Christmas Presents for a 1-Year-old

Updated on November 13, 2007
S.R. asks from McKinney, TX
18 answers

Hi ladies,

Our little girl just turned 1-year-old and we know this Christmas is going to be fun! Even though last year was technically her first Christmas, she was only 2 months old, so this year feels like the first one as far as shopping for gifts and such. She's kind of at a transition between baby toys and stuff for "toddlers." I want to get her some special, fun toys that she will be able to play with for awhile. She's been walking for a couple months now, almost running, is very smart, independent, loves music & dancing, growls & squeals at animals, loves & pats her babies, and loves pulling every single article of clothing out of her drawers and every book off the bookcase (which she then proceeds to read "da da da... da da da...")! I was thinking a play kitchen, and even though she might not know exactly what to do with it, I know she'd enjoy opening and closing the doors and taking stuff off the shelves inside... but my mom just bought her a pink retro kitchen set from Costco, today, so now I'm back at square one!

What have y'all gotten for your new-toddlers that they loved? What have you gotten that you were super excited about that didn't quite hold their attention?

I would love any feedback. I just don't want a bunch of stuff she won't play with. And I want it to be somewhat special, since its somewhat of a "first" Christmas.

Thanks!
S.

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S.Y.

answers from Dallas on

My 15 m/o son LOVES to play with his sister's play kitchen, so I think that will work out great. My daughter (almost 5) has always been very girly-girl, so when she had her first Christmas (also her first birthday) we got her a Disney Princess play vanity with the play makeup and stuff. Dress up clothes are great if she knows how to dress herself yet (I don't think my daughter did...) Play jewelry is good... Maybe a couple new movies? More books (I'm a book addict...)... A sandbox if you find one on clearance?

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T.W.

answers from Dallas on

Hi S.
Happy Holidays to ya. My 16 month old LOVES her SmartVille 1-2-3 Treehouse and her SmartVille Alphabet Train Station. She has had them since last Christmas and still plays with them daily. Both come with and identify lots of animals and play music. The Train Station helps teach the alphabet, plays music and even has a clock. VTech makes them.
She also LOVES her Baby Einstein "First Signs" video. She has learned lots of new words and is doing most of the signs on the video too. They give lots of kisses in the video and she loves to give kisses even more than she did before.
Have a fabulous Christmas!
T.

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A.O.

answers from Sherman on

Our little ones both prefered pulling out the tissue paper to gifts. We bought them one gift and then let them pull tissue out of numerous boxes and bags.

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R.T.

answers from Dallas on

The Play Kitchen is actually a great idea. My one-year-old loves her big sister's kitchn. Since someone has already purchased that, you could get the grocery cart and a bag of play groceries. My child loves that too. I've seen the cart at KB Toys and Walmart. I have seen the groceries at Target, but don't know if they have the cart.

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

Mine LOVED the sing along stage for awhile. And the Bounce and Spin Zebra. He still plays with that one ocassionally.
At 1, his favorite gift was a mickey mouse airplane that he sat and rode around the house on. He could also push it and put things in the little storage bucket. But that may not be as fun for a little girl. Maybe she'll like this one? http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2341&e=detail&...
And girls tend to favor dolls and stuffed animals so maybe one of those first doll kits?
Or that rocking unicorn?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2323808
Let me know what she ends up liking as my next baby is a girl and the only experience I have so far is with a boy! ;)

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R.N.

answers from Dallas on

Hi S., my son is the same age also. For his birthday we got him a little tykes push car. Not sure what the exact name of it was but it is Little Tykes brand. It is red and has a yellow canopy on the top that can go up or down. It has a big handle on the back for us to push them around. The floor board will later come out and they can push themselves around. It also has buttons w/sounds and stuff they can do while they are steering. my son really loves it a lot. We walk all over the neighborhood w/it. It was around $65.00 at Toys r us and well worth it.
R.

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C.C.

answers from Amarillo on

Check out the children's nativity set. She can play with it, and it won't break. It is something she can keep and pass down to her children and learn about the true meaning of christmas and Jesus's love. Go to the web-site below to see it:

http://www.blessedtoys.com/cgi-bin/xlite/modules/shop/bin....

MOF50538 Product Name: Tales of Glory Nativity Set
Amount: $24.99
Description: The Nativity:
“A long time ago, the Son of God was sent to Earth to be born as a tiny baby named Jesus. It was a very exciting time!” (Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-2:23; Luke 2:1-39)

Children can make this story come to life with our interactive “Nativity” play set, featuring everything you need to help your child learn about this fascinating Tale of Glory. Set includes a “Birth of Baby Jesus” mini-storybook and 17 PVC pieces (Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus in manger, King #1, King #2, King #3, Angel #1, Angel #2, Shepherd #1, Shepherd #2, male camel, male donkey, male sheep, female sheep, stable, tree, and a barrel of hay).

Regardless, it will be a very special Christmas, take lots of pictures, they grow up so fast! Enjoy.

http://www.blessedtoys.com/members/C.

