Blog

Activities for 1 year olds: 15 safe, simple ideas for play

Treasure baskets, peekaboo, pots and spoons and gentle movement. Fifteen easy activities for 1 year olds, with safety tips and a tiny version for tired days.

· 6 min read

At one, play is about discovering. Your child is learning how things feel, sound and move, and what happens when they drop, bang or hide them. They don't need special toys. A pot, a spoon, a scarf and you are enough.

These 15 activities suit that stage. Each one takes 5 to 15 minutes, and they all work best with you right beside your child.

Fill, drop, roll, repeat. At one, the same simple game is the lesson.

What 1 year olds tend to enjoy

  • Banging, shaking and dropping things
  • Filling and emptying containers
  • Peekaboo and hiding games
  • Songs and rhymes with actions
  • Exploring with their hands and mouth
  • Crawling, cruising, walking and climbing over cushions

Babies and toddlers develop at their own pace, so treat the ages as a guide.

Safety first

  • Stay within arm's reach during all play.
  • Check that objects are too big to swallow, with no loose parts or sharp edges.
  • Keep water play to a shallow tray or tub, with an adult touching distance away the whole time.
  • Avoid balloons, coins, button batteries and anything small enough to fit in a toilet-paper tube.

Explore and discover

  1. Treasure basket. Put safe everyday objects in a basket, like a wooden spoon, a soft brush, a silky scarf and a large metal lid. Let them explore, and sit with them.
  2. Pots and spoons band. A pot, a wooden spoon and a few plastic containers make a drum kit.
  3. Fill and dump. A bucket and some large blocks or soft balls. In, out, in, out.
  4. Touch and feel. Lay out different textures on a tray (a soft towel, a wooden board, a sheet of crinkly paper) and let them crawl over them.

Peekaboo and pretend

  1. Peekaboo with a scarf. Hide your face, then show it. Try hiding a toy under a cloth.
  2. Where's the teddy? Hide a soft toy under a cushion and let them find it.
  3. Phone game. Give them a plastic toy phone or a banana. They love to copy you.

Move

  1. Cushion mountain. Make a low pile of cushions to crawl over, or a safe soft path. For more movement later, see activities for 2 year olds.
  2. Dance and bounce. Hold them on your lap and bounce gently to a song.
  3. Roll the ball. Sit facing each other with your legs apart and roll a soft ball back and forth.

Quiet and cosy

  1. Book time. Short board books with faces, animals and textures. Let them turn the pages.
  2. Songs with actions. "Wheels on the bus", "Row, row, row your boat". Do the actions, then pause and let them ask for more.

A simple rhythm for the day

You don't need a schedule, just a loose rhythm of short play bursts when your child is fed, rested and alert. Something like this works for many families:

  • After breakfast: ten minutes of floor play with a treasure basket or fill-and-dump.
  • Mid-morning: outside, even if it's just the sidewalk. Walk, point and name things.
  • After the nap: a quiet game, like peekaboo or a book on your lap.
  • Before dinner: pots-and-spoons band or a dance to burn off energy.
  • Bedtime: a book and a song with actions.

Aim for variety, not length. The WHO's 180 minutes is a total across the whole day, and most of it happens without you noticing: crawling to the couch, pulling up on a chair, climbing over a cushion.

Out and about

  1. Posting box. Cut a slot in a shoebox lid and let them post large lids, soft blocks or cardboard squares. Make the slot big enough that nothing small can get stuck.
  2. Bubbles. Blow slowly and let them pat and chase the bubbles. Wipe up spills so the floor isn't slippery.
  3. Garden or park walk. Collect a few safe objects, like a big leaf or a smooth stick, to look at, feel and name. Check each one before it goes anywhere near their mouth.

Tips for playing with a 1 year old

  • Keep the choices small. Three things in the basket is plenty.
  • Repeat. If they love dropping the spoon, drop it again. Repetition is how they learn.
  • Talk about what they do. "You banged the pot! Bang, bang, bang."
  • Follow their gaze. If they look at something, name it.
  • Rotate objects. Put some away and bring them back in a week. They'll feel new.

What to say

Where's the teddy? Where did he go? ... There he is!

If it stalls

If they get fussy, change the position: sit them on your lap, move to the floor, or take it outside. If they've had enough, a snack, a cuddle or a nap may be the real answer.

A book on your lap is a whole activity at this age.

Common questions

How long should a 1 year old play with one thing? Often just a few minutes, and that's fine. Repeating a game ten times matters more than keeping it going.

Do I need to buy toys? No. Pots, wooden spoons, boxes, scarves and plastic containers do the job. If you do buy, choose toys without small parts.

When should I talk to a doctor? If you're worried about how your child is playing, moving or communicating, or if they seem to have lost a skill they had, talk to your child's doctor. The CDC's milestone checklists are a handy thing to bring along.

Is it okay if they just want to bang and drop things? Yes. Banging and dropping is how one-year-olds learn about cause and effect, sound and gravity.

More ideas

As they grow, try activities for 2 year olds, sensory play, our guide to activities for kids by age and our list of things to do with kids.

Sources

Keep reading