First Birthday Gifts - Carlinville,IL

my hubby and I went out and bought a really cute pig piggy bank and opened up our son a savings account. A learing skill at 1 is to put small objects into bigger objects so, as long as your sitting with him, you can give him change and he can put it in his piggy bank. I would bet he will get lots of toys from relitives and when he's 16 or when ever he will be really glad you started it for him!!

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Books... we can never get tired of books.

The touch and feel books are big hits for our family!

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I have a fabulous idea for you - a small, inflatable ball pit!!! They are fairly inexpensive...my son (who is nine now) had one at that age and I have since used it to entertain my niece and nephew and it also went over very well for them too. It's a lot of fun for little ones and they all played with until they were like five or so. I bet he would love it!! Have a fun birthday and best of luck!!!

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I'm in the same boat with you. I have a daughter that will be the BIG 1 in less than 2 weeks. Goes by fast, doesn't it?! We're having a party for her and people are asking what to get her. Well, clothes aren't really a big problem for me cause my sister works for a children's clothing store. I had clothes in my closet before I was in my 3rd trimester!!! But I've been telling people that want to give a gift, either learning toys/books or to make a small donation in her name to either the APA or Humane Society. As far as what we're getting her - no clue! I know that my husband and I have thought about getting her a little pool for the backyard. That's pretty much all we've come up with for now. We'll probably wait to see what everyone else gives her first. I hope that might be somewhat helpful. Happy Birthday to the birthday boy!!!

How about one of those little tykes climbers for outside, a swing, a little riding car or bike, one of those water/sand tables, a sandbox. I love the ball pit idea! Things we always do for family members birthdays are memberships to the Magic House, Transportation Museum, Zoo, or anything like that.

Our son will turn 1 in August. I did a lot of research for gifts since grandparents were asking and here is what I came up with.
Munchin Mozart Magic cube, Little People Animal Farm, Naturally playful Sandbox, Fisher Price Learning Kitchen, books are always needed, money to put in his savings or college fund, we have the tiny love magiq time DVD's and my son LOVES them. He gets 30 mintues of TV a day and he will watch the entire video. They are hard to find but the discovery store online has them.

My son just turned one on Sunday. My husband and I got him a Lil' People's Fire Truck (not sure of the official name) that he can ride on or push the handle on the back. It plays music too. I got it at Target for $26.xx. He loves it!! He isn't walking yet but pushes that thing everywhere!! He can also scoot himself backwards when he sits on it. Very good investment as he will be able to ride it as he gets older.

My SIL also got him a good present that he loves. It is a Leap Frog Learn and Grove Activity Table. Not sure the price but I've seen them at Toys R Us and I'm sure other places have them too. He loves to stand and press all the buttons. It will also speak in Spanish.

I wanted to get him a Red Flier wagon but I spent too much on party stuff! Ooops! Maybe for Christmas......

Enjoy his big day!

when my son turned one we bought him a wagon, power wheel, and opened a savings account and we bought him some bond to use for his education.

My 3rd son just turned 1 Friday and I looked all over for a toy. I ended up getting him a Little Tikes Handle Haulers: Haul and Ride. Here is a picture.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2308716

I'm always looking for toys that will got for a few years and this one is a push toy, a ride on toy and later a wagon! And my son loves it!! It's got buttons that make truck noises too--very cute! Good luck on your quest!

Any Little People item, like the Garage, House, or Circus. Also, the Bouncing Zebra is good and those toys you can either push or sit and scoot on like the Firetruck. My one yr old loves the manipulatives with the beads on the wires they can push around. Any Einstein Series Videos (our favorite is Baby Bach and Baby Mozart). 'Veggie Tales' sing along songs and 'Wake Up with Elmo' videos. Building Blocks and Aqua Doodles (w/water so safe). Discovery Toys Cars that you push a little and then they go by themselves. A Small plastic slide (indoors or out) or the Coupe car for the driveway. This is my forth child so I may have a larger list than necessary. By the time this last one came along we had everything for a One yr old. So all I bought him was a cute blow up Penquin that if you hit him he laughs and wobbles - but won't fall down. LOL. Good Luck and Congrats on your 1 yr old!
C. R.

