What can be simpler than choosing the best toys for 1-year-olds, you may think? Hmph… Actually, it’s pretty challenging. One-year-old children are not small babies anymore and haven’t just grown enough to be called toddlers. They aren’t interested in rattle toys and something that squeaks and crinkles. They need something more entertaining, fun, stimulating, and catching their attention.
However, many interesting options may not seem that safe at a first glance. With all those small parts and possible choking hazards, great toys are left for kids aged 3. So, isn’t it quite difficult at this point? With Caring Parents’ Choice personal research and analysis of all the baby toys for 1-year-old available on the modern market, you can rest assured that your baby boy or girl receives the best learning toys for 1-year-old. Just read on and don’t hesitate to choose one.
5 Best Toys for 1-Year-Olds 2022 Under $20
#1. LeapFrog Learning Friends 100 Words Book
LeapFrog Learning Friends 100 Words Book
$14.99
The Learning Friends is an adorable little book with cute Tiger, Monkey, and Turtle who are very excited to teach your toddler new words. The child can touch the pictures and words on every page of this book and discover music, sounds, words, and fun facts. This book is bilingual, so when flipping the language switch, you will hear Spanish words. The 12 categories included in this book are animals, pets, mealtime, food, activities, colors, vehicles, outside, opposites, my body, clothes, and fruit.
#2. LeapFrog My First Learning Tablet
LeapFrog My First Learning Tablet
$15.49
The My First Learning Tablet was created especially for toddlers who strive for something new and unexplored. Touch the ‘apps’ and experience lots of sounds and colors. The child will be excited to use the phone to pretend as if he/she is talking, camera to take photos and music player. Other applications will ‘talk’ about health, sports, and the weather. Besides pretend play, it has two other modes: learning and music which tell the child fun facts, introduce animals and tell stories. Isn’t it one of the best presents for 1-year-old?
#3. MAGIFIRE Wooden Toddler Puzzles
MAGIFIRE Wooden Toddler Puzzles
$19.89
This is a truly ecological toy for 1-year-old development as it is made from high-quality wood and covered with water-based paint. The edges of the pieces are smooth and easy to grasp, so your toddler can safely play with this Montessori puzzle toy. The MAGIFIRE Wooden Toddler Puzzles are a perfect education toy that promotes imagination and develops patience, motor skills, memory, logic, creativity, hand-eye coordination, and concentration. When playing with it, the child will memorize the structure and appearance of the animals and learn to identify and name colors.
#4. VTech KidiBeats Drum Set
VTech KidiBeats Drum Set
$17.99
Did you know your toddler can learn while playing and listening to his/her own music? The VTech KidiBeats Drum Sethas three drum pads, a cymbal with a unique sound, and an opportunity to play nine melodies of a different style to find your toddler’s own beat. There are four ways to play the drums: letters, Numbers, Free Play, and Follow Along. So apart from music and developing sensory skills, this amazing musical toy for 1-year-olds teaches the kid numbers and letters.
#5. Friction Powered Cars, Push and Go Toy Trucks Construction Vehicles Toys Set
Friction Powered Cars, Push and Go Toy Trucks Construction Vehicles Toys Set
$16.89
This set is probably the best toy for 1-year-old boy as it includes one bulldozer, one push-and-go tractor, one dumper, and one mixer truck. Friction cars always arouse increased interest in kids as they can be slightly pushed forward and drive a long distance without any batteries required. These toys are absolutely safe for children and can be played without parents’ supervision even in sand and water. The colorful toy vehicles promote the child’s sensory perception, hand-eye coordination, develop imagination, practice sharing, and role play, and play together with their friends. These push-and-go cars aren’t easy to break, so they will last long.
8 Best Toys for 1-Year-Olds 2022 Under $50
#1. VTech Pull and Sing Puppy
VTech Pull and Sing Puppy
$21.75
The VTech Pull and Sing Puppy is among the top toys for 1-year-olds on our list, and it will be your toddler’s best pet friend. Having a nice design and made from high-quality non-toxic materials, this playful puppy can teach your kid lots of things developing gross and fine motor skills and imagination. The toy plays 60+ songs and dog sounds, introduces parts of the body, colors, and numbers, the puppy’s musical responses attract the attention of the child and the little light-up nose flashes brightly along with the puppy’s voice. Take the cord and pull the puppy to see its little legs move, the tail wag, and ears turn back and forth.
#2. TOYVENTIVE Wooden Kids Baby Activity Cube
TOYVENTIVE Wooden Kids Baby Activity Cube
$28.99
The TOYVENTIVE Wooden Kids Baby Activity Cube is the best birthday and Christmas gift for 1-year-old boys and girls. It’s actually five toys in one as it combines five different activities: the toy helps develop your child’s coordination and senses and keep him/her busy for hours. The toy includes a shape sorter, wooden bead maze, spinning gears, abacus, and spinning gears. The top and bottom of the cube can be detached and played separately. Also, the top of the cube flips over and can be easily stored inside. Help your child to promote math and counting and learn shape, colors, and patterns in a very fun and engaging way.
#3. VTech Smart Shots Sports Center
VTech Smart Shots Sports Center
$39.99
The VTech Smart Shots Sports Center is a cool 2-in-1 basketball hoop sports center that allows playing toddler basketball and soccer and have so much fun when scoring. It’s one of the best toys for 1-year-old boy. The kid has to throw the ball into the hoop or net and then he/she hears the fun sounds. The LED board counts the number of baskets and helps the kid learn numbers. The child can also turn pages and gears and press buttons to learn more about numbers and shapes. This whole educational sports center is one of the best gifts for 1-year-old kids for Christmas or birthday.
