UK

A Great 1st Birthday Gift for Outdoor Play - Water Wheel play table

Toddlers just love to play with water and this water wheel play table will be an investment in play for the next few years. My son loves this toy. He's now two and just the other day played with it with his 3 year old friend. Both boys enjoyed the toy for a long time pouring in water and watching the wheels turn around. It's a great Summer toy (great from when children are standing up). It is guarenteed to keep little ones occupied with play while the carer can relax a little bit.

Click here for the Step2 Waterwheel Play Table in the UK.

Shapesorters are great toys for a one year old

The classic toys are quite often the best and you can't go wrong if you buy a one year old a shapesorter. I remember playing with my little one for ages, helping him put the right shapes in the holes. They are great for teaching hand and eye co-ordination, colors and shapes.

A Drum

Unfortunately for parents 12 month old babies love to bang on drums. In fact most young kids love to bang on drums so you can't go wrong if you get a one year old a drum. My son still loves to sit and bang now so it is a toy that will last.

Ride on Toys

Ride on toys are are a great choice for a 1st birthday present. You can purchase ones which are a combination of a walker and a ride on toy which is perfect for 12 month olds who are standing but have not yet taking their first steps. Here are some good options below.

Shopping from the UK? Check out the Wheelybug Ladybird Ride-on (Small)

Keyboards/pianos

My son had a Winnie the Pooh Keyboard that he loved. He used to play with it in his cot before he fell asleep and would love watching the lights, pressing the buttons and hearing the notes. I would highly recommend a keyboard/piano for this age. Here are some suggestions below.

Musical 1st birthday present - Fisher-Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage

One year olds love pressing buttons, musical instruments, music, lights and sound and this Fisher-Price Little Superstar Sing-Along has all of them. There's five spotlights, musical instruments, a mirror and a microphone which you can use to sing along to. The toy will grow with the child as the child can learn to sing along to the songs as they get older. There's also a very indepth review of this product by Amazon on their website.

Mobile phone

Babies and toddlers just love to copy adults who are on the phone and getting a pretend mobile phone should be a toy which lasts for ages. My son is always pretending to talk on the phone (maybe because he's seen me do it so much!) Most of the phones have flashing lights and voices which help teach numbers. A great toy for 12 months and up. Here are some suggestions below.

Laugh and learn piggy bank

Another great toy from Fisher Price which will grow with your child. The child can slot coins into the piggy bank and a voice will count them in. As your child gets older it is great toy to introduce them to counting. The buttons are different sizes so you can teach the concepts of bigger and smaller. Press the pig's snout for music, open the door for put in and take out play and enjoy sing along songs.

Play tunnels and tents

Play tunnels and play tents are great for one year olds and will last for a lot longer. They can sit inside and hide, they can crawl through the tunnels and play peepo. They are great to take outside for shade on a sunny day or to play inside on a rainy day.

Books make great 1st Birthday Gifts

Reading with a baby is a lovely activity. It helps with their language and is lovely just to sit down together and give a child some one to one attention. Every baby should have a selection of books. Here are a few that come highly recommended.

Sand box

A great toy for a one year old is a sand box. It's a good buy as it's a toy that will last a long time. My son has always loved sand boxes. At one he would sit and play in the sand for quite a while. He is now two and he will sit in the sand pit and play for about 30 minutes before getting up to do something else which is a nice break for me. He loves building sandcastles. As they get older they can build more elaborate sandcastles too.

Balls

Babies and toddlers love balls. My son has about 8! For a one year old you can buy balls which are soft so the baby or child can use then in the house without the fear of hurting anybody. My son used to take one of these soft balls to bed when he was younger instead of a teddy bear.

Blocks

Building blocks are a great toy for a 12 month old. They will love knocking down any towers that you build. They will start to build their own constructions. You can use them to introduce them to different colors. The German toy company Haba do some excellent building blocks aimed at children from 1 year and up. Their blocks have non-toxic paint so you don't have to worry about a child putting the blocks in their mouth.

Toys for 12 month old girl

Here are a few ideas of toys for 12 month old girls.

Toys for 12 month old boy

Here are some ideas of toys for 12 month old boys