15 Best Developmental Toys For 1 Year Old 2022

Sometimes it is hard to decide which toys to buy for a 1-year-old, it may be confusing as you don’t know which is more appropriate, infant or toddler toys. Studies show that growing babies need to have toys that may help them develop their sensory and mobility skills. Taking this into consideration, we’ve compiled a list of the most popular and Best Developmental Toys For 1 Year Old UK.

Other things to consider is that these toys should be made from non-toxic materials and prevents choking hazards. Children learn a different set of skills and show different interest while growing up, that is why it is important to know and give age-appropriate toys for them to play.

Parents should ideally choose toys and products that will grow with their child, encourage exploration, problem-solving, and spark their imagination. Check out our list of the Best Developmental Toys For a 1 Year Old UK for all the details.

After reviewing about 100 developmental toys for 1 year olds, my team and I zeroed in on 11 that really stood out. These 11 were further put through a series of stress tests to determine the best. We found that:

The best developmental toy for a 1 year old is the Fisher-Price Baby’s First Blocks. This developmental toy comes in the form of a bucket with holes on the lid. Babies can develop their brain and build early identification skills by placing the multicoloured blocks in their respective holes.

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Best Developmental Toys For 1 Year Old UK

#1 — Fisher-Price Baby’s First Blocks

Shape sorters are one of the best kinds of baby developmental toys. Babies can learn how to identify and match shapes by sorting/stacking these blocks. It’s one of the Best Developmental Toys For a 1 Year Old UK

• This best selling developmental baby toy from Fisher Price comes in the form of a bucket with holes in different shapes. The blocks fit into these holes. Repeating this process leads to brain development and helps build early identification skills.

• This toy is suitable 1 year old’s and is extremely safe and easy to handle. For example, the toy has a carry handle to help transport the toy. It is also light, weighing only about 0.4 kg’s.

• It comes with 10 bright coloured blocks that have unique shapes like cylinder, star, cube, triangle and a plus sign. These shapes helps develop the baby’s recognition and other early skills. It is suitable for baby’s that are 6 months and above.

Key Features:

• 6 months +
• 10 bright coloured blocks that can be stacked
• Lightweight
• Helps develop hand eye coordination, recognition and other early skills

#2 — Wooden Maracas

Help your child develop a sense of rhythm with these high-quality wooden materials that are colourfully and vibrantly designed using nontoxic paint materials. These Maracas are one of the most classic and Best Developmental Toys For a 1 Year Old UK.

• It is the perfect toy to capture your baby’s attention with its smooth surface, easy to grasp handle.

• The Maracas can be a great way to introduce your child to start playing musical instruments. And it pretty simple: the baby just needs to hold the maracas and shake them.

• The sound created by the Maracas can develop the baby’s listening and improve IQ.

• These maracas come with gorgeous colour options that can increase the baby’s sensitivity to various colours and can definitely be a meaningful gift for one-year-old,

Key Features:

• Coulorful
• Easy to grasp and use
• Can help develop the baby’s listening and IQ

#3 — Stack up Toys

Most of the time 1-year old babies have a hard time controlling their grasp and release.

• Since they do not have the dexterity and fine motor skills yet, these stack up toys can help them practice exploring, holding, releasing, and placing objects.

• They can stack the pieces upside the town to build a tower or stack in hollow form. These pieces can also be used during bath time. 

Key Features:

• Good quality plastic
• 6 colorful bath cups can be linked and stacked together
• They can be used to pour and strain water.
• Helps build dexterity and motor skills like holding and releasing
• Can be used to develop creativity

#4 — Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles

It is super important to put your child’s safety when choosing their toys. These wooden puzzles are made from high-quality environmental wood materials that are designed using lead-free, BPA and phthalates free water-based paint.

• Its smooth edges are safe for playtime. These brain-building puzzles help improve young boys and girls’ concentration and puzzle building capabilities.

• It encourages the development of their hand-eye coordination and increases their attention span.

• The puzzle pieces are thick enough for your kids to pick and place while also fits their tiny little hands.

• It is also big enough not to be a choking hazard. These puzzles can be played both indoors and outdoors with parents and friends.

Key Features:

• Made from non-toxic materials
• Safe as the edges are smooth
• Improves concentration and hand-eye coordination

#5 — Developmental Bumpy ball

This sensory toy features fun and vibrantly coloured fabrics with different textures to teach your child to explore colours and develop tactile sensitivity. 

• It is safer than a pure plastic ball which makes it crash proof and effectively prevents from bumps when it hits your child.

• The chunky-sized bumps encourage reaching and grasping. It also makes it easier for your child to transfer and hold the ball during playtime.

• The clear plastic end that contains colourful beads can make a rattle noise to help develop their hearing skills. 

• If you’ve ever stumped on a quest to find meaningful gifts for a one-year-old, then look no further cause this one is perfect.

Key Features:

• Helps child explore colors and develop tactile sensitivity
• Crashproof
• Rattle noise improves hearing.

#6 — Electronic Push and Pull Puppy

This playful and interactive puppy will surely be a hit for your kid. It follows your kid around and has music and sounds that can be activated by pulling the puppy by its cord.

• It has three colourful buttons to promote motor skills and its nose flashes a light to attract your little one’s attention.

• It has over 60 songs, melodies, sound and phrases that can help your kid learn numbers, colours, and the different parts of the body.

• Have fun playtime adventures with this push and pull puppy. 

Key Features:

• Colorful buttons and lights
• Over 60 songs

#7 — Classic Wooden Xylophone

Introduce your child to music and help them develop their musical talent by letting them play with this adorable wooden Xylophone. These fun Xyalaphones are one of the Best Toys For a 1-Year-Old.

