The best gifts for 1-year-olds that still get played with in March

A 1-year-old will open a present, look at it politely, and then play with the paper for forty minutes. This is not a reflection on you. It's a reflection on paper, which is excellent.

So instead of picking gifts by how good they look in the box, we picked them by something you can actually check: how many activities on this site each one unlocks for a 12- to 24-month-old, and how long those activities last. A toy that turns up in fifteen different games will be out on the floor in March. A toy that does one thing will be in the closet by Valentine's Day.

Every item below links to the activities it's used in, so whoever buys it also gets the instructions.

1. Stacking cups

Used in 15 activities. Price: low.

The cheapest thing on this list, and the one that gets used most, by a wide margin. They stack, they nest, they hide things, they pour water in the bath, and they're the right size for a small hand to carry around all day for no reason.

Start with: Where Did It Go?, Bath Cups, Stack And Knock Down, Muffin Tin Drop

Buy the plain plastic set. The ones with numbers and animal faces cost more and the faces don't change anything.

2. A bag of soft balls

Used in 5 activities. Price: low.

A 1-year-old's main hobbies are putting things in containers and taking them back out. A bag of soft balls and a laundry basket covers both, and it'll keep working when they start walking and throwing.

Start with: Ball Tub, Ball Drop, Feed the Monster, Texture Crawl

3. Sand and bath toys (buckets, scoops, a sieve)

Used in 7 activities. Price: low.

It says "sand" on the label, but you'll use these in the bath, in the sink, in a bin of dry pasta and in the garden. A sieve is the best part. Watching water fall out of the bottom of something is a small miracle every single time.

Start with: Treasure Basket, Pom-Pom Scoop, Water Painting, Toy Washing Station

4. Big building blocks (Mega Bloks, then DUPLO)

Used in 2 activities. Price: mid.

The activity count is low, but the hours are high. At one, building means you build a tower and they knock it over, which is the most fun anyone in the house will have all day. Mega Bloks are bigger and easier for little fingers to pull apart. DUPLO is better from about 18 months and lasts for years after.

Start with: Stack And Knock Down, Bath Time Brick Build

Not sure which? We're putting them head to head in December.

5. Chunky farm animals

Used in 4 activities. Price: low.

Pick the big, chunky kind made for toddlers, not the small realistic ones for older kids. They get lined up, bathed, scrubbed, painted and lined up again. They also teach a lot of first words ("cow," "moo," and, in our experience, "duck" for everything).

Start with: Animal Line-Up, Toy Washing Station, Paint the Toys

6. A soft baby doll

Used in 4 activities. Price: mid.

Around 18 months, toddlers start copying everything you do. A doll gets fed, put to bed, pushed around in a basket and asked where its nose is. A soft one is fine for babies too: no hard eyelids, no hair to pull out.

Start with: Where Is Your Nose?, Laundry Basket Push, Stuffed Animal Picnic

7. A first music set (shakers, a xylophone, a drum)

Used in 2 activities. Price: low.

Yes, it's loud. But a small music set gives you the easiest five minutes of the day: put a song on, hand everyone something to shake, and stop when the music stops. Kids will play Freeze Dance for years.

Start with: Action Songs, Freeze Dance

Grandparent tip: wooden instruments are a little quieter than plastic ones. A little.

8. Play food

Used in 2 activities. Price: mid.

This starts paying off at about 18 months and keeps going until they're running a pretend restaurant at six. Wooden or chunky plastic, nothing small enough to choke on.

Start with: Stuffed Animal Picnic, Toy Washing Station

9. Chunky paint brushes

Used in 3 activities. Price: low.

An odd gift for a 1-year-old, until you see Water Painting: a bucket of water, a brush, and a fence or patio. It "paints," then it disappears. No mess, and it lasts an hour. Good for tucking in next to a bigger present.

Start with: Water Painting, Paint the Toys, Bubble Wrap Prints

10. A water table (the big gift)

Used in 8 activities. Price: high.

If a grandparent wants to get one big thing, this is it. It's the most expensive item here, but it unlocks the most activities after stacking cups, and it'll keep being used until they're four. It's mostly for warm months, so it's a gift that pays off in May. In winter, it makes a very good dry sensory bin indoors.

Start with: Bath Pouring Station, Kitchen Pouring Station, Pom-Pom Scoop, Pasta Sensory Bin

Always supervise water play, even shallow water.

What to skip

• Toys that do the playing for them. If it lights up, sings and moves when you press one button, your child's job is to press the button. They'll figure that out in about a day.
• Big sets with lots of tiny pieces. Wait until they're three. Put it away for later if someone gives you one.
• Anything just for "learning." Flashcards and alphabet tablets are for parents. A 1-year-old learns more from a cup and some water.
• Too much at once. Ten new things on one day is a lot. Put half of them in a closet and bring them out in February. They'll feel brand new.

The free gift

The box it came in. Seriously. Cut a slot in the lid and you have Posting Box, which toddlers will do for forty minutes. Tape a tube to the side and you have Ball Drop. Don't throw it out until January.

More ideas for this age: all activities for 1-year-olds.

Paid links. We may earn a commission, at no cost to you. We rank by how many activities a toy unlocks, not by what pays.