My son got a leapfrog toy called Baby Tad. It is a big stuffed frog that sings and lights up with different colored shapes on its chest. He won't be able to play the game right away, but he will still like the music and the lights.

Books are always good. ( :

Outdoor toys! He'll be walking soon, if not already, and will be ready for the big outdoors. We got our daughter a sandbox for her first birthday. Our son, we gave a sit-on scooter. (It's like a bike, but he just pushed it with his legs instead of pedaling.) Maybe even a small swingset or playset. A kiddie pool. Tonka trucks. With fall coming soon and cooler temps on the way, it's a great time for him to explore the outdoors.

Ride on toys that they can push to help them learn how to walk then later can ride on them are great. my son is almost 2 and loves the two ride on toys that we had for our daughter.

This may be more for mommy than your little boy....our family is really big into birthday traditions. A girlfriend of mine makes the MOST adorable tablecloths for the birthday cake table. It says "Happy Birthday (child's name)" with the date of their b-day at the bottom. Here's where the cool part comes in -- Every year your child gets to do his handprints with fabric paint on the cloth. It's so neat to get these out every year and see just how big those little hands get from year to year. My kids LOVE to do their prints each year and the tablecloth makes such a cute picture with the cake displayed on it. If I could figure out how to do attachments on this site, I would but here is her email address: ____@____.com
I'm sure she would send you some pics and give you a price. I am so happy that I have these for my kids -- what great memories!
We also plant a tree on each child's first b-day which they then take their pic with each b-day after. It's so fun to watch them and the tree grow year after year.
Just a few memory making ideas:-)

Rachel,

We got our son a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe for his first birthday. He loved it and still plays with it each day.

S.

At 1, my daughter loved HER big crayons and coloring books more than any toy I ever bought her! My grandparents bought her a Leap Frog Activity Table and she loved that, but still preferred her crayons and coloring books over anything else. She's 6-1/2 yrs. old now, and she is an avid artist! She loves to paint, color, draw, etc. all the time! Bring out the artist in your child!

Too many parents want to just buy toys for their kids instead of trying to educate their children. Even at the age of 1 yr. old, your child can experience the world around him and start to learn through "play." I bought my daughter learning toys. If it didn't teach her something, I didn't buy it. She had a lot of Leap Frog and Baby Einstein toys.

I got my son this gum ball machine from Fisher Price, it has the larger size balls that are see through and have little objects inside of them. You put the balls in and they roll around... At the time it was cute, but now that he throws, it's not!! My Aunt got him a really cute ceramic turtle piggy bank.... I say get him anything you want! He's YOUR son, and you know what he likes! It doesn't always have to be huge and special! Get him a toddler bed set (they work in the crib as well) of his favorite charcter, Wal-Mart has Elmo, Thomas the Train, Deigo, Cars etc... My brother got my son the Elmo set for Christmas, and he loves it! Just get him something special you know he'll like ; )

When my son turned one, we were happy to get educational toys (LeapFrog makes great ones). I was pretty surprised, when a couple of people got him small play motorcycles and atvs (like HotWheels) and a one of those long sheets of regular lollipops. I put the motorcycles and atvs back until he was older and pitch the lollipops. If your son is into any characters (Elmo, Thomas the Tank Engine), their toys are very good for a 1 year old. My son is now 3 and he still plays with his LeapFrog Table. Hope this helps! Happy Birthday to your little one and remember to just relax and enjoy his day.

Our son turned 1 last month and thankfully enjoyed all his toys! We really like "classic" toys like blocks, shape sorter, busy box, popcorn popper, see and say, musical instruments, etc. You also can't go wrong with more books, cars and trucks, balls, and stuffed animals. He also LOVES his wagon and his own little chair from his grandmas. Happy birthday to the little guy! It's amazing how fast it goes!!!

