Her daughter, a natural explorer, loves books, flipping pages, listening to music and just about anything she can get her hands on. I rounded up a few projects that are inexpensive (in many cases, free) and will keep her daughter entertained, while practicing her concentration skills which are so important at this age when they have an absorbent mind that can pick up just about anything quickly.
• Introduce clay, if you haven’t already. Your child can roll it, pound it with a tiny mallet. Add some cookie cutters, a rolling pin and sticks.
• Children this age love to sort. Give your child two or three tiny buckets or cups and give them some pom-poms to sort.
• Set up a water table. Put out a small plastic tub (shoe box size is perfect) and fill it with a small amount of water. Add some child-size plastic cups, or pitchers, and just let your child* pour to their heart's content.
• Cubes on a Vertical Dowel, $8.95, will keep their attention for long spans of time.
• Just like the vertical dowel, the Colored Discs on 3 Colored Dowels, $9.95, is also a winner.
• One of my favorite Montessori items for toddlers is the object permanence box. If you don’t want to buy one, you can easily make something similar using a small cardboard box and a hacky sack or knitted ball.
• Some colorful, inexpensive gauzy scarves can be put in an old tissue box. Your child can push them in and then pull them back out. We found a pack of 12 for $19.99, but hit your local thrift store and you're sure to find plenty at a bargain.
• And when it doubt, simple wooden blocks are always a favorite!
With all of theses activities, it's important for you to show your child how to do them first. You're presenting the materials. Model the behavior and action, slowly for them, and they’ll get it. Then, just let them have fun and enjoy their new discoveries!
*Don't worry about letting them get wet. They'll love it and you can always make them a nifty apron from a repurposed kitchen towel.
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toothpicks to a 13-month old????
Liljsmom: Yes, for mine. He was under my supervision and it is in my home. You can use what you see fit for your child. Every family is special. :)
Good point about different kids and different tools. A mom did a blog post about giving her child (who was younger than mine) craft sticks and letting her sort them and put them into travel coffee cups. Hours of fun were had. Such an adorable idea so I bought some colored craft sticks and gave him the sticks and a cup. He threw the cup and then sucked on a colored stick and turned his mouth blue. As much as we tried to sort, it was unsuccessful. It also took forever for the blue to come off of his mouth.
I have a feeling I'd be pulling puff balls out of his dirty diapers if I tried that one too . . .
Haha! Jensational, you completely reminded me of a time when I was about 10 and my 1-year-old niece was visiting us. We had one of those classic 70s/80s bean bag chairs and I thought how neat it would be if I unzipped the bag and let all the teeny tiny Styrofoam beans spill onto the floor and let my niece jump on them.
After my brother picked her up, he later called my mom and asked, "So, what was going on over there? Shelly's diaper is full of Styrofoam." Oops!
again...as with all things with children....adult supervision required.
wish i had known of this fun game with when my child was that age, i think she would have loved it. hmph....pretty sure she still will. thanks Alex!
Thanks for this one. I needed some inspiration for Oscar. We also like tubs of rice, macaroni, or beans as an alternative to water.
He's a cutie. Some good ideas, thx.
Nice ideas. Most of them would not have worked with my kids at 13 months either because I have children who put everything in their mouths. My youngest is 16 months, and I'm just starting to be able to let her do some of these things with very close, constant supervision. Even my oldest, at 3 1/2, puts weird things in her mouth all the time. I have to be on constant vigilance.
These are fun activities for older toddlers too, however. Especially the sorting, which seems unlikely at 13 months.
Thanks for the links to Montessori outlet. I had never heard of it, but I'm off to shop after I submit this post.
Over my dead body would I give my thirteen month old son a toothpick.
My 16-month-old daughter has had a toothpick activity for several months. I gave her a spice jar with the sprinkle lid (the part with the holes in it) still on, and she puts toothpicks through the holes. I keep it in with the other spices, which are in a low drawer she can get to, and she goes and gets it and asks me to open it all the time so she can play with it. Again, supervised, but still. Once she moves from putting the toothpicks in the jar to putting them in her mouth (or EAR, new fascination) I just take them away, becasue she's clearly done.
I agree that toothpicks are NOT a good idea for most 13 month olds. No matter how closely you're watching in only takes a second for such a sharp object to cause damage. There are plenty of safe objects to play with.
thank you so much alex. i love how you respond with class! -wishing i had this ablity. i have a 22 month old and a friend with simular age kiddos. i am definatly going to pass this one on. being an artist, i really was waiting for my son to do crafts. but looks like we could have lots of fun together. thanks again!!!
Love the scarves idea - much better than emptying the Kleenex box of actual tissues!
Jensational, I just snorted onto my monitor! my 2 year old would do the exact same thing.