Play Activities & Crafts for 1 Year Olds

As your baby transitions into toddlerhood, their curiosity and desire for exploration intensify.

Playtime becomes a crucial avenue for them to develop essential skills, including motor skills, cognitive abilities, language development, and social-emotional understanding.

In this article, we’ll explore a variety of play activities tailored for 1-year-olds, focusing on three key areas: sensory exploration, motor skill development, and cognitive stimulation.

Plus, you’ll find expert videos and resources for even more insight into the power of Play & Toys!

Sensory Exploration for 1 Year Olds

One-year-olds are eager to engage their senses and explore the world around them through touch, sight, sound, and taste. Sensory play provides them with rich experiences that stimulate their developing brains.

1. Texture Play: Fill a bin with various textured materials like soft fabrics, crinkly paper, smooth stones, or squishy sponges. Let your toddler explore these textures with their hands and feet, encouraging sensory exploration and tactile development.
2. Water Play: Fill a shallow container with water and add toys like cups, spoons, or rubber ducks. Allow your toddler to splash, pour, and scoop, promoting sensory exploration and fine motor skills.
3. Sound Exploration: Provide toys that make different sounds, such as rattles, shakers, or musical instruments. Encourage your toddler to explore these sounds, helping them develop auditory discrimination and an appreciation for music.
4. Taste-Safe Sensory Play: Offer taste-safe sensory materials like cooked pasta, yogurt, or pudding. Let your toddler explore these textures and flavors with their hands and mouth, promoting sensory exploration and oral motor development.
5. Outdoor Sensory Walk: Take your toddler on a walk outdoors and encourage them to touch leaves, grass, sand, or other natural materials. This provides a rich sensory experience and fosters a connection with nature.

Active Play for 1 Year Olds

One-year-olds are developing their gross motor skills, which involve the large muscles of the body used for movement. Play activities that encourage movement help them refine these skills and gain confidence in their physical abilities.

1. Toddler See, Toddler Do!: Engage in simple actions like clapping, stomping, or waving, and encourage your toddler to imitate you. This helps them develop body awareness and coordination.
2. Cruising and Walking: Provide opportunities for your toddler to practice cruising along furniture or taking their first steps with support. This helps them develop balance, coordination, and leg strength.
3. Pushing and Pulling Toys: Offer push toys like toy strollers or shopping carts, or pull toys like wagons or toy animals on strings. This encourages walking, balance, and coordination.
4. Climbing and Crawling: Create safe spaces for your toddler to practice climbing on soft blocks or crawling through tunnels. This helps them develop core strength, coordination, and spatial awareness.
5. Ball Play: Roll a ball back and forth with your toddler or kick a soft ball together. This helps them develop hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness.

Imagination Play for 1 Year Olds

One-year-olds are beginning to understand cause and effect, object permanence, and simple problem-solving. Play activities that challenge their thinking and exploration skills are essential for their cognitive development.

1. Stacking and Nesting Toys: Provide stacking rings, cups, or blocks. This helps toddlers learn about spatial relationships, cause and effect, and problem-solving as they figure out how to stack or fit objects together.
2. Shape Sorters: Introduce shape sorters with different geometric shapes. This helps toddlers learn about shapes, colors, and spatial reasoning as they match the shapes to the correct openings.
3. Cause-and-Effect Toys: Offer toys that respond to your toddler’s actions, such as toys that light up or make sounds when pressed or shaken. This helps them understand cause and effect and encourages exploration.
4. Simple Puzzles: Start with simple puzzles with large, chunky pieces that are easy for toddlers to grasp. This helps them develop problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination.
5. Books and Rhymes: Read to your toddler regularly and recite nursery rhymes. This exposes them to language, sounds, and rhythm, promoting early literacy skills.

Remember, the most important aspect of play is to have fun and connect with your child. Follow their lead, be responsive to their cues, and enjoy this special time of bonding and learning together.

Resources

• Harvard – Center on Developing Child – 5 Games to Play with Toddlers (12 months)