25 Best Gifts for One year olds (2023 Buying Guide)

Updated 5th January 2022.

Learning through play is a crucial part of a baby’s development at this age, meaning that gifts for a one year old should, of course, be plenty of fun. But the very best gifts also help one year olds to learn, problem-solve, become more familiar with senses, and develop their gross and fine motor skills. 

At the age of one, they may not be pleading with you to have one of everything on the shelf, but with so much choice it can be extremely difficult to know what to buy for a one year old.  

Is it educational enough? Will they play with it? Is it something they can play for a few years? Will it be worth the money? These are some of the questions and more that we'll answer in this guide to help you choose the best gift for a one year old boy or girl.

Gross motor and fine motor skills 

Gross motor skills are important features of any good toy for a one year old, and the best ones also have one eye on fine motor skills development too. So what are gross and fine motor skills?

What to look for in the best gifts for one year olds

There are lots of great gifts for a one year old to choose from, but the best tend to include certain key considerations, such as:

The 25 best gifts for one year olds

These brightly coloured, uniquely textured balls help to develop your baby’s senses, throwing, grabbing and squeezing skills. The soft, slightly squishy material makes them suitable teethers, too.

These six coloured eggs help a one year old to learn colour-matching, encourage shape sorting, problem-solving and develop fine motor skills. Break open the egg to find the coloured squeaky chick that teaches cause and effect skills.

This is a classic baby’s toy, with five colourful rings that introduces hand-eye coordination, different sizes and the concept of stacking. Its wobbly base also develops their understanding of back-and-forth movement. The smallest ring also doubles as a rattle. 

Another classic toy for babies, this 4” flexible ball is perfect for younger babies learning grasping and gripping skills thanks to its 32 finger holes. As the child grows up, it also encourages learning to throw and squeeze.

This is an excellent introduction to colours, numbers, building and imaginative play. The set includes a buildable train, three wagons, two child characters and a cat. Duplo is specifically designed to be safe for little hands, while building their fine motor skills. Although recommended for 18 months+, it may be suitable for younger 1 year olds who have developed quickly. 

This set of 60 multi-coloured, multi-shaped building blocks offers endless possibilities as it encourages imaginative play and creativity. These larger blocks piece together and come apart easily, aiding fine motor skill development. The storage bag is a huge hit for parents, too!

As a 3in1 toy, this walker from Little Tikes offers excellent features to develop both gross and fine motor skills. It’s a walker, a standing activity table, and a sit and play activity centre. First and foremost any walker is the perfect tool to help your baby start walking and build their confidence. But this also has more than 70 different activities - including spinners, sliders and buttons - songs and sounds.

This farm puzzle set includes a brightly coloured, cartoon-style horse, cow, pig, chicken, sheep and goat. The chunky pieces make them easy to grasp for little hands, while introducing early matching skills and manual dexterity skills.

This activity has plenty going on with sliders, spinners, beads, piano keys, light up number buttons, songs, melodies and even a moving train in the centre. The legs are removable, meaning it can be used by babies who haven’t yet found their feet and helps to teach slightly older ones how to pull themselves up. 

This 5in1 woodland-themed activity cube includes an abacus, cog wheels, zigzag sliders, clock and beads maze. All five activities encourage the development of problem solving skills and manual dexterity. The maze can be detached, creating two separate toys, and placed inside the cube to save space.

This owl-themed multi-musical instrument is a great way to encourage hand-eye coordination and creativity while stimulating the senses. The owl includes a xylophone, cymbal, drums, guiro and two beaters, offering plenty of variety to explore. It also features two small legs to tilt and make play easier.

Another classic baby toy, this set includes an electronic keyring complete with a small mirror for sensory play and 15 songs, melodies and phrases to introduce early colours, sounds and music. It also has three interactive keys which double as teethers and includes playful beads and a spinning disk.

   13.    Manhattan Toy Skwish Rattle

A quirky classic, the Skwish features wooden dowels attached by elastic ties, helping to develop the ‘skwish’ skill as it bounces back to its original shape. It also promotes grasping and cause and effect development along with the individual beads that slide along the dowels. And it operates as a rattle, too!

The chunky pieces on this set make it a great starter puzzle for smaller hands. Each piece is brightly coloured and includes the capital and lowercase letter, a corresponding word and picture on its background. It encourages colour recognition, hand-eye coordination and matching skills.

This set includes three 10cm long, animal-themed wooden cars that feature a clever contour that allows them to be stacked in any order. They’re brilliant for encouraging grasping and rolling skills, while the size and shape poses a bit more of a challenge than many traditional stacking toys. And the easy-roll wheels make them easy to play with on any surface.

This could be the perfect bag if you don’t want to spend much on a men’s baby bag. It comes in cheaper than the rest, and yet is both stylish and functional. It’s waterproof, roomy enough and features dry and wet separation pockets. There are compromises at that price - it’s not machine washable and you’ll need to buy separate hooks if you want to connect it to a stroller - but it’s excellent value for money nonetheless.

This pair of rainbow-coloured jingle bell rattles promote the development of hand-eye coordination and grasping skills while introducing your baby to imagination, creativity and making music. 

This animal-themed set includes a three-tiered ramp with three mini cars designed to flip as they come to the end of each tier. It develops hand-eye coordination, and promotes understanding of motion and cause and effect. The small wheels are held in place by rivets, meaning you don’t need to worry about them coming off and posing a swallow risk.

This is a brilliant, durable and ethically-sourced wooden drum and beater that introduces music and encourages creativity and hand-eye coordination skills. The slits cut into the top of the drum allow it to make a different sound depending on where it is hit, setting it aside from cheaper, plastic alternatives. 

This uniquely-designed set contains 28 individual stacking pieces of different shapes and sizes, a pull-along train, two wagons and five face pieces. The stacking pieces encourage coordination and dexterity, while the pull-along cord promotes imagination and mobility. 

   21.    Fisher Price Corn Popper

Designed for new walkers, the Corn Popper helps to build baby’s confidence walking while having bags of fun. The faster they go, the more the brightly colour balls bounce around the dome which makes it just as engaging as they get a bit older. 

This rainforest-themed jumperoo is packed full of features to keep baby entertained while they bounce away, strengthening larger gross motor skills. The seat spins 360 degrees, ensuring they can reach each element, like the brightly coloured and sound enhanced hide & seek tiger, spinning lizard and sun, bat-at monkey, and swinging frog and toucan.

   23.    Melissa and Doug Shape Sorting Cube

This is a classic shape-sorting activity cube that encourages matching skills, dexterity, problem solving and colour recognition. It comes with 12 different brightly coloured wooden shapes that are easy to grip. The top side slides out providing easy access to the shapes so baby can try again and again.

   24.    TOMY Boon Bath Cogs

The fun, colourful set of cogs spin when water is poured over them, and can result in a perfectly synchronised mechanism, offering something truly unique at bath time. Suction cups stick the cogs to the bath or wall, ensuring plenty of fun without the mess. 

   25.    TOMY Toomies Do Re Mi Dolphins

This set features eight coloured, singing dolphins joined together in a circle by interconnecting rings. Tapping on each dolphin creates a unique note, allowing endless combinations and tunes, and encouraging creativity and hand-eye coordination. It also encourages matching skills as baby drops each dolphin into its corresponding coloured ring, and offers water pouring fun from each dolphin. 

Best gifts for one year olds - stories

There's nothing we love more than seeing dads and babies with their new gifts. Here are some of the stories we've loved and been inspired by.