When you become a parent, nothing comes before your child’s well being and development, and you probably have known that between birth and the age of five, children’s brain grows more than any other time in their life.
That is why so many parents are so particular about what their children are exposed to and what toys their child plays with.
For that reason, we studied dozens of toys on the market and eventually came up with this review of eight toys that are great for children’s development in multiple dimensions.
In the Post
- Best Toys for 1-year-old Babies
- 1. Little Tikes Cozy Fire Engine (best for gross motor skills)
- 2. EverEarth Activity Cube (best for fine motor skills)
- 3. Honeysticks Beeswax Crayons (best for creativity)
- 4. Board Books (ideal for language development and communication)
- 5. LEGO Duplo Fun Box (best for cognitive development)
- 6. Ohuhu Kids Drum Set (best for sense of rhythm)
- 7. Melissa & Doug Knob Puzzle (best for problem solving)
- 8. Playskool Pop Up Activity Toy (best for matching and sorting)
- Why Do We Recommend These Toys?
- Consider These If You Turned to Other Toys
- Toys and Your Home
- Wrap-up
Best Toys for 1-year-old Babies
Aside from the review below, you are always welcome to learn the reasons and science that back our selection.
1. Little Tikes Cozy Fire Engine (best for gross motor skills)
This fun toy truck will keep your little one busy for hours while enhancing their gross motor skills.
This cute fire engine is designed with a removable floor, making it safe and straightforward for parents to either push their baby in it or let the child move themselves with their feet.
The large and durable wheels make this a great outdoor option, making it easy to maneuver over dirt and sticks.
This truck also has a real working horn, as well as a hose that sprays water, adding even more fun and excitement.
Still having no idea of how funny it is? Here we go.
A removable floor
This is a feature that many other ride-along toys of this nature do not have. It keeps children’s feet safe when the parents are pushing. And as your kids moving by themselves, muscles of their legs and arms are trained to be stronger.
This toy really encourages imagination and teamplaying
From holding the steering wheel saying “vroom vroom” to pretending to put out fires and protect their friends, there is no shortage of excitement with this truck.
Things you might not like
Perhaps the biggest drawback to this toy is that your child is bound to outgrow it.
Due to it’s nature depending on how fast your little one grows, the time that he or she is able to play with it will vary.
Generally, kids are able to get a couple of years out of it before they get too big. There is a weight limit of 50 lbs.
2. EverEarth Activity Cube (best for fine motor skills)
Keep your little one distracted and in the same place for hours with this versatile cube.
It offers seven sides of engaging and educational little challenges that will keep your baby busy. Activities include a wire bead maze, geometric shape sorting, spinning gears, and sliding animals.
Made of natural wood and non-toxic stains and paints
This toy is safe for toddlers who like to lick everything they see. That said, it’s always recommended to clean the cude regularly in order to get rid of bacteria.
Highly educational
Each side offers something new that will help your child develop their various skills.
For example, the bead maze encourages reach, the gears logical thinking, and the bright colors sensory stimulation.
Small Parts Alert
Although this cube helps develop children’s fine motor skills, some small parts such as shaped blocks and gears are not safe for kids at mouthing stage. Parents should put them away until their little ones grow older.
Things you might not like
Perhaps the biggest drawback for the cube is still somewhat a benefit.
Children are drawn to things at different times. While there are milestones that kids are expected to meet by certain ages, how they get there and what interests them vary by child.
The activity cube is a fantastic toy to have around so your child can engage with it and learn at their own pace. However, depending on your child, it might take longer than some nother children for them to really embrace everything that the cube has to offer.
The toy is designed for children of 18 months and up.
You may also like: Selected Ride-on Toys for Kids of 2 – 7+
3. Honeysticks Beeswax Crayons (best for creativity)
Feel confident in letting your little one color to their heart’s content with these 100% beeswax crayons. Handmade in New Zealand, this twelve pack of crayons come in a variety of fun, safe and bright colors.
