My son is turning 1 on Saturday, and we are at a loss for what to get him! The problem is, he has SO many things from his older brother (books, toys, ride-ons, even clothes), that there's nothing that he seems to be "missing." (Unlike when his brother turned 1 and we didn't have anything, it was easy to say "he would love ____.") Things are in good shape, too, so it's not like there's something that needs replacing. He's into balls and books, but since we just had Easter, the family has given him plenty of those. I'm wondering if anyone has ideas, maybe something your 1 year-olds are into and really love. We don't want to buy stuff just to buy it, we really want to get something he would enjoy.
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Sadly, we already had many of the things you suggested (from older Brother). But, we did end up with a ball bit, and a pair of maracas from Leap Frog that play music, count, and tell colors in both English and Spanish. He LOVES them, and they can easily be added to the instruments we already have. I wish I had more time to prepare...I would have loved to do some of the more creative ideas. Oh well...there's always his 18th right? :)
My 1 year old daughter loves music. Toys that play music, or that help her play music are great! She has a couple toys that play different songs when she presses a button. We got her a baby rhythm set that has baby sized shakers of different kinds that she uses as well. Those kind of things a boy would like too, I would think.
We ordered my son (when he was one) an expandable tunnel from oriental trading (I think its just orientaltrading.com) but he absolutely LOVES it. And the really great thing is..it collapses together so it is small for storing :) He loves racing/crawling through it and pushing balls through it. :) Hope that helps!
G.
Discovery Toys are always great...we got my son the Castle with the balls for his 1st birthday, and he still plays with it at 2 1/2!
For our sons on their first birthdays we got them their own chairs. They love to sit and read books in the own Big Boy chairs.
My twins received a puzzle stool with their name on it (as part of the puzzle) for a gift for their first birthday. They use them to wash their hands, put snacks on, sit and read books on, or just climb on when they were little. Craft fairs usually have them. It's something just for him and he'll use it for years. And the puzzle is educational!
My daughter just turned 1 and I had the same problem since she has a 3.5 year old brother. We got her a toy storage, one at target that has little bins in it. We also got her a bookcase for her room, a tunnel toy that both the kids can enjoy and a Bee Bop Band Drum (from Target, Parents brand). Other people got her mostly clothes and a few small toys for her birthday.
We got our son a water table to use outside and he loved it! You could also try a sandbox, or a sand and water table combined...
Hi S.,
If you need ideas for family members, I really like the one about gift cards to the Zoo, Children's Museum, Stages Theatre in Hopkins, etc. But, also we have just requested that people either get or go in on Savings Bonds. My own grandparents gave me Savings Bonds when I was growing up and I was amazed at what they amounted to when I counted them up during my college years.
Good luck!
You could purchase a nice collection of stories. For example, I got my son a collection of nursery rhymes for Christmas. The book has a ribbon bookmark and gold edges on the pages and beautiful illustrations. It wasn't real expensive and I just got it at Borders. The important part was that I wrote him a note on the inside with the date and occasion on it. One of the coolest things from when I was a child was the Strawberry Shortcake scratch and sniff book I got from my grandparents for my 1st birthday! It has a just a basic little note in it, but it's really cool. Since it's his first birthday, something commemorative might be great.
maybe instead of getting him something make it a day just for him, take him to a place that he really likes, or if you really want to get him something let him pick it out. good luck
Hi. Maybe some art supplies that can be put away until he is closer to age 2? Maybe a day to the zoo, or Childrens museum? $ for a swimming class? $ put away for college? A easy home made picture book of real pictures of family or friends? =o) HAPPY B-DAY!!!
If you have the space, we had gotten our little guy a small ball pit, it's pretty much a small swimming pool with a dome net attached. You could also just use an actual small pool with higher sides. He loved jumping in, rolling around in all the balls and getting buried in them. But he also loved throwing them everywhere!
I don't know if you let your children watch videos - but there are some great new ones. My children always loved the Baby Einstein videos and they were only about 20-30 minutes long- perfect for getting a small project done without getting interrupted.
A video about 'baby signs' would be great, also. Then if you son picks up on some signs, he will be able to communicate more clearly with you.
I am in the same position. I have a 4 year old girl and a 7 month old girl and we have EVERYTHING - including clothes. So we are set for a long time. I plan on telling people to just get gift cards for things to do - like Underwater World, membership to the MN Zoo or Children's museum... There are experiences that your child will love and not clutter your house :)
Happy birthday to your little one!
A gift I bought both of my children (since they don't really know it's their birthday :) were silver birthday candle holders. I chose the holder for their first birthday and then each year they add another one. They like looking back at photos to see which one's they added for which year...kids LOVE traditions! Here's a link to the holders:
http://uggamugga.blogspot.com/2008/02/empire-silver-birth...
Hi S.. I had the same problem when Arianna turned one. The solution I came up with was to make a DVD slideshow of snapshots throughout her first year of life set to music. We played it over and over again and she really responded to seeing herself and listening to the songs. Plus, the whole family loves it and we ended up making copies for grandparent gifts (mother's day and father's day are right around the corner!) Anyway, it is a fun project, pretty simple to do, and there are lots of cheap software on the market for it. My favorite is Magix Photostory which I bought at Bestbuy.
Or another idea, for Aidan's 1st birthday I bought him a tamborine (is that how you spell it???). Big Hit!
