Wooden toys are great tools to introduce multi-sensory experiences. Young children, especially one-year-olds, must be given toys that are rooted in reality. Wooden toys do that. It offers natural textures, weights, temperatures, shapes, and sizes. Wooden toys look and feel real.
What are the best wooden toys for 1 year olds? The best wooden toys for 1 year olds are those that are safe, durable, engaging, and teach a lesson or a skill. Wooden toys should support the interests and developmental needs of the child. They should be age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
Things a 1 year Old Needs to Learn and Wooden Toys that will Help
At one year old, babies are constantly learning and achieving different milestones. They need support in learning more and progressing as they should.
Early Literacy Skills
By the time your baby turns one, they should start learning about shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and counting.
Early literacy skills are the foundation of academic learning including math, language, and sciences.
Help your child develop early literacy skills by reading books, describing objects and pointing at them, practice their numbers and ABCs. Use wooden toys that will develop shape, color, letter, and number recognition. We recommend the following:
Self-Sufficiency
One-year-olds are transitioning from being a baby to becoming a toddler. They are claiming their independence more and more every day.
Help them become more self-sufficient by giving them the right toys. They should be learning to feed themselves, dress up on their own or at least with less assistance from mom, and clean up after themselves
The best wooden toys to develop self-sufficiency are cleaning toys, kiddie utensils, child-sized wardrobes, etc.
- All Natural Beech Wood Spoon and Fork
- Dress Up Storage with Mirror
- Magnetic Wooden Slicing Set
- Sensory Bin Tools
Language and Communication
One-year-olds are communicative and loud. They start to explore their feelings and are not shy about expressing them. Although they are not good with speech yet they are ready to learn and improve their talking skills and expand their vocabulary.
Help them develop their language and communication skills with the following wooden toys:
Social Skills
Your one-year-old is interested in people and everyone around them. They start to talk, smile, laugh, and wave. They love to engage in small talk, and babble most of the time.
Help them develop good social skills like talking, patience, confidence, taking turns, etc.
We recommend the following toys:
Singing Songs
One-year-olds love to sing! They love to dance to music and hum along to their favorite songs.
Sing nursery rhymes with them. Make it more exciting by playing simple musical instruments with it.
It is a great way to introduce music and hopefully pick up a love of playing an instrument.
Colors
Teaching color recognition can be a fun activity with your baby. Many wooden toys can help you with that.
Use wooden colored puzzles, wooden pegs, and many others.
We recommend:
Counting
By one-year-old, your baby should be able to make the number 1 sign with their finger. And they are ready for more!
Teach them to count from one to five, maybe even up to ten. Encourage their love for numbers with these toys:
Stacking
Develop their fine motor skills and imagination with stacking toys. Stacking toys will help your one-year-old learn shapes and geometry. It can build your child’s color recognition, spatial awareness, and hand-eye coordination.
Stacking toys are classic toys that every kid should have.
Things About Our World
Very young children cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. This is why it is important to give them toys that are based on reality.
Wooden toys provide a realistic feel and look to the toys. They often reflect the things that children see in real life. For example, wooden toys depict real-life objects like household items, vehicles, and food. It also depicts living things like people, animals, and plants.
Sensory Activities
Sensory stimulation is important for a young child’s brain development. Expose them to multi-sensory experiences and activities so they can learn about their surroundings and sharpen their senses.
Multi-sensory experiences increase focus, concentration, and attention span. It heightens awareness and improves alertness, coordination, and motor development.
FAQs
Is it okay to buy wooden toys with music and lights? Generally, wooden learning toys should not come with distracting lights and loud noises. A few exceptions would be if the lights are part of the teaching process of a toy. For example, a sensory busy board has lights that turn on and off as your baby flicks the switch on and off. If the lights and sounds are not distracting and play a major part in learning, they should be fine.
Are there inexpensive high-quality wooden toys? Not all wooden toys are expensive. If you take a look at our suggestions, they are not expensive at all. Most wooden toys may cost more than plastic, but they are generally affordable.
Are wooden toys made in the USA? Most of the toys you find in big online stores are not made in the US. The majority are made in china. If you are looking for US-made wooden toys, there are several that specialize in high-quality educational wooden toys.
Summary
The best wooden toys for a 1 year old are those that are safe, durable, engaging, and teach a lesson or a skill. Wooden toys should support the interests and developmental needs of the child. They should be age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.