Best Toys for One-Year-Old Girls 2014

How well I remember when my baby girl celebrated her first birthday.

First birthdays are always so exciting! A baby girl has reached many milestones, with more to come, and is not so babyish anymore. Her brain is growing rapidly and learning just accelerates.

What is a good first birthday gift for a baby girl? Let's look at a few gift ideas that are fun and perfectly appropriate for this most special of occasions.

Fisher-price Laugh and Learn Kitchen

The Fisher-price Laugh and Learn Kitchen makes a fantastic learning gift. Babies this age are observant enough to know what goes on in the kitchen and they are old enough to start mimicking that behavior.

This kitchen is just the right size for sitters or even those learning to walk. It comes complete with a stove, oven, sink and fridge. The light switch turns on the light and the clock ticks as well.

The learning option teaches little ones what happens on a stove, or when opening the fridge door with very accurate sound effects. There are other features like learning in Spanish, Music and Imagination modes.

Music mode gives you 20 different sing along songs that are classic favorites and new ones I've not heard before. The fridge incorporates a shape sorting activity with food shapes, as well. I really like that it has two different sound options and you can even turn the unit off for silent play if desired.

Baby Stella Doll

Babies love babies. They love seeing other babies, pictures of babies and baby dolls.

This Manhattan Baby Stella Doll is the perfect first dolly for your baby. A doll inspires a nurturing attitude and this toy is soft enough to be perfectly appropriate for your little one.

She has plump little toes, a belly button and fleece hair. There are other embroidered features to make her look more life like. She comes with a removable diaper, a two piece sleeper outfit and a pacifier that connects to her mouth magnetically.

As your baby grows into a toddler, she will enjoy being able to dress her as well. I really like that it is so very soft so it won't hurt anything if she gets crazy with it, or falls asleep with it.

I have noticed that the Velcro on Stella is rough and can scratch easily so you will want to watch out for that. Also, until the baby is ready for more complicated play, you might want to consider taking the diaper off or even the clothes if they are too hard to keep on and keep track of. Little girls this age won't even notice the difference, they will simply love being able to rock and hold their baby Stella.

Pretty Purse Fill and Spill Set

It is a fact that babies this age love to mimic our behaviors. They like to copy what we are doing nearly everywhere - talking on the phone, driving a car, cooking dinner, reading books, and many others.

This Melissa & Doug Pretty Purse Fill and Spill set is fun gift that any baby girl will enjoy having so she can be like her mama. With this set, you get a cell phone that makes chiming noises, a key ring with soft keys, a change purse with coins that make crinkling sounds, and a compact with a baby safe mirror.

All items are made with cloth to be soft and have no dangers. The purse comes with a purple carrying handle that is just the right size for her little hands. I like that the materials seem very sturdy and they are made with phthalate free plastic.

The main drawback is that the opening to the purse is quite small so babies can often have a hard time taking things out and putting them back in. To remedy this, we simply allowed her to play with 2-3 of the items so she would have more room with which to put them in and out.

Earlyears Lil' Shopper Play Set

Along the same lines is this Earlyears Lil' Shopper Play Set. This 6 piece set includes a sturdy grocery bag with handles, a banana whose peel crackles, an apple that chimes, a cabbage that rattles and crinkles, a carton of milk that has a peek-a-boo mirror, and an orange that can be opened and closed while rattling.

The items all fit very nicely into the bag with some room to spare.

This is a very interactive set that gives them different textures, sounds and sights. It also inspires imaginative play while pretending to shop or eat, along with teaching your baby what the words are that go with the items.

Even though the size of the items seem a bit small, they are the perfect size for a young toddler; it can even fit into a large diaper bag or a backpack if you want to take it with you when you go out.

Baby's First Blocks

Lastly, for a classic baby gift, consider this Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks set. A toy like this might seem too basic upon first consideration, but this kind of toy actually helps your baby learn faster.

Hand eye coordination is necessary when putting the shapes into the holes; your baby learns to identify shapes and colors as well. Your baby will learn problem solving skills even at this young age. Even grasping the blocks helps with finger and hand dexterity.

The blocks don't link together but they can be stacked up and knocked down, which always seems to be a one year olds favorite thing to do. This is also a bucket that fits all 10 blocks very nicely for storage and it features a handle for easy carrying when transporting.

A drawback that I found to this toy is that the lid doesn't snap on very firmly and it often comes off during play.

It would be wise to sit with your baby and hold the lid to teach her to sort the blocks. I like that there are only 5 shapes/holes to this toy. Other shape sorters have many opening all over them and I think that becomes overwhelming for baby; this is nice and simple.