When Audrey and Antonino turned a year old, they were both
very eager to walk and raring to talk. They also showed a lot of interest in
throwing, toppling, and banging stuff. Then after a few months, they wanted to
climb all over everything. When they turned around 1 1/2 years old, they also picked up the habit of copying us - we
sneeze, they fake sneeze, we scratch our heads, they do the same! Needless to say, the twins are in a very active phase right now. Oh
and let's not forget the times when they would prefer playing with
boxes over the toys inside. That is, except for these toys which they
absolutely love:
Push walker
We got Audrey and Antonino the Fisher Price Musical Lion Walker when they were cruising and starting to stand on their own. After a few
weeks of using it, they became more stable on their feet and started toddling
faster. Aside from helping them reach the much awaited milestone of walking,
the toy's music, lights, and other play panels provided the twins with plenty
of entertainment. You can read my review of the push walker here.
Shapes puzzle
This puzzle from Hape is chunky and perfect for tiny toddler
hands that are beginning to learn to fit pieces together. After several weeks
of practice, Audrey and Antonino were able to match all the shapes. The images
under the pieces also allowed them to get an introduction to matching colors.
What's great about this toy is that it also encourages the twins' imagination.
Now the puzzle pieces are mostly used as pretend food, and for Audrey, the red
circle is her pretend blush.
Stacking cups
At first, the twins used their stacking cups just to make
noise by banging them together. Later on, they learned to stack and topple them
over. The cups have given them a lot of opportunity for fun and developmental
play. Because of this, stacking cups have become one of my favorite gifts to give to one-year-old
kids. You really can't go wrong with a set of stacking cups. You can read some
of our play ideas for stacking cups here.
Rubber blocks
The twins have lots of fun playing with their Playgo
Stacking Wonder Blocks. They chew, squeeze, stack, and knock them down. I also
love them because they're made from soft material (less boo-boos), and are
embossed with different designs on each side that have helped familiarize the twins
with numbers, shapes and animals.
Kitchenware set
One of Audrey and Antonino's favorite games is pretend
kitchen. Because of this, Joey and I are regularly treated to invisible tea,
wooden steak and eggs, and air casserole. They make up sounds while stirring
"ingredients" in their toy pots, and pouring "drinks" into their tiny toy cups. The best part is they would always beam with pride whenever we
admire their "culinary skills," and try to repeat what we say:
Me: This is delicious!
Audrey: Eeee-shus!
Joey: Mmmm. The steak is awesome
Antonino: Aaaaa-saaaaam!
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Stuffed Toys
As I shared in the twins' 18th month update, they both LOVE
Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They bring their stuffed toys almost everywhere. They
like cuddling and pretending to feed Mickey and Minnie. I love the stuffed toys
because they helped comfort the twins during their first plane ride!
Board books
Yup, Audrey and Antonino still love their board books. A
couple of favorites are "Numbers Colors Shapes," by Roger Priddy, and "That's Not My Baby," by Fiona Watt. Numbers Colors Shapes contains clear and simple
real-life photographs that the twins love to look at. It has also helped them
learn new words because they would always repeat after us whenever we go
through each word in the book. "That's Not My Baby," is great because it's a touch-and-feel
book with different textures that my curious twins love to explore. The
different patches on each page (silky, fluffy, etc.) have helped familiarize
them with the adjectives the book uses to describe common objects that babies
use like a bib and a blanket. You can read my review of "That's Not My Baby" here.
What toys keep your one-year-old kids busy? I'd
love to hear them in the comments below.
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