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Are you looking for some fun, easy and inexpensive play ideas to keep your one year old entertained at home?
Are you looking for some engaging play ideas to bring out on a rainy day?
Do you and your little one need some new ideas to keep playtime fresh and exciting?
Well, you’ve come to the right place! This post is chock full of play ideas to keep your one year old engaged while boosting his/her growing skills.
The 25+ play ideas were favorites of my daughter when she was 12 to 18 months old (some she still enjoys!) and now my son, who is almost 17 months, is enjoying these activities, too!
All of these activities support your little one’s development, spark curiosity, and increase his/her growing skills. Young toddlers are little sponges, soaking up every little detail observed in the world around them. The play ideas in this post will keep your active one year old happy and learning.
Sensory Bags
Sensory bags are fun, engaging and hands-on for one year olds. Your toddler is given the chance to discover, imagine, create and learn while engaging many of their senses. A bonus for us moms is sensory bags provide mess-free sensory play!
Sensory bags are wonderful for exploring colors and textures. They are easy and inexpensive to put together. All you need are some ziploc bags, a variety of items/materials to put inside the bags (most already found around your house) and duct tape for sealing the bags to prevent any leaks. The quart-sized freezer bags are my favorite ones to use. They hold up well to all the touching, squeezing and manipulating your little one will do when these sensory bags are put in his/her hands.
One of our most recent sensory bags was exploring honey while reading and learning about bees.
The other way we used sensory bags was for some mess-free finger painting and learning about mixing colors in the process. Use painter’s tape to attach sensory bags to a window, patio door and/or high chair tray. Seeing the light shine through the paint colors was cool!
You can fill sensory bags with various objects from around your house to encourage exploration of many textures. Hang them on a wall for an instant sensory wall for your little one to explore. You can fill a bag with cotton balls, aluminum foil, dried beans, dried pasta, pony beads, or rice. Hair gel, shaving cream and glue with drops of food coloring added are fun to investigate, too!
The filler options for sensory bags are truly endless. Check out this post from The Chaos and the Clutter for dozens of ideas for sensory bags as well as additional fillers you can use to make your own sensory bags for your toddler to start enjoying today.
Taped Animals
Use blue painter’s tape to attach your child’s favorite animal figures to the wall. While in standing, the goal is for your toddler to rip the tape off and “rescue” each animal. This activity encourages your little one to play in a standing position for a longer period of time, which strengthens leg muscles and improves balance for walking. Plus, peeling the tape off the animals strengthens the muscles in the hands, working on those fine motor skills.
Pom Pom Push
Take a 16 oz container (I used a yogurt one) and clean it out. Cut several holes in the lid. Take a permanent marker and outline each hole in a different color. This is optional and you can simply outline with black marker so it’s easier to make out the holes. Give your child a handful of colorful Pom Poms and have him/her push them through the holes. This activity strengthens those fine motor skills as your child picks up Pom Poms and proceeds to push them through the holes. It also improves hand-eye coordination as they match the Pom Pom to the hole.
Crawl Tunnel
A crawl tunnel is a wonderful indoor gross motor activity for your little one. You can also roll a ball or push cars through the tunnel for your child to crawl after. We love bringing this out on rainy days because it provides at least 30 minutes of fun for both my kiddos! This crawl tunnel is inexpensive and lasts through all of our play sessions with it. I love that we can fold it up and store away very easily when playtime is over. This is one my favorite gifts for toddlers and we gave one to all our friends when they turned one.
Crayon & Marker Play
Who knew taking crayons and markers out of their box or container would be so entertaining?! This provides many minutes of entertainment for your young toddler while he/she is practicing hand-eye coordination and problem solving. My almost 17 month old isn’t interested in actually drawing or scribbling with the markers or crayons just yet. He will try to draw, but after a minute or two, he would rather put them into a container. I’ve sat him in his high chair while doing a project with my 3 ½ year old daughter with a bag of crayons and a plastic cup. He sat there and took each crayon out of the bag and put it inside the cup. He loves transferring items from one container to another.
Cookie Sheet Magnets
Simply take a metal cookie sheet, a variety of magnets and give them to your child. He/She will have a blast taking the magnets off and putting them back on. Engage in conversation about the color, shape and size of each magnet. Count the magnets. Name the magnets. The possibilities are really endless with this activity. We own several different sets of Melissa & Doug magnets, but you can use whatever you have on your refrigerator. Do you collect magnets from the different places where you travel?! Those would be perfect for this activity!
Pom Pom Drop
Tape paper towel tubes or toilet paper tubes to the wall. Place a basket of Pom Poms nearby. Have the child drop Pom Pom in and watch it fall through the tubes. You can also use applesauce pouch lids. You can create different paths for the Pom Pom to travel.
