Acitivities for 1 year olds

At the moment we aren't really doing anything structured at home, although I do try to spend at least 1hr playing directly *with* her instead of being in the same room but doing something else (ie: laundry or knitting). If the weather is good we often go next door and visit the neighbour's goat, usually at Erin's insistance (she will yell "BAAA" until we do). Now that she is finally walking I try to get out to a playground at least once a week, depending on weather. What I am planning to do next is buy a storage bin (40L or something like that) and 'cull' some of her toys - not permanently mind you, just so that she will eventually forget about them and then I can take some different ones away and bring the old ones back to provide a bit of variety. If I am really struggling, I put on music or a Fairies DVD (her current favourite).

Hope some of that is of use... !

Good to know. We don't do much structured play here either but we do play chasey, read books, look outside etc sometimes. I just wondered if it was time to do more. It's probably just teething causing the problems at the moment...it is almost impossible to get anything done!

Kazzle wrote: i have just started spending time drawing and doing crafts with Rhiannon, we made granddads and daddys birthday cards today....i also make sure that rhiannon gets outside at least once a day, even if its raining, i just rug her up...she is such an outdoors girl, she is horrible if we cant get out.

I think Elle is an outdoors girl too as she is sooooooo happy if she can run around outside with no boundaries. Unfortunately our property is not safe for her so until we move we can only do outdoor time at parks etc and she gets very unhappy with me if I curtail her adventures by making her change direction (e.g. so she doesn't run onto the road!!! LOL)

Might try painting if I can find some paints that are safe to eat LOL. She is over the cupboards but does like emptying the bathroom one, pulling everything off her bookshelf, emptying my bag and emptying my wallet alllllllllll over the house (hence why I wonder if she needs more activities! )

wow liz love that idea. i have ice cream containers all over the house with homes cut in the top for posting things. normally the flash cards that the MIL insists on buying the boys. never thought of scarves tho... cool

lizzle wrote:    you can also put scarves in a plastic container with a hole cut in the top - they can pull the scarves out one by one - much in the same fashion as pulling the baby wipes out - one by one, or the tissues.

Ashleigh LOVES pulling out the wipes or tissues one by one!! I got an old wipes packet and put a scarf in it the other day which she like pulling out but I could only find one in the house!!! I also cut a slit in a formula tin lid and she loves posting pegs in there - even more so now that she knows how to turn it upside down and shake it to get them back out again. Ummm she like stacking things and pulling her books off the bookshelf or the photos frames!! We don't really do any structured play here either.

Emma Rose is a little bit older than 18 months, but at the age you're talking about, here are some of the things she liked to do (and mostly still does!):

• Colour with crayons -- I got a giant pad of paper and some washable crayons and she'll scribble away
• Finger paint on newspaper outside or finger paint in the bathtub (naked, of course, for easy washing up!)
• Water play inside -- I filled up the baby bath with water and put it on the kitchen floor on a big towel, and let her go for it
• Musical instruments -- we've got heaps of maracas, cymbals, drums, plastic guitars, etc (and a nice pair of ear plugs for me!)
• Squishing homemade play-dough -- I make it with lots of salt so she's not tempted to eat it! (The look on her face when she tastes it is priceless, though!)
• Playing in a tent -- I used to take all the chairs away and hang a huge quilt over the dining room table, and she'd crawl in and out, take her toys and the dog in there, and hang out for ages, playing peek-a-boo when she wanted to know I was still around. Eventually we got her a child-sized tent and put it in the living room so she can go in and out whenever she wants
• "Helping" with the laundry -- she loves taking the clothes out of the laundry basket and then putting them back in, so I used to get all the clean tea towels in a laundry basket and just let her go wild

At the moment Amelia is sick, so we're stuck inside and have been watching Blues Clues & The Night Garden a lot, plus a small bit of 'Island Barbie' which was on a couple of weeks back - she's glued to it.

When she's well, we have a variety of things (most of which she actually wants to do by herself, rather than with me)

Drawing - coloured pencils or crayons
Water Play - outside mostly
Sometimes chasing games
Going to the park
Running around in the garden
Looking at books
Playing in the plastics cupboard - which I often put used yoghurt (and other) containers into, as well as various toys
Pulling unfolded washing out of the basket and flinging it around the lounge, and then putting it back in

We just went to playgroup for the first time last Friday and she seemed to really enjoy it. Plus we have coffee group every fortnight on a Wednesday.