Up to 1 year, a child needs a small set of toys: a musical mobile, several rattles, primitive wooden toys, objects with balls that can be twisted, a rug with rattles. When the baby turns 1 year old, and he already begins to take the first steps, he needs more complex and varied entertainment and a joint game with his parents. Still, what kind of toys does a child need at 1 year old for harmonious development and a fun pastime?
Items for games with water and sand
Since a child at this age is just beginning to learn about the world and the properties of materials, then playing with sand, water and other similar materials is very important at 1 year old. Such games are not only very entertaining for children, because they can spend hours behind them, but they also develop thinking and help to know the environment.
Toys for water games
Therefore, it is so important to provide the child with interesting and beautiful things. But what kind of toys does a 1 year old child need to play in water?
- Rubber items (sets of small rubber animals: duck with ducklings, starfish, crayfish, octopus, fish, frogs).
Such toys are most often sold with whistles, thanks to which they emit a peculiar whistle. But, based on the experience and feedback of many mothers, it is better for one-year-old children to pull out these whistles, because babies at this age still continue to learn the world mainly through their mouths, and later you can insert them. Rubber toys are already interesting for children at this age: they can also be rolled on water, and they can draw water in them, and then they can be poured and splashed.
- Floating clockwork mechanisms (frogs, fish, ducklings and others, which are so interesting to sort out with their paws and swim in the water).
- Bottles of different sizes and shapes, jars and glasses, buckets, watering cans for transfusion of water from one to another, filling. Such a game, despite its simplicity, is probably the most beloved for small children, and even does not require extra costs from parents.
- Naked dolls that can be smeared, and then washed, bathed and wiped.
Toys for sand and yard
No less important matter for understanding the world for a one-year-old child is sand, but what kind of toys does a 1-year-old child need for entertainment in the sandbox and beyond?
- Buckets, shovel, rake.
- Shapes and pasochki of different sizes and shapes.
- Cars: toys in the form of a dump truck, tractor, excavator.
- Toy dishes (plates, cups, saucers, spoons, teapot, frying pan, pan).
- Wide-necked bottles.
All these items will make an entertaining and informative sand game even more interesting and exciting.
Shaped toys: dolls and animals
Children at this age are already very important to play with the so-called conditionally-shaped objects (dolls and animals). It is best if they are made from a variety of materials (wooden toys, rubber, fabric, plastic), and they must also be of different sizes, colors and textures.
Nevertheless, when choosing such things, it is necessary to follow certain rules so that the game of a one-year-old child is both safe and interesting:
- Although the children's world is colorful and fun, it’s impossible to distort real things. A cat should not be blue or green, and a dog, a fish should not be pink, because a child already at this age remembers everything and absorbs everything like a sponge.
- The size of the toy should be convenient for use by a one-year-old child, the optimal length will be 15-30 cm.
- The most interesting for children of this age are talking and singing toys, and even though the baby still cannot make out the words, he still has fun when he hears that not only the people around him, but also the toys can speak and even sing songs.
- Dolls must be both safe and flexible so that they can be swaddled, set, put to bed, and so on. Well, if the doll has a variety of elements for the game:
- hair with elastic bands and ribbons that can be combed, braided;
- clothing: dress, suit, socks, shoes that can be removed and worn. - It is good if the child has plush toys or soft toys of several pieces of the same name, but of different sizes, colors: 2 cats, 3 dogs, 5 dolls. Then the baby will be able to compare what the differences of this or that animal, or to distinguish that this dog is large and this small.
Are there any differences between toys for girls and boys?
What toys does a child need at 1 year old, based on gender? It is believed that babies at this age cannot yet divide themselves into boys and girls. Often boys play with dolls, utensils, and toys for girls - cars and pistols. After all, the child still does not fully understand the purpose and characteristics of individual objects, but simply needs to take his pens to develop motor skills and even his mouth to learn about the world around him.
At the age of one year, the most important thing for a child is that the toy is new to him, bright, colorful, developing, but safe.
Toys for the development of one year old children
Educational toys for children 1 year old are very diverse and individual for each child. The development of a one-year-old child occurs at a tremendous pace. The main thing in the formation of skills at this age is the development of speech, physical and creative abilities. That is why various objects that are suitable in terms of development are so important now, because the baby learns this world through the game and interaction with his parents.
There are certain educational toys for children 1 year old, which, according to parents, are the most interesting and exciting for kids and should be in the arsenal of every child:
- The pyramid is universal in its use. She will teach you colors, shapes and sizes, as well as help coordinate movements, the baby will understand where the ring is larger and where less. Up to a year, it can be used as a set of rings that can be hung over the crib and called colors.
- Inserts. This toy is one of the most beloved for children. She will also teach colors, the concept of more-less. Such cups can not only be invested in one another, but also build a pyramid from them, which develops all types of thinking of the baby.
- The sorter also trains the child’s intellect well. With it, you can study geometric shapes, colors and learn how to put the desired figure in a cell of a certain shape.
- The ball, despite its simplicity, well develops logic and coordination of movements. You can roll it at first, and then gently throw it to the child, as well as fun to catch the adult so that the baby can laugh.
Intellectual development of crumbs
For the development of speech and communication skills, figures from various materials (wooden, soft and singing toys) and cards with animals, birds, fruits, vegetables, food products will be appropriate. Only to play with them, adults need help to explain and tell. It is better to limit ourselves to so far short but understandable and not distorted explanations (the dog barks “av-av”, the pig grunts “oink-oink”, the cat meows “meow-meow”).
It’s good to teach books before and after the year of the baby, but the main thing is that they be made of thick cardboard, as well as with bright, clear and colorful illustrations. Indeed, now for the kids it is the pictures and your explanations to them that are most important and necessary. Of course, you need to take into account the individuality of the child and not be forced to sit at the book, because one child can sit and listen to fairy tales a year already, and the other will not sit still for a second.
There is no ideal educational toy to develop all skills. The main thing is that you need to look closely at your child and clearly understand what he really lacks, and not forbid everything. For example, often at this age, children begin to open all cabinets and get out dishes, clothes, construction tools. If you have the opportunity, then you need to buy children's dishes, smaller analogs of household appliances, tools for construction and put them in a locker accessible for a child.
Wheelchairs and cars
At the age of one, when the child learns to walk, it is important not only harmonious mental development, but also physical skills. A variety of toy cars will help you with this. For example, such as in the photo below.
- Large cars with a handle for driving and a rope that you can not only sit on to ride your mom, but also to carry your favorite dolls and animals, leaning on a typewriter, and roll it around the rope, dragging it from behind.
- A mini-stroller is a small copy of a stroller for shopping in a supermarket with four wheels. Children, as a rule, are very fond of playing with her, because you can not only roll her around on the handle and train in the first steps, but also roll stuffed toys, toy fruits, vegetables and other important little things.
- Wheelchairs on sticks help kids to walk thanks to distracting maneuvers. They can be in the form of animals, helicopters and just wheels, but they well develop balance and coordination of movements.
Musical toys
Musical and singing toys also have a positive effect on the development of babies' abilities, and spending time with them is very fun and exciting, just pay attention that the sound level of such funny little things does not exceed the norm for a children's body. There is a fairly large selection on the market:
- Musical instruments (piano, guitar, drum).
- Xylophone for children. It is very easy to use: the light movement of the stick on a colored plate extracts a beautiful sound, and a certain sequence of taps creates a beautiful melody. It is not only fun and interesting to play with him, but the xylophone also develops musical ear and sense of rhythm well.