This activity is a wonderful “play in standing” activity, strengthening those leg and core muscles. Your child is building up his/her balance. It is a gross motor activity as your child is reaching to put to the Pom Pom in the tube and then squatting down or leaning over to pick up the Pom Pom from the basket. All of these movements are beneficial to your little one, especially as he/she starts walking.
Water Table Play
Your child can enjoy the water table with or without water. On chilly days, fill it with favorite toys (cars, animals, Little People, blocks, etc.). My 16 month old son explored the wooden blocks I filled it with and enjoyed trying to put them on top of the water table or into a cup/bowl. I also named the letters, numbers and colors on some of the blocks as he picked them up. I named the color and shape of the other wooden blocks mixed in. Water play, in general, is a great outdoor activity for your little one. This post describes our favorite ways to play with water on a hot summer day.
Containers & Lids
Both of my kids love, I mean absolutely love, taking lids off containers and trying to fit them back on. I save, wash and recycle many of the plastic food containers we finish for this specific activity. I put them in our kitchen play area and my kids love taking the lids off. My daughter actually uses them to pretend to cook specific things, but my son loves sitting on the floor with a container and just fitting the lid on and off. His current favorites are the Half & Half and Hershey Chocolate Syrup containers. My daughter loved the Peanut Butter Jar when she was his age.
Playing with containers and lids is a great activity for problem solving (trying to fit the lid on a container), fine motor (turning the lid), and hand-eye coordination (placing the lid on the opening).
Read Books
Reading books is by far a favorite activity in our house! We keep a basket of books in the living room, the basement play area, the car and in each bedroom. You can never go wrong with reading books to your child. My son is obsessed with any book that has buttons, flaps and touchy-feely pages! Bright colors and animals are eye-catching for him, as well. Perhaps what I love most about books is that it is an activity that can be enjoyed by both kiddos. I love reading books with both of my kids. Sometimes, my daughter reads books to her little brother, which is sweet to watch.
Car Track & Toy Cars
We were lucky enough to be handed down a car track from a friend. It is one of these most played with toys in our house and not just by my son. My daughter loves playing with it, too!
This standing car track is AWESOME!! It keeps my son engaged while standing, which builds up his gross motor strength. He loves to reach up and place the cars on the track, which requires balance and hand-eye coordination. Then he watches the car drive down the tracks, laughing & smiling because it goes fast.
Sensory Bins
Sensory play is huge with young toddlers. They learn through their senses so it only makes sense to provide them with opportunities to explore a variety of textures and materials.
Similar to sensory bags, sensory bins are essentially a plastic bin or bowl filled with a material for your child to scoop, pour or manipulate with his/her hands. Dried pasta is a favorite sensory bin filler with my son at the moment. I gave him another container and he enjoys taking the pasta out of one container and putting it in another. I do make sure to supervise this activity as I don’t want any of the materials to be put in his mouth.
I’ve also filled sensory bins with dried beans, rice, flour, pony beads and crinkled paper. Throw in a spoon, bowl and/or measuring cup and you are set for at least 15 minutes of focused play. Here’s a great post on Sensory Bin Basics from Busy Toddler. All you need are supplies you can already find around your house.
Contact Paper Play
Use blue painter’s tape to attach a piece of contact paper to a window, wall or table. Provide your child with some pieces of felt or foam and let him/her go to town taking off and putting back on the pieces. You can also use feathers or colored pieces of construction paper. I’ve also used those silk leaves during the fall. It’s fun to peel the items off the contact paper and sticking them back on. This strengthens fine motor skills and engages your little one during standing play.
Bowl of K-Cups
While I was cooking dinner, I put some K-Cups into a bowl and let my son play. They can be transferred from one container to another and stacked. This was an idea given to me by another mom friend and I loved it!! Play ideas that use items already found in the house are a win in my book.
Drawer of Plastic Plates & Bowls
We keep the plates, utensils, bowls and cups we use for the kids in drawers that are easily accessible by them. For my son, it gives him something to explore while I’m making dinner. For my daughter, she can help set the table or pick out her bowl for snack.
Bathtub Play
Looking for something fun to do in the middle of the day?! Try filling the bathtub and engaging your kiddo in some indoor water play! Different sized cups are fun to fill with water or just let your child play with bathtub toys. We love these letters!
Applesauce Caps
My son loves taking these caps out of one container and putting them into a cup. I started saving these applesauce caps when my daughter was eating pouches because I knew they would come in handy someday. They are perfect for practice with identifying colors and counting. They are a nice size for little hands, too!
Chunky Wooden Puzzles
We love our collection of toddler wooden puzzles! Puzzles are great for building vocabulary, naming shapes & colors, matching pictures and problem-solving. Your child will gain a sense of accomplishment when he/she finishes a puzzle!
