Gift Ideas for a One-Year-Old

Christmas time is lurking around the corner, birthdays happen year-round. Are you looking for some age appropriate gift ideas for a one-year-old? Try one or more of the following:

Books
I have two children. My oldest is 3.5 and my youngest is now 16 months. When my oldest turned a year, he was very much into books. But not just any book, mind you. He adored the lift-the-flap books - larger flaps were most appropriate for him. At this age, a one-year-old's fine motor skills are beginning to improve and they enjoy the fact that they can lift these flaps. Peek-a-boo books were perfect and caught my son's attention immediately. He would turn the pages of these hardcover board books and on each page was a very large flap that he'd lift. A picture lay underneath and he loved this surprise. Lastly, touch and feel books are good for a one-year-old as well. They tend to enjoy feeling the various textures these books supply. For more specific book ideas for your one-year-old you can refer to http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/273930/top_ageappropriate_books_for_young.html?cat=25

Object Permanence Toys
At this age, children have mastered object permanence (the ability to realize that objects exist even when you can't see them). This, paired with the fact that their fine motor skills are improving, lead to them to enjoy toys where they're able to place objects into various holes and predict where they'll emerge. My one-year-old has a toy where you place small balls on top of holes and then use a sort of toy hammer to bang these balls into the holes and watch them come out on the bottom of the toy. He adores watching the balls fall, disappear, and then reemerge and he also enjoys the fact that he's able to bang, too!

Walking Toys
Children tend to walk between the ages of 9 and 18 months, many right around their first birthday. Before they can master these newfound walking skills, they have to practice and both my boys absolutely loved their walking toys. These are simply toys with wheels that the children can hold onto and walk with. My youngest opens and closes every day with his walking toys - I imagine it gives him a sense of freedom as he's able to walk around house all on his own.

Ride on Toys
Along with walking, one-year-olds are trying to master other gross motor skills as well - climbing, bouncing, etc. Because of this, one-year-olds tend to love ride-on toys, especially ones that are just their size. If they happen to be too large, they're unable to reach the floor with their feet when they're sitting on the seat of any given toy. We have one particular fire truck that my oldest son loved and now my youngest is following suit. At 15 months he learned how to move himself backward and now at 16 months, he's beginning to learn how to push himself forward as well. Before he had this ability, my oldest son would push him along the floor much to the delight of both children.

With one or more of these gift ideas, your one-year-old is bound to have some fun!