Easy to hold
This crayon set offers a number of benefits for both babies and parents. Their short and chubby shape makes it easy for little hands to hold but difficult to break.
Harmless to human and mother nature
These beeswax crayons are environmentally friendly and created through a sustainable process that also gives them a lovely scent.
Colorful yet safe
Perhaps the most important benefit for many parents is that these crayons are safe and made with non-toxic ingredients.
They contain 100% pure New Zealand beeswax and food grade pigments for color and have zero paraffin wax or cheap fillers.
Easy to clean
These beeswax crayons are also washable which is great for parents who are trying to childproof their walls – you don’t have to worry about any permanent art projects. I know, wonderful, right?
Things you might not like
These chubby crayons do have one drawback, and that is the price. They retail on Amazon for a about 20 bucks for a pack of 12, which is quite steep compared to other crayons on the market.
That said, there is a free coloring book pdf download with each purchase and a money back guarantee. If you don’t have a budget on this, you may prefer the pack that comes with a painting book.
You may also like: Selected Ride-on Toys for Kids of 2 – 7+
4. Board Books (ideal for language development and communication)
It should come as no surprise that part of our list includes books – specifically board books that encourage early language development in toddlers.
After all, reading is one of the best ways to help your child (of any age really) to develop and strengthen their communication skills.
Some of the most enjoyable and engaging board books for 1yo children are: Peek-A-Who?, Little Blue Truck, and First 100 Words.
Essential and durable
Not only are books necessary to help your child learn new words and develop in terms of their speech and language, but board books are also quite durable.
This is a great benefit to parents as many children at this age are still in the phase of being quite harsh with books, be it throwing them, or trying to rip pages.
Unlike traditional paperback books, board books are significantly more durable and will last much longer.
Things you might not like
A downside with these books is honestly just for parents in terms of reading the same story over and over again.
It should be noted, however, that the repetition of reading the same story, again and again, is actually excellent for a child’s development, and helps them to pick up on words in a more leisurely fashion, but it has the potential to become quite dull for parents.
Nevertheless, we think it’s a good idea to keep on adding new, engaging books to your bookshelf for kids:
You may also like: Selected Ride-on Toys for Kids of 2 – 7+
5. LEGO Duplo Fun Box (best for cognitive development)
LEGO Duplo is among the best toys on the market to help your child’s cognitive development.
Let your child’s imagination run wild building and creating whatever they think of. Kids from 18 months to 5 years will enjoy and benefit from this kit.
This box features a dog figure, a boy figure, a house, wheels that roll, windows that open, as well as extra pieces that can be made into cars, homes or anything else that your little one imagines.
Encouraging creativity
This LEGO box offers hours upon hours of creative play with colorful and size appropriate pieces.
Good compatibility
This kit can be combined with other LEGO Duplo kits and is an excellent way for younger and older siblings to play together.
Choking Risk
As with any LEGO type or small toy, parents should be aware that there is always a choking hazard should children younger than the advertised age be near the product.
Although the manufacturer said this box is design for babies from 18 months and up, we still suggest you take out some small pieces to rule out any risk.
6. Ohuhu Kids Drum Set (best for sense of rhythm)
Time and time again, studies have proven that music is an essential stimulator for children’s brain development.
Children who study music and music theory have been shown to excel in school, specifically in Math and are typically able to concentrate on a task at hand better than those who do not.
The versatile drum set gives your kids a headstart on this by providing them with a fun yet an educational activity that will keep them busy for hours.
It’s just an amazing gift for literally any kids:
Built-in music
The drum kit includes several different games and activities to entertain children at different ages and levels.
These include a Whack-a-Mole style game, continuous hits, and a jazz setting.
An all-in-one learning player
The drum set also exposes children to different instruments including guitar, trumpet, and piano.
Additionally, through the various games and activities programmed into it, children will also learn colors, animal sounds, and numbers.
