Christmas Gift Guide 2021 : Best Toys For 1-2 Year Olds
Babipur Christmas Gift Guides
If you’re looking for natural wooden toys and gifts for babies, toddlers and children, you have come to the right place! We specialise in natural toys for kids, we only stock toys that are safe to chew on made from natural wood and natural rubber and are finished with water safe based paints. In this guide you’ll find our recommendations for the best toys for 1-2 year olds.
We are proud to stock such a wide and varied collection of ethical wooden and natural toys for babies and toddlers from the very best sustainable toy brands. But as a parent the choice can be a little overwhelming, so we’ve narrowed it down to some of our favourites. You’ll find some tried and tested toys that kids and eco-parents love and discover some new brands that have arrived on the Babipur shelves this year. So, whether you’re an avid wooden toy collector, or simply trying to navigate the world of eco-friendly toddler toys this Christmas then this blog post is for you! Here you’ll find our top gifts for 1 and 2 year olds Christmas toy recommendations this year.
Christmas Gift Ideas for Toddlers 1-2 Year Olds
We’ve split our Christmas gift guides into age groups to make shopping easier for you. You’ll never find our toy split into Girls Toys or Boys Toys. We strongly believe that toys are for everyone and aren’t defined by gender. We’ve been awarded the Let Toys Be Toys Toymark Award for eight consecutive years. This recognises good practice within the toy industry, specifically awarded to retailers and toy manufacturers providing a welcoming and inclusive space for all children.
At one and two years of age toddlers really start to actively engage in play. They are more mobile, alert and, lets face it, into everything! You turn your back for a second and cupboards are being emptied, furniture is being climbed on and the delights of the contents of the bin are being explored. This is a great age for learning through play, exploring how things work and cause and effect. There are a huge range of toys which will open up learning opportunities at this age.
The Best Natural Toys For Toddlers
One year olds love discovering cause and effect, so hammer toys and shape sorters are always popular. Stacking toys are fantastic for honing fine motor skills, while larger activity toys such as Wobbel rocker boards and Triclimb pikler triangles will encourage gross motor skill development. At two years they may be becoming more independent in their play. They will be interacting more with their dolls and teddies in imaginary play, or delighting in small world play with wooden figures.
We’ve selected some of our all-time favourite natural toys for 1-2 year olds. Bringing together toys recommended by our Babipur Hangout community, customer favourites and our bestselling toddler toys this year. Choosing a natural toy for a toddler for Christmas is a lovely way to introduce children and parents to the wonderful world of wooden toys. From much loved stacking toys by Grimm’s , hammer toys by Nic and Plan Toys, pikler triangle from Triclimb, and soft toys by Roomate, there’s plenty of special gifts that will be loved, kept and passed down to future children. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what makes our Christmas list for 1-2 year olds this year.
Fifteen of the Best Eco-Friendly Toys for 1-2 year olds this Christmas
Mader Roly Poly Pear
Toddlers will love spinning, shaking and trying to push this little weighted pear over and see it jump back up again. We love the simple and elegant design of the Mader Roly Poly Pear. A traditional wooden toy that is tactile and beautiful as well as fun. Moreover, it’s handmade by the highly skilled craftspeople at Mader Kreiselmanufaktur, with the greatest attention to detail. Sustainably made from warm maple wood, with rainbow stripes. This is a real treasure to be enjoyed and kept in the family. Suitable from 8 months, it’s the perfect size for little hands to hold.
Bajo Gruffalo and Mouse Figures
“Well Gruffalo,” said the mouse. “You see?
Everyone is afraid of me!
But now my tummy’s beginning to rumble.
My favourite food is… gruffalo crumble!”“Gruffalo crumble!” the Gruffalo said,
Julia Donaldson, The Gruffalo (Illustrated by Axel Scheffler)
And quick as the wind he turned and fled.
