Gifts for a 1-year-old girl — ideas she’ll love

No time for the whole list? These are our four favourites for a 1-year-old girl: the pink Fairy Garden walker by Little Dutch, for the first steps and then for pushing her cuddly toys around; the pink wooden birthday cake, for having a birthday again and again; the pink Miffy cuddly toy of thirty centimetres; and Rosa the cuddly doll, her first doll to look after. Four gifts you can’t go wrong with.

A gift for a 1-year-old girl of around ten euros: a Miffy cuddly toy, a picture book or a ball. Handy when several people are giving something together, or as a small treat on her first birthday.

With up to 25 euros you’ll find a cuddly toy, a doll, a stacking tower or a touch-and-feel book. Everything below has been picked for a 1-year-old girl.

Stacking and knocking down, stacking again and knocking down again: that’s how a one-year-old learns about cause and effect. Stacking cups can go in the bath too, and a roly-poly stacker always gets back up. In soft colours they look lovely in the nursery as well.

The first puzzles are knob and inset puzzles: one piece, one hole, and a little knob that a small hand can grip well. Animals work best, because you can say something about them straight away. A totem of magnetic blocks is the next step: stacking, turning and putting it together differently every time.

A walker gives support for the first steps and then becomes a cart for her dolls and cuddly toys. Choose a sturdy wooden walker that doesn’t shoot away. A tricycle that grows along is the gift for a girl who already walks steadily.

At one, a book is mostly for touching: stroking a touch-and-feel patch, opening a flap, pressing a sound. Choose sturdy board books with big pictures and read them ten times in a row; that’s how a child learns new words. (These books are in Dutch.)

A wooden birthday cake for having a birthday again and again, an activity cube to turn and slide, a car with a caravan to load up: toys a one-year-old does something with herself. It’s the start of pretend play, which really takes off around two.

A first cuddly toy often goes along to bed, to nursery and on holiday for years. Miffy is a firm favourite at this age: recognisable, soft and in every size. Choose a cuddly toy without loose parts that can go in the washing machine.

Around one, the caring begins: a doll gets a kiss, is put to bed and taken along to the table. A soft cuddly doll works better for that than a hard doll with loose clothes. A 35-centimetre doll fits just right under an arm.

A ball to crawl after, a push stick for the first steps, a crocodile that waddles along behind her and a balance board to climb on. One-year-olds mostly want to move, and these are toys that help with that.

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

For a first birthday, something to wear is a lovely idea too: a little dress, an outfit set, a couple of T-shirts, a soft cardigan or warm tights. We’ve gone for size 86 (Dutch sizing, roughly 12–18 months), which fits most one-year-olds until well after their birthday; you choose the size yourself on the shop’s page. Wellies are there for the first steps outdoors, and pretty bibs are needed at every meal.