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50 Gender Neutral First Birthday Gifts

August 21, 2015 By Jillian Warner

Looking for a gender neutral first birthday gift? Look no further. I have 50 great first birthday gifts that will work for a boy or a girl. Some of these are classic and some of them more modern remakes. Hardly any of them involve batteries, just good old fun! This post does contain some affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Hello Splendid.

Need a first birthday gift? Sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to give for the biggest of birthdays. Here are 50 first birthday gifts! Actually 50+ gender neutral first birthday gifts. They also make fantastic first holiday gifts.  Eating, Playing and looking at very difficult to destroy books are what it’s all about at this age and so many of these first birthday gifts are great on their own or wonderful grouped together depending on your budget. We have owned many of these toys over the years and if you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably seen a bunch of them make an appearance in my feed. Ready? Here goes!

Saving this! 50 Awesome first birthday gifts for boys or girls. Most are battery free, educational and super cute!

 

Stacking Toys

  • Grimm’s 11-Piece Rainbow Colored Stacker – This is one of the more expensive items on this list but yep, it’s heirloom quality, hand painted and great to grow into.
  • Kid O Stack and Nest Cups – Kid O is famous for their modern take on toys. These are simple, good to play with on their own and can even work in sand and water.
  • Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Stack & Roll Cups – These stacking cups can be assembled into balls, played with a million ways and babies love that smiley face ball that sits on top. It’s also a rattle!
  • Melissa & Doug Numbers Shapes and Colors Nesting Blocks – Inexpensive and perfect for the I build, you destroy stage. I can’t tell you how many towers I have built with these.  It’s also pretty fun when they stop destroying and start building with it themselves. Our six year old still loves them.
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar Stacking/Nesting Blocks  – Another cute version of the above. I think the graphics on this set are pretty awesome.
  • Fisher-Price Light-Up Lion Stacker – A more simple stacker. Just a few pieces and rewards your child with lights and sounds when they put a piece on. Perfect for a sense of accomplishment early on but will be outgrown faster than the other toys.

Shape Sorters

  • Kid O Sort a Shape House – This shape sorter is ridiculously cute and incoprates a bunch of different shapes. It is more complex than some of the others so it takes a while for babies to get the hang of. The shapes make a louder (very satisfying to a toddler) sound when they drop in.
  • Hape Color and Shape Sorter – I can still remember having a version of this as a child. It teaches shapes, color and order. Plus it’s really nicely made.
  • Plan Toy Shape and Sort It Out – The most basic of shape sorters. This one is very simple and perfect for the beginning but like the lion stacker above bound to be outgrown more quickly.
  • Hide N Squeak Eggs – Really cute and with multiple purposes. Color and shape identification and can later be used for kitchen play.

Blocks

  • Grimm’s Tree Slices – First Wooden Building Blocks Set – Grimm’s is known for amazing quality. These blocks come in unconventional shapes and are hand painted. They’re toddler friendly, easy to grip and just plain cute.
  • Haba Sticky Bricks – Meant to stand up to wobbly toddler stacking skills, these bricks have

Puzzles

  • Kid O Color Steps Puzzle – A simple rainbowtastic puzzle. Easy and perfect as a first puzzle.
  • Grimm’s Extra Large 12-Piece Rainbow Stacker – Wooden Nesting Puzzle – Part puzzle, part sculpture.
  • Janod Wooden Alphabet Puzzle – They’ll be way too young to do this puzzle at one, but the high quality letters are some of the best out there and perfect to use when singing the alphabet song until they are old enough to identify letters and do the puzzle.
  • Melissa & Doug Caterpillar Gear Toy – A puzzle + gears. Budget friendly and cute for a child who likes to tinker.

Pull Toys & Push Toys

  • Plan Toys Pull Along Snail – A quieter pull toy which means you save your sanity a bit. If you’re a wooden toy aficionado then you’ll love this version of the Plan Toys snail. I’m admittedly not as in love with their new version.
  • Plan Toys Dancing Alligator Pull Toy this one has a clacking noise kids LOVE. We had this for Kayla and it’s loud but oh so fun!
  • Kid O Squirrel Pull Toy – super cute and lightweight. Plus, SQUIRREL!
  • Plan Toys Happy Puppy Pull Toy – this puppy wags and turns with your child. If you’re a dog lover this one’s for you.
  • Sassy Pop n’ Push Car – like that popper toy we all love/dread but a mini version that’s perfect for indoor and outdoor play. Pull it back and it races forward. Blake loves this toy and I think it’s a bargain!
  • Hape Push & Pull  – This might be Blake’s favorite toy right now. It was gifted to us by a close friend and he loves pushing it all around the house at 12 months old. It makes a sound but it’s fairly quiet. Well made and really cute!

