Our favorite indoor activities are reading, singing, fingerplays (e.g. "This little piggy" etc), and coloring. But my daughter Winter also loves...

1) The indoor kiddie pool (a.k.a. the midday bath). I fill up the tub and let Winter splash to her heart's content. She also gets to play with all her bath toys of course. All the fun of bath time, minus the trauma of hair washing.

2) Office chair ride. I seat her in my office chair and spin her around -- a full circle in one direction, then a full circle in the opposite direction, and so on. This way she doesn't get dizzy.

3) Big ball bounce. I seat Winter on my exercise ball and bounce her around. Then I flip her onto her tummy and rock her back and forth.

4) Mommy bridge. I do a downward dog pose, but with a wide leg stance. Winter likes to crawl around underneath me. Sometimes the cat joins her and they chase each other around.

5) Sticky stuff. Sometimes I give Winter a cheap fridge magnet and she goes around trying to see where it can stick. I avoid this variation if she's tired though, because she gets frustrated if she can't get the magnet to stick to something. Sometimes I tape a piece of contact paper to the wall and cut out different shapes from construction paper so Winter can make a collage. She's really particular so she spends a lot of time arranging and rearranging the shapes, and luckily contact paper is sticky but not too sticky. Other times I put a bit of tape on the back of photos (usually photos of the cat) and Winter walks around sticking the photos to various objects.

6) Hide-n-seek. We take turns hiding behind the couch or whatever. Sometimes when she's playing by herself, she'll hide a toy, sign "I don't know" and then act all surprised when she finds it. Sometimes we walk around looking for the cat, who's usually sleeping in the linen closet.

7) Construction/demolition. We stack just about anything that's stackable to make tall towers, then we knock them over and start again.

8) Packing/unpacking. Winter likes to put things into containers, then take them out again, and so on. We do this activity with just about anything, but lately I've been doing it with Play-Doh. I make about a dozen little pyramids (so they don't roll if they fall off the table) and Winter packs/unpacks them one by one. It keeps her occupied after a meal while I clean up.

9) Playing doctor. We have a forehead thermometer that beeps and turns different colors depending on the temp. Winter loves it, so I take her temp, my temp, the cat's temp, her dolls' temp, etc. I also have some fun kiddie band-aids that we put on our make-believe boo-boo's.

10) Mini scavenger hunts. I ask Winter to bring me various things that fit a certain criteria ("Bring me something that goes woof!" etc).

11) Leaving the house. Just because you can't play outside doesn't mean you have to stay in your own home. We usually head to the library, which has a great children's room with lots of toys. Or we run errands (groceries, etc) and eat out. Or we go to someone else's house for a play date.

My daughter just turned 19 months, by the way. These are activities she's enjoyed for the past 3 months. I have so many more activities, but this comment is long enough!

Cutting out magazine and catalog pictures, then gluing them down...always has been a winner at my house! (Even for the older ones)

A new activity that I just learned was to buy telephone wire at a home improvement store and let the kiddos bend it into shapes. We went to a museum activity for kids hosted by Todd Oldham and he was teaching us craft ideas from his new book (Kid Made Modern)...He also did bubble wrap painting...so easy...so fun!

Kristy
http://life-simplicitas.blogspot.com/

A few favorite activities for our 20 month old include:

going on a trip:
we pack a small suitcase together. I ask her to bring specific things (the blue ball, the yellow car, the green dress, etc.) Then we say good bye to all her stuffed animals and dolls and she drags the suitcase to another room, where we unpack. Then we pack again and return to her room and heartily greet all the dolls and stuffed animals again. She can also occupy herself with just the packing if I need to get something done - any luggage with lots of zippers and pockets is ideal.

colored plastic hangers:
now that she can identify colors, she likes to say them aloud as she hangs the hangers on various knobs and ledges around the condo. This satisfies her need to do and then undo in rapid succession. Place a hanger, take it down, place it somwhere else, etc.

doctor's office:
we line up her dolls and animals and then "treat" their various ailments. Some get bandaids for boo boos; some learn how to sneeze into their elbows; some have to blow their noses. You get the picture.

scoop and sort:
we place bowls and cups and plates on the coffee table and she sorts through different kinds of pasta, different colored pompoms, etc. Measuring spoons and wisks make it very fun.

