The 13 Best Gifts for 1-Year-Old Children

Buying gifts for 1-year-old children can be really hard! They are too big for “baby” toys but too small for “toddler” toys. So what are the best gifts for 1-year-old kids? Here are my picks!

Best Gifts For 1-Year-Old Kids

1) Ball Pit 

Sam of Thrive 360 Living made a brilliant ball pit from an inflatable pool. My friend Katie stole her idea at Christmas. The instant her son (13 months old) saw it, he literally threw himself into it. He barely got out for the next three days.

Katie  used this pool and these balls (300).

This also led to Katie’s own stroke of genius: a crib ball pit! The kids thought this was pretty awesome.

2) Xylophone

Xylophones are everywhere, but this one from Etsy stands out because of its cool shape. Babies will love creating music with a stirring motion, and you will love that this thing can double as art on your shelf.

3) Baby Dolls – Pink and Blue

These are pricier gifts (I’m looking at YOU, Grandma), but the quality of the Corolle dolls is unbeatable. Kids love to play with the eyeballs on the dolls- they open and close. And they are fun to feed and rock like babies. These are great toys that grow with kids as they age!

4) Double Rainbow Stacker

I like this stacker because babies can stack the shapes by colour, shape OR size. We have a stacker by a brand that I’ll call Prisher Frice, which is angled so that there is ONE right way to get those darn rings on. My kids lose interest in that quickly. Bonus: this is pretty enough that you don’t have to put it away. It’s not a mess – it’s decorative!

5) Kidoozie Peek N Peep Eggs

I bought these years ago, and both of my kids LOVE them. When you press the chick, it peeps. And one-year-olds LOVE putting things into other things and taking them out again. For my Canadian friends, the link above brings up a ridiculous priced product. Use this one instead – Peek N Peep Eggs

6) Blocks

These blocks are particularly great because they are squishy. That means they will stick to each other just a bit, so you can make really cool structures. And even better – they’re chewable!

7) Stacking Cups

Stacking was a well-loved activity at our house. This stacking set has a bit of extra fun because the pieces can also be clicked together into a ball. It enjoyed tons of play for many years past the early childhood stage.

8) Books

Books are always a good present. One-year-olds like to eat their books in addition to reading them, so stick to board books. Here are some of my favourite books for this age!

That’s Not My __ (Bear, Pony, Hamster, Princess, Baby, etc, etc, etc) Books

This series of Usborne books has a different texture to feel on every page, and the illustrations have heavy black outlines that appeal to little eyes. Babies LOVE them.

Grumpy Bird, by Jeremy Tankard

Bird wakes up grumpy. Too grumpy to do ANYTHING. Babies can RELATE, yo. The Grumpy Bird books are funny, and they have cool collage-style illustrations. I love them, and so do my kids.

Where is Baby’s Mommy? by Karen Katz

Baby is looking for Mommy, and YOUR baby lifts big sturdy flaps to aid in the search. This is also a series – Baby loses a LOT of things. See also: Where is Baby’s Birthday Cake, Where is Baby’s Puppy, etc.

Sandra Boynton Books

Evan LOVED these books growing up. They have a lovely rhyming sing-song cadence that makes them infectious. Some of our favourites are Barnyard Dance and Moo, Baa, La La La. Honestly, we loved them all!

9) Wooden Canoe Bath Toy

In general, I think bath toys are a great gift at this age. This specific toy caught my eye because it is so cute and minimalist while still being functional. (It says for kids 3 and over but I think with proper supervision it might be ok. Of course, that is up to each individual parent.

10) Wooden Cell Phone

When Evan was a baby, he loved to chatter away to all his friends on a plastic phone. It was a hand me down and didn’t even make noise but he didn’t care at all. I love that this wooden phone can be personalized. It’s a great way for babies to be “just like Mommy” without another noise-making toy.

11) Fisher Price Learn and Play Food Truck

When Evan was smaller, he LOVED his play kitchen. While we didn’t have this food truck, I know he would have loved it. Pretend playing including making, serving and eating food would keep him occupied for hours.

12) Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone

I LOVE a good two for one toy. It’s a hammer bench and it’s a xylophone! Evan loved his tap bench when he was little. He pounded on it for hours. This one is even better because when the balls fall, they make a pretty sound and you can use the xylophone on its own as well.

13) Melissa & Doug Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzles Set – Shapes and Barn

Evan had these puzzles when he was 1. The wooden knobs make the pieces easy to grasp for little hands. Just don’t step on them, they hurt. Ask me how I know!

What toys are YOUR favourite gifts for 1-year-old children? I miss those days when their go to presents were much cheaper than they are once they become a pre-teen.

More Birthday Party Resources for You!

Around here, we love birthday parties! Whether you are looking for birthday party theme ideas, birthday party cupcakes (55 ideas!), loot bag ideas or birthday venues in Calgary, we’ve got you covered. You can head up to the top of the blog and look under Celebrations to see all we have to offer or scroll through everything easily.

Feeling like a DIY? Make your birthday party celebration even more festive with a Giant Pom Pom Garland!

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