Walkers 

  • Hape Block and Roll – A nice walker that comes with a set of wooden blocks. The extra weight helps keep it balanced.
  • Plan Toys Baby Walker – Really well made and perfect for pushing around anything and everything.

Play Houses, Climbers, Water Tables and Tunnels

  • Neat and Tidy II Playhouse – A perfect first playhouse. We’ve had one of these and they do last for years. I like the updates to the second version. Worth looking into!
  • WonderBall Fun Playhouse – A new toy to the market that combines ball play and a play house. Expect to pick up balls but also expect to hear lots of shrieks of joy. I like that older siblings can play along by throwing the balls in.
  • Play Ball Fun Climber – If you’re tight on space you do get a lot of features in this. Slide, climber and ball drop.  You could also probably swap the balls later on for sand.
  • Pop Up Play Tunnel

Ride On Toys

  • Crayola Crayon Rider – a cute first ride on toy and perfect for a rainbow themed party.
  • Jelly Bean Ride On Toy – low to the ground and pint sized!
  • Wheely Bug – comes in a variety of animals and requires some assistance at first but will last for years.
  • Whisper Ride II Convertible Buggy – The wheels are quiet and the ride is smooth!

Saving this! 50 Awesome first birthday gifts for boys or girls. Most are battery free, educational and super cute!

Mealtime Fun

  • ezpz Happy Mat – These cute silicone mats stick to the table, are easy to wash and keep foods separated for picky toddlers.
  • Num Num Dips – First Utensils – Far easier than a traditional spoon Num Num Dips are great for learning to use utensils.
  • Zoli Bot Straw Sippy Cup– Our favorite sippy cups so far. Easy to hold, easy to fill.
  • Zoli Gummy Stick Baby Gum Massagers 2 pack – Perfect for older teethers, they have a guard on them and are easy to clean.
  • Oogaa Baby Transportation Spoons – The cutest silicone spoons. Taking the old here comes the airplane (or truck or boat) game to the next level.

Bath Toys and Water Toys

  • BeginAgain Rubber Bath Toys – Rubber instead of plastic and built to drain to prevent mold growth. I love gifting these to friends. Plus they are made by the cutest company out of Colorado.
  • Green Toys Submarine – Recycled milk jugs make this very fun toy. We’ve used ours in the pool, at the beach and in the bath. Built to last for YEARS unlike most cheap plastic toys.
  • Skip Hop Dunks Stacking Bath Toy – These do double duty. They are great for rinsing hair, and make a great toy. They stack together to save space and are easy to clean.
  • Moluk Plui Rain Cloud Bath Toy – A really fun science lesson and manual fountain of sorts. Kids of all ages love this toy. Cover the hole on top and the water stays in, remove your finger and it rains down. Splits in half to clean, and keep dry so it doesn’t grow mold.
  • Boon Water Bugs Floating Bath Toys with Net – A lot of fun for the bath and water table. They’re on the young side to use the net with purpose but will quickly grow into it.

Books 

  • The Pout-Pout Fish and Pout-Pout Fish Plush  – Our most favorite book with a great message. It’s repetitive but awesome. Even became the theme for Blake’s first birthday
  • Pantone Colors Board Book – If you love Pantones like I do then this the perfect book for teaching colors.
  • First 100 Words Board Book – A basic, available just about anywhere and has a nice collection of first words.
  • So Big! Elmo Pop Up Book – One of our absolute favorites. I have no idea why but babies LOVE this book. There is a pop up Elmo at the end which they WILL break. Nothing a little packing tape can’t fix!
  • Indestructibles – Pick any of the books in this series. Some are better than others, but they are truly amazing. They cannot be destroyed. Clawed at, chewed on, spilled on, etc. Heck, you can even throw them in the dishwasher if you want. Truly AMAZING!!

 

Outdoor Play

  •  Step2 Splish Splash Seas Water Table with Umbrella– they aren’t ready for sand yet, so this is perfect. We keep a water table at grandma’s.
  • Step2 Cascading Cove Sand and Water Table – you can buy this one and start with just water, moving up to sand when they get a bit older and know not to eat it. A one year old and a six ear old will both enjoy this.

Did you find a gift?  I sure hope so! Think this post might help you down the road? Pin the image below and it will be waiting for you when you’re ready!

 

Saving this! 50 Awesome first birthday gifts for boys or girls. Most are battery free, educational and super cute!

 

50 fantastic first holiday gifts

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Hi I'm Jillian! A self confessed DIY lover, Mom Guilt Survivor and Cool Stuff Finder living with my favorite people in San Diego.
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