Entertaining a 1 year old

[wanderingalbatross]

My DD has just turned 1, and I'm at a bit of a loss for how to entertain her, especially with the horrible weather we've been having! When she was younger I used to go out for walks and to lots of coffee shops, but now she gets bored there if we are inside too long.

She is very active, so likes to crawl and cruise, stopping occasionally to eat whatever she can find on the floor. On dry days I often take her to the park and let her play on the grass (we don't have a garden) but can't always do that in the rain.

I'm not at all worried about encouraging her development and stimulating her(!), it's more that sitting at home watching her crawl around and occasionally removing her from where she shouldn't be gets a bit boring for me! I'd like some ideas for fun things to do with her now, or in the next few months :)

Would love to hear your ideas!

Does your local SureStart Centre have an age-suitable session(s)? They usually provide a larger venue with different toys, plus a chance for Mums to chat etc. Some churches run similar groups too.
If you have a local library, they usually run a range of events.
Things like baby yoga and baby swimming might also be worth considering, depending on budget.
If you have some local Mum friends, arrange a regular event that can circulate round your houses. We used to have a Monday tea (and cake) club!

Could you go to your local library to look at some books? They often have rhyme time sessions one day a week too.

Thanks for the ideas! I'll check out the local library (although their baby sessions are on days I work) and baby swimming as I think that might help DD burn off some energy :)

Our surestart centre doesn't have anything suitable, and our local toddler groups are shut for the summer now :(

I'll have to find some local mums and form a cake club!

Hie thee to MN local then!

My dd's 14mo, I stick her in a puddle suit and we go out even when it's tipping down. She has recently discovered puddles and worms.

If the playgroups are shut your local NCT groups might still be running so it's worth checking them out.

Are with the other, park, swimming, music groups, children's centre, meeting friends. If its wet all the time invest in some good waterproofs so that you can still both get out. If you get the separate ones, with adjustable braces on the trousers, they will last her longer.

I love the idea of a puddle suit - if only I'd have bought one a few months back when all the rain started! Stupidly I thought the summer was on its way but now I just checked the forecast and it is looking dry and sunny for the next week. Plus I just read an article about how the jet stream was going to change direction and bring summer back, so I'm hoping for a break to the rain.

Our local NCT group is also on a day I work too :( But you're right (for anyone else reading this!) that they do seem to run over the summer.

Well if summer is truely on its way then how about buying some chunky coloured chalks. She could make pictures outside and next time it rains it will all wash off.

Have you got a rainy day box too? They are easy to do, you just decorate a small box, like a shoe box, you could decorate it together with paint or sticking bits to it and then put in a few things like chunky crayons, paints, finger puppets, or a book or an unopened birthday present or even put in a recipe of something you'd like to try together. Then when you are stuck inside and she is fractious you can make the box appear as if by magic and play with the things in it together.

Another thing I used to do at that age was swap the toys around during their nap. So the things they had played with that morning go put away and things that they hadn't see for a while came out. You don't need lots of toys for this and you may be able to get more from a local toy library anyway .

Well it definitely looks like summer has arrived here, although I still keep expecting rain :) I tried chalk a couple of weeks ago but she just ate it! Although, she is slowly starting to eat less and less, so I will try again soon. I also read about 'painting' with water outside, so now it's dry we'll give that a go.

This morning DD discovered the cardboard recycling bin and entertained herself for ages by tipping it out, examining all the things and ripping them up.

Now the weather's better, take her out to the park and stash a few things you find as you walk - pine cones, conker casings, leaves, oak twigs, spruce fir (needles but springy to the touch) etc. when it starts to rain again, you'll have accrued a few bits to hold her interest. Also, if you go to the seaside, bring a bit of sand back and you can do seaside paintings with it plus tin foil etc. These things will get easier once they stop eating the art supplies (but that may take anything up to another year)!