Places to go with walking 12 month old!

[Unicornsandstarsxo]

Hi,

My DD is 12 months old but I feel she’s getting a bit bored with the same daily routine. I must have pure brain fog because I can’t think of places where to take a young toddler. We go to the park but I want to introduce her to new things! I’ve thought about swimming but really frustrating at the moment as you have to hire half the pool which is obviously quite expensive :( also the same with soft play.

I have had a little Google to see what’s about but I feel like some of the suggestions isn’t really that great for a young baby so I just wondered what everyone else gets up to!

Thanks!

X

Where are you that you can’t go to soft play?

A different park. Garden flower parks. Play parks.

Do you live near a beach? Quay? Country park? NT a property? Local farm? Duck pond? A cafe? Supermarket?

Maybe have a look to see if there is a local families Facebook page and ask on ideas on there.

Shopping malls at quiet times - lots of lights, colours and things to look at, and relatively clean floors! Also gets you out of the rain, and there are cafes and changing facilities.

Beach, woodland (look if there are an nice Forest commision places near you), botanical gardens/national trust/stately homes of all varieties, different park or playground than usual. Get a bike with a trolley for her and go cycling on a bike path. We have a few old rail trails around here that have been converted to cycling paths. Children's farms.

Also, just where do you want to go? I realise it's not the easiest thing now because COVID but when mine was that age, I was doing things I enjoyed, like museums.

I quite liked garden centres at that age, if you go at quieter times (not the weekend!) its quite pleasant to shadow them around and if its a nice one with a cafe. Most are aware of people using them for this I think and have something specifically for children.

A train ride always goes down well, particularly if you can find a close station with a park or something to have a potter round.

Where are you that you can’t go to soft play?

If OP is in a Level 2 area in Scotland then soft play is still shut. Its only just been been allowed to open in Level 1 and Level 0 areas. First time since March 2020

OP everything is new to a 12 month old - library, shops, park, beach, river, cafe.

Google baby and toddler groups.

I just remembered, my dd’s favourite trip out was IKEA from that age for a good couple of years - she had to sit in every chair though so I’m not sure if that’ll work in current times.

It’s tricky. It’s so hot where we live atm, but cafes/ library/ soft play/ swimming all clothed still.

Recent hits have been:
Pick your own strawberry farm - he loved it
Local small petting zoo type place.

Petting zoo, park, any open park or garden, walks on hills or by sea. At that age every day is a new experience.

Load up Google maps and zoom in on big green areas near you. You'llbe amazed by how many places there are to go that you had no idea about.

My DD loved B&Q. Apparently it can be paradise to toddlers