Toys for One Year Olds (A Quick List for Busy Parents)

Top 5 Toys for One Year Olds (A Quick List for Busy Parents)

If you’re wondering what gifts to buy for baby’s first birthday or Christmas, then look no further than my quick list of the Best 5 Toys For One Year Olds. And these toys are suitable for both boys and girls.

“What do you buy a one year old? Seriously. What the actual heck do you get for them?”

If these words seem familiar then you may have read them in my first ever blog post where I revealed that there was less than eight days to Roo’s first birthday, and I had no clue about what gifts to get her. Well it was Roo’s big-girl-number-one birthday last weekend. And yes – before you start to panic – she did have some presents to open.

The only thing I remembered about GinGin’s first birthday was that we went massively overboard with the amount of stuff we got for her. I mean it took her two days to open them all.

Want more ideas? Read my list of 21 non-toxic toys for toddlers.

TWO DAYS!

I was determined we wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Roo managed to open all her presents in just one day.

She did have a fair bit of help from an over-excited GinGin, who I thought was going to quite literally burst at the sight of all those beautifully wrapped surprises.

Roo had very thoughtfully bought and wrapped two special gifts for GinGin. And gushed about her being the best big sister ever on the tags. (Quite impressive for a baby LOL!)

Those little pressies did make GinGin feel special. But they were ripped open in under 5 seconds, and soon enough my big girl was hovering over Roo’s pile of birthday presents like some greedy seagull eyeing your tray of steaming hot chips at the seaside.

We did go slightly over-the-top with the amount of presents we bought. I say we. Here I clearly mean the “royal we” as Roo’s daddy was as clueless as her about what was hidden beneath that heart pattern paper.

I’m being slightly unfair. He knew a couple of them. And I did have more time to think about, locate, buy and wrap them. So I am mostly responsible for all the extra stuff we now need to find a home for. (Did I really just admit to that? … Sssshhh … don’t tell anyone because obviously nothing is ever my fault!)

Anyway, I know how difficult it can be to buy gifts for babies. So here’s a list of the top 5 toys that Roo received and I would definitely recommend.

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Best 5 Toys for One Year Olds

5. Little Tikes Push-Down Jungle Cars

These are brilliant!

You can’t just have one, though. You need two. Because obviously how else can you race against each other after the kids have gone to bed?

The girls love them too.

Little Roo’s face lights up when I push down the lion or elephant and make car noises as the toy zooms off across the kitchen floor. It makes her giggle. And oh my gosh I love the sound of that giggle. (I must record it before her laugh changes.)

The cars also get Roo moving around – not that she needs much motivation to crawl off at high speed, usually towards the stairs – but it can only be a good thing for a toy to encourage babies to crawl.

So these fantastic Little Tikes cars rank number five in my quick list of top 5 toys for one year olds.

4. Ravensburger Jolly Dinos Jigsaw Puzzles

Puzzles are a winner in our house.

GinGin has loads and loads of puzzles. She has board games made from puzzles. And books where the pictures are made from puzzles. She even has a “Where’s Wally” puzzle that she managed to finish with a bit of help from mummy and daddy.

So this box of four puzzles with funny, bright and colourful dinosaurs is sure to keep Roo entertained for a good while yet.

And the real winner is that it’s another thing both girls will play with together. It doesn’t matter that one of the puzzles is just two pieces, GinGin will enjoy showing Roo how to complete it.

The Jollys Dinos puzzles from Ravensburger deserve a place on this quick list of toys for one year olds.

3. Peter Rabbit Pull-Along and Jemima Puddleduck Xylophone from Orange Tree Toys

I totally fell in love with these.

I’d been thinking about getting a pull-along toy and this wooden Peter Rabbit is just perfect. At under £10 is an absolute bargain too! Really well made and super-cute.

The Jemima Puddleduck xylophone is another super toy for a one year old. It’s a great way of introducing your baby to making sounds and discovering their musicality. It’s one of Roo’s most fave things right now. Definite winners for my quick list of toys for one year olds.

2. VTech Toot-Toot Drivers Amusement Park

I confess that this is the one and only thing we’d got Roo well in advance of her birthday. We got it for a ridiculously fab price because sadly Toys “R” Us was closing down.

I’d not, however, factored in how bloody big it is. Seriously this thing needs its own room!

Size really doesn’t matter, though, because both GinGin and Roo play with it. Together and separately.

I mean this thing is now GinGin’s most favourite toy out of our massive collection of toys. I’m super-happy we got this for Roo. She’s all over it. Using it to stand. Pulling at the pully bits. Pushing on the pushy bits. Laughing at the flying bits. And she carries the little car round with her like her most prized possession.

It’s definitely a winner and that’s why the Toot-Toot Drivers Amusement Park is number two on my top 5 toys for one year olds!

1. Flamingo SmarTrike

Remember in my first ever blog post when I said I only had one good idea for a present and I’d given that to my mum. Well, here is that idea.

The SmarTrike. And oh my word it was such a brilliant idea!

So nana & grandad got Roo the best present for her first birthday. Roo loves it. I mean she really, really LOVES IT!

Her little face was overjoyed when she saw daddy putting together this pink and black Flamingo adorned tricycle. She was intrigued. Curious.

She knew it was special.

When we sat her in it for the first time, she giggled. A lot. She clapped. A lot. She squealed. A lot. She pointed. A lot. She was like a teeny-tiny Miss Daisy, pointing to the way she wanted to go.

GinGin had almost as much fun pushing her round our house, remembering her own SmarTrike adventures and putting her own small toys in the little compartment on the back of the trike.

When Roo isn’t in the tricycle we can almost certainly find her next to it. Touching the peddles. Opening and closing the trunk. Pulling herself up so she’s standing next to it. Pushing the wheels back and forward.

It’s most definitely, without a doubt, her most favourite big-girl-number-one birthday present.

And that’s why it’s number one of my top 5 toys for a one year old!

So there you have it. My 5 top picks of Roo’s first birthday gifts.

If you’re stuck for ideas then you can’t go wrong with any (or all) of these.

FYI, this is not a sponsored post. There are affiliate links within this article and so as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases without any additional cost to you.

It really is my list of great gift ideas for a baby’s first birthday. And, I think you’ll agree, these could be equally suitable for a baby boy too (the trike comes in other colours if you don’t fancy pink).

I hope this helps if you’re stuck for baby gift ideas 🙂 xx

What Next?

Come and join us in my new Facebook group Toddlers to Tweens: Fun Learning and Play Ideas where we share activities, crafts and play ideas that can be done at home, with stuff you already have!

Read these posts next or bookmark them for later:

• 21 Non-Toxic Toys Your Toddler Will Love
• Best Dinosaur Books For Toddlers (Girls Love Dinos Too)
• How I Potty Trained My Toddler In Under 3 Days
• 10 Simple But Genius Toy Storage Ideas
• 5 Simple Habits That Will Improve Your Toddler’s Sleep

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Toys for One Year Olds (A Quick List for Busy Parents)