Activities for a Child That Is 21 Months

My mother-in-law works at a daycare full of infants and toddlers and has for many years. When my daughter was around two, she would get bored while at her house. My mother-in-law's game is to put her in old clothes, sit her at the kitchen table, and spray shaving cream in front her. She made a huge mess of the table, but had a blast while doing it! It's hilarious and fun to watch. Most of them love to make messes at that age! Good luck!

M.

Hi J.. I personally only have one child that is only five months but worked in a daycare for quite some time. I actually worked with kids from about 18 months up to three yr olds. That is a very fun age because everything is new to them. With proper supervision our kids loved playdough, paint, markers, crayons, sand, and stamps. One thing that would keep their attention the longest was just putting rice, beans, pasta, or anything of that sort in big tupperware containers and giving them spoons, scoops, cups, bowls, measuring cups, etc and letting them scoop pour and make believe with it. This was always a hit and we often had to pry them away to do other activities. Also with art supplies always keep a magic eraser handy. They clean up just about anything your toddler could get into to.

I will tell you one very fun thing to do is Pudding Paint. Just make up some pudding and put it on the table or high chair believe me if he likes to eat he will love this craft idea. It maybe messy but it is a good craft idea and snack idea. Let me know how it goes!!!

Do you have a local library available? The greatest thing you can do for your son over anything else available is instill the love of reading. Check to see if your library has storytime and booklists appropriate for his level. That could easily be half an hour a day!! Good luck!

In addition, there are gymboree play classes or music classes. I'd highly recommend Brenda Iacocca of Music Together in Carmel. Hope this helps.

It's a little harder in the winter when you are cooped up in the house. I have found that a box, like from diapers, or whatever makes a great toy. You can push them around in it and pretend it's a car. If it's a cardboard brown box, then you can color on it with them and even make the inside look like it has a steering wheel. You can also open the box up on both ends and help them pretend it's a tunnel, my son loves crawling through there. Sometimes we put 2 together to make it longer. You can also use a blanket and a couple of kitchen chairs and make a fort. If it's really dark, give him a flashlight and let him experiment. Just make sure you stay close incase the blanket falls or he gets scared. My son just turned 2 and we have been doing these activities for about 6 months now. There's a book called "360 TV-Free Activities", it has some other really good ideas. I'm not sure where to buy it bacause my mom picked it up at a yard sale.

have you tried and board games for little ones...i think candy land is good one if she knows her colors or you want to try to teach them to her and there is a one called elefun...it blows "butter flies" around with its trunks and kids catch em witha net. i used to like finger painting...vanilla pudding with food coloring in it makes great edible paint. or put in a kids cd and dance around the living room, or make sugar cookis and help her decorate them, story time at the local library is a cheap out of the house activity and it will encourage her to read.

At that age, and even somewhat now, my son loved to sit on his rocking chair in front of the big bay windows and look outside to watch garbage trucks go by, listen for trains that go by our house, look at the squirrels and rabbits, etc. He would sit for twenty or thirty minutes at a time easily, sometimes more, while I studied, did dishes or laundry or whatever in the kitchen. He also liked playing a younger version of hide-and-go-seek. He mainly liked hiding in closets or behind the couch. If you have any old phones around your house, let your son pretend to talk to people. There are also food-oriented books with activities, like Cheerios. Then the kids get to eat a snack after they're done. Most children like looking at pictures of themselves, or of other babies, so put some photos in a book where they're safe from smudges and tears. Or make a book or flash cards of your own, use clip art or magazine and newspaper tear outs if you need to. Another easy one, and it's great for children's literacy skills, talk to him! Tell him what you're doing, sing to him, tell him stories you know by heart, make up stories, ask him questions! The best way to keep any child occupied is to pay attention to his interests for a few days/weeks, then find or create activities around that. If your son seems interested in cars and trucks, look them up in the encyclopedia or on the Internet or in the library and talk about cars and trucks. If he's interested in buildings, build with blocks or Legos and sing London Bridge. Activities don't have to be complicated or expensive. My son has played with the boxes toys come in more than the actual toy on more than one occasion, and banging pots and pans or pouring things from one cup to another are timeless faves! Just look around your house and you can probably turn anything into an activity, maybe beginning shapes and colors or animals or discussing the weather or daily routine. Mainly, if you're having fun, he will to, and you'll gradually learn what works for you two. I hope this helps. Good luck!

