Best Toys for 1-Year-Olds 2025

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Choosing toys for a 1-year-old can seem like a big task, but here’s a tip: sometimes, it’s the simplest things that bring the most joy. In fact, you might find your little one having just as much fun with a cardboard box as they do with the latest toy! At this age, kids are exploring their world with curiosity, so the best toys are open-ended ones that encourage them to use their imagination and try new things. Think about toys that grow with them, allowing them to discover something new with each playtime.

What’s great about toys for one-year-olds is that they don’t need to be complicated. The best ones let kids explore in their own way, whether that’s stacking, rolling, filling, or emptying. They’re all about learning through play, building motor skills, and giving toddlers the freedom to invent their own games. So, let’s look at some fun, open-ended toys that are simple, creative, and guaranteed to keep those little hands busy!

Why You’ll Love These Toys

You’ll love these toys because they’re designed to keep play open-ended and engaging without all the bells and whistles. Each toy encourages curiosity and imagination, while being durable enough to handle enthusiastic little hands. Plus, they’re perfect for letting toddlers grow, discover, and play at their own pace!

Best Toys for 1-Year-Olds

Hape Pound & Tap Bench With Slide Out Xylophone

Baby Einstein Magic Touch Wooden Piano

With the delicate touch of her little fingers this piano will let your baby create thousands of different songs. Made from wood, this piano toy features magic touch technology – no buttons or keys needed Two modes of play give your toddler the ability to make her own music or play along with classic melodies. She will practice color coordination by matching the color-coded notes on the sheets to the keys on her piano. But this toddler toy is not just for kiddos — join her at the piano bench to have just as much fun And do not worry about waking little brother or sister.

Boon Pipes Building Bath Toy Set

Sorry about the plumber’s crack. And you never thought leaky pipes could be fun. But these makes bath time a scooping and pouring extravaganza. These fun baby toys come in five shapes that can be used individually or put together to make a chain. They suction to the wall so the water goes back in the tub, not on the floor. Real plumbers, take note.

Slide N Side Crawl Tunnel

What’s Inside? Soft Feely Box

Fun, put-and-take out sensory game. Fun for babies and toddlers – ages 3 months and up. One reviewer called it a “great investment.”

Felt Puzzle

A cozy, fuzzy twist on classic shape-matching puzzle!

Unique Sensory Toys: Whirly Squigz

Stick them to any smooth, flat, non-porous surface – like a bathtub wall, a tabletop, or a window – give them a spin! A fun sensory toy.

Wooden Blocks

My twins love building and creating with these wooden blocks. I love that they come with a handy container with a shape sorter lid, making clean up fun and educational. These blocks are also great for encouraging creative play and hand-eye coordination.

SmartMax My First Animal Train

A 22-piece SmartMax set that enables kids to create a full, moving, 4-car train along with three fun animals. The large, soft, friendly-to-the-touch animal pieces come together easily on the SmartMax magnetic bars, while the oversize train components are simple to build and play with. The result is a seamless play experience that offers hours of play and story value.

Farm Toys

Let there imagination blossom and grow with this amazing farm animal and barn toy. Animals are all over the books and songs your 1 year old is exposed to this toy will allow them to combine what the hear and see with play!

Toy Wagon

This was my 1 year old’s favorite toy. She loved carrying everything from flowers to sand to dolls inside of it.

Sarah’s Silks Mini Primary Playsilk Set

Set of 6 primary playsilks includes: red, orange, green, purple, blue & turquoise. Inspired by nature and made to enhance children’s natural capacity for imaginative play, Sarah’s Silks have been a staple in families’ homes and in Waldorf and Montessori schools all over the world for more than twenty five years. Young children love the vibrant, beautiful colors and soft, tactile sensation of our playsilks. Playsilks are the perfect toy to encourage open-ended play–your child will love incorporating them into dress-up, make-believe scenes, kitchen play, physical activities such as yoga, dancing, and juggling, and so much more! For children 3+.

Toddler Tricycle Bike

These tricycles became the most played with outdoors. These are great for building gross motor skills.

Musical Instrument Toys

Love this piano, xylophone and shape sorting game all in one! Play the xylophone by using the baton or by pressing puzzle shapes. A great toy for combining music with easily math and fine motor skills.

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Every 1 year olds loves to bang pots and pans. With this set they can still bang but it will sound a little bit more musical!

STEAM Toys

These balloon powered cars and toys are a great way to introduce

Mega Bloks

Mega Bloks are a great starter building block for little hands. There are also tons of other unique ways to play with them. Check them out here.

Activity Center

This is a wonderful toy for 1 year olds but the best part it that older kids love playing with it as well.

Shape Size Sorter

This Montessori sorting toy is great for developing early math as well as fine motor skills.

Toy Car Ramp

Because watching cars going down a ramp is fun for every toddler. This fun toy is a great introduction to gravity and cause and effect!

Trucks and Tractors

These little trucks kept my little guys entertained more weeks! They are the perfect size for indoor or outdoor play in a sandbox!

Scrub ‘n Play Smart Sink

I wish I had purchased this little sink for my twins. Its compact, bright and colourful and a great toy to take on road trips to the cottage or vacation home.

Snuggle Doll

Love these snuggle dolls for boys and girls!

Animals

A good set of animals is a toy that will grow with your 1 year old. They will have these for years to come!

Push Toy

Have a little walker? These push toys are a great way to get your walker or cruiser moving!

Climb and Crawl Set

This crawling set is perfect for 1 year olds learning to walk or crawling, tumble and play on!

Stacking Cups Toy

I love the natural colour of these stacking cup. The options and ways to use these are limitless!

Jumbo Knob Puzzles

These puzzles with jumbo knobs are great for little hands. Entertaining and wonderful for developing multiple fine motor muscles.

Sensory Balls for Kids

Let your 12 month old explore these colourful balls with different textures for tactile exploration and sensory development.

More Toy Guides for Every Age

Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers

There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!

But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.

Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.

Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!

These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!

Click here for more information: Play2Learn

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

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Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids image

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.

350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.

Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.