At this age attention spans are short but there is so much development happening that the right toys can be instrumental in aiding a child's development. This is the age where 'learn through play' really starts to develop and it is a joy to watch. This gift guide aims to provide gift suggestions that will keep a child engaged and allow them to exercise all their newly developing skills.
This is a bit of a risky suggestion and it depends upon how well you know the child's parents. We like noise and mess in our house so we love getting new instruments to play with. One year olds love sounds and experimenting with banging, clapping and occasionally throwing things to see what happens. It also encourages skills like dancing and singing. If you know a child that loves to make noise and you'd like to stay friends with their parents then something like Maracas would be a good option, they are fun but not too loud.
Books are one of the easiest and simplest ways of getting a child to learn. Reading may not be at the top of every parents list but studies show that it makes a huge difference to development, particularly in relation to language and communication and it's never to young to start.
I loved reading when I was younger and I genuinely think my love of books helped me to succeed throughout my education. Iris has definitely inherited my love of reading.
Books that would appeal most to 0-2 year olds are interactive books like the 'That's Not My...' series and rhyming classics like my childhood favourite Hairy Maclary
Basic Play Supplies
I am specifically talking about bubble mix. We go through litres of the stuff and it's the perfect gift, it's something we need, something we'll enjoy and people love to buy practical gifts that will get lots of use. Other basic supplies such as crayons, paper, stickers etc. will all come in handy throughout the year. It may seem strange to gift such items to a one year old but like with books, it's never too early to start encouraging these skills and as they move closer to their 2nd birthday these sort of things are always needed. Another great idea is buying items to use with these supplies, such as protective aprons, messy mats etc. One of my favourite places to stock up on these sorts of things is PoundToy
A Shape Sorter
I think a shape sorter is a must for any toddler. It can teach them so much about hand-eye coordination as well as teaching them about shapes, colours and spatial awareness. There are so many varieties of shape sorter, from the traditional wooden box to all singing, all dancing technological incarnations. We chose one that lights up, talks and has 3 different modes so it can grow with Iris and she can play more advanced games with it as she grows up.
Learning to walk is great fun but there's times when you just need a bit of support. There are many different kinds of walking aids for toddlers but we have honestly had so much use out of this simple trolley style walker. Iris learnt to walk holding this and now, at 3 years old she still uses it to role play shopping, to move books from room to room and as a snack trolley for imaginary ice creams!
A general rule of thumb to follow when shopping for one year olds is if they can push it, pull it, touch it or move it then it's likely to provide them with lots of fun and plenty of opportunities to hone their ever growing skills.
What gifts would recommend?
Thanks For Reading
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Great play and learning ideas, I have always been a big fan of push along toys as they are lot's of fun and fab for supporting baby's first steps xx #MischiefAndMemories
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely gift ideas! We are big fans of the Hairy Maclary series too. Mine was gifted the big treasury collection as a Christmas present when she was 2 I think, and we still read it even now. It just goes to show how timeless some books can be. Thank you for joining us for the #mischiefandmemories linky xx
ReplyDeleteOur youngest is one next month and I've actually been looking for toddle trucks so glad I read this! #mischiefandmemories
ReplyDeleteWe are big Hairy Maclary fans and I think any rhyming book is engaging for small children and enjoyable for their parents too. I'm quite keen on wooden toys to reduce plastic consumption. Thanks for linking up with #MischiefAndMemories
ReplyDeleteThere are some great ideas there. The wooden toys are great as they last so very long #MischiefAndMemories
ReplyDeleteDefinitely bubble mix a huge bottle of it! Musical instruments like a xylopone and maracas they absolutely love to make noise don't they? Thanks for linking up to #ForTheLoveofBlog.
ReplyDeleteThat push along trolly was very popular when my kids were young. They just loced walking around with it lol x #fortheloveofblog
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