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15 Gifts for One-Year-Olds

With both Christmas quickly approaching (only 44 shopping days left!) and Hank’s and Wren’s first birthday coming up in January, I’ve been doing a lot of research for fun and educational toys for the twins as one year olds and on. I want toys that will entertain them for at least the next year and toys that will last and not fall apart. The board books will probably not make it an entire year because my kids are really hard on their books and the spines get bent backwards and fall apart, but I’m really into a lot of wooden toys, musical toys, and larger play toys like a play kitchen, teepee, tunnels, rocking horse, and ride-on tricycles.

All of these toys are toys that I’ve either already purchased and given to the twins and are tried-and-true recommendations (teepee, blocks, cat piano, and board books) or are toys that I’ve already purchased and really like the items (wooden camper van, puppets, play kitchen) or plan on purchasing for them (ukulele, ball, tunnels, and scooter) for Christmas and their birthday.

1. “Penguin Says Please” Board Book // How cute is that little penguin? My twins LOVE their books and I love the ones that have little educational stories and great illustrations! There’s also Bear Says Thank You, Mouse Says Sorry, and Hippo Says Excuse Me and I have a feeling that the twins will be getting all four books.

2. Wooden VW Camper Bus Playset // I had several of the Little People sets when I was growing up and I absolutely love this wooden VW Camper Bus that comes with four wooden people (which remind me of the Beetles) and a dog that you can put in and take out of the top (the little surf board top removes). Hank loves taking things out of containers and putting them back in, so I’m sure he’s going to love this set!

3. Rocking Horse // I have my old rocking horse from when I was a kid which I’m going to paint white, add some colorful rocking rails, colorful yarn hair and tail, and google eyes!

4. Blue Monster Puppet //  I play “tickle monster” with the twins using a couple of handmade sock puppets they received as gifts at my baby shower and they laugh laugh laugh at them, so I figured they would enjoy playing with a couple other types of puppets and when I saw this Blue Monster Puppet along with the Pink Monster Puppet, I just had to get them!

5. “Peter Pan” Board Book // I’m a huge fan of all the Baby Lit board books and I get board of reading the same books over and over with the kiddos, so we’re always getting new books and I like that this one is an adventure primer and talks about all sorts of adventures.

6. “Around the World in 80 Days” Board Book // Same as above, but this one is a transportation primer and talks about all sorts of transportation which I have a feeling Hank will be a big fan of pretty soon!

7. Ukulele // We let the babies play with our piano and their dad’s banjo, so we thought we’d just get them their own ukulele to play with. I’m not a fan of baby musical instruments, but rather just getting them some real instruments that they can play with and we won’t get upset it breaks.

8. “Mini Masters Painters” Board Book Boxed Set // There are so many kids books out there with bad art and since their dad is an artist, we’re pretty picky about the books that they get!  As big art fans, I want the kiddos to know who Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, and Matisse are and be able to recognize and appreciate their artwork.

9. Tent & Tunnels and Balls for Ballpit // They play peek-a-boo in their teepee so much that I figured they would LOVE crawling around through these tents and tunnels, so their Nana has gotten them this tent/tunnel set for Christmas along with some balls to make one of the tents into a ball pit!

10. Wooden Ride Along Tricycle // I’ve seen a few plastic scooters that are really cute, but I’m trying to be better for the environment, so I’m going with this wooden ride along scooter tricycle for inside the house. The reviews say that the rubber wheels are ok on hardwood floors, so fingers crossed.

11. Sensory Ball // The babies have these smaller Oballs which they can grab and throw and I’m thinking it’s time for them to get a slightly bigger one that they need to grip and we can roll it back and forth.

12. Teepee // The twins already own this teepee and they have SO much fun crawling in, out, and under it. Hank loves to play peek-a-boo inside it and it’s been a great find! I highly recommend it!

13. Soft Fabric Blocks // The twins already own these blocks – I bought them for the babies when they were a bit too young for them and they have been having fun knocking them down and they are just starting to understand how to build them up.

14. Meowsic Cat Piano // This cat piano is SO much fun, but warning, it can also be super annoying with the original songs. The age recommendation is X+, but babies can play with it, too. They love pushing the music button and making it play cat-themed songs as well as pushing the keys and other buttons.

15. Play Kitchen // This is my big gift for the babies for their first Christmas and while I know they are still a bit too young for it, they will grow into it faster than I’ll be able to put it together, so why not! I thought about going with a DIY hack to the IKEA kitchen, but I couldn’t do much better with a DIY hack than the price of this wooden play kitchen. I love it’s midcentury modern design, the colors, and that it’s a full kitchen with a sink, stove, oven, mini-fridge, and lots of cupboards for play foods!

What are you getting for your one-year-old for Christmas or their birthday? Or what was your one-year-old’s favorite toy? Let me know in a comment because I’m always on the lookout for quality toys that will last!

Still looking for gift ideas? I’ve also got gift guides for Cat Lovers, Ice Cream Lovers, Photographers, and the Palm Springs Traveler!

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