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Best Montessori Toys For 1 Year Olds | Gift Guide 2023

Best Montessori Toys For 1 Year Olds | Gift Guide 2023

Leah Diana

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If you’re interested in Montessori Toys, you assumably know a little or a lot about the Montessori Method of Learning for kids. As parents we want our kids to explore, have fun, while also develop skills. Montessori toys can challenge your child but also make them feel very accomplished when they solve problems and learn how to do an activity. If you’re looking for a gift, below will be a great montessori gift guide to help you.

What Are Montessori Toys?

Traditional Montessori Toys are usually made of wood as Maria Montessori also preferred those for different reasons. Wooden toys are simpler, with less distractions, and safer. A big benefit is that it encourages curiosity and open ended play as well as the fact that you can create different scenarios to play with them.

Wooden building blocks or puzzles are great examples of Montessori toys for toddlers but there is many more kinds of toys that help with your child’s early development of their fine and gross motor skills and problem solving skills.

What Are The Best Toys For 1 Year Olds?

We definitely recommend a LOVEVERY subscription, which sends a box with Montessori toys to you every three months while your child is one year old. It has long been a family favorite from us and friends. They have play kits for 0 months to 3 year olds. Its perfect if you don’t want to have to look into what toys are great for which age and the toys are also all super cute, durable, and fun! You can try their first play kit and see how you like it. They also have a play gym for kids 0+ that can be used for a long time and converts to a play tent.

Let get into individual toys you can buy for your kids. For a 1 year old, a lot of things are still very difficult but in this year they have so much growth they will go through. Kids commonly learn to walk between the ages 1 and 2. They are trying to be more independent and try new things and we as parents are there to encourage them.

Melissa & Doug Rainbow Stacker

This common Montessori toy is great for 1 year old kids. It is simple but teaches children shape, color, and size-differentiation skills. Melissa & Doug make beautiful toys we love the quality of.

Small hands can grab the rings and over time will learn to stack them.

Wooden Building Block Set

A classic in a Montessori school and homes are wooden blocks. These are colorful and come in different shapes. The nice thing is that these can be used for many activities for many years.

Building blocks are great for kids as they really encourage open ended and imaginative play. It also teaches them that there is balance and gravity in the world.

6 Rings on Peg

Another similar stacking toy. The rings here fit into the round spaces around the stick like a puzzle. It is great to practice colors, fine motor and hand eye coordination.

Melissa & Doug First Play Wooden Safari Zig-Zag Tower

This fun toy is awesome for the little ones to learn about gravity and logic. With the cute animals they can play animals running from each other.

We like that it is made of wood compared to other similar toys, making it more sturdy and can fit with other wooden toys to create a whole world.

GYBBER&MUMU Wooden Preschool Colorful Shape Puzzle

Match shapes with this puzzle. The bottom of the wood piece where the puzzle pieces go is not colored. To make it easier for your child we recommend coloring it yourself to match the color of the puzzle piece.

Elephant Wooden Push and Pull Toy

While learning to walk your child might at first only use it on the floor playing with and pushing it. Once they can walk your child will love to pull it and bring it places.

The elephant is super cute and a favorite among kids. If you have multiple they might all want one.

Galt Pop Up Toy

These 4 colorful figure sticks pop up and down. The springs are concealed in the box. It is very simple but entertaining for young kids.

This is one of our favorite Montessori toys for 1 year olds and it is designed to encourage hand-eye coordination and is great for color matching.

Montessori Knobbed Cylinders Blocks

A great toy for practicing fine motor skills, size differentiation, and hand and eye coordination for young children.

It is a bit more advanced than the earlier ring stacking toys but when your child is closer to 18 months or almost 2 years it will become easier.

Montessori Object Permanence Box

This toy on the other hand is very simple and perfect for a first birthday. It introduces hand-to-eye coordination as well as basic logic skills.

For small children that are just starting to play with toys this will be interesting even if it may look very simple for you.

Montessori Baby Push Object Permanence Ball Push Toy

This Montessori toy is also great for the very small kids. Train hand-eye coordination and basic logic skills.