#4. YGJT Baby Balance Bike
YGJT Baby Balance Bike
$48.99
Having nice dog- and bee-styled designs, YGJT Baby Balance Bike is the best toy for 1-year-olds who love to run around and have fun. It doesn’t have pedals, so children have to use their legs to move. The eyes of the ‘pet’ blink when the handlebar moves, and the safe steering limit of 135 degrees helps avoid side falling. The wheels are widened and wear-resistant so that the kid could move safely. This makes the bike suitable for any surface, be it wooden floor, carpet, or tile. The seat is pretty wide, comfortable, and soft. This balance bike develops very important skills, among which are agility, coordination, balance, strength, and motor skills.
#5. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Chair
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Chair
$35
The Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Chair is one of the most popular Fisher-Price toys for 1-year-old kids. It is an interactive musical chair for toddlers that can play over 50 songs, melodies, and phrases, thus, teaching new vocabulary, colors, shapes, numbers, and lots of other stuff. When the baby sits down or stands up, the chair is activated and starts entertaining. When the baby grows, the chair grows with him/her too, and fresh age-appropriate words, songs, and sounds are activated. Among other activities, this smart chair offers are light-up remote control and an illustrated book with pages that can be turned over.
#6. VTech Sit-to-Stand Ultimate Alphabet Train
VTech Sit-to-Stand Ultimate Alphabet Train
$42.74
The VTech Sit-to-Stand Ultimate Alphabet Train is a great, fun, and entertaining educational toy for 1-year-old that will keep your child busy moving around and learning new things. It can be used as a floor toy, ridden, or pulled as a walker or wagon that can be filled up with other small toys. There are ten cool activities in it, including gears, clock, storybook, 13 letter blocks, etc. A walkie-talkie teaches the child animals and numbers and allows for role play. Over 100 melodies, songs, phrases, and sounds can be played by this amazing toy; and five bright piano keys introduce weather and colors.
#7. Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone
Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone
$29.97
This multifunctional child’s xylophone is a perfect gift idea for 1-year-old children and can be played in different ways. Let the ball fall on the keys to hear various sounds and notes. Or the xylophone can be slid out and played independently to create kid’s own songs and melodies. This toy is a perfect introduction to the world of music, so the kid will learn and develop creativity, fine motor skills, logic, cause and effect, critical thinking, and hand-eye coordination from a very early age. The Hape Pound & Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone is totally safe for use by children as it was made from durable and non-toxic materials. So this award-winning toy for 1-year-old kids can be enjoyed for years.
#8. Little Tikes Rocking Horse Blue and Pink
Little Tikes Rocking Horse (Blue and Pink)
$29.99
Isn’t it so much fun to rock back and forth, back and forth? Being of small size and a perfect toy for outdoors and indoors, the Little Tikes Rocking Horse is a great way to teach your child coordination and balance. The horse’s edges are all smoothly rounded and have a high seat back, low saddle, and easy to grip handles. The good news for parents is that the toy comes in two colors: blue and pink, so these can be the best Christmas gifts for 1-year-old boy and girl. It comes fully assembled, so no work has to be done around. The one of a kind design and solid construction make this one of the best ride-on toys for 1-year-old.
What to Pay Attention to When Choosing the Best Toys for 1-Year-Olds
At this age, kids become more curious with every passing day. They develop so fast that it’s obligatory to encourage their curiosity and help them learn and discover the world. This is where wise and caring parents look for the best educational toys for 1-year-old which can also make noise, move and mimic the surrounding world. Walkers, pull-along toys, vehicles, musical instruments, and lots of other 1-year-old Montessori toys help kids develop and enhance lots of important skills, delight their senses, teach how to behave in different situations, think creatively, and pretend. However, toys have to be age-appropriate!
If you are looking for toys that will encourage mental, emotional, and physical growth, you should mind the following characteristics:
- Toys of bright colors. Child’s vision develops rapidly, and at this age, they would rather prefer dealing with something colorful and bright and learn more from objects of such vibrant colors than pastel ones.
- Toys that move together with them. To encourage movement and mobility, one-year-olds that have just started walking will be delighted at something they will have to pull or push. Practice leads to perfection, so practicing walking with such toys, your child will master this skill pretty fast.
- Toys that teach and practice coordination. As your kid starts grasping everything and exploring stuff, it’s high time that parents stuffed his/her room with lots of different toys that would boost motor skills, coordination, and problem-solving. And here stacking toys and puzzles will help the growing minds do all the job.
- Toys that encourage parallel play and sharing. At this age, little toddlers don’t usually play together, but they like playing by themselves just being near another kid. This is what’s called parallel play, which is the most important and earliest stage of kids’ social development.
- Toys made from quality materials. Opt for 1-year-old wooden toys and those made from non-toxic BPA plastic which are safe and meet and exceed safety standards.
Final Words
No matter how hard it can be to choose the top toys for 1-year-old baby girl and boy, with our list of great toys for girls and boys you can be sure your baby will be amazed and his/her striving for learning and exploring satisfied. Consider what skills you want your baby to develop with that toy, how it can contribute to further education, and whether it is safe to use. Buy meaningful and unique gifts for one-year-old children to make them happy and earning for knowledge.
