Ways to entertain your 1 year old

      I’m sure you have seen your little one is becoming more independent at this stage. They want to keep active for the majority of the day. It’s important to keep them active when they aren’t sleeping. They are more attentive and can stay awake most of the day. They usually only take one long nap after lunch; instead of several cat naps throughout the day.

        They have developed more skills and you are able to do more things with them. Some of the fun activities that we do at our daycare with our toddlers are letting them color.  They love to do this. So cut a piece of paper and put their name on it in big letters. Then give them a fat crayon and they will go like crazy coloring on top of their name. They will know to color on the paper, when they see you as parent writing on the paper. The kids get so excited if you say; “Aww that’s so cute”, “you did an awesome job”, etc. They just love the attention.

          Another way you can interact with your one year old child is to do the shape sorter. You should say the shape to them so they get the visual and the hearing of it. Their brain is developing and it’s a good idea to start young and teach your child. If your child is struggling to get the shape in, then you can take their hand and help him/her and cheer them on that they got it!

          Another fun thing we do with our kids at work is playing with play dough. This will also give the chance to feel different texture. You just have to sit with them and watch them closely, because they have the tendency to eat it. I, as a daycare provider helper like to sit and play with the play dough with them so we have interaction between each other.

          Singing with actions with is another thing that will keep your child occupied for a long time. They love hear your voice singing. Some of the popular songs sung is row-row your boat, itsy-bitsy spider, the bumble-bee songs, just to name a few. They are very entertained if you do the actions along with the words.  If you don’t like to sing or don’t know the words you can also put it on the computer. A great website for toddlers’ songs, stories and just videos is on YouTube. Once you get to YouTube type in Simple Songs, and that will bring you up a ton of different options your child will love.

         I think they are now getting to the fun age to be a parent. They are so fun and you can talk to them and actually try to have a little conversation.  You are able to do things with them instead of just sitting there and holding them. So don’t miss the chance of having a great time with them and enjoy every moment with your child.