The best first birthday gift ideas

A first birthday book. A hardcover picture book about their first year: the people, the pets, the little things they love at one. Every picture is made from their photo, and a person checks every page before it prints. See the first birthday book.

Wooden push walker ($40 to $80). Sturdy, good-looking and useful right at the 12-month mark. Look for an activity panel on the front; Janod and Hape make ones that double as activity centres.

Personalised height chart ($30 to $60). Mark the first birthday height and keep going. Canvas or wooden, with their name, hung on the wall and added to every birthday.

Savings account contribution ($50 to $200). Not exciting to unwrap, but the most useful gift here. Pair the deposit with a card explaining it. The parents will thank you at 18.

Wooden blocks or stacking toys ($25 to $60). Simple, timeless and played with for years. Grimm’s rainbow blocks are the gold standard, and they look good on a shelf.

Board book collection ($20 to $40). Three to five classics: Dear Zoo, Where Is the Green Sheep?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Wrap each one separately for more unwrapping.

Ride-on toy ($40 to $100). Most one-year-olds aren’t quite ready, but they grow into it fast. The Wheely Bug is a favourite in Australia.

Zoo or aquarium membership ($80 to $150). A family pass the whole family uses for a year. Taronga Zoo, Melbourne Zoo and SEA LIFE all do them. Great for families who have enough stuff.

Personalised blanket ($30 to $60). Embroidered with their name and birth date. Cotton or bamboo wears best through hundreds of washes.

Silver keepsake ($40 to $120). A silver cup, spoon or money box engraved with their name and the date. Traditional, and the kind of thing that sits on a shelf for decades before it’s passed down.

• Giant stuffed animals. Nowhere to put them. They collect dust and take up half the nursery.
• Noisy electronic toys. Anything that plays music on repeat is a recipe for regret.
• Anything with small parts. A choking hazard at this age. Check the age rating on the box.
• Clothes in size 1. They’ve probably outgrown it already. If you want to give clothes, go size 2.

No rules here. The thought matters more than the amount: a well-chosen $25 book beats a random $80 toy every time.

At a party where you don’t know the family well, a board book set or a quality wooden toy in the $25 to $40 range is always right. Nobody has ever been disappointed by a good children’s book.

The best first birthday gift is one the parents didn’t expect but love straight away: a book with the child in it, a toy still played with at three, a keepsake they pull out years later and remember who gave it.