First birthday presents

A key point to remember when choosing presents is that although at the moment she is just a slightly larger version of a baby by the time her next birthday rolls around she will be a fully fledged toddler who walks, talks, and most importantly plays with totally different toys to the ones she is currently playing with. It is important to remember this as if you buy a load of toys for a one year old you will have to replace them with older toddler toys in a few months. There are a number of kinds of toy that you can buy to bridge this baby toddler divide and here a few of the best:

These toys are perfect for first birthdays as they will grow with your child. At first she might sit on while you push her around but after a month or so she will start to get the idea to move herself with her own two feet (although most toddlers learn to go backwards first!), by the time she is two she will be sitting happily and zooming around your house and if she has a little friend probably pushing him around as well!. There are a few different types of these toys, they range from small and simple (and much cheaper) ones with no sides (your toddler may have a few falls from the sides of these so keep him indoors for the first few months after he has it) to bigger more complex ones that have a few different options for how they are used. The one shown in the picture for example can change from a rocker to a push a long with a parent handle to a push along for your toddler to ride alone (from mothercare and costs £59.99). There is a huge range of ride on toys to choose from but most toddlers will love them for years to come.

At one (or even two) most children will have difficulty sitting still to just listen quietly to a story being read to them. Touchy feely books make the stories a little more interactive for little ones, keep their attention and most of all get them into the habit of reading and being read to. They are also a lovely way to spend some nice quiet “sitting still” time with your toddler now that he or she is starting to become more active. The best of these books are the “That’s not my...” series from Usborne. They are short so the younger toddlers don’t get bored, they have big and clear writing so that older toddlers will be able to start to follow the words and they have wonderful little patches of different textures like “bumpy” or “furry” which will teach your toddler how to describe what she is feeling. Best of all they are very hard wearing!.

These toys are great for little fingers to fiddle with and pull on. They are pretty simple, some beads stuck on some thick wire that your toddler can pull along, although it may sound boring to us toddlers love it and many will while away their time just pulling one up and down, back and forth. The major advantage to this toy is that it will help your toddler develop more control over her fingers and make her more able to pick up and move small objects and perform more complex movements with her hands. Some of these toys come as part of a larger toy (some have a large cube underneath with other toys attached) but they also come in a much simpler form which is actually just as good for your little one and has the added advantage of being much more portable and taking up far less room in your house!.

If you have ever taken you baby to a soft play area you will know that young toddlers love the ball pits, you can have a mini one of these in your house that your little one will love and that she won’t have to share with other (older) toddlers. You can buy special ball pits that come in various shapes and designs like pirate ships or submarines but you can also just get an inflatable paddling pool and fill it with balls (which is much cheaper and easier to put up and store). The special ball pits will normally cost around £30-40 whereas a paddling pool is somewhere between £5 and £10, a bag of balls is around £5-10 depending on how many you want.