Toddler activity ideas

[Tryinhard]

hi, I'm a first time mum of an 11 month old, and find it hard to think of activities for him to do with me or alone, now he is getting that bit bigger. I just want him to have lots of fun, stimulation and opportunities for learning etc.
My mum suggested crayons and paper for learning to draw, building blocks, a sandpit etc, she is full of ideas! Anyone else got any suggestions for fun activities you have done with your young toddlers or older babies? :)

Painting, rolling a ball back and forth, reading books, action songs e.g pat a cake, incy wincy spider, musical instruments like a drum or maraca or pan and spoon! Tray of water to splash in, water and corn flour to squidge, peekaboo, a cd on to dance around together.

My dd is a year older now so I'm trying to remember all the things I used to do! Will add more if I can think of more!

Ooh hide and seek - hide an object and see if he can find it.

When DS was that age we spent a lot of time just playing with his toys together, painting or reading together. Lots of singing and things to. Basically anything fun :)

Now he 17 months and we still do the same but with more things like puzzles thrown in and more crafty things. Building blocks and stacking cups are great fun :)

Last weekend I sat DS on the patio with a big bowl of water and some paintbrushes - he was happy for ages!!

Ball pit balls - throw up/down stairs, put in & out of containers, crawl around after them. DS has spent at least an hour a day playing with them for the last 7 months or so (he's 16 months now).

Washing machine and 'sorting' washing from a laundry basket were favourites too.

A treasure basket is really good - google 'heuristic play' for ideas.

And definitely any sort of water play - DS adores sinks & plugs.

both my dcs have loved "cooking" from an early age, ie getting all the different pots and pans out of the cupboards, and non dangerous utensils (I've had to prise a very sharp grater out of dd's hands more than once :o) DD particularly loves "stirring" pans, doesn't even matter if there's nothing in them, though a handful of uncooked rice makes a very pleasing play thing.

I used to fill his old baby bath with luke warm water, sieves, plastic pots and jugs, and put it in the garden just by the kitchen door, with him in wellies and nappies. He'd play with it for hours, happily soaking everything in sight and asking for more hot water when it turned cold.

We also took all Bob the builder's trucks to the park and filled them with leaves and gravel more times than I'd care to remember.

Lots of singing, pretending cuddly toys could speak, picnics on the kitchen floor and lots of messing around making him laugh. I remember him chuckling for hours every day if I just pretended his gloves were mine and tried to put them on. We also spent hours in play parks at that age, on swings and learning to climb.

The saucepan band - get out pots, pans, lids, plastic bowls etc, give him an assortment of suitable implements (eg wooden spoon, plastic spatula etc) and bang bang bang! Lots of fun if you can bear the noise! Our wok lid makes a particularly pleasing tinging noise!

Making dens / climbing things with the cushions and sofa cushions in the sittign room (DH's special talent). Can also add rugs or sheets to make extra good dens.

On treasure baskets, do a search on past threads here, also known as wnaky baskets (spelt like that). Actually really good fun as long as you don't take it too seriously.

Hand puppets, especially ones where you can animate its mouth, made our DD laugh a lot (especially when the puppet "ate" a bit of lego then coughed it out, or tried to gobble her, or did all sorts of silly things like that).

all of the above sound fab though you might find its a bit early for crayons and colouring - DS is 21 months and still can't get the hang of it. Definitely get stacking cups and a ball or two. How far along is he in the walking stakes? With the nice weather coming he can practise outside with a walker. The vtech one is good or you can get lovely ones that can be ride-on toys or converted into walkers.