Gift ideas for a one year old

Before I had O, I had no idea what to buy kids of any age for their birthdays and definitely bought my nieces and nephew a whole lot of junk that they didn't want or need. (That's coming back to bite me now, as every time I visit my sister's house we leave with a bag of plastic toys that her kids have grown out of).

Having just celebrated O's first birthday this week, I have created a list of the sort of toys that he is interested in and able for at the moment.

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Big Toys

Play kitchen- We bought ours in Aldi during their wooden toy event, but this one is pretty similar. It's by far O's favourite thing to play with and older kids seem to love it too. A great investment toy.

Wendy house - We don't have a permanent wendy house, but we did have a cardboard play house like this for a few weeks and O loved playing peekaboo and hiding in it.

Push along toy - This is a must have toy for pre-walkers. In the absence of a walker, O will push furniture around the room. This is both dangerous and annoying, so we spent some time trying to find a push along toy that would be sturdy enough for him, but also provide value after he learned to walk. We settled on this (now sold out) wooden shopping trolley from Mothercare, but this wooden activity cube walker looks similar!

Teepee/Tent - This is a surprise addition to my list, but O received a cotton teepee (like this one) as a gift for his birthday and he absolutely loves bringing toys into it and peeking out through the little window. It's also a nice addition to the corner of our living room and machine washable - total win!

Crafty Toys

Finger paints - when I am feeling particularly brave, I can be convinced that it might be a good idea to do some finger painting. I rarely feel this way whilst we are painting or during the clean up, but the kids love it.

Tip: painting is MESSY - use a smock or strip them down to their nappy and try to time it right before bathtime

Egg shaped crayons- these are the only crayons that haven't been chewed in our house. I'm honestly not sure if that's down to the shape or the flavour...

Brain Teaser Toys

Bead maze - this mini bead maze with suction cups is fantastic! We have had enjoyed hours of happy entertainment in restaurants and at family events with it. It sticks to most tables and high chairs and is sturdy enough to have survived quite a few falls.

Stacking rings - we inherited this colourful plastic set from cousins when O was about 4 months old, and it's been in use most days since. It was originally a teething toy whereas now he enjoys the challenge of stacking the rings.

Stacking blocks - as a mum these stacking & nesting are one of my all time favourite toys. They are so versatile and pack up into one small box. They can be towers for knocking down, or hats for teddies, or places to hide things or skates for hands to push along the floor. We actually have 3 sets of these; one in the kitchen playpen, one in the living room and another at Grandma's house.

Books - interactive books are proving a big hit at the moment. Specifically ones like this Hungry Caterpillar book with a puppet and lift the flap books like Rabbit's Nap. This still need to be supervised though as eager little hands like to pull pages and lift the flaps a bit too enthusiastically.

Noisy Toys

Rain stick - we came across a rain stick at one of our doctor's appointments where it did such a good job of distracting O that I had to have it. It has since become one of our main car and buggy toys. Warning: this is an incredibly noisy toy!

Bells - I purchased a handrattle like this on a whim and it has been keeping my house noisy ever since. This ball with a bell in it has also provided hours of jingly fun (but I'm still not sure if it's meant for a baby or a cat...)

Wooden drum - this is another toy we have ended up with two of, one at home and one at Grandma's house. Luckily O absolutely loves to play with it.

Bath Toys

Stacking cups - despite lots of other bits and pieces, the bath toys that O seems to prefer are these cups and random utensils from the kitchen.

Rubber ducks - O seems to love all rubber ducks, but as a mum I only want ones like this that don't have a hole in them. Squeezing a cloud of gungey black mould into a clean bath full of warm soapy water is not something I want to repeat. Yuck.

Soft Toys

Monkey - O's all time favourite toy is his Jellycat Monkey. It's his partner in crime and accompanies him everywhere (including the bath sometimes...) We are the proud owners of three of these and interchange them regularly so they can be washed.

Try before you buy!

I hope this list has been helpful! We have been so lucky to have been gifted so many toys that we've been able to work out his interests relatively cheaply.

If you want to try before you buy, why not check out local playgroups, your local library or even play cafes. Alternatively a toy swap with friends who have kids a similar age is a great way to freshen up your toybox!

Finally, there is a giant caveat to this list of toys, and that is that at the moment O is as likely to want to play with the box or the wrapping paper as the actual toy!

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