1 year olds are often full of energy, moving around as they develop their gross motor skills; pulling themselves up onto the furniture, sitting up unaided and scooting around the floor, either through bottom shuffling or on their hands and knees. Catching their attention to sit and play to help develop fine motor skills such as picking things up and exploring everyday objects is just as important.
Toys for 1 year olds are often designed to help with the learning process, so why not have a look at some of the options on offer? Gender neutral toys are a great bet for 1 year olds as they are focussed on educational benefits that are vital for both boys and girls.
Small Push Along Toys
Toys that can be pushed around on the ground are great for those developing muscles. Trying to crawl or scoot along while propelling a car or rolling toy may
be tricky at first but getting the hang of it is part of a one year old learning their independence of movement. There can be hours of fun in a single push along toy for a one year old, just running it over the ground from where they’re sat or trying to take it with them on new adventures.
Sorting Toys or Posting Toys
Other great gender neutral toys are those that involve sorting different objects by colour, size or shape. At this age, repetitive actions are fun and posting objects through shaped holes helps them learn spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination. Simply sorting toys into groups by colour or size is good while they’re still learning a ‘pincer grip’ and encourages organisation skills. Learning to count their toys or name the shapes and colours will come later, but for now putting the triangle block through the triangle shaped hole and working out that it hasn’t spontaneously vanished is all that’s needed for these types of toys for one year olds.
Kids Musical Toys or Musical Instruments
Every child could enjoy a musical toy or a musical instrument. That could be a drum, a rattle or a whistle, but learning about music at a young age can be highly beneficial. Even if it hurts your ears for now. Musical toys are great for a toddler learning about cause and effect, that hitting or shaking their instrument makes a specific sound. A one year old will typically react to familiar songs and stories, so learning to hit a drum along side a nursery rhyme is good. Sorry about your hearing though.
Simple Puzzles for Toddlers
They may not be doing 1000-piece puzzles for a few years yet, but a one year old can still learn that different shapes match (or don’t). Single piece wooden puzzles with
handholds are great toys for 1 year olds, for improving that ‘pincer grip’ and hand-eye coordination in placing the right shapes in the right gaps. A one year old may be following simple instructions, so help them to connect spoken words with pictures and tell them about the different shapes or animals in their cut-out puzzle placement.
Ramp Toys for 1 Year Olds
Any toys that involves something running down a slope or ramp are great toys for 1 year olds still testing cause and effect, or if they’re still in love with repetitive actions. Cars that run down ramps, or different balls on basic large marble runs count for this type of toy. They can improve hand-eye coordination with making sure that the ball or car is placed in the right way to start it running down a slope or spiral. Just make sure that the ball is rather larger than a golf ball, to avoid swallowing hazards.
Wooden Toys for Toddlers
You can't beat a timeless classic. Wooden toys are a sustainable alternative to plastic - and they last longer, too! They're also great in that they have fewer small parts that can be a choking hazard for a 1 year old. BrightMinds has a fantastic collection of wooden toys for little ones, so be sure to browse our range today!
Browse our full collection by age today.
by Allie White, educational consultant to BrightMinds
As a parent and former-teacher, Allie has a hands-on approach to home learning, believing that the best learning is done together in a relaxed environment.
Our mission at BrightMinds is to foster “a brighter way to play” to inspire your child to be curious about the world around them & encourage creativity in a fun & relaxed way.
We curate a world-class range of educational toys, games, gifts & books which are good quality, safe and backed by our extraordinary customer service. Toys for 1 year olds are our speciality and a toy or game for your 1 year old from BrightMinds is a wonderful gift for your special girl or boy.
Backed by our 90 day guarantee we are the number one site for thoughtful toys for kids!