My boys ages 5 & 2 love play-dough & washable markers most of all. They also love water play where I set them up at the kitchen sink on a non-slip chair or step stool, turn the water on trickle & give them cups & spoons to splash & pour with. There is usually some water to clean up off the floor & counters when they are done, but they absolutely love it so I don't mind the clean-up so much. You can also cut shapes out of construction paper & photos out of magazines, let them pick out what they like & use a glue stick to glue them to construction paper. This is great for making cards for friends and relatives.

My youngest is 19 months. This is such a fun age.. I remember having tons of fun all day when my son was this age, too. Any craft stuff... construction paper, safety scissers, stick glue, scotch tape, paint, markers, crayons, chalk... put a box of stuff on the table and let him go at it and create and experiment. The 'results' probably won't resemble anything but it's the process that counts... eye-hand coordination, etc. Teach him how to cook. My kids could make their own PB&J sandwiches all by themselves by 18 months. (plastic knives are good). I make cookies or breads or something like that several times a week and the kids love to help. My 4 year old can do most of it all by himself... I just read directions and put stuff in/out of the oven. The 19 month old can measure, pour, crack eggs, mix with spoon/whisk, get ingredients from pantry, etc. Make a list with pictures and go for a walk to find those things... a scavenger hunt. Do it indoors if it's too cold, otherwise just bundle them up and head outside. Playdoh is a big hit. For more fun, have him help you make it first. Water play or sandbox.... fill a big plastic storage bin with water or sand and put it in the kitchen (or other non-carpet place). Put a tarp or something under it if you want to help with cleanup. Then let them pour and dig and play. Or just let him pull up a chair and play in water at the kitchen sink... he'll like to 'help' you wash dishes.

If all else fails, toddlers love 'helping' with housework... separating laundry, putting clothes into washer/dryer, folding towells, matching socks, putting clean silverware away, washing windows with squirt bottle and paper towell, holding dustpan when sweeping, etc.

Our little girl will be 21 months in a few days and we have lots of games that we play together. Of coarse she loves to color as well which we do, and she love her magna doodle. But her all time favorite are blocks. Or at least that's what she calls it. Really they are legggos. She LOVES them, and she's starting to get really good. She would get a little frustrated at first, but once she figured it out, she had no problem, she builds and builds. We have both the large 3+ size leggos which are big enough for her to play with by herself, and we have the normal small leggos, which we play with together(and she likes them better) but they are small, so she can only play with those while we are watching or playing with her.
She also enjoys kicking a ball back and fourth, and she gets really proud of herself because she just learned to do that. She loves barbies and the barbie jeep(you could opt for G.I. Joes or something for a boy). Puzzles are good to.

I hope this gives you some ideas. For Kaylee, those activities keep her entertained all day long!

J. Williams

I used to be a preschool teacher and i think that preschoolers are just the most awesome people in the world. Introducing them to arts and crafts can be awesome or a disaster. The key is preparedness. Keep it simple but interesting. Creative and hands on experience can be obtained by using more than just paint brushes and crayons. There are a wide variety of things that you can use to paint with. Film canisters, potatoes cut in half, spoons, forks, cotton balls. Proper supervision is a must. Cars can be rolled through paint and the rolled on paper. Place a peice of paper inside a small box, shoe box, or box lids. Put a couple of drops of paint on the paper and allow the child to move box back and forth causing the object to roll back and forth. Small boxes filled with sand have hours of unlimited fun. Hope that helps.