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Has anybody else started their holiday shopping? Our son will be two in January, and the main gift he is getting for Christmas this year is a kitchen. The one I wanted went on sale for $160 off normal price (!!) so I had to order it early. (Currently on sale here.) That kicked off my Christmas shopping and I am now done with his Christmas presents, except for stocking stuffers! (Yes, I feel equal parts proud and crazy ahha.)
Even though our son will be two in January I wanted to share my favorite Christmas gift ideas for a one year old. These are all items he was gifted last year that have been well loved all year long! Do you have a favorite gift for a one year old that I've left off this post? Let me know in the comments!
NOTE: 2023 Update. I now have two kids (1.5 and 3.5) and stand by all of these recommendations. Many items my older son still plays with and my youngest loves them all as well. You can't go wrong!
1. Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere Chair: Our main gift to the little man last year was a Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair. Specifically, we purchased the navy with white piping anywhere chair. You can personalize the chairs, but we opted not to so that we could sell it or donate it once he outgrew the chair. These chairs are amazing and it is so nice to have an appropriately sized chair for your little one. Of course, you do not have to buy the Pottery Barn chair. Lots of other stores sell toddler-sized chairs. (Example here where the price is about 50% less than the Pottery Barn chair.) However, we wanted a chair that we liked the look of since it would be sitting in our living room. Additionally, we love that you can take the cover off the Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair and wash it! Regardless of where you purchase a chair from, a toddler-sized chair is a great gift! (We have purchased toddler adirondack chairs for our niece and nephew on the first birthdays in the past.)
2. Alligator Pull Toy Our son was specifically gifted this wooden alligator pull toy, but there are a lot of pull toy options out there. (I think this puppy pull toy is so cute.) We knew we wanted to get our son a pull toy once he started walking because my mom had saved the one we all played with we were younger. All of our nieces and our nephew loved playing with the toy at Grandma's when they were younger. It's fun for them to pull behind them as they are learning to walk! As our son got older this year, he would bring me the alligator and then run away because he wanted me to chase him with the alligator.
3. Melissa and Doug Pull Back Vehicle Set: These pull back cars are still a favorite today. If you pull them back towards you, they will "drive" forward on their own. E thinks its fun to send them back and forth with another person, but will also play with them on his own. Now he likes to call out what each vehicle is, what color they are, and is starting to say what color hat or hair the people riding in the cars have. Highly recommend!
4. Crayola 3ct Washable Palm Grasp Crayons: These crayons are something our son probably really wasn't interested in until closer to 18 months but now he loves them. He asks to color a few times a week! I also love having crayons he can use that are washable because it wipes away easily if he draws outside of the paper. With the egg shape, they fit in his palm nicely so they are easy for him to hold. The recent review for the egg shaped crayons say that they are fragile and break easily, so I am wondering if they changed the formula (or something) because we haven't had any problems and we have had them for almost a full year. If that is the case, some other kind of toddler/jumbo crayons may be a better option!
5. Balance Bicycle: The Balance Bike is another gift that our son didn't get a ton of use out of right at one year old, but ever since he turned 15-16 months he absolutely loves it! He had to grow into it.. when he was closer to one, he would ride it if we pushed him. But now that he can cruise around on his own he is on it all the time. This is the exact balance bike we have, and it comes in 7 colors.
6. Books are one of my favorite gifts. We have books in four different places in our house -- E's bedroom, both of our living rooms, and in the car. If the books are there, he will grab for them. Last year for Christmas we gifted him two books that he loved. The first, What a Wonderful World Board Book, is one of my favorites to read to him. It follows the song we all know and love, but the pictures are so pretty. The second, The Little Engine That Could Board Book, is well-loved by our son. He chooses it a few nights a week before bed. He loves trains so he loves this book! Also check out Open the Garage Door Lift-The-Flap Book if your little one loves "activity books" and cars!
7. Green Toys Car Carrier: Green Toys is an amazing toy brand. Everything is Made in America of recycled plastic. (My son is getting the Firetruck for Christmas this year.) For his first Christmas, we purchased the car carrier. It is so nice because it's basically 4 cars in one. You get the truck (car carrier) and 3 cars that it carries. It is really well made and he still plays with it today!
8. Little Tikes Cozy Coupe: The Cozy Coupe is a very popular first Christmas/first birthday gift for good reason. It has 5 stars and almost 11,000 ratings on Amazon!! You can push your child around in it and then once they are tall enough, they can move themselves in it. Our son has also enjoyed standing behind it and pushing it around too.
9. Puzzles!! Our son received three quite different puzzles when he turned one. The first, Melissa and Doug Jumbo Knob Wooden Puzzle, was perfect when he first turned one. The pieces were big enough and easy enough for him to hold that he could use it immediately. However, at 21 months now, he has pretty much grown out of the puzzle by now. He also received this Wooden Numbers Puzzle. For awhile, he was only able to really put together the rainbow on the puzzle, but for almost two months now he has been able to do the numbers as well. Even though it took awhile for him to be able to use the puzzle in its entirety, it was GREAT for him to use to learn colors and numbers! The last is the Melissa and Doug Vehicle Wooden Peg Puzzle. This puzzle is a favorite today! He had to grow into this puzzle as well but since 16-17 months he has been able to do complete the puzzle. It has also been a great teaching device to learn different vehicle names and sounds!
10. Fisher-Price Little People Caring for Animals Farm: This farm was one of my son's favorite toys when he turned one. He would come home from daycare and immediately go for it! It is a cute toy that comes with the farm, a farmer, and four animals. He absolutely loved it from day one. Now at 21 months he doesn't reach for it quite as often -- maybe once or twice a week. However, when he does gravitate towards it, he will sit for 15-20 minutes with it! He will also take the animals and play with them with different things... putting them on a car, building them houses with blocks, or a new favorite is hiding them behind a pillow and saying "Where did the cow go?!"
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| Christmas Gift Ideas for a One Year Old |
Those are my 10 favorite gifts for a one year old. Things he loved when he first turned one and some things he had to grow into. Hope it helps with your holiday shopping!!
Please note, all links in this post are affiliate links. Has anybody else started their holiday shopping? Our son will be two in January, a...