The simple design keeps focus on the toy and task while the colors of the balls still bring in fun and excitement.

Montessori Coin Box

One of our favorite Montessori toys for 1 year old kids and great for very early hand-eye coordination and basic logic skills. While you can use the coins to put them through the opening up top, you could also place other objects in the drawer.

When opening the drawer, a one year old might be surprised there are coins or other things in there.

Wooden Rainbow Stacking Game

These rainbow blocks are bright and fun. Your child can use them as bridges, combine them with other building blocks, or simply create different shapes.

Each piece is angled which means one has to stack them with the angle being the same. These stacking games are awesome Montessori friendly toys.

Stack up Cup Toys

With these stacking cups you can make bath time even more fun. Simple pouring activities can be a great learning activity for practical life skills. Of course they can be stacked in the play room, at the beach, anywhere.

It gives your child an understanding of sizes and you can practice colors with them. Great for Montessori classrooms or playrooms at home.

Wooden Forest Stacker Puzzle & Bag

This very cute set of animals can be used for different things. You can balance and stack them, learn animal names or just pretend play with them.

Balancing them might be harder for a child that just turned 1 but at the end of the year it will be easier. It’s also great because you can use them for many years to come for different activities.

Turtle Lacing Toy

This set comes with 1 Turtle-mother and 3 Turtle-kids. It helps kids by improving fine motor skills and sensory practice. In the beginning kids will need help but it is a good toy to keep kids occupied once they got the hang of it.

Sensory Pull Along Tissue Box

Does your child like pulling on things? Making a mess and play with everyday household items? With this tissue box you don’t have to worry about paper or other things being torn apart and laying all over the floor.

With the different colored “tissues” you can also play other sensory games with the children.

LOOIKOOS Toddler Musical Instruments

Toddlers love getting into music and playing around with different instruments. If you’ve noticed this is one of your child’s interests, consider this set. It has a bunch that you can rotate between. If you have all of them out at once, chances are you’ll never hear quite again.

This is great to get to know rhythm and how low or high volume one can play instruments.

Baby Einstein and Hape Magic Touch Piano

This little piano is awesome for toddlers that are into music. There is the option to follow the colors on the music sheet to play a song. If that is still a bit too hard for your child, you can turn on auto play and the next key that is pressed is automatically the next note. Even older children might enjoy this a lot.

Wooden Balance Board

Since 1 year olds are in the phase of learning to walk, this balance board can be first used for climbing on it, and balancing on it later. Use it as a goal, to sit on like a rocking chair.

Even when your child gets older, this will stay a fun toy since it can be used for many different purposes. It has been a family favorite even among older toddlers.

Montessori Furniture Set

To us this is one of the best montessori gifts. This set comes with an arch, a ramp and a triangle to climb. It’s fun way to encourage gross motor development for a long time. Young toddlers as well as big kids will enjoy it. Of course a one year old will be limited as to what they can do and an adult should always watch.

When learning to walk being able to hold on to things is very important.

Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon

A walker wagon that will be fun for your kid for sure! They can sit in it and be pushed around in it or use it as a walker to learn to walk. They can also put toys in it to push them around.

It is very versatile and can be used with friends or siblings. We prefer this walker over others with toys in-build because it is less distracting.

Baby Balance Bikes

This small bike is great for a first birthday as a lot of 1 year olds are too small for some of the bigger sized balance bikes out there.

It can be difficult at first for your little one to find balance and they might need time to push themselves forward. With time kids love being able to use these bikes to get to places in the room while they can’t fully walk yet.

Personalized Wooden Name Puzzle

Looking for great ideas for a birthday present? This personalizable name puzzle is just adorable and parents of babies and toddlers love their kids’ name as toys or decor. This is both. And kids love learning with their name as well. These puzzles are the perfect size for little hands.

These toys make great gift ideas for the holiday season or a birthday. Real-life objects can also opt for Montessori-inspired toys and play for example learning to pour water from one cup to another. Also look at open ended toys and Montessori busy boards. These toys aim to prepare the child to interact in the real world once the baby starts to have the motor skill and language development needed.

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