What to get a one year old child? They aren’t quite a “baby” in the same sense as they were just a few months ago. Many of them are walking around, exploring, getting into things, and developing very specific tastes. Everything is still tested out in their mouths, so toys with small parts still aren’t a good idea, yet many of them have outgrown the teething rings, rattles, and floor gyms that made good gifts in their younger days. The following list should get you started toward choosing a great gift for a little toddler.
- That’s not my kitten! – Or similar titles by Usborne Books. All of my kids loved this series, which is part touch and feel, part suspenseful tale. Each page shows a different colorful drawing of a kitten (or truck, puppy, car etc.) with a short line of text. The kitten version starts out with the text, “That’s not my kitten, its ears are too soft!” and the ears of the kitten on the page are made from a soft, fuzzy material. Of course, at the end, you do find out who “my kitten” is.
- Little People Farm – This one’s a classic. Every kid needs a farm to play with and toddlers seem to be more into farm stuff than other ages. The farm includes opening and closing doors, a few chunky animals, a farmer, and a silo. The newest version has sounds and requires batteries.
- Soft sole shoes – When my kids were around one year of age, the regular sneakers just didn’t cut it for them. They were too stiff and made walking a bit difficult. Enter the soft sole shoe. You can order them from Robeez or Soft Star Shoes and they come in so many cute patterns and styles. Some department stores are also beginning to carry them.
- A walker wagon – This is sure to be a big hit with the beginning walker because they can get going pretty fast using the bar to support themselves. When they’re older they can still use the wagon to push around dolls and stuffed animals. Our Radio Flyer walker wagon has seen a lot of use.
- Tennis balls – No, I really mean it. When my daughter was one, we bought her one of those three pack of tennis balls in the clear tube. She played with it endlessly, taking the balls out and dropping them back in, filling up the tube with little animals, dumping them out, bouncing the balls. Lots of fun, for real cheap.
- Brio train set – Yes, they are a bit expensive. But if you get a basic set now, you can add parts to it as your child grows since all the components are designed to work together. Toddlers don’t need all the bells and whistles, a simple track and one train will serve nicely, as they get older you can add bridges and tunnels to keep the set interesting. It also makes gift-giving easy for other relatives because there are so many neat little add-ons you can buy.
- Portable snacks – Small packages of raisins or goldfish crackers are nice little gifts that will keep a toddler busy and give parents something they can toss in the diaper bag when they’re headed out in a hurry.
- A set of wood blocks – Another gift that will grow with the child, start with a small set with basic shapes, and later you can buy fancier blocks as your child’s design skills grow.
- Wood puzzles by Melissa and Doug- These are fairly well made and you can find them with big wood knobs on the pieces to make doing the puzzle easier. Underneath the piece is a picture that matches the puzzle piece. Great way to introduce matching skills.
- A toy phone – Kids this age are into imitating their parents, and for some reason, talking on the phone is high on the list of activities that look like a whole lot of fun. You can buy an old-fashioned style rotary toy phone, or phones that look more like cell phones, with talking and ringing sound effects.
