Age Appropriate Activities for Toddlers

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12 to 24 months is a whirlwind of an age–they develop and change so quickly. During this time kids are figuring themselves out as well as the world around them. The good news is: pretty much anything can be exciting to them! Here are some age appropriate activities for toddlers, many of which you can do at home.

12-18 months:

This stage of a child’s life is riddled with curiosity! Some great activities include:

• Reading: It is important to your child’s cognitive learning, and even 20 minutes a day will help.
• Music: Listen to music with your baby and don’t be afraid to show your enthusiasm! Babies need to get their love of things like reading and music by experiencing it. Introduce your baby to different types of music, different beats, drums, piano, etc. Your baby will soon show you what she likes!
• Vocabulary: At this stage you can play games with your baby like “Where is your nose?” Point to your baby’s nose and say, “There is Henry’s nose!” Get him familiar with different body parts, his own name, mom and dad, etc.
• Get involved: Let your baby get involved with big girl things. Very soon your baby is going to try and exert some of her independence, so why not start now? Give your baby simple instructions like, shutting the door, putting a certain toy in a bucket, and throwing a piece of paper away in the trash. Get excited, clap your hands and say something like: “Yay, good job shutting the door!” They will get excited, and you are reinforcing that they did a good job and they will want to continue to make you happy.

18 to 24 months:

This can be a very fun, and sometimes frustrating age. Your baby is a little toddler now and also doubles as a sponge. He wants to go everywhere you do, do what you do, and do some things you do not want, like climbing on the table and emptying out the contents of your kitchen. When possible, let your baby follow you around and let them help you doing daily household activities like cleaning.

If you are wiping the counters, give your baby a little rag and see what they do! I bet they will try and copy your motions, and will soon be trying to wipe the floor, cabinets, their toys—everything. This will help their motor skills but it will also make them feel important, while getting to spend time with their mom or dad.

Again with the laundry, you will be amazed at how some kids really just love laundry. They will enjoy pulling clothes out of the hamper and putting them back in, over and over. Sometimes they will try and fold laundry like you are, but they really enjoy unfolding what you’ve done! After your laundry is folded, place your baby sitting inside of the basket and pretend it is a car. Slide them around in the basket making car noises and I assure you, they will love it.

More age-appropriate activities:

• String cereal onto a piece of string: this can double as a snack while also helping their fine motor skills.
• Take your toddler outside (or in your kitchen if you don’t mind the mess) and fill a bigger container with something like rice or beans. Give your toddler different sized, smaller containers and let them explore with this new texture.