WOW. I could cry (but I'm 33 weeks preggo so could be the hormones). My son is 16 months old and most of these activities are above his head. He certainly doesn't understand instructions like "behind the curtain in the living room" nor can he recognize letters. He would rather bite the crayons than color and I'm sure he would consider Play-doh a snack. He just learned the sign for 'more'; we've been working on this since he was 7 months old.
Does my kid need to be tested? Anyone else's 16 month old a little behind on this sort of thing? He loves reading books and is very physical so maybe I just need to work on the other stuff. I am definitely going to try some of the learning activities but I am doubtful that they will grab his attention.

mama0913,

I'm sure he's okay!!

I have a perfectly normal, intelligent little boy who took a while to learn signing, and definitely didn't recognize letters at 16 months!

My daughter though, could sing the whole alphabet song at 2 (he's 3 now, and not only is his pronounciation not as good, he doesn't know the alphabet off by heart yet)... girls tend to develop their language skills much earlier than boys (note these are all girls being discussed!). And not only do boys and girls develop differently, but each kid is an individual.

Relax, keep reading together, and talking, and everything will be just fine!

Just for some reassurance, back home, the public health department of our city sent out a check-list of milestones for parents of young children, and I found it to be a great comfort. It came free from our city, but here is the checklist (I guess there is a cost to this!):

http://www.ndds.ca/home.html

Hope this helps!

mama0913--

Please don't be so worried. I have an 18 month old and can tell you that some of these are certainly far, far beyond her current abilities. I have a very bright, precocious 3 1/2 year old with incredible language abilities, and she was not doing 90% of what has been mentioned here at 16 months.

What a great list. I expected the same-ole same-ole you see everywhere, but a lot of those ideas were new to me.

Mama 0913, definitely blame the hormones. :) Your child is fine. A lot of that is above the head of most 16 month olds, but that doesn't mean you can't try some of them. The ball activity for instance - start with all the balls in front of you and just ask him to hand you one - by color if he knows that, but even that's not necessary. The next time you play, let him see you hide it behind the curtain and then say, "The ball is behind the curtain" so that you're labeling the location for the time he does pick up on it.

I think of everything in terms of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (I'm an educator). There are activities my child can do independently, those she can do with my help, and those that are just at frustration level. Learning occurs with the first two levels, but not the last. If a task I want to do is at frustration level, then I think of ways to adjust it so she can do it with help or we put it away until later.

Finally, I've found that activities that were frustrating months ago, she starts talking about out of the blue. I'm thinking of an art class we went to that she was just not developmentally ready for. Months later, she started doing some of the activities, using the exact language of the teacher. They really do soak everything up - you just might not see results right away.

My 17 month old can do these things but I would say that the other kids in her dayschool class are sort of all over the map. Ya know I always think back to a friend who said her son didn't say a word at three and he was tested for everything and then one day it just all clicked for him and he is now 18 and in advanced classes. Another co-worker has a son who is a lawyer who didn't walk or say one word till 2.5.

SENSORY BOX - we take a big under bed plastic storage box and use it as a sensory box in the kitchen. Lots of possibilities - Bubble Bath and water to make a box full of bubbles; water and sponges; dry beans, rice, or pasta; ice and shaving cream; so on. You can find lots of ideas online. Need to provide lots of little bowls, shovels, tubes, and funnels, plastic cars, balls, boats, etc. to play with in the tub.

These ideas are so helpful! I have an almost 15 month old, and I am often wondering what to do with her. I want the things we do to be meaningful interactions, and have some learning value, and I'm not always great at thinking of activities that accomplish both of those things.

Like Mama0913, I was getting really worried (horrified) when I read the descriptions of these activities, because there is no way my 16 MO would comprehend any of these games!!!

I love the ideas though and will definitely try them out and see if my son is interested. These are great activities that involve thought and interaction on both parties...love it...thanks!

My daughter has always loved playing with a flashlight. We either close the curtains/shutters during the day or make a tent or, in the winter when the sun goes down early, just close the door to her bedroom and shine the flashlight on things. She likes to hold things up and make shadows on the wall. I think some kids might not like the idea of playing in the dark but it is one of her all time favorite things to do.

mama0913- I am in the same boat! As I was reading the list, I couldn't believe a 16 month old could do this stuff. I have a fifteen month old, and he is very smart and developing right on target. I tried the collage project with him last night, and he all he wanted to do was eat the glue. But no worries! All children are different. I think these were some great ideas, but definitely not for every 16 month old! I will be using them in the future.