Things you might not like
If anything, a drawback to the drum is that it requires 3 AA batteries. And, babies might be freaked out by the the sound in their first few plays.
For your information, my little son got scared and burst out crying when he first played some sound-making toys. As he grows older, he’s become braver. It’s possible that your kids may have a similar experience. Never mind, take it slow. Babies will get used to it.
7. Melissa & Doug Knob Puzzle (best for problem solving)
Help introduce your little one to shapes and colors with the Melissa & Doug jumbo knob puzzle.
This puzzle features five pieces in various shapes, and it’s a great way to introduce your little one to puzzles while also reinforcing the names of these familiar shapes.
Encouraging cuties to overcome minor challenges
The puzzle is developed with extra thick, high-quality wooden materials which make it extremely durable when your little one inevitably throws it.
The pieces have large knobs which make them easy for little hands to hold.
A reputable company also makes the puzzle, Melissa & Doug is known as the gold standard in early childhood play.
Things you might not like
As a parent whose has experience of raising a 1yo boy, it is challenging to think of any real downside to a straightforward and safe puzzle such as this one.
However, there is a drawback that can be said for many toys, puzzles included, when it comes to children of this age group; and that is the frustration that your child might feel should they not fully grasp the shapes immediately.
This very much depends on your child’s temperament, but some children do find puzzles difficult initially.
Rest assured, however, that as time goes on, the task of finding the correct homes for the shapes will gradually become easier.
8. Playskool Pop Up Activity Toy (best for matching and sorting)
Designed for children nine months and up, this pop-up toy is fun and engaging.
It is designed to introduce your baby to different colors, animals, and shapes. This is also a compact enough toy that it can be used either in a playroom setting, or in the playpen.
Fun but a bit tricky
This activity toy is easy to play for little hands, and will provide hours of entertainment for curious minds.
All that your little one has to do is to move the button (be it side to side, up or down, etc.) to have a cute animal friend pop up.
Since the five bottons should be unlocked in different ways, it somehow drives kids to try and discover.
Things you might not like
Because it is designed for kids 9 months and up, the amount of time that your one-year-old will play with might not be too long and is likely to vary from child to child.
Hopefully this has helped you determine the style of toys that will best benefit your one-year-old. You can find our selections for babies and toddlers of 0-6 months, 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds.
Why Do We Recommend These Toys?
First, let’s look at the “development milestones” of a one-year-old.
Your One-Year-Old
Between 12 and 18 months, they should be learning to manipulate an object between their thumb and index finger easily. A great example of this is putting a round peg into a hole.
They should also be able to stack several blocks, take them apart, and rebuild.
In terms of language, their verbal and communication skills should regularly be expanding. Often at this age, a child will use a single word in place of a complete sentence.
For example, they may say “Up!” as opposed to, “Pick me up.”
General Milestones that Children Reach Between 12 and 18 Months
- Drinking from a cup
- Shaking their head and saying, “No.”
- Holding a crayon
- Helping dress themselves
- Eating with a spoon
- Show affection to those they know and feel comfortable with
- Be fearful around new people
Giving a one-year-old a new toy, odds are you will have a happy kid.
As much as we as parents might stress about making sure our kids have the latest and most fabulous toys, the reality is that toddlers and really young children aren’t very fussy when it comes to toys.
So while we don’t have to be stressed about necessarily having the latest thing to hit the market, we should be making sure that we are surrounding our kids with most stimulating and educational toys we can find.
The toys listed above were chosen because they can really be used as developmental tools – while still being things that your children will enjoy using.
Consider These If You Turned to Other Toys
Materials
At one year old, toddlers are in a mouthing phase where everything where they will put everything they can in their mouths.
So it is crucial that any toys that they have are made with non-toxic and (ideally) natural materials.
Fun
No one wants to give their child something that they are not going to enjoy using.