Bringing this children’s classic to life, Bajo Gruffalo and Mouse figures are beautifully made from solid wood and accurate to Axel Scheffler’s famous illustrations. Toddlers will love recreating their favourite story, and making up their own imaginary games too. Bajo is a firm favourite here at Babipur, made in Poland and of the highest quality. Team up with Fox, Snake and Owl for a fantastic The Gruffalo story sack (available separately).
Nic Lock-A-Bloc Shape Sorter
The Lock a Bloc Shape Sorter by Nic is a fun wooden shape sorter cube with a key to open and shut the door on the front. A classic wooden toy shape sorter with a twist. Made from solid FSC beech wood, with the 9 shapes hand painted in non-toxic paint. Toddlers love working out how things work and will be fascinated by the door locking mechanism. Great for shape recognition and sorting by colour. Little ones love locking and unlocking the door to tip the shapes out.
This early years learning toy is perfect for children exploring the enveloping schema, hiding treasures inside the box and discovering them again. Made from solid wood, this shape sorter is a fun way to develop shape and colour recognition skills, and hone hand-to-eye co-ordination and motor skills.
Wobbel Starter Board
A smaller version of the classic Wobbel board that’s a more manageable size and weight for young children and perfect for those with less space. These Wobbel boards may be smaller than classic Wobbels, but that doesn’t make them any less fun. They are the ideal size for 1 and 2 year olds! They’re strong and durable, easily holding 100kg so they can be enjoyed by the smallest of children and will grow with your child as they find new ways to play.
The Wobbel Starter Board follows the traditional Waldorf arch board concept but redesigned to be robust and beautiful. The little extra engineering makes the Starter Board more flexible so your child will never outgrow it.
Plan Toys Stacking Rocket
This Stacking Rocket is a Plan Toys classic and a bit different from your usual stacking toy for toddlers. It has four coloured discs that make up the rocket, each with a cut out for a shape to go into, and a cute little astronaut who hides inside.
Stack all the pieces correctly and get ready for blast off! Toddler’s will enjoy stacking the different pieces, helping to develop their co-ordination and motor skills. It’s also a fun early years toy for learning colour and shape recognition. Plan Toys is a firm favourite at Babipur! This early learning game is made from sustainable Plan Wood and using non-toxic water-based dyes. A classic eco toy that will look fab in any playroom and makes a great toy for 1-2 year olds.
Plan Toys Hammer Balls
Next up is another favourite by top eco brand Plan Toys. Toddlers love hammer benches, working on their fine motor skills as they hammer away at the colourful balls.
Use the hammer to gently whack the three balls through the holes in the wooden bench and watch them roll out! This is another classic early years learning toy that stands the test of time. Robust and durable, made from sustainable rubberwood this toy will be loved by generations of toddlers.
Triclimb and Miri
The Triclimb is an award winning pikler triangle, designed to encourage climbing and movement at a child’s own pace. Furthermore, combined with the Miri slide attachment it is one of our most popular toys at Babipur. Loved for it’s awesome design and safety elements, the Triclimb is the ultimate ‘big present’ that is loved by toddlers just starting to pull themselves up, walk and climb. This is a key open-ended toy that will grow with its user, children will get many years of fun from their Triclimb!
The Miri is one of several attachments designed to work alongside the Triclimb. This double sided slide has a clever Trifix joint which securely locks it onto the Triclimb rungs. With a smooth slide surface on one side and a climbing wall on the other. The Miri can be used as a slide, ramp, climbing wall and ball run (with the addition of Miri Sticks). One of the joys of the Triclimb and Miri is how quickly and easily it can be packed away. Folded up it really takes up very little space, making it suitable for most room sizes. Easily one of our best toys for 1-2 year olds and beyond!
Grimm’s Wankel Stacking Tower
A favourite with the Babipur Hangout the Wankel is a quirky take on a classic wooden stacking toy. Made by the much loved German wooden toy makers Grimm’s, who are well known for their stacking rainbow toy.
Stacking toys are great for developing hand-eye coordination skills. The Grimm’s Wankel is made up of 11 triangular pieces in rainbow colours. This makes it great for colour recognition and when stacked at a particular angle can make stairs for your peg dolls. A great open-ended toy that toddlers love.
