Quick Summary
- The 4 learning domains: Physical, Language, Cognitive, Social-Emotional.
- Examples of age-appropriate toys for each of these domains.
Physical Development
Most children are walking or starting to walk when they turn 1-years-old. In order to encourage the development of their large muscle skills in the physical domain, the children should have access to an outdoor playground with a jungle gym that has balancing activities and tunnels. For the children’s protection there should be playground padding underneath the gym. Educational toys for 1-year-olds should also include pushing and pulling toys as well as riding toys to help strengthen their leg muscles. In addition, make sure you have balls for throwing and kicking. Lastly, if weather keeps you indoors, you can blow bubbles and have the children pop them! This is an activity that they always enjoy. For safety reasons make sure the floor is carpeted. Another activity that will keep the children moving is to have them take turns crawling through indoor toy tunnels. Toys that improve the development of their small muscle skills include Duplos, plastic blocks, paper, crayons, chalk, and finger paint.
Language Development
In order to encourage development in the language domain, toys for this age group should include books. Since 1-year-olds are starting to talk, it is important for teachers to talk with the children about what is happening in the book. For example, the teacher could ask a child to name a picture in the book. If the child correctly says “bear”, the teacher will enthusiastically say, “That’s right!” The teacher then might say. “What does the bear say?” “Grrr!” says the child. Some popular books for 1-year-old are Brown Bear, Brown, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle, and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Interactive talking music books such as Baby Shark also promote language development. In addition, having the children listen to songs, rhymes, and simple stories are other ways to encourage language development.
Cognitive Development
To encourage their development in the cognitive domain it is important that you include age-appropriate puzzles that teach geometric shapes, patterns, and colors. In addition, you should provide toys for building such as cardboard or plastic blocks. Sorting cubes, activity cubes/tables, bead mazes, stacking rings, and abacuses are also excellent additions. Finally, be sure you also include durable musical instruments such as xylophones, drums, and maracas.
Social-Emotional
Toys for for this age group that promote development in the social-emotional domain include a housekeeping/imaginary play area with play kitchens, tables, and chairs. The play kitchen should have pretend cookware, dishes, and food. This area should also have dolls, doll beds, puppets, play phones, and dress-up clothes. Another area that encourages language development is a transportation center that includes toy cars, trucks, and trains.
Information
It is crucial for parents and teachers to recognize the importance of play for healthy child development. For more information on this topic, as well as safety and appropriate toys for 1-year-olds, please visit the website for The National Association for the Education of Young Children, also known as NAEYC, by using the following link. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/play/toys