Montessori Gifts for One Year old

As your baby turns one year old, you wonder how time flies. Don’t worry, as you are not alone in this journey of parenthood. The parents are encompassed in a mirage of emotions and overwhelmed that their babies grow up fast. As babies cross their first milestone, their cute antics will slowly transform, as they are active and curious about their surroundings. Children also become expressive as they start talking slowly.

Your baby forays into toddlerhood as he turns one year, and the transition is the busiest yet most fulfilling year of parenting. The first year poses a tremendous challenge for new parents as they try to understand their responsibilities and fit their routine around their babies.

As they turn one, your parenting woes increase as you search for ways to engage them so that you can also squeeze in some time for yourselves.

There is no fixed solution for this, but you can contemplate gifting your baby materials that will make him happy and keep him engaged for a long time, and is safe for him.

Are you thinking about which toys or activities can exactly serve this purpose?

Montessori toys are the best gift that you can give your baby.

What are Montessori toys?

Toys that implement the Montessori principles qualify to be called Montessori toys. Dr. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori method of learning, designed some Montessori toys to help children stimulate their senses and spark their imagination. She believed that open-ended toys encourage children to experiment and explore their creativity.

However, choosing Montessori toys for one-year-olds can be tricky because all children develop differently. They have different needs and interests. You can begin by incorporating materials that aid in developing potential skills.

How can Montessori toys benefit one-year-old children?

Children experience rapid physical, social, and emotional development in the first year. They tend to exhibit behavior such as –

• telling simple words and response
• emulate adults in what they say and do
• able to communicate to some extent what they want
• keen to explore things in different ways
• want to do things on their own
• trying to stand and walk with support
• walk a few steps without support
• bang, push, pull and roll things
• try to find hidden things
• smiles and cries exhibiting emotions

Montessori toys are perfect gifts to hone their skills and entertain the year-old babies.

Let us see how they can benefit from Montessori toys.

• Montessori toys are made of natural materials that allow your toddler to focus on one skill at a time.
• The simple structure and specific purpose of the Montessori toys feel good to hold, minimize excess stimulation like bright lights and loud noises, and tap into your child’s innate desire to learn.
• Aesthetically pleasing and open-ended features of Montessori toys help the toddlers in creative play and exploration.
• Montessori toys help refine their senses and develop motor skills as the babies are constantly on the move, like walking, running, lifting, and pushing, which help them build their strength.
• As they learn to speak and enjoy rhymes, Montessori toys will help develop their language skills.
• Montessori toys are realistic and that help the year olds learn practical life skills through play and become independent.

Montessori advocates to follow your child’s interests while choosing their activities.

Here is a curated list of Montessori toys for gifting your one-year-old baby.

Rainbow Stackers

These brightly colored rainbow wooden stacking rings add vibrancy to the learning space and attract your babies. Made of wood and eco-friendly colors, they are safe for children and easy to grasp with little hands.

Benefits – Rainbow Stacking Rings help babies learn about colors and develop hand-eye coordination. It also promotes creativity, problem-solving skills, and sensory and fine motor skills.

Push Wagon

Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon has resistance clickers that make it sturdy and heavy, and it is great for new walkers. Babies scatter all their stuff in the house. With this wagon, they will enjoy putting their animals and toys inside to push around. It can double to convert into a toy box.

Benefits – Babies can store their favorite toys for imaginative play indoors and enjoy pushing them around. It is ideal for beginners to balance and become independent while walking.

Grabbing Toy

It is the perfect first Montessori toy for your baby. Skwish Rattle is lightweight andeasy for the little hands to clutch. The beads on the dowels make pleasing clunking noises when shaken.

It can be used as a teether and is baby safe as it is made of natural rubberwood.

Benefits – It is multi-sensory and encourages grasping and reaching, which help develop gross motor skills.

Its pleasant rattle sound allows the baby to explore sound and learn cause and effect.

Pikler Triangle

The Pikler Triangle is an eco-friendly wooden climbing structure that is safe for children. It gets folded for easy storage and transport. This toy grows with your baby and provides limitless play options.

Benefits – It helps little ones build strength to stand and aids in the development of gross motor skills as babies climb up and down.

Sensory toys

Montessori encourages babies to sensory learning as they love to explore their senses.

Sensory Balls are safe as they are made of natural rubber and are very easy to grip. They are suitable for handling and biting infants.

Benefits – The sensory toys help in developing eye-hand coordination and sensory stimulation. The different colors and textures stimulate both tactile and visual senses. They help in the development of motor skills.

Board Book

Montessori recommends choosing books based on reality for children as per their age and learning level. 100 First Words is an appropriate gift having a hundred color photographs and hundred simple first words to see, read and learn.

Benefits – Babies will learn some essential first words and pictures with this bright board book. The photographs in the book will entice the babies, and help expand their vocabulary as they grow.

Double Bubble

It is a simple yet engaging wooden maze made from non-toxic materials. Babies will love guiding these wooden beads along the twisty tracks.

Benefits – While playing with Double Bubble babies learn about shape, size, and color recognition. It also helps them build fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Hammering balls

Plan Toys Punch and Drop has a sturdy square box with three holes, three-color balls, and a mallet. These are made with non-toxic rubber wood and are safe for children.

Benefits – They help develop color recognition, grip, and hand-eye coordination in babies.

Musical Instruments

Children love music, and Melissa & Doug Sound Puzzle is the perfect choice for toddlers. Place puzzle pieces correctly on the puzzle board to hear realistic sounds.

The light-activated sensors trigger sounds from the speakers.

Benefits – They encourage problem-solving skills and independent play.

Pop-Up Toy

It is an amusing traditional wooden toy with colorful pop-up characters. Children will enjoy playing with the Pop Up Toy under adult supervision.

Benefits – It encourages hand/eye coordination.

Apart from these Montessori toys, you can also explore some DIY options at home for your one-year-old baby based on his interests.

Children can do some outdoor activities like digging or gardening. They love playing with stones. Babies also love transferring small objects with tweezers and spoons.

You can customize these activities for your babies and ensure to be around them when they play.

Another Montessori philosophy is less is more for children. When choosing Montessori-friendly toys, pick up a few that focus on a specific purpose and are age-appropriate. Fewer toys will enable your baby to focus on one task and master the skill. The house will be less cluttered, and your cleanup activity will be less.