How about the chunky lego blocks, the bigger chunky type cars, trucks, dump trucks, tractors, and the vinyl books.

I don't know if this is allowed, but I am a consultant with Discovery Toys (home based business) and you can go direct to my website at www.discoverytoyslink.com/S. and check out the supersunsations sale we have going on right now till July 28th. They show age levels and cost and you can have it shipped right to your home. I am in the O Fallon, Mo. area and you can email or call me also. All the info is on my webiste!

S. C.

Lift-the-flap books, duplo blocks, a sandbox or wading pool, a toy keyboard or drums

When my youngest turned 1, my brother got him a piggy bank, I think it was made by Fisher-Price. It was pink and had large plastic coins that when in the slot on top. It would sing and count when the coins went in and you could push its nose to get it to sing as well. The door on the side to get the coins out was easy for a little one to open and close. My son absolutely LOVED this toy!!! I've suggested it to other people as gifts for little ones and it has gotten rave reviews from them as well. We actually passed ours down to a friend's daughter when I thought he'd outgrown it and the next time we were at her house he played with it the whole time we were there. I think you can find it at any toy store. Good luck and enjoy that first birthday!

Hi! My little guy just turned 1 a couple weeks ago! The big hits have been:

1. Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2058&e=product...

2. IPlay Lift-Off Rocket
http://www.amazon.com/International-Playthings-G02232-Lif...

3. Chicco New Rodeo horse
http://www.amazon.com/Chicco-New-Rodeo/dp/B000NWPWO4/ref=...

4. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Baby Grand Piano
I love this personally because every time he plays with it, it does something different and I don't have to listen to the same song / noise over and over.
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2341&e=detail&...

These have been the gifts he's played with most and all should be things he won't grow out of for a couple years. Enjoy the big day! Oh, I also went to a pottery store and painted a birthday plate for him that he can use every year.

Big Cars and Trucks. Most boys love cars and trucks and they make big ones, soft ones, ones that make noise and some you can ride on. Get him some cars and he'll play with them until they fall apart or he gets to old for them. We always get a Tonka truck for first birthday boys. They last forever. Good Luck and God Bless.

the big lego blocks and ride on toys are what 1 year olds seem to like a lot once they are walking. The big Tonka trucks are great too. My oldest son got a ride on train that made a train noise and he had to push it with his feet, wasn't pedal type and he loved that. He also got the big tonka plastic truck and turned that into a ride on toy as well but he loved those 2 toys the most. He also liked to build with blocks at that age and was fun to watch him as he put the lego blocks together by color and sizes wouldn't mix the colors up. He recognized how to match colors and shapes.

If he doesn't already have them...the large legos are a big hit with my son.

My little girl LOVES the stack and store buckets, shape shorter that we got her. I got them at Brookside Toy and Science, they weren't super expensive, they are quiet, encourage creativity, building and shape learning. She also loves her wooden blocks and the little car that she can ride in outside.

I did something big for each of my kids first b-days...for my son he got a peddle car that was a fire engine...couldn't peddle it for awhile but loved to scoot it around and ring the bell...for my daughter I bought her a Little Tykes play kitchen. I do have a ball pit for my kids and that was (and still is at 3 & 5) a HUGE hit...but I'd recommend getting one of those blow up tramolene's to put the stuff in...easier to keep the balls in as opposed to them just rolling out and you have a second toy for him to play with for bouncing (because believe me, there will come a day when that is ALL they want to do...).

I will tell you when we started out we didn't have a single toy in the house...now at 3 & 5 my house rivals FAO Schwartz! If you can get family members into the habit of giving money, then go for it...as they get older they want more and it's ALL expensive!!!

Oh, another hit was the GeoTrax railroad...my Dad bought that for my son for his first X-mas...was obviously awhile before he could put things together for himself but he loved to operate the remote and watch the train go. Darn things are nearly indesctrubile...thank you Fisher Price!! LOL