As stated above, it isn’t generally too difficult to entertain a one-year-old, but if your child does show an interest in something or a distaste for something, follow their cues.
Allow them to embrace their natural interests and see where that takes them.
Stimulating
As with all of the toys on our list, the toys that you surround your baby with ought to be stimulating and encourage them to grow and develop in different ways.
Let go gender stereotyps
Today more than ever, we understand the importance of allowing children to play with and explore toys and games that might not fall into their traditional gender stereotype.
More boys are being encouraged to play in the pretend kitchen, and girls are building cities out of LEGO.
Allowing kids to do what feels natural to them helps them to follow their instincts and embrace what makes them unique.
If the toys above are not exactly what you are looking for, the information above will hopefully provide you with a list of things to look at when choosing a nice toy for your little bundle of joy.
Perhaps the puzzle by Melissa and Doug isn’t what you had in mind, there are other wonderful brands out there that support early learning such as Fat Brain Toys and Lakeshore Learning that might offer more along the lines of what you are looking for.
Toys and Your Home
Most parents have to deal with their house in a sense being taken over by toys at some point or another, but how can you limit this?
Is having too many toys a bad thing? How long should you keep a toy? What about second-hand toys?
Read on to find out more about keeping your kids surrounded by the right kind of toys, and stopping them from taking over your home.
Can Having Too Many Toys Be Bad For My Child?
Throughout the article, we have talked about how toys can benefit kids, but what we haven’t touched on is how overwhelming having tons of toys can be.
Having too many toys and options – even educational choices – can actually stifle a child’s ability to create.
Many experts actually support the idea of letting kids be bored to some extent as it allows them to use and develop their imagination.
How Long Should I Keep a Toy?
The reality is that if the toy is clean and safe – no missing parts or sharp edges – it is fine to keep. If it is dirty, won’t come clean or can be dangerous then you should probably toss it.
My Experience
My son has a mysterious obcession on a plush stuffed monkey, which is the cover of my hand warmer in winter. He keeps it for years. I just wash it once every other week to keep it clean.
Another reason to get rid of a toy is if your child has simply outgrown it. Unless they have a younger sibling who will benefit from it, it might be time to either donate, sell, or toss it.
Doing this on a regular basis can also help to limit the amount of toys that you have laying around. It is incredibly easy to end up overwhelmed with the amount of toys that your family accumulates over time – which creates a stressful environment for everyone.
It is best to stay on top of it, and get rid of toys when they are no longer of use to your little one.
Second-Hand Toys?
When it comes to second-hand toys, generally there isn’t an issue. The biggest concern is safety and cleanliness.
If the toy can be cleaned prior to your child playing with it and is in a safe condition, there really isn’t too much of a concern. However, if it is a really old toy, that cannot be washed, the concern of cleanliness, germs, and bacteria does become something to consider seriously.
Another thing to keep in mind when you consider getting a second-hand toy is the material that the toy is made out of.
Earlier, we looked at the kinds of materials that your children’s toys will ideally be made out of, safe, non-toxic, natural. Often, second-hand toys are older and might not be made with the same quality of materials.
Older toys also run the risk of the material kind of breaking down somewhat, the plastic becoming rough, or the color fading, the sounds not working as well as they once did.
These are things that can really limit the amount that your child plays with the toy and in turn what they get out of that experience.
Wrap-up
Having a child is a decision that leads you to have to make a million new decisions – all the time. Their well-being and development, their safety, and happiness, all fall into your everyday choices.
This can be incredibly stressful for parents, especially when the topic of finances comes up and the idea of having to pay for all of these toys that are designed to benefit your child.
The most important thing to remember is that playing is what will help your child more so than anyone specific toy.
There is a reason that so many schools are transitioning to play-based learning in kindergarten and that is, as stated before that up until they hit five years old kids brains are developing at such a rapid speed.
By surrounding them with educational toys, but also just letting them use and develop their imaginations is vital to their mental growth and creativity.
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