Top Gifts for a One Year Old

01/22/2014

This past weekend we celebrated my daughter’s first birthday with a big bash! A bouncy castle (mini one), free animal rides (on a stuffed ladybug), and a professional cake we made from scratch that has now spruced up my resume (cake decorator, why not?!)!
It was a beautiful day, but it was the family and friends that made it memorable. That and the gifts. Okay, not the gifts, but it was such an interesting thing to see the various gifts given for a one year old.
My aunt and uncle bought her a race track and race car. She LOVES it. She’s not crawling yet, but she races the car around the apartment giggling at the sounds. A sleep sack. Yes, that one came from a mother of two (very useful)! Books – honestly you can never have too many books in a child’s library (Her first Winnie-The-Pooh and Green Eggs and Ham). Clothes – and the cute, matching outfits too (hello baby jeggings!). Imaginarium foam building blocks (more chewing than building, but it will come) and a case of diapers. How fantastic is that?! Diapers. Yes that one came from a mother of three, and grandmother of five. Thanks Oma!
She also received some money, which had me wondering what are some of the best gifts to give a one year old? She does have lots of toys, but her relatives out east wanted us to buy her something fun, so I happily obliged.
I contacted Parent Tested Parent Approved for their suggestion on top gifts for one year olds. After all, the company is based on feedback from parents like you and me. If anyone should know, I would think they do. So they gave me a list of five toys. And not just regular toys. Award winning toys. They are as follows:
1. Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm (12 months +)

Product detail

With fun animal sounds all around and plenty to do, little ones will discover what a busy place the farm can be. Then, as toddlers grow, they’ll learn about life on a farm that’s just their size, with Farmer Jed and his animal friends! Perfect for kids who are learning the names of animals and the sounds they make. They’ll love all the stories their imaginations can dream-up with a busy day on the farm!
2. Playskool’s ABC Adventure Elefun Toy (ages 8 months +)

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Little ones can learn to build vital connections between first words, sounds and the alphabet with this toy! The adorable ELEFUN character can teach infants 100 first words through 75 sounds effects, tunes and activities! With one easy press of the trunk, scroll through the images to start the play! When the image stops it will light up and the ELEFUN character will say a related word and phrase followed by a sound associated with the image. With this and even more learning fun young boys and girls will be amused and educated for hours with this one adorable toy!
3. Big Hugs Elmo (ages 18 months +)

http://ptpa.com/product/big-hugs-elmo/
Little ones are sure to fall in love with Hasbro’s first feature Elmo toy that can hug them back! When tots give their red furry friend a hug, Elmo will wrap his arms around them to show how much he loves them! This cuddly 22-inch lifelike Elmo has flexible arms and a soft head. He sings a sweet song about hugs and a bedtime lullaby, and encourages pretend play. This all new design makes the HIG HUGS ELMO Hasbro’s largest, cuddliest, most lifelike Elmo interactive plush ever!
4. Vtech Alphabet Activity Cube (9 – 18 months)

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An interactive learning cube that has five sides of fun to discover! Little builders will love the 13 building blocks that also teach the alphabet. The blocks can be stacked on the top of the cube or they can be inserted into the slot on the electronic side to learn more about each letter. The electronic side also features five piano keys, a number keypad, and telephone. Other sides of this electronic learning toy feature fun mechanical elements such as a peg maze, put-and-take holes that lead to a storage area, sliders, gears, a mirror and more! Learning has never been so much fun!
5. VTech Go Go! Smart Wheels Playsets (1 – 5 years)

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Miles of learning fun! Each set comes with different track shapes that let you reconfigure this set or connect to other Go! Go! SmartWheels playsets (sold separately). Kids love the SmartPoint technology and how it recognizes and responds to SmartPoint vehicles with sound effects! For hours of creative and imaginative play, teaching cause and effect and other important learning skills. Every single Go! Go! SmartWheels playset features VTech’s unique technology so the add-on options are a great way to keep this toy a favourite!
It was a good list, but I still wanted more ideas. So I went to the forum. Mothers Opposed to Boredom here in Calgary. Lots of good ideas like:
* Train sets from IKEA (can’t beat the price point!)
* Usborne Touchy Feely Books (My daughter has a few of these, and she LOVES THEM – that and the flap books)!
* A Ball Pit – who doesn’t love a good ball pit!
* A box of tissue – admittedly my daughter just found her first box of kleenex and opened a whole new world of joy. And a whole new cleaning project for mommy:)
* RESP Money – My parents gave my girl money for her education savings plan – honestly this is a very good, thoughtful, practical gift. Two thumbs up!
* Melissa & Doug Puzzles – Must give these a try …
So in the end, it wasn’t me who decided what toy she got with her birthday money. My daughter decided what she wanted. It went a little something like this … (side note: this was BEFORE I read the list from PTPA or got any feedback).
We were at a toy store and I put my daughter down to do some browsing. She was very attracted to the four storey smart wheels playset, which was a little too large for our apartment. Then she made her way down the aisle and stopped at a massive toy. At first I thought absolutely no. This thing is too large. We have enough little toys that make loud noises, we don’t need another one. So I picked her up and we went to another area of the store. We played this game not once. Not twice. Three times. Always going back to this block.
At one point another mother with a toddler wandered by and gave me the sympathy nod. We have one of those too, she said with a knowing smile.
So I picked it up. Paid for it. And now I listen to the alphabet all day long. As well as manoeuvring around little alphabet blocks! It turns out, it was the VTech Alphabet Activity Cube (as listed above) and it is by far one of her favourite toys. Lots of things to do, play with, throw, eat, bang and smash. Might be a little large but it’s what SHE wanted for her birthday.
What did you get your little one for their first birthday? Comments below …
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For more information on toys and recommendations go to PTPA:

PTPA – Homepage

Our fabulous sponsors at Fisher Price can be found here:
http://www.fisher-price.com/en_CA/index.html
To order Usborne books contact Michelle Mericle:
gmmericle@shaw.ca
www.usborneonline.ca/michellemericle