Animal Play
My son is OBSESSED with animals, especially the dinosaur and gorilla! We just filled a plastic bin with an assortment of realistic animals. He loves taking them out, lining them up on the window sill, carrying them around, giving them to others and making the sounds. The animals encourage conversation as we talk about the characteristics of each animal and the sound each one makes. This set of animals will grow with him as we start talking about comparing the animals when it comes to coloring, height and size.
Stacking & Sorting
We have fun playing with stacking cups, boxes, different-sized plastic containers and wooden blocks to make tall towers to knock down. Stacking encourages reaching and keeps your young toddler engaged in standing play. It also builds his/her hand-eye coordination as they place each object on top of the previous one. And knocking down the tower is so much fun!
Sorting toys or blocks by shape, size, and color is an easy way to build on play with your one year old. This brings an element of learning into your play. It feels like a game to your little one. We also really enjoy playing with our shape sorter!
Oatmeal Canister Card Drop
Take an oatmeal canister and cut a slit in the lid. Take a set of playing cards and have your young toddler place cards one at a time into the slit. You can also use popsicle sticks for this play idea.
Hidden Toys
Hide toys inside of plastic eggs and put eggs into a basket. Set the basket next to your little one and invite him/her to open the eggs and find the toys inside. Small plastic animals, which you can find at the Dollar Store, work really well for this play idea. My son loved opening eggs to find something inside! You can also hide toys under cups or blankets/burp cloths and have your child find them. Say, “Where is….?” and respond with “There is….” when your toddler finds the toy. This supports language development and learning about cause & effect. Plus it is a fun game to play with your child!
Straws in A Water Bottle
I originally saw this idea during a Pinterest search and immediately clicked the link to Tales of a Teacher Mom. I knew my son would love this play idea because he is obsessed with putting objects into containers and taking them out. This play idea is simple to set up and if you do not have straws, you can use popsicle sticks, or even crayons. My son really focused and concentrated on trying to put the straw into the water bottle. As he placed each one in, I named the color of the straw in his hand. This former teacher is always trying to squeeze in some learning and vocabulary during play 😉
Cardboard Box Fun
I don’t know about you, but we always have a box from Amazon or Target in our house from a shipment we received. I love repurposing the larger boxes for play. When my daughter was a young toddler, I set her inside a cardboard box in just a diaper and gave her some washable markers. She went to town drawing all over the inside of the box. This play idea worked really well while I cleaned up after dinner. My daughter was obsessed with using markers so this was a fun way for her to use them without worrying she would color on the furniture.
Cardboard boxes can also be turned into cars, trucks, trains for your little one and/or stuffed animals. Your little one can push his/her favorite stuffies around the house. My daughter loved pushing boxes and baskets around the house and did this a lot when she was new to walking.
We recently turned a cardboard box into a car garage for my son’s toy cars. My 3 1/2 year old daughter helped me decorate it and my son enjoyed playing with it. He liked lifting the flaps to peek inside.
Cardboard boxes are great for encouraging imaginative and pretend play 😍
Fun with A Wallet
This play idea came about while we were on a family vacation in Disney World. We traveled on a bus to get from our hotel to the parks and our daughter didn’t do very well sitting still for that long on our lap. So my husband brought out his wallet and she immediately went to town taking cards out and putting them back in. This became our saving grace for the remainder of the trip. When we got home, I found an old wallet and gathered up some old business cards and gift cards we used up. I wrapped the business cards in packing tape to make them sturdier.
This easy and inexpensive play idea is still a loved one by my daughter! However, she now pretends to pay for things and travel to places. My son just likes taking all of the cards out and putting them back in. So easy and entertaining for little ones! Play ideas like this one are wonderful for strengthening fine motor skills and sparking conversation. You can talk about the pictures and colors on each card.
Kitchen Play
When I became a mom, I knew a play kitchen was one of the toys I wanted to own. I loved playing in my kitchen as a child and knew I wanted my children to have the same fun! There are so many ways a play kitchen enhances your young toddler’s play. Your toddler pretends to cook and imitate what they see the adults in his/her life doing in the kitchen. My son enjoys mixing and putting things inside the refrigerator and oven, which open. There’s a lot of vocabulary learned while playing in the kitchen. This is definitely on my must-have toy list for parents with a one year old. This is one of those toys that grows with your child.
Conclusion
There you have it, a description of 25+ play ideas for your one year old. Whether you are looking for a new idea to keep playtime exciting, wanting some fun & engaging play ideas to do when you’re stuck indoors, or just want to help your child with his/her growing skills, this post is definitely one to save and reference. If you have an older toddler, around 2-3 years old, be sure to check out my post describing 15 screen-free activities 😊
You are a genius! Thank you for these amazing ideas!
Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out the ideas!! I’m so glad you were able to grab some new ones to try with your one year old 🙂 I appreciate the comment and hope you and your little one have lots of fun playing together!!