• It features a long-lasting wooden base and vibrantly coloured one-octave keys that are also perfectly and accurately toned for a great learning musical experience.

• It comes with a music sheet that can help them learn nursery rhyme classics such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

• This music toy is odour free, BPA free and Lead and Phthalates free. It also does not have any sharp edges that may be harmful to your child. This classic toy is still one of the Best Developmental Toys For a 1 Year Old UK.

Key Features:

• Made from wood so it is completely safe and non-toxic.
• Comes with musical sheets of popular songs
• Great for learning music

#8 — Wooden Hammer Toy

This wooden hammer and balls are large enough that there is no need for parents to worry about the safety of their child while playing.

• This pounding toy for 1-year old can help promote their hand-and-eye coordination, improve dexterity, and exercise their muscles.

• The balls are vibrantly painted to familiarize themselves with the colours to improve visual skills.

• This wooden pounding toy is made from high-quality wood material that is safe, durable and is constructed sturdy which can make it withstand pounding without deforming.

• This item includes a wooden house, a child-safe mallet and 4 wooden balls. This is one of the best toys for 1 year old 2021.

Key Features:

• Can help exercise the baby’s muscles
• Improve dexterity
• Made from durable material

#9 — Animal Farm Musical Piano

This colourful and cute animal farm piano can help your one-year-old to recognize different colours and train their colour recognition ability.

• It has a puppy, chicken, lamb, cow and pony keys that can help them learn these animal sounds.

• Made from premium plastic with smooth design, it is environment-friendly, non-toxic, sleek and safe to play with. 

Key Features:

• Helps your child learn with animal sounds
• Made with premium plastic
• Non-toxic.

#10 — Wooden Bead Puzzle Toy

One of the most educational toys in the market is this wooden bead puzzle toys. It encourages a child to move the wooden rollercoaster beads from one end to another by following a specific path of the wire. By far the Best Toys For a 1 Year Old.

• It helps kids develop and challenge their eye and hand coordination.

• This bead puzzle encourages imaginative play because in a child’s mind these beads can be cars, trains aeroplanes or even rocket ships.

• It is also the perfect toy to introduce your child to numbers and basic counting skills.

• This developmental toy has become the standard in pre-school and pediatric waiting rooms worldwide.

Key Features:

• Helps Develop IQ
• Introduces your kid to numbers
• Standard in every Pre-school

#11 — Musical Mat

Playmats help develops key areas such as the sense of sight, touch and hearing. It is also a great avenue for them to improve and encourage movement.

• This musical baby mat with highly contrasting colours can support your child’s visual perceptual skills.

• It also produces a different set of melodies and animal sounds to stimulate their hearing ability.

• The cloth is made from quality fabric making it easier to fold and store when not in use.

Key Features:

• Helps develop sight, touch and hearing
• Stimulates visual perceptual skills.
• Produces various sounds
• Easy to fold and store

#12 — LAMAZE 3 in 1 Airtivity Centre

Lamaze 3 in 1 Airitvity Centre is one of the best toys to get for a one year old toddler. It’s very easy to play with as the table is at the reachable height. The baby can enjoy the light and sound effects easily. 

• This game can be played in lots of ways; on the floor or on the table and by exploring different features of this airitivity centre. Just place it in front of the baby and let them explore the game themselves. 
• There are different sea characters placed on the top that keep spinning, waving and flipping that help the child increase their cognitive functions by encouraging the babies to learn and explore further. 
• It helps the babies to point out fingers and  support increasingly precise and coordinated movements and the entire body movement that justifies it to be a developmental toy. 

Key features: 

• Developmental toy
• Increases cognitive ability in toddlers
• Lights and sounds effect
• 3 in 1 playing ways

#13 — Halilit Toddler Music Orchestra Musical Instrument Gift Set

This is a set of musical instruments that are great for children aged 1 as they’re easy to play with and the sounds help the children stay calm and distracted. 

• This is a set of 5 musical toys with different features that are made with superior quality material, design and are highly durable. 
• They feature chunky round designs that are easy to hold by toddlers and aren’t made with any toxic materials like lead, phthalates or BPA that can harm the child. 
• It helps increase the vital skills of the baby like motor and coordination, creativity, self expression as well as problem solving. 

Key features: 

• Lightweight
• Set of 5 musical toys 
• Free of toxins like BPA, lead etc.
• Increases a lot of vital skills in babies

#14 — Magic Cube

If you wanna teach and educate your child with the help of something fun and different then you definitely need to get this magic cube. It’s one of the best developmental toys. 

• This is an interactive magical cube with different function buttons of 6 sides of it. On the 6 sides there will be alphabets, numbers, music, animal sounds, instrumental sounds, colours etc. 
• It’s equipped with different colour LED lights and glow when tapped on any of it. It increases a child’s learning capabilities, motor functions, dexterity, logical thinking and a lot more.

Key features: 

• Light and sound in the ball 
• Requires battery to run 
• Has alphabets, numbers, music etc.
• Increases a child’s logical thinking and learning capabilities

#15 — Fat Brain Toys Dimpl Duo

This is such a simple toy to have for your toddler as it’s very useful and also can be carried along with you wherever you go. The toy is very easy to use and your toddler will understand what to do just as you place the toy in front of them. 

• The board tablet has 6 unique shapes made with silicone that are easy to tap by the baby. The buttons easily get pushed and popped. 
• It increases the baby’s sensory exploration, tactile learning, shape learning, colour learning, as well as reading skills.
• The buttons are also labelled in braille

Top Developmental Toys For 1 Year Old: FAQs

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Joanna Worthington

Joanna is a writer, poet, stand-up comedian and holds two master’s in arts and history. She founded Discount-age with the intention of providing her readers with solutions to everyday household problems. During her free time, Joanna loves cooking but usually ends up ordering in.