Thanks for all these great ideas - I'm inspired!

And mama0913 (and others) - my 19-month-old wouldn't grasp a lot of these either and I'm definitely not worried. He's very physical and can probably jump higher and longer than any kid on our block. He only has a handful of words and begrudgingly uses them. He's not very interested in books or even songs. But he loves to boogie and touch everything (will happily spend 45 minutes in the tub (dry) sorting beans in a muffin tin). So file these ideas away for when your son's ready or give some a try just to see how they go. He might make a game of something in a way you hadn't anticipated.

Carrie

Mama0913 -
don't worry! I agree with other commenters that your babe is within the range of normal! of our child's friends, the ones who have early verbal skills in particular get pegged as the most intelligent kids, when it has nothing to do with intelligence, in my opinion. we know several kids who just sat and watched everything as toddlers, and were late on developing certain skills. Perfectly normal, bright preschoolers now. If something really feels wrong to you, there is no harm in testing, especially to ease your mind or get help if needed. Regardless, though, try not to compare to other children. Your child is unique, and there is no comparison.

All great ideas! My kids are a little older now but when my son was about 1 1/2 I found a book called "Help! There's a Toddler in My House!" that had chapters of activities for every room in the house. I remember that even though they were simple games, it helped me to have an extensive list of things so he (and I!) didn't get bored.

If your child is into playdoh this is the BEST recipe for homemade ever. I'll never buy playdoh again. It's all things you'll have in the kitchen and nothing bad to eat (although it won't taste very good!) http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/2010/01/floods-jams-and-best-playdoh-recipe.html

If they are still at the eating playdoh stage, try peanut butter playdoh.
* 2/3 cup peanut buter
* 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2/3 cup honey
* 3/4 cup dry milk powder
Mix together into a pliable dough. I sometimes added a tablespoon or two of rolled oats to give a new texture (and make it a little helathier!)

Having a young toddler is just hard! They are all at different stages and have different likes - and short attention spans!

One thing my daughter really loves is pom-poms. She loves putting them in different containers, scooping them, putting them in plastic bottles. I also have colored felt squares and she can sort them by color.

Thanks for all the great ideas.

Anyone have any good sources for those pom poms? I'd love to try that!

I bought a huge bag of brightly colored pom poms in different sizes at Michaels for about $6.

We recently invested in a Learning Tower (we have a 2 yo and a nearly 11mo old) and the 2yo LOVES to go "fishing" in the bar sink. His little sister likes to stand in there next to him while he's fishing too, so I'm thinking we'll get many years of use of of this. I was also pretty pleased with myself when I conned him into washing all his million Legos (dog hair, you know) in the sink with soap, rinse and dry them. :) He also likes to "cook" now - mixing and making pancakes, so not having to pick him up to show him what I'm cooking is awesome.

Besides playdoh, our latest crafty things are stamps and ink, and tracing his body parts onto paper. Glitter is always a big hit, but so messy!

@mama0913: Boys usually take longer to learn things than girls. Plus, kids that young have so much to learn, they just learn different things at different times. My son, now 3, has never cared to learn anything that doesn't involve tractors in some way. He still won't be bothered with crayons, or songs, or even toys... unless the toys are tractors, but he still understands what's going on around him. The best thing to do, I think, is to figure out what it is he likes to do and incorporate that into learning new things.

Here are 6 more ideas with some ideas for reusing items in the home… http://www.simplymodernmom.com/2010/02/at-home-activities-for-kids/

Wow, great ideas everybody! Thanks a lot :)

Fantastic list. We have six (!) big dog beds (giant round pillows) we keep in a reading corner stacked high, princess and the pea style. But in the deep dark days of winter, we pull them in front of the couch: voila, mosh pit! Two boys, one girl, a whole lot of roughhousing fun!

This is a really good list. I especially love the hiding things and giving instructions to find them. I used a couple of these ideas in a blog post I just did on indoor activities for toddlers and included a link to this post. Thank you!