Are you curious about what the best 1 year old must haves are? These are the tried and true 1 year old must have toys for toddler development.
Purchasing toys for your toddler can be so overwhelming and if you are anything like me, you want to make sure you are spending your money on toys your child will actually play with and that will help with his development. As a toddler mom myself, I am giving you 1 year old must haves that my family and I swear by.
You are going to learn all about the best 1 year old must haves including 1 year old Montessori toys, toddler toys for development and even practical gifts for 1 year old that you can purchase for another child if you have a birthday party coming up.
This post is all about 1 year old must haves that every parent should know about for toddler development.
5 Main Areas of Development in Toddlers
1. Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are those that require whole body movement and involve the large muscles (legs, arms and torso) to perform everyday functions. The skills also relate to body awareness, reaction speed, balance and strength.
Examples of Gross Motor Skills Includes:
- Standing, walking, jumping, running (core stabilizing)
- Throwing, catching, kicking (hand-eye coordination)
Gross motor skills are not only important for everyday tasks but are crucial for other tasks. For example, your child must be able to sit at a table in order to work on fine motor skills like drawing and writing.
2. Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills involve your child’s ability to use the smaller muscles, specifically in their hands and fingers, to pick up small objects. Mastery of fine motor skills influences the quality and speed of your child completing a task. Many times fine motor skills involve several independent skills to work together to manipulate an object.
Examples of Fine Motor Skills Includes:
- Using a fork and spoon to eat
- Dropping toys in a bucket or bowl
- Using a crayon to make marks on paper
- Stacking objects and knocking them down (nesting cups and stacking rings are good for this)
- Taking things apart
- Brushing teeth
3. Cognitive Skills
Cognitive development in toddlers involves attention, short and long, logic, reasoning and auditory processing. These are the skills needed to think, learn, read, remember, pay attention and solve problems.
Examples of Cognitive Skills Includes:
- Imitate actions and language of adults (ex. Feeding his stuffed animal with a cup or spoon)
- Learn through exploration
- Point out familiar objects and people in books
- Learn how to match two objects together by color, shape and size
4. Speech and Language
Speech and language development revolves around a child’s ability to understand and use language. Children will learn to physically speak at all different times (remember each child is unique and develops at his own pace) but even before he speaks, a toddler can communicate with you.
Examples of Speech and Language Skills Includes:
- Pointing at something to let you know it caught his attention or he wants it
- Learn to point to pictures he recognizes in books
- Pointing to parts of his body if you ask him where it is
- Beginning to say words for the most familiar things or people
5. Social and Emotional
Social and emotional development includes learning how to experience, regulate and express a wide range of emotions. This also involves a child’s ability to interact with others and develop close relationships with other adults and children.
This area of development is important in early childhood as it lays the foundation for the child’s later attitudes, behaviors, academic performance and health.
Examples of Social and Emotional Skills Includes:
- Uses words and facial expressions to communicate his wants, needs and feelings
- Uses the words “yes” and “no”. “No” is a very popular word and your child might actually say “no” when he means “yes”
- Begin to recognize himself in the mirror
- May show jealousy when he isn’t the center of attention
- Actively explore his environment
Now that we know about the different areas of development in toddlers, let’s take a look at toys that can help strengthen these skills.
1 Year Old Must Haves
Wooden activity cubes are so much fun for early toddlerhood. Your child may have been exposed to this as a baby but as a toddler, he will master the various activities on all the sides and have so much fun while doing it.
Develops: Fine Motor Skills
Stacking cups are a great way to teach your toddler how to fit the cups together, stack them up or turn them over and hide things underneath them. This is also a great way to teach colors and they make a great bath toy!
Develops: Fine Motor, Cognitive and Speech & Language Skills
This is one of the first puzzles your toddler will learn how to complete and one of my favorite 1 year old Montessori toys. This puzzle will help your toddler recognize basic shapes and colors and is a great hands on learning tool for matching.
Develops: Fine Motor Skills and Hand-Eye Coordination
You may have these from when your child was a baby but it can be used into toddlerhood too. It is one of the reasons my family REALLY loves this toy. As a baby, your child most likely mastered putting the shapes into the bucket without the lid and dumping it out. As a toddler, he can master fitting the shapes in the appropriate hole in the cover and provides a great opportunity to teach him to identify shapes and colors.
Develops: Fine Motor, Cognitive Speech & Language Skills
This can be used whether your child was an early or late walker because not only does it help with walking but there are lots of toys on the front of the walker for your child to explore and play with.
Develops: Gross and Fine Motor Skills
This is another of the 1 year old Montessori toys that I love! It teaches your child to sort based on the size of the carrots and put them in the appropriate hole.
Develops: Fine Motor Skills and Hand-Eye Coordination
This toy has three modes of play: standing, walking and sensory activities so it is perfect for late baby into toddler aged children. Plus the seat flips up for storage and if your child is anything like mine, then yours will absolutely love this feature.
Develops: Gross and Fine Motor Skills
8. Lacing Beads
The brightly colored beads come in a variety of colors and shapes. Toddlers will progress from threading a bead on the string that the parent is holding to independently holding the bead in one hand and threading it onto the string they are holding in the other hand.
Develops: Fine Motor, Cognitive and Visual perception Skills as well as Hand-Eye Coordination
9. Mega Bloks
Big building blocks are perfect for little hands and teaches toddlers not only how to stack but how to pull the blocks apart too. It is also another opportunity to teach your toddler different colors.
Develops: Fine Motor Skills
This by far one of my favorite 1 year old must haves! It is not only educational but incredibly entertaining for a toddler as he learns to hook, snack, clip and slide the various locks and latches. Plus it provides screen-free time which is always a win!
Develops: Fine and Gross Motor Skills
11. Play Kitchen
A play kitchen is an absolute must in my book if you can afford it. My toddler absolutely LOVES his play kitchen and it truly provides for endless play. There are many different models and versions to choose from but each encourages imaginative pretend play.
Develops: Cognitive and Speech & Language Skills
12. Lovevery Toys
Another great option is a play kit subscription service like Lovevery. In addition to the toys listed above, this is a great option to receive age appropriate toys that will really help your child develop from babyhood through toddlerhood. Lovevery toys are Montessori based and do not include any electronic components.
Develops: A variety of all five areas of development
Helpful to Know:
It is also helpful to know that tantrums are completely normal at this stage.
Your child wants to explore and is easily frustrated when you limit his activities to keep him safe. Plus he does not have the vocabulary yet to explain what he wants. Instead of saying “no”, try redirecting your child to a more age appropriate activity.
This post is all about 1 year old must haves that every parent should know about for toddler development.