With a super active super curious one-year-old, we’ve had to get uber-creative and fast to keep our little one busy. With the attention span of around 5 minutes per activity, there has been a lot of trial and error but the following activities have proven to be a hit.

1. Create a sensory bin: Fill a bin with items such as colored rice, buttons, feathers, or other small objects and toys. Your child can explore the items and learn about textures, colors, and shapes. There’s a lot of ‘im just going to pop it in my mouth’ going on, so definitely one to keep a close eye on 🙂

2. Play with puzzles and blocks: Whether you’re using wooden blocks or foam puzzles, your child will be entertained for hours as they figure out how to stack the blocks or put together the puzzle pieces.

3. Play with toys: Offer your child a variety of toys that encourage imagination, such as dolls, cars, and stuffed animals.

4. Read books: Read books to your child, and encourage them to turn the pages. Don’t be afraid to get silly and makeup stories about the characters in the book.

5. Turn on some music: Put on some music and encourage your child to dance and move around.

6. Go outside: Take your child outside to explore the world around them. Nature provides an array of new and interesting sights and sounds. By the end of the day, all that fresh air and exercise makes bedtime that much easier.

7. Set up an obstacle course: Create an obstacle course with pillows, blankets, cushions, or boxes. Your child can explore and crawl through the course.

8. Try a new activity each day: Whether it’s visiting a new playground, going to a museum, or trying a new recipe, find something new and exciting to do each day.

9. Tape toilet rolls to the side of a door, and get a whole load of small objects, we used colourful pom poms for his little hands to pop through and watch come out of the other side.

10. Fill a box with small toys and water, then freeze it. Once frozen watch. them hammer away at it, with whatever you have at hand. Popping on some safety goggles might be an idea, alternatively pop the block into a bowl of water and let your child explore the different temperatures and the excitement of seeing their toys freee.

Happy Playing!