Don't play with that, that's not a toy...

September 9, 2005 11:24 AM

Parents - suggest developmental toys for an active 1-year-old?

My son Jonah will be one at the end of September. Family and friends are starting to think about birthday gifts. Jonah is highly mobile, active, and inquisitive, and also capable, when suitably stimulated, of decent periods of minimally supervised play in his playpen - times cherished by myself, the stay-at-home dad, for being able to get some takes-two-hands work done when he's awake. But I've noticed that he is getting bored with his toys, many of which are presents from his early infancy. I'd love suggestions on toys that promote development and learning, are durable and age-appropriate, and stand a chance of holding his attention when he is playing on his own. He likes things that "react," light up and make noises, and have articulated parts to fiddle with. I'm looking for suggestions based on direct experience, anything that really wowed your kids or the kids of people you know. Books, incidentally, are a valid but unnecessary suggestion: this kid has a ridiculously large library already (schoolteacher aunt, 2 retired schoolteacher grandparents, lots of book lovers in the family). For now, I keep him away from the teevee almost entirely so probably no videos either.

posted by nanojath to Shopping (10 answers total)

Shape sorters are good for kids that age. Large Lego-like blocks like Megabloks and Quatros are excellent. Obviously those aren't reactive toys, but they're great for fiddling with, and the blocks stimulate creativity.

My kids both loved the Whacky Stick, which allows kids to bop things safely and make neat sounds at the same time. My kids are now 4 and almost 3, and they still occasionally play with the Whacky Stick, so it's a good long-term toy.

Pretty much anything you can find at Target in the Parents line of toys that says it's appropriate for his age is bound to be excellent. I don't know what kind of toys they have now, but my kids loved every one of those toys we or others got them. In particular, they had a set of soft blocks with the letters of the alphabet and the numerical digits on them, with related pictures. Each block also had a plastic insert of some kind that was a different toy, with textures and things to shake and such.
posted by cerebus19 at 11:46 AM on September 9, 2005

I second cerebus19's suggestions, and add the Rock and Play Piano. All four of my kids have loved this toy.
posted by grateful at 1:03 PM on September 9, 2005

My girlfriend's daughter (14 months) absolutely loves Peek-a-Blocks and the accessories (such as a shape-sorter, a tumble-down-thingie, and a hippo that gobbles them).
posted by solotoro at 3:36 PM on September 9, 2005

The Parent's Choice Awards are always a good place to start; the official site is here, and I usually start browsing by using the site's Product Finder. When I find something that looks good, I usually head on over to Amazon to see if I can find any consumer product reviews. Hope you find something good for your little one!!
posted by roundrock at 3:39 PM on September 9, 2005

This has been very popular with my two grandkids from 6 to 22 months.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:52 PM on September 9, 2005

Best thing for a kid is a dog. Keep him entertained for years.
posted by Ken McE at 7:15 PM on September 9, 2005

Best thing for the kid is a dog. Keep him entertained for years.
posted by Ken McE at 7:16 PM on September 9, 2005

I checked my diary for our seemingly-overachieving toddler... at 12 months he seemed to be getting quite a lot out of the old-fashioned wooden Fisher Price Little People and accessories, especially items that opened and closed. Also music was very important to him... he was listening to a lot of stuff all the way from Raffi to Boz Scaggs.
posted by rolypolyman at 8:00 PM on September 9, 2005

I second the Peek-a-Blocks. Collect them all!
posted by teddymac at 8:01 PM on September 9, 2005

Wow, we have most of these and I agree. One not yet mentioned is one of those beads-and-wires thingies, like this.

Oh, and those snap-together beads like this were very popular!
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 10:18 PM on September 9, 2005