Abby Barnes, M.S., CCC-SLP
With so many baby toys out there, it’s hard to know which ones to pick for your toddler. While toys don't need to be fancy or expensive, some types are better for keeping 1-year-olds busy than others.
Whether you’re shopping for a birthday present for a 1-year-old or just looking for a new way to entertain your toddler, you’re bound to find something on this list of best toys for 12-month-olds. Our speech therapists explain why each toy is recommended, as well as how to use it to promote your child’s speech and language development!
1. Dump trucks
We’ve found this Drop and Go Dump Truck to be a crowd pleaser among 1-year-olds. At this age, babies are learning to use objects more purposefully. So instead of simply banging toys around or putting them in their mouth, you'll see your child starting to use toys for their intended purpose.
This toy has balls you can push into a slot. The balls then go in the top hole and pop into the bed of the dump truck. Toddlers are often so surprised by this that they want to do it over and over again, trying to figure it out!
Play is a huge part of overall speech and language development. Cause-and-effect understanding is one example. With this toy, toddlers are learning, “If I push this ball in, it’s going to come out the back.” Cause-and-effect skills are needed for communication, too. Essentially, kids begin learning, “If I make a gesture or say what I need, I can get what I’m asking for.”
2. Touch-and-feel cards
Check out these My First Touch and Feel Animal and Things That Go cards. These adorable cards feature single pictures to help your child focus on what you’re talking about. Your child will love looking at and touching each card you pull out.
Not only can you teach your child the names of these animals and vehicles, you can help them with speech sound production by modeling the beginning sounds of each picture. You can also focus on teaching the sounds that these animals and vehicles make. Imitating sounds is a major stepping stone before saying first words.
This is also a great opportunity to practice words like “out” and “in.” Babies love to take things out, so help them say “out” while they take each card out. Then help them clean up and model, or say, the word “in.”
3. Barnyard toy
If you need a new take on an animal toy, your baby (and you!) will love this one from Melissa and Doug. This barnyard stack-and-drop toy is perfect for entertaining your 1-year-old while helping them learn new language concepts.
Your child may need some help at first, so show them where each of the disks with the painted animals go. You can drop them in the top section and watch them come out the side or down at the bottom. Open the doors so your child can see where they go.
You can also stack the animals up to build a tower. Let your baby knock them over. React with big excitement, saying things like “Wow!” or “It fell!” This is great for teaching cause-and-effect relationships, as well as building your child’s joint attention skills.
Joint attention is when two people pay attention to the same thing at the same time. Purposeful engagement during play can't exist without joint attention. And joint attention is needed for purposeful communication, too. That makes it an important building block for your toddler’s language growth.
4. Puzzles
Puzzles are the perfect activity for your 12-month-old. Try some puzzles like this one with pictures your child will like, and practice related vocabulary words and speech sounds. Let’s say your toddler grabs a puzzle piece with a picture of a blue bird. You can model the word “blue” and emphasize the /b/ sound: “B-b-b-bird.”
You can teach new words by modeling them for your child many times, in lots of simple sentences. Let’s say they grab a puzzle piece shaped like a cat. You can model “I see the cat! The cat is white. The cat has a tail.” If you feel a bit like a broken record, you’re doing it right! This repetition gives 1-year-olds the opportunity to hear words frequently, then eventually to repeat them.
5. Poke-a-Dot books
While any children’s book is worth trying with your little one, we’ve seen first-hand how much toddlers love Poke-a-Dot books. In the middle of each page, there’s at least one dot that the child can pop. It’s similar to bubble wrap, but these bubbles can be popped again and again. The plastic pushes through to form a bump on the other side of the page, giving your child lots of opportunities to “poke” the dots.
Read the book and talk about what’s on each page. Name the pictures, and encourage your 1-year-old to try to repeat after you. If they aren’t repeating any sounds yet, have them simply watch and focus on your mouth movements. Then, before turning the page, have your child poke the dot. You can say something like “Pop!” or “Poke!” in an excited voice. It’s sure to get lots of giggles from your baby, and they may try saying the word, too!
6. Playskool Busy Ball Popper
OK, don’t shoot the messenger–this next toy makes a lot of sounds. And we know that that can get annoying. But we think this toy is worth it!
The Playskool Busy Ball Popper keeps toddlers entertained for long stretches. You place the ball in, it goes down the tube, then air shoots the ball up to the top and out of the tube. It’s a surprise every time! This toy gets toddlers participating in great back-and-forth play. (As a bonus, watch their facial expression when they lean over the top of the toy and realize the air can blow their hair around.)
There are five balls, so you can use one at a time. Have your child say or make the sign for “More” or “Ball” each time they want another.
We hope this list helps you find toys to keep your 1-year-old entertained and learning. When you play with your toddler, get down on their level, follow their lead, and focus on connecting. There’s no better way to pass the time with your little one!