Grapat Nins Carla Set
This is a fabulous set of Grapat Nins, rings and coins. Nins are Grapat’s very own peg dolls, simple wooden Waldorf dolls. Tactile and without the constraints of gender, facial expressions and clothing, toddlers and children are free to decide for themselves who they want them to be. Free from a rigid structure children create their own games. Their own play ideas and worlds are only limited by their imaginations.
The Carla Set is a great Grapat starter set. With many opportunities to play and learn, this set of 12 rainbow coloured Nins matches perfectly with the 72 coins and 36 rings. Perfect for all kinds of counting and learning games, sorting, stacking, colour matching or simply playing. You can hide a Nin within 6 stacked rings or you can raise a Nin up on a pedestal with the coins. Each Nin can be colour matched with its 3 corresponding coins and 6 corresponding rings. We love Grapat for its natural simplicity, with a timeless appeal.
Bajo World Of Butterflies Sorter
This beautiful wooden shape sorting puzzle features eight chunky wooden butterfly figures from around the world. Each a different species beautifully painted to represent the wonderful biodiversity on our planet. With a symmetrical design and dazzling colours on each side. These puzzle pieces can be stacked and played with independently, as well as used within the solid wood sorting board.
Perfect for dexterity and hand-eye coordination, this beautifully made puzzle is a wonderful heirloom toy from Bajo. Look out for the Whale Family sorter too if ocean creatures are your favourite.
Grimm’s Pebbles
With lots of different play opportunities it’s easy to see why Grimm’s pebbles are one of our best toys for 1-2 year olds! A fantastic, simple open-ended toy that little ones will love stacking, building and creating play scenes with.
From stepping stones to counting games and ingredients for stone soup, these pebbles are great fun! Each set comes in a different shade of natural colours – cool blues, fiery reds, lush greens, and pink sunsets. Inspired by the natural world and sustainably made from solid lime wood, these are a much loved early years toy.
Plan Toys Creative Blocks
Toddlers love blocks, and we highly recommend this set by Plan Toys! Made from super robust and sustainable rubber wood. These Creative blocks come in a range of shapes and colours with stair elements, curves, and turrets.
Perfect for making a fairy tale castle, or simply enjoy a stacking challenge. In a mixture of natural and painted blocks, these will look fabulous in the playroom and will bring many years of enjoyment. A really lovely gift for toddlers.
Bajo Fire Engine
A fabulous first Fire Engine toy which will be adored by little ones, and makes our list for best toys for 1-2 year olds! Brilliantly made by Bajo, this robust little fire engine has easy rolling wooden wheels, a moving ladder and a spinning hose, with a little tinkling bell in the back to let you know its coming!
Little children love spotting emergency vehicles and recognising the different jobs of the emergency services. Zoom across the floor to help put out the fire! The quality of Bajo toys is exceptional. This fire engine will be a well loved toy for years to come.
Lanka Kade Shape Sorter
Whether you have a mini-beast, jungle or sealife fan, there will be a Lanka Kade shape sorting puzzle to suit! We love Lanka Kade fair trade toys, ethically made from rubber wood. These fun, chunky figures are painted both sides.
Toddlers will love playing with them in their small world play and matching them up to their correct slot in the shape sorter base. Colourful and fun, Lanka Kade shape sorters are a great introduction to fair trade wooden toys and economical too.
Roommate Soft Toys
Roommate make adorable soft toys made from GOTS certified organic cotton. This super stylish range is a perfect addition to your scandi-inspired nursery or playroom. Your toddler will love their new cuddly friend!
You’ll find gorgeous giraffes, cute koalas and sleepy unicorns and many more besides in this range. In paired down pastels and earthy colours, these sweet rag doll animals are a great sensory toy. They have little bells in their bellies and ruffs around their necks to fiddle with. High quality and responsible manufacturing, Roommate soft toys tick all the right ethical boxes, making them a fabulous gift.
