Gift Guide for a One-Year-Old Toddler

These are my top picks for gifts for a one-year-old toddler. These are all favorites of my one-year-old currently, and things I recommend to people looking for presents to buy for one year olds.

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Toys for Imaginative play. My daughter really enjoys this Little People farm and its noises. It comes with a cow, chicken, horse, pig, and farmer. There is a button that she learned very quickly to push, and it sings and says about four different phrases. They have lots of other Little People sets to choose from too.

Ball Pit. One of my daughter’s favorite things has been this ball pit and the balls. She was able to crawl over the sides so she wasn’t stuck in place, and enjoyed watching us juggle and throw the balls into the little hoop. 

This toddler-sized chair is very adaptable and useful. It comes with straps to attach to a chair and become a booster chair, it folds up small for when it’s not in use, and it comes with a tray. My daughter’s favorite part, however, is that it is toddler-sized. She likes to sit in it when she watches Pooh Bear or when we read books. 

Baby Dolls and Stuffed Animals. At just about twelve months, my daughter started to get very affectionate toward her toys. It is so cute to watch her hug her favorite baby dolls and animals, and share her sippy cup and snacks with them. These are the brand of baby doll she has and accessories you can buy for them too. If you are getting them a stuffed bear for their birthday, consider Build-a-Bear: they have a pay-your-age program. During your child’s birth month, they can buy a bear for the amount of their age (so the bear will only cost $1 for your one-year-old).

Play kitchen and play food. This is not the kitchen my daughter uses but this one comes with accessories (there’s so many to choose from)! My daughter has a very small narrow one, perfect for our small apartment. One day when we get a house, she can upgrade to a fuller kitchen (just like how I’ll be upgrading to a fuller kitchen too!) There’s a huge variety of play kitchens in different sizes, with different accessories, and made of wood or plastic.

I was also able to find a bunch of wooden play food for us in Target’s dollar spot around Christmas last year, so it’s always worth taking a look! 

Lift-the-Flap books. Amazon has a huge arsenal of lift-the-flap books and it can be overwhelming. Lily’s favorites include Dear Zoo, a large board alphabet book, a peekaboo animal book, and a Thomas the Train board book with noise buttons. This is a link to more of our favorite lift-the-flap books.

She also really enjoys looking at pictures of herself and our family so we got her a small fabric scrapbook. We regularly go through and name my siblings and in-laws using their pictures (some cut from Christmas cards). 

Water Table. Lily loves being outside and splashing around in her water table. It’s great for practicing pouring and washing skills. She likes to wash lemons we pick from our tree.

Stickers or Reusable Sticker Pads. Lily enjoys putting stickers on paper and once my stash of old/free stickers runs out, I plan on buying these reusable sticker pads. I have seen several moms recommend them and I don’t want to spend money on stickers that will be used once. 

Dear Santa. This Christmas lift-the-flap book is by the author of Dear Zoo, but instead of a zoo sending animals, it’s Santa sending presents. It’s a fun Christmas-themed book that Lily enjoys almost as much as Dear Zoo (animals are more interesting than toys apparently). 

Membership or tickets to a class or experience. Lily loves visiting the zoo, the aquarium, Disneyland (of course!), parks, and her music class. Little ones are usually free to visit some places up to a certain age but the parents need tickets.