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

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What are the best toys for a 12 month old?

Here is a selection of the best 1st birthday toys. The recommendations are based on the best toys my son, his friends and my niece loved to play with between the ages of 1 and 2 years. All the toys featured make great 1st birthday gifts for girls and boys and there are links to futher articles to give you more advice. The toys featured are ones my son played with at home and others he enjoyed at friend's houses and toddler groups. If you're looking for inspiration on great 1st birthday toys, check out the list below:

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.

Walker Wagon with Blocks

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Amazon Price: $41.95 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Plan Toy Baby Walker

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Amazon Price: $67.50 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Ball pit and balls - Top choice for a 12 month 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.

Little Tikes Super Soccer Ball Pit

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100 Ball / Game Pit Balls - 3 1/8" Diameter

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Amazon Price: $13.39 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Playhut Elmo's World Ball Zone

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Amazon Price: (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

A Fun 1st Birthday Present - Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Bounce & Spin Zebra 

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.

Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Bounce & Spin Zebra

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Amazon Price: $48.60 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Bounce and spin Zebra 

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Mailbox (put the mail in the slot) 

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.

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Letters Mailbox

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Amazon Price: $27.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn My Busy Day Table

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Amazon Price: $49.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Chicco Flip 'n Play Table

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LeapFrog® Learn & Groove Musical Table

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Amazon Price: $41.78 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Step 2 WaterWheel Activity Play Table

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Amazon Price: $34.25 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Shapesorters 

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.

Tolo Rolling Shape Sorter

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Tolo Toys Rolling Ball Shape Sorter

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Tomy Happy Shape Sorter

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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.

"Remo Kids Percussion, Floor Tom, 10"" Diameter with Mallet, Rain Forest Fabric"

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Amazon Price: $49.95 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Lynn Kleiner Baby Drum with Mallet

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Amazon Price: $10.50 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Little Tikes Drum

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Amazon Price: $35.00 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Little Tikes Push & Ride Racer

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Amazon Price: $24.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Fisher Price Little People School Bus Ride on w/English Generic Sound Chip

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Amazon Price: $34.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Little Tikes Push & Ride Doll Walker

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Amazon Price: $24.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Fisher-Price Interactive Baby Grand Piano

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Amazon Price: $42.79 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Pop Tunes Big Rocker Keyboard

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Amazon Price: $12.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Fisher-Price Little Superstar Jammin' Band Piano

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Amazon Price: $23.00 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Fisher-Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage

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Amazon Price: (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Vtech Baby Call & Count Phone

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Amazon Price: $38.90 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Vtech - Thomas & Friends - Calling All Friends Phone

This is recommended for ages 3 and up. I think this is because there are lots of number and flashing lights games that are aimed at older children. However we bought this for our son when he was 18 months and he loved pressing the buttons and used to play with it for ages. He still loves it now he's two. I would definitely recommend this for 18 months and above.

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Vtech - Pull & Lights Phone

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Amazon Price: $23.32 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Piggy Bank

Amazon Price: $35.25 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Pacific Play Tents Find Me Multi Color 6' Tunnel

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Amazon Price: $32.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Pacific Play Tents Find Me Play Tent & Tunnel Com. - Neon

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Amazon Price: $69.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Playhut Thomas the Tank Train Engine Play Tent

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Amazon Price: $39.95 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Where Is Baby's Belly Button?

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Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Peek-A Who?

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Amazon Price: $6.95 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Goodnight Moon

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Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Crabbie Sandbox

Amazon Price: $80.00 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

SOCCER BALL SQUISHY CUSHION

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Melissa & Doug Sports Throw Pillows - Plush

Amazon Price: $29.75 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Ty Basketball

Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

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.

Discovery Blocks

Amazon Price: $27.99 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Haba Fantasy Blocks

Amazon Price: $40.49 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Haba Building Blocks Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Zoo

Amazon Price: $44.98 (as of 12/25/2009) Buy Now

Best toys for a 1 year old in the UK 

Best toys for 1 year olds in the UK
If you're from the UK, this article gives 35 ideas of the best toys for 1 year olds in the UK.

Suggestions and feedback on toys for one year olds.  

If you have any suggestions about toys which are suitable for one year olds or any feedback on my suggestions please feel free to comment here. Thanks!

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by Lou1842

Hi my name is Louise and having a toddler means we have tried and tested lots of toys. Here are some of my recommendations of toys for a one year old... (more)

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