Best Christmas Gifts For 1-Year-Olds

The first year is over and now Christmas can be a truly magical experience for babies just starting to understand the world a little more. But buying for a 1-year-old can be tricky.

The festive period is the best time to gather with family and friends, but they may be wondering what to gift a baby. While it’s a very memorable time for parents, very small children are unlikely to remember much.

So whether you’re looking for a thoughtful present to grow with the baby, a fun educational toy, ways to bond, or a gift that will support baby and parents alike, we’ve compiled a varied list to make Christmas shopping for a 1-year-old easy.

Christmas Puzzles and Games

Puzzles and games make a great versatile gift, ideal for playing solo or with others. They provide entertainment for a 1-year-old as well as nurturing key developmental skills.

Early Learning Centre Wooden Puzzle Cubes & Tray

Looking for a long-lasting, engaging and educational toy? The Wooden Puzzle Cubes & Tray from the Early Learning Centre brings animals to life with a creative and engaging approach to play.

With 6 puzzles to make and find the right cubes for, this set encourages problem solving and fine motor skills. The colourful borders help to indicate which blocks are right for each puzzle, and the sturdy wooden tray neatly contains them all for easy storage after play.

Early Learning Centre Shape and Number Puzzle

Make learning fun from a young age with this Shape and number puzzle. With chunky wooden pieces that are perfect for small hands to grip, hold and manoeuvre, children can learn about spatial reasoning while having fun with numbers too. Sounding out the numbers as they place them can also aid in counting and numeracy as well.

This puzzle is brilliant for developing hand to eye coordination skills and for introducing numbers and shapes like a square, circle, triangle and star.

Sensory Christmas Fun

There are so many sensory toys to tickle a 1-year-old’s senses this Christmas. Dive into a world of sensational fun and explore toys with fun textures, dazzling lights, and exciting sounds.

Fisher-Price Light-Up and Roll Frog Musical Ball Drop

An activity toy that can assist in developing fine motor skills, this fun and funky froggy friend rewards action through playful lights and sound. Drop the colourful balls into the frog’s head and watch them light up and make sounds, so that they can learn causa and effect.

From here, there are four doors to open so your baby can chase the falling balls and discover different ways to play. For more ideas on how to support your little one’s growth and development, check out our Picasso Toddlers: 5 tips to Inspire Creative Play article.

Skill Development Christmas Gifts

These toys aid babies’ learning skills, helping them develop the coordination of small muscles in the hands, fingers and eyes, making everyday tasks easier for children as they grow.

Little Lot Sensory Stacking Blocks

These Little Lot Sensory Stacking Cubes will catch the attention of any curious young mind. With animal designs, numbers, letters and bright colours, these cubes offer endless opportunities for learning and exploration.

Perfect for little hands, they’re lightweight and feature sounds and textures for more sensory stimulation. They can shake the cube for a rattle sound, play with the ribbon taggies, crinkle the cubes, and look in the mirror.

Early Learning Centre Soft Stacking Blocks

This set of Soft Stacking Blocks is a great gift for 1-year-olds, introducing early number recognition, encouraging hand-eye coordination and developing fine motor skills.

Each of the nine blocks has different numbers, shapes, animals and patterns on them for a varied play experience. Perhaps they want to build a tower or find the green duck. Easy to hold and squeeze, babies can enjoy stacking and sorting these cubes.

For more playful activities to help develop fine motor skills, check out our How to Help Your Child Develop Fine Motor Skills article.

Practical Christmas Gifts

If you’re looking for a gift that holds more practical value for a 1-year-old (and parents), baby equipment may be a great choice. With a wide selection to cover all basics, from pure practicality to stylish and sleek, there’s lots to choose from to help support a family this Christmas.

Baby bouncers, swings and rockers keep little ones occupied and provide parents with some much-needed time to get things done. They are a great way to soothe and calm a baby, as well as help with muscle development.

Many bouncers, swings and rockers also come with additional features like lullabies, soothing vibrations and variable swing speeds to offer a comfortable and stimulating place to rest and play. Plus, in a compact size they are easy to move around the house or take on-the-go.

Outside Christmas Gifts

Looking to bring a slice of the outdoors to Christmas? We have a colourful collection of outdoors toys including, trikes, sandpits, ride-on toys and many more.

Sand and Water Tables

Young children will love playing with a Sand and Water Table, where they’re able to get hands-on and creative without making a mess. Build epic sand creations with colourful sand, buckets and tools to help aid with creative learning and sensory development.

Ride-Ons

Ready, steady, go! Help them get on the move with a Ride-On toy. With lots of different push-along cars to choose from, instil a sense of adventure in them from an early age and let them start to experience what the great outdoors has to offer.

From race cars to tractors, these ride-on toys are perfect for beginners to first totter around and learn to balance on their feet. Once they’ve gained confidence walking, they’ll soon be whizzing around with it as a car.

Trikes

For active fun, trikes are a great way for little ones to explore the outdoors on their own set of wheels. With lots of different designs to choose from, trikes are comfortable and have lots of features to help small children move around easily and develop balance and coordination skills.

For more fun outdoor learning ideas for little ones, check out our Nature’s Adventures: Fun Outdoor Learning for Children article.

Christmas Construction Toys

Set imaginations free with construction toys. With some interesting and chunky sets designed for younger children, it’s time to get building.

Mega Bloks First Builders Big Building Bag

Available in both blue and pink, this 60-piece set includes bright and chunky blocks to encourage building and creating their own structures, where they can learn problem solving and develop their creativity. It comes in a carrycase which makes it easy to take the fun with you on-the-go.

Early Learning Centre Wooden Bricks

Create amazing constructions with this Early Learning Centre Wooden Bricks collection. Packaged in a handy tub, perfect for storage, these blocks have developmental benefits like colour and shape recognition, motor skills and inspiring imaginations.

Coming in all shapes and sizes and colours, they provide a wealth of choice to those discovering what they can do with building blocks.

Cuddly Christmas Gifts

Gift your little one a cuddly companion this Christmas with a gorgeous soft toy. They make brilliant playtime and bedtime buddies for a 1-year-old and are the perfect size to take on-the-go.

With familiar faces like Bluey and Peppa Pig to choose from, they’ll love to bring their favourite cuddly character with them everywhere.

Summary

It’s unlikely that a 1-year-old will remember much from their first Christmas, but we hope you’ve found some inspiration for gifts that will make the day special for the whole family to remember.

From practical to educational and cuddly to sensational, there are an abundance of toys that help support a 1-year-old’s development, provide them with comfort and make parent’s lives that bit easier.

For more inspiration this Christmas, check out our gifts page for 1-year-old’s.

Read our disclaimers here.