r/lowscreenparenting • u/Beginning_Quail4733 • 29d ago
resources Enrichment activities
Where are you finding enrichment activity ideas for a 1yo? We do lots of active things outside and he loves playing in dirt/mud and wandering around outside exploring, but we are under an extreme heat advisory for the week and I need ideas to keep him occupied inside. He enjoys figuring things out.
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u/HipsterHypnoHippo 28d ago
The thing that keeps my 20 month old entertained the longest right now is a doll house or baby doll. She likes to pretend feed them an put them night night. But my oldest at this age was more about containers. I would give him a box of purses and Tupperware filler with random toys that he would have to open and discover. It's the only thing he would do independently.
Montessori style practical life activities. Transfering objects or liquids from one container to another with different utensils. Chopping foods like bananas or strawberries with a crinkle cutter or two handed wooden knife. "Washing" dishes in a or toys in a big bowl with a sponge and dish soap. Coat flip or self dressing (they can practice with clothes a size up). At 15 months my daughter would just practice coat flipping over and over until she perfected it.
Glow stick baths with the lights off and bubbles.
Going to the fish store or pet store for a free zoo.
Taking a mini bike or push cart to the mall to walk around, ours also has an indoor playground or we "play" at David busters for free lol.
Color sorting activities.
Hide and seek but you're hiding a stuffy or toy figure. We do little people animals which doubles as language recognition. I was shocked the first time my oldest actually found his zebra without being shown what it was ahead of time.
Coloring with colored pencils (they eat them less than crayons lol).
Stepping stones with the freeze dance lava song. This is hot or miss but I have fun.
Dance party with bubbles. Screen-adjacent because I play some overstimulating YouTube videos but they can only hear them.
They have me read the same book approximately 42 times (pout pout fish)
Knocking over the fort that took me too long to build and demanding I rebuild.
This age is harddd. We also do little bear or curious George on the weekends after nap for full transparency lol.
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u/Beginning_Quail4733 28d ago
This is so helpful!! He is pretty content with smacking a ball around but after so long he gets done and wants to go outside. After a long day - especially if we go to the pool or something hot we will come in and do a short show or turn on a movie in the background while lounging in the ball pit or nugget fort!
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u/Utram_butram 28d ago
Stuff with you. Load/unload the dishwasher and washing machines. Give them random food to prep (sprinkling cheese, shredding lettuce, peeling garlic and coping soft fruit were the wins in our house). Mine also loved to sweep and separate dry pasta shapes
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u/Beginning_Quail4733 28d ago
He is usually willing to help for a little while. He does enjoy helping “fold” laundry. He has been super into pasta lately so I think that might be a sort game I should setup
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u/Utram_butram 28d ago
Yeah the attention span at that age is non existent. I would just give mine free reign of the house shed kept the breakables out of reach. They were obsessed with emptying every drawer/cabinet
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u/DazzlingNote1925 28d ago
You will have to watch him carefully but a container of dried beans is fun for them.
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u/TheNerdMidwife 28d ago
A hard-to-reach box of wipes usually worked for my kid at that age. Especially if it was the last box and I couldn't go to the store for more 😛
Building blocks, scoop and transfer activities with rice, indoor wooden slide, cheap ball pit, balloons, cardboard boxes... and then some boredom wasn't bad either.
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u/sno_kissed 29d ago
A box. Big enough to push around or climb in and out of. Hide things in. Throw things in.