20 Best Educational Toys For 1 Year Olds from Wicked Uncle

It might be your little one's first birthday, or the child of a friend, either way you will want to get them something special for their first birthday! At this age children have started to play so they will be interested in toys that you bring. Play is the work of the child and these great toys also have educational benefits too. Some help them to develop their gross motor skills or fine-motor skills, others improve hand strength or hand-eye coordination. Read on to find a list of the best educational toys for 1 year olds from Wicked Uncle - a great website to find toys for any age, from 0 to 12 and above!

20 Best Educational Toys For 1 Year Olds from Wicked Uncle

These toys are all gender neutral so suited for both a little girl and little boys. They don't have small parts that could be a choking hazard but it is always a good idea to read the instructions completely and never leave your child unsupervised.

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Animal Alphabet Topple Tower - 6 in 1

This 6 in 1 wooden game is perfect for little people. When they are small they will be happy chewing on and trying to build a tower. As they get older they will enjoy using the dice or the 26 animal alphabet cards to decide which block to move. There are 20 word flash cards to spell out 3 letter words, or see how many words you can make by yourself. Finally, for imaginative play your little one could line the blocks up as dominoes and knock them over or build different shapes with them. Encourage learning through play.

My First Football

This super cute rattle and booties set is perfect for younger babies and will encourage them to try to walk and put one foot in front of the other. Chasing after a ball, throwing and catching it are all great for their physical development and while the booties might get outgrown, the ball should get years of use.

Wooden Piano

I can't tell you how important music is to the development of children. Start early with a musical toy like this wooden piano which will last for a good few years. Your one year old might just bang the keys to make a noise but as they get older they will be able to play along with the six simple melodies or make their own music. This wooden piano even records their song to play back later!

Grow It - My Very Own Garden Set

Imaginative play is great for children's minds and this gardening set is perfect for little hands. Made from durable, soft plastic the pieces are nice and chunky and easy for small hands to grip.

Giant Piano Dance Mat

Although marketed at slightly older children, there. is no reason why a one year old wouldn't enjoy this piano mat. Set it out and they can crawl and toddle over the keys, creating sounds and noises as they do so. They will also be attracted to the bright colors and is a great way to re-enforce colour knowledge in young children. It is one of the best gifts because it will last a few years and is easy to fold up and store so that it won't take up too much space.

Bath Time Flutes

These are another toy that will last for a good few years. My children love bath toys and they are a great way to make bathtime both fun and a learning opportunity. These bath flutes are a great way to distract little ones who don't like the bath and they turn bath time into an educational fun time too. Fill up the flutes to different levels and see how the pitch of the notes changes.

Magic Touch Guitar

Now this is one of the best educational toys for 1 year olds that I have seen for a while! Using new magic touch technology this wooden toy plays realistic chord sounds in 6 different keys with just one tap. It plays regular music notes and also funny sound effects, again this is a toy that will last well beyond that first birthday.

Farmyard Friends

This set of soft farmyard toys make noises as you squeeze them. A really cute toy to play with and to teach your little one about farm animals and the noises that they make. It even comes with a travel case so you can pack them up and take them out with you for distraction while you are out and about and the vibrant colors are visually appealing for little people.

Woodland Music Table

This is such a sweet toy and will be a big hit with young kids. Made out of a gorgeous high-quality wood in pastel colours this toy is just beautiful. Featuring a cymbal, squeaker and percussion scraper as well as a wooden drumstick shaped like a dragonfly with felt wings - use it to play a tune on the bell or bang a rhythm on the removable drum. Perfect for little hands and great for their cognitive development as they learn which parts make different sounds and how to use their motor skills to make the toy make noises.

Smart Sounds Symphony

Using the same magic touch technology as the guitar above this portable sound maker has over 120 melodies and sounds in three different modes, including instruments, colours & animals. A really fun and interactive toy to play, learning about actions and consequences, enjoying music and learning colours and animals, great for sensory stimulation too.

Multi-Activity Trolley - Wooden Walker

Push toys like this wooden walker are brilliant for developing walking skills and also hand eye coordination. One of the classic educational toys for 1 year olds, this one features 6 different activities too, including wooden blocks and a shape sorter so it is a multi functional toy your little one will get a lot of use out of.

My First Noah's Ark

These ten soft toys and toy ark are a great way to gently introduce your child to bible stories. The soft toys are bright and vibrant and have different textures and patterns for your one year old to discover. These make good choices of gifts for one year olds as they are machine washable!

My First Farm

Similar to the Farmyard Friends toy featured above, these are gorgeous soft animal toys and the bonus with these is that they come with a soft house that folds out so that you can play with them. Imaginative play like this is great for developing language skills and for exploring different ways that the animals could interact with each other. This set is the right size for taking out with you so that you can have something on hand to entertain your little one while you have lunch with a friend or sit in the park.

Chunky Peggy Sorter

This durable sorting toy is made from Bio Plastic and has chunky pegs the perfect size for tiny hands and will aid in fine motor skills and dexterity. You can stack the pegs into tall towers, topple them over and sort them into colours and shapes. These are perfect open-ended toys.

Match and Build Blocks

Building blocks are a great learning tool but they can be too small for one year olds who like to put everything in their mouths. Building a tower is a new skill that every one year old should master. These soft blocks are 3 inches wide and have a variety of patterns, numbers and activities on them such as animal heads-and-tails, vehicles and basic shapes. Children will delight in exploring numbers one to ten and the interactive before-and-after flaps.

Berg Go2 - Two in One Ride on

If you are looking for a stellar present for a one year old, this ride on scooter / bike is definitely it. It is lightweight and when your little one is ready for the pedals they fold out so it can be used as a bike. If your little one likes toy cars and rushing around, this will be a great gift and it is also suitable for outdoor use.

Junior Marble Run

My older kids love a marble run and my youngest is always trying to get his hands on it. This junior marble run is nice and chunky, easy to set up and they will love watching the ball fall down the route you make. It is definitely the perfect toy for a child with older siblings!

Daisy Shape Sorter

A shape sorter is an essential for any small child's toy collection and you will always find them in the toy aisle of the toy shop. This bright and colourful shape sorter is the perfect size for small hands, and has space to store all the shapes inside with a lid to make sure that none get lost if you take it out with you.

Woodland Forest Activity Table

This is a multi-faceted toy with different areas for developing different learning skills. Encourage your little one to say their first words, work on their hand eye co-ordiantion and dexterity skills by playing with this together. Tables like this are great for child development and once they have mastered the skills that they require they will happily play with these on their own for a while too which is the perfect way to get them into independent play.

Smartmax START - Magnetic Discovery

Finally, this is a toy that will really last the test of time and is a great choice because of this. The magnetic balls and sticks enable little kids to make shapes, create structures and explore how magnets work. Younger babies can still enjoy play time with these too - they will love trying to make them stick together and develop their building and understanding skills.

I hope that you found this post full of learning toys for one year olds useful. There really are so many wonderful children's toys on the market and Wicked Uncle is a great site to easily explore them all. I really like the special feature on the website where you can input a child's age group / gender / type of toy and it will show you relevant items. I have discovered so many great toys this way, perfect for the baby stage, early childhood and beyond.

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