Gifts for a 1-year-old — first birthday ideas

No time for the whole list? These are our four favourites for a 1-year-old: the wooden 8-in-1 walker, an activity centre to play with while there’s still crawling going on and a walker once the first steps arrive; the Grimm’s rainbow stacking tower, for stacking, knocking down and, years later, building with; My First Animal Book by Little Dutch, with sturdy pages for pointing at animals together; and the Grimm’s rainbow ball, colourful and easy to grab, for rolling and crawling after. Four gifts you can’t go wrong with.

A small gift for a one-year-old, for the Sinterklaas shoe or as an extra with a bigger present. Everything below costs less than ten euros.

With up to 25 euros you’ll find a stacking tower, a picture book, a cuddly toy or something for outdoors. Everything below has been picked for a 1-year-old.

Around one, knocking things down is even more fun than building them up, and that’s exactly right: it’s how a child learns what happens when you let go. Choose big, light blocks and rings that fit in a small hand. The wooden rainbow sets from Grimm’s and Grapat grow along: stacking now, building material and pretend play later.

A walker gives support for the first steps and then becomes a cart for blocks and cuddly toys. Look for a sturdy, wide walker that doesn’t shoot away; a wooden one is heavier and therefore more stable. A tricycle that grows along is the gift for a child who already walks steadily.

A one-year-old mostly wants to move: climbing, crawling, stepping over things. Stapelstein stones are a step and a wobble board in one at this age, and get used well into primary school. Bean bags and a ball are the cheaper place to start.

A spade, a ball and a pull-along cart are enough for an afternoon in the sandpit or the park. They’re the cheapest gifts on this list and often the most used, especially when the first summer of walking is on its way.

A cuddly toy that goes to bed now often stays for years. Choose one without loose parts, soft and washable, and not too big: it has to fit under an arm and come along in the buggy.

A backpack of their own is handy on the go and for nursery: a nappy, a spare pair of trousers, a cup and a cuddly toy all fit in, and a one-year-old proudly carries it themselves. At Studio Bambacht you can have a backpack printed with a name — extra special, and then it doesn’t get lost so easily at nursery either.

A shape sorter is the very first puzzle: which block fits in which hole? At one the circle works, the rest comes later, and that makes it a gift that lasts. An activity table to stand at and a bead frame to slide keep little hands busy.

Around one, a child discovers that things fit together. A sound puzzle with big wooden pieces rewards every right spot with an animal noise, and a puzzle book turns reading aloud into a game (that one is in Dutch). The My First sets from SmartMax have extra-large magnetic parts that a small hand can easily grab and pull apart again: click, and there’s the plane or the fire engine.

A baby memory book is a gift for the parents and, later, for the child: the first words, the first steps, the photos of the first birthday. A lovely gift from grandparents, especially when there are already plenty of toys in the house.

Reading aloud starts with pointing: where’s the cow, what does the dog say? Choose board books with big, clear pictures, flaps or sounds, sturdy enough to chew on for a moment too. Reading a book together is the nicest quarter of an hour of the day at this age.