Ideas for simple at-home activities for a 16-month-old

[BrightAmberDuck]

Hi all,
I'm wrecking my brain thinking of activities for my very active 16 month old. She only goes to the nursery for half days and the rest are up to me. I bring her for music and swim classes. We head out to the playgrounds and parks A LOT. But I want something that I can easily organise at home, yet engage her appropriately too.

Does anyone have ideas or good resources for DIY activities that are developmentally appropriate? Where do you go for inspiration? Is there a "recipe" book for activities?

“ Painting” with water outside and a big paintbrush.
Handprints, footprints
water table, sand pit
Sink/bowl of bubbles and an egg whisk!
library
Grow some seeds
Big drawings/scribbles on big roll of paper/back of wallpaper (we used to draw round the kids then colouring clothes, shoes, draw face etc)
Make a den - sheets over a table, clothes airer etc. Teddy tea party in the den!
BBC as I’ve discovered over the last 18 years of parenting, the BBC usually has the answer!

Pizza baking? You can make a simple scone dough or a ypgurt- based dough. You and DC can decorate your own pizzas - tomato sauce, tomatoes, yelkow
pepper, cheese, ham etc.

play dough
sand and water tables or a sandpit
little climbing frame and slide
cooking together
long baths with toys bubbles or bath crayons. I will occasionally do snack time in the bath, dc think it’s amazing
a bowl of dry food like oats or rice and some things to scoop with and thing a to pour into like other bowls, cupcake cases etc
Spray bottles to water the plants
chalk
picnics
feeding ducks
IKEA (they love running around the little mocked up rooms, pressing buttons on display ovens, genuinely one of dcs best days out)

Drawing/painting on rolls of lining paper
Train set or cars - draw a road layout on the lining paper
Helping with every day chores

• I put up a low level washing line in the garden and mine pegged out all the socks and pants
• matching socks when you get them off the line
• sweeping, 'cleaning' with a dry cloth
• 'writing' a shopping list
• preparing meals

Lego or similar building sets, wooden blocks to make towers with and knock down Jigsaws Looking at books together Digging and messing about in the garden A cupboard or drawer in the kitchen that has pans and spoons and things that she can get out and bang together and play with, when you have to do something she can't join in with. Dressing up - just a hat can make you into a different person

Anything where she is interacting with the real world* rather than sitting looking at a screen is developmentally appropriate!

*obviously not wandering the streets on her own or investigating how power tools work 😁

Give her a box of random items and leave her be. Otherwise she will never learn how to entertain herself. Mother of six who's eldest was quite a pita because I didn't learn this early enough!

One of DH's grandchildren would spend ages with my peg box, using either a wooden spoon or kitchen tongs to transfer them one at a time to a bowl!

Thank you mummies for sharing. I loved reading every reply! <3