Activities for 18 Months - 2 Years
Leaf Hunt
Grab a piece of cardboard, draw around some different shape leaves and attach some pegs with a hot glue gun. Together with your child(ren) go on a leaf hunt, searching for different shapes and colours. Name the leaves as you find them. This is a perfect activity across all the different seasons.
Potato Printing
Grab some out-of-date potatoes and some cookie cutters and away you go. If you press the cutter into the potato, you can then cut around the cutter. You will then be left with a nice, neat shape in the potato ready for printing. Any water-based paint is perfect for windows – it washes off with just warm water.
Sensory Time
As your little one gets out of the ‘mouthing’ stage – this is the stage where they put EVERYTHING in their mouth. You can start to expand their sensory experiences into dried sensory bases like pasta, rice and dried chickpeas. Provide your little one with some scoops and bowls and watch them filling and emptying.
DIY Binoculars
Grab two toilet roll tubes, glue them together and add some string. There you have some great new children’s binoculars. Give your little ones some pictures of birds to go and spot in the garden. Can they use them to spot any bugs too?
Fairy Dust
What could be more magical than fairies and fairy dust? Have you ever played with rock salt/ Epsom salts? The crystals are so beautiful to look at. Add a little bit of gel food colouring to a ziplock bag and give it a little shake. There you have the most magical fairy dust to sprinkle and fill bottles with.
Nature Rainbow
Paint a rainbow onto a piece of carboard and cut holes into each of the colours. Together with your child go on a nature hunt to your local park or even in your garden. Can you find lots of different natural resources with all the different colours? Which colours can you find?
Playdough Puzzle
Roll out some playdough and find as many objects from around the house as possible. Print the objects into the playdough and leave to the side. Can your little one match the objects to the print in the playdough?
Pom Pom Drop
Collect as many cardboard tubes as possible and stick them to a large piece of cardboard, making a simple marble run with the tubes. Prompt your little ones to drop the pom poms down the diy marble run and watch it travel.
Rainbow Rice
Rice is a brilliant sensory base for a relaxing and calm activity with children of all ages. Children love to fill, pour, sprinkle and create with rice. Why not make your rice even more fun by adding some colour? All you need is a ziplock bag, gel food colouring and rice. Rub the colouring into the rice, give it a shake and leave to dry on a baking sheet overnight.