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B.L.

answers from Beaumont on

The Bounce and Spin Zebra is a GREAT gift! My daughter got it for Christmas last year (she was almost 9 months old) and still uses it to this day (now 19 months old)! Another good one is a ball popper that she can pull/push, but they're pretty annoying :) I can't think of what they're really called, but they sort of look like a tiny lawn mower and when the wheels turn the balls inside pop around. We also got her a Laugh and Learn Learning Home. Everything on it makes some sort of noise or sings a song, and you can switch between two different learning modes. It's really neat! Oh, and the big plastic Radio Flyer wagon (the one with seatbelts and 2 seats) is great, too! Her grandparents keep this at their house and take her on rides through the neighborhood each weekend. She's gotten a lot of use out of it already, and we're nowhere near done with it! Books are always good, too!
I hope this helps!
B.
____@____.com
www.themomteam.com/bleboeuf

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D.O.

answers from Dallas on

My twins were in a similar situation. They were about 6 weeks old at their first Christmas. For their second Christmas, we got them sturdy toys that would last a while, things they could grow & learn with. A major consideration was that the toy would stimulate their minds. A play kitchen sounds like a great toy!

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S.D.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter was 10 months old her first Christmas, and we WAY over did it. All we ended up getting for ourselves was a toybox full of toys (never touched or broken pieces) that she was not interested in. Over the years (she's 5 yrs.old now) we have cleaned out the toybox time and again, and some of those toys from that first Christmas keep resurfacing!LOL
Anyway, the ONLY thing we got her on that first Christmas that has proven to be AWESOME since day one and going was a Little Tikes Wagon. We have definetely gotten our moneys worth with that one. It grows with them through the years, and when our second child came along, we could transport both of them in it! We go on walks in our neighborhood, use it on holidays like 4th of July, take it to the Zoo, etc. Great investment, and I am sure she would love it!

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D.S.

answers from Houston on

A small slide will last many years. We got one for my first born and she used it all the time. My twins came along 3 1/2 years later and they used it when they started crawling until the age of three. So we got six years out of this slide. It was a great purchase.

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E.H.

answers from Austin on

The best "big" presents I got for my daughter for her first Christmas were:
1. The jump and spin zebra
2. The Kangaroo Climber (we keep it in the house)
She still plays with both of those things every day (she's going to be 2 in December,) and her friends love to play with both those toys when they come over. She's just now getting into pretend play so we're going to get her the kitchen this year. I can't wait!

Hope this helps.
E.

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B.W.

answers from Dallas on

Hi S., Let me tell you what I'm doing for my one year old Grand daughter. I'm making her first First Christmas Tree. They are small I'm doing her's using a white tree decorating it with Pink ball and pink ballerina bears, tiny lights and other pink decorations. Around the bottom are diapers and I cover them with white shreader paper and it looks like snow and add a larger bear of course I can make with any decorations you would like.Her mother is going to put it on her table next to the big tree. I make these along with diapers cakes and more. Please check out my web site diapercakesbybetty.com and give me a call
###-###-####
Thanks B. West

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S.

answers from Dallas on

Yes, my 1st was born in Oct too so the 1st Xmas wasn't into the toys yet. My are age 2 and age 4 and the toys that had there attention the most was music and sounds. Vtech and leap frog has alot of toys. We had a Vtech piano and leap frog had 4 piano keys and teaches ABC 123. They both loved it. I would look for toys 12 mo-18mo for her age. We got our daughter her 1st baby at 10 mo for xmas but she didn't know what to do with it. But last xmas she was 18 mo and she loved Baby Dolls.

We had gotten a little red wagon and the both have pulled that little wagon everywhere.They put anything in it.

Take her to Toysrus and try different toys and see if any she likes. Thats also a good way too.

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C.P.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter LOVED playing with "Little People" by Fischer-Price--she would play and play and play for hours. She had the little doll house, the school bus, a jungle, etc. etc. They're age rated for 18 mos & up, I think, but she played with them from about 12 mos on. She still played with them up until she started kindergarten, and beyond!
(she might even still play with them at 9 years old if we had not given them to a friend with a younger child! :o) )

L.A.

answers from Dallas on

These little spy bags are great for toddlers:

www.Bumblebeebaby.etsy.com

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J.J.

answers from Dallas on

My son loves his Playskool Busy Ball Popper. I think the recommended age was 9 months+. We got it when he was around that age and he still plays with it almost every day (he'll be two next month.) It is always a huge hit at playgroups with the girls too. Kids just seem to love it. He also loves his Mega Block wagon. Like your daughter and most toddlers, he has a blast taking blocks out and tossing them back in over and over. Again, he's played with that just about every day all year.

As others said, the Red Pull Wagon is a favorite also, especially if you live in a neighborhood you can take nice walks in. I have the Radio Flyer one.

I got him tons of books for his first birthday (mostly from Half Price Books - kids don't care if they're used!) Some he loves, others he doesn't care for. If you buy a variety she may surprise you on what she takes to. For example, one of my son's favorites is "Baby's Book of Nature." I'd never have guessed he'd like that one so much. It's a great age for you to start seeing them really develop their own personal tastes rather than just what we like. I did the same with DVDs. If you aren't opposed to TV time, there are some great educational DVDs out there as well as the classic kid TV.

You can also consider enrolling her in a class such as The Little Gym or Kindermusik, etc.

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L.I.

answers from Dallas on

Tupperware has some great classic toys for little ones! I don't know about you, but I am so nervous about toy shopping with all the toy recalls going on! Tupperware has some safe, fun toys from a trusted company that does not cut corners! I love the Shape-O toy and the Kids Mini Party Set - I have an almost 3 year old and she is getting both of these for Christmas - either would be fun for a 1 or 2 year old too! I am a tupperware consultant - if you are interestd in any of these check out my website at www.my2.tupperware.com/laraiezzi. Happy Shopping!!

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