The first year of life is a powerful stage in a baby’s development. During this period, babies transition from reflexive movements to intentional actions. They begin exploring objects, reacting to sounds, recognising patterns, strengthening muscles, developing coordination and forming early cognitive abilities. Learning toys for 1-year-old babies play a crucial role in shaping these early skills. They stimulate curiosity, build sensory awareness, support motor development and introduce babies to structured play in a safe and engaging way.
At one year old, babies learn through touch, movement, repetition and sensory input. Their developing brain absorbs information rapidly, and the right learning toys help guide this growth effectively. Toys designed for this age encourage babies to crawl, pull, push, grip, sort, shake, tap, rotate and experiment freely. Every small activity becomes a building block for future skills such as talking, walking, problem-solving and social interaction.
The best learning toys for this age are simple, durable and purposeful. They should support open-ended exploration without overwhelming the baby. Babies need toys that match their developmental needs — sensory play, cause-and-effect discovery, early problem-solving, motor refinement and language exposure. Safe, engaging and development-friendly toys bring huge benefits during this sensitive learning period.
One-year-old babies are extremely curious. They observe everything, test boundaries and explore objects with both hands and mouth. Learning toys guide this curiosity into productive developmental experiences. These toys offer repetition, which strengthens neural connections and helps babies understand new concepts more clearly.
Learning toys help babies:
The right toys encourage babies to be active participants in their learning journey. This involvement lays the foundation for future physical, emotional and cognitive growth.
Sensory play is the foundation of all early learning. Babies at one year old rely on their senses to understand the world. Learning toys designed with textures, colours, shapes and sounds help babies interpret sensory information effectively.
Sensory learning toys include:
These toys encourage babies to touch, squeeze, shake, drop and explore freely. Sensory toys strengthen neural pathways, improve attention and help babies adapt to new environments confidently. They also support emotional calmness by providing soothing tactile input.
Fine motor skills involve small, precise movements of the fingers and hands. At one year old, babies begin practising the pincer grasp, holding small objects, pushing buttons and manipulating toys intentionally. Learning toys help develop these skills through repeated hand movements.
Effective fine motor toys include:
These toys encourage babies to move objects in controlled ways. They strengthen finger muscles, build grip stability and prepare babies for future skills such as drawing, writing and self-feeding.
Gross motor skills involve large muscle groups and full-body movement. One-year-olds are learning to stand, walk, crawl faster, climb and balance. Gross motor learning toys give babies the confidence and practice needed to master these actions.
Movement-based toys include:
These toys help babies improve stability, balance and coordination. They activate core muscles, encourage exploration and support healthy physical development.
Movement-rich play also reduces restlessness and builds confidence in toddlers who are just learning to walk.
Cognitive development at age one includes understanding cause and effect, recognising relationships between objects, predicting outcomes and developing early memory. Learning toys introduce babies to these concepts in simple, interactive ways.
Cognitive toys include:
When babies see a ball disappear and reappear, or when they place an object into a slot and watch it drop, they learn how their actions create predictable results. This strengthens memory, reasoning and early logical thinking.
Cognitive learning toys also help babies understand size, order, direction and spatial awareness.
Hand–eye coordination develops rapidly around the first year. Babies must learn to use visual information to guide their hands accurately. Learning toys that require placing, stacking, grabbing or rotating pieces strengthen this coordination.
Examples include:
These toys require babies to focus visually, judge the distance and move their hands in a controlled manner.
Strong hand–eye coordination supports future writing, sports, drawing and self-care activities.
Language skills begin long before babies speak. At one year old, babies start understanding basic words, recognising names of objects and responding to simple instructions. Learning toys introduce vocabulary through pictures, sounds and interaction.
Language-building toys include:
Parents can enhance language learning by naming objects, repeating words and encouraging babies to imitate sounds.
These early exposures shape future verbal communication, comprehension and expression.
At one year old, babies begin wanting to do things on their own. Learning toys that allow self-directed exploration help babies build independence, decision-making abilities and confidence.
Independent-learning toys include:
When babies complete an action successfully, they feel confident and capable. This encourages them to attempt new challenges without fear.
Independence developed at this age supports emotional stability and readiness for preschool.
Stacking Cups
Simple yet highly effective for motor skills, cognitive learning, size comparison and imaginative play.
Wooden Shape Sorter
Improves grip strength, shape recognition and problem-solving while building early reasoning.
Soft Sensory Balls
Enhance tactile development, grip control and gross motor play through rolling, squeezing and tossing.
Push Walker
Supports early walking, balance and confidence while strengthening leg muscles.
Object Permanence Box
Teaches cause and effect, memory building and prediction through repeated dropping and retrieval.
Nesting Toys
Support cognitive growth, order understanding and size differentiation.
Bead Maze Toy
Improves coordination, concentration and controlled hand movement.
Pull-Along Toys
Encourage walking practice, spatial awareness and coordination.
Montessori Ball Tracker
Strengthens visual tracking, cause-effect learning and hand–eye coordination.
Large Knob Puzzles
Help babies grip pieces easily, recognise shapes and develop early problem-solving.
Musical Shakers
Encourage rhythm awareness, auditory development and sensory stimulation.
Bath Toys
Teach cause and effect, sensory exploration and imaginative play in water.
Cloth Books
Improve visual recognition, touch exploration and early language skills.
Stacking Rings
Develop sorting ability, fine motor skills and pattern understanding.
Pop-Up Surprise Toys
Teach action–reaction relationships, finger strength and simple logic.
Textured Blocks
Introduce texture awareness, building skills and imagination.
Baby Ride-On Car
Strengthens balance, core muscles and leg coordination.
Montessori Coin Drop Box
Improves pincer grip, depth awareness and object placement skills.
Sensory Board (Busy Board)
Enhances practical skills, fine motor development and curiosity-driven exploration.
Parents can maximise the benefits of learning toys by using them intentionally and consistently.
Helpful strategies include:
Babies learn best when they lead the play and explore at their natural pace.
Yes, they support sensory, motor, cognitive and language development.
Toys that support crawling, walking, gripping, stacking and sensory exploration.
They introduce vocabulary and encourage sound imitation.
Yes, hands-on toys keep babies engaged and active.
Wooden toys offer better durability, safety and sensory experiences.
Short, frequent sessions throughout the day are ideal.
Push walkers and pull-along toys improve balance and leg strength.
Yes, large knob puzzles work perfectly at this age.
No, a small collection of purposeful toys is more effective.
A mix of guidance and independent exploration works best.
We offer fast delivery.
We offer E-Gift Cards.
Dedicated 24/7 support.
100% secure payment.
My Account 
