Inside Activites for a 1 Year Old

activities for a one year old can be fairly simple, yet very stimulating.

IE: squeezing glue on a piece of paper then sticking various 'trash' household items to the paper (toilet paper rolls, glitter (dirt/sand/leaves/sticks if you want to just use 'earthy' outdoor things), buttons (if you have extras of those things) paper clips, etc...just random things you find in the house...and then you can chit chat about what those items are normally used for and how he/she is making art with them.

maybe next winter you can order some of those pre-organized crafts for kids...I think http://www.mothergoosetime.com/ is one site that sells kits.

Good Luck :)

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I just remembered a VERY FUN activity we did indoors one day and the fun lasted for a LONG TIME.

"INDOOR WATER PLAY"

I filled a few pitcher fulls (not a lot really, maybe an inch or two deep) of warm-ish water into a blow up boat (didn't have a kiddy pool handy) and lined the living room with towels...he was having a nakie fun time running all over jumping into the boat full of water splashing.

Here is a link to a photo of him having a great time. :)

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g293/Hinnrichs/IndoorWa...

Hi R.,
I am a preschool toddler teacher and have a few suggestions for you.
Most on these thing I will sugest do require patience and some cleaning up but the smile on their faces is worth it.

*Bubbles ( most people don't think to bring them inside/ If you blow them (not him) then you can keep it pretty clean with little spills)
* Pudding painting (it's non toxic and you don't have to worry about them eating it) just spread out a bunch on newspaper with a piece of butcher paper on top.
*playdough (there are some really easy no cook recipies on line)
*Sensory tub (buy a tub (the dollar store is great for this) with sides that aren't too tall and fill it with some plastic animals or small toy cars (not too small) then dump a mound of cotton balls,birdseed, cooked spagetti, cut peices of yarn, etc... on top and let him play and explore!
He should be acompanied by you or another adult when doing these activietis though!

*If you are looking for some physical activities there are small scooter boards (discount school supply.com) for about $15 that you can use (if your house doesn't have carpet throughout) He can lay on his belly and scoot around. They love this and It will help with coordination and large motor skills.
* This next idea is not a preschool thing but My experience is all kids love it. Make a fort in your house with blankets, chairs, furniture, move things around to create a secret place. Bring in some flashlights and mabe a few snacks to hang out with your toddler. He'll probably laugh and squeel and crawl around! ( A camping tent is always fun too if you have the room!)
Hope this helps!

Hi R.,

Expanding on Heidi's advice, you can also try:

Reading books
Singing Songs
Puppet Play
Dancing & Moving in different ways- look into "Greg and Steve" for some classic preschool movement songs
Playing Peek-a-boo
Simple Puzzles
Rolling Balls
Building with Blocks
Pretend Play (little ones do best with pretending to be animals)
Arts & crafts & science experiments- you can look up some simple ideas by googling preschool art or preschool science
Simple cooking projects- like helping you make fruit salad or decorate cookies
Check out http://www.discoverytoysinc.com/springproducts.html for some fun learning toys specialized for babies his age (you can order these toys through me as well, but I don't actively do parties anymore)

Hope this helps,
C. : )

I also have a one year old little girl. It has been raining a lot now. I actually babysit a one year old a couple of days a week and she loves it. My daughter loves me to read to her and she also loves to look out the window and see all of the birds or animals in the neighborhood. I even will give her a broom when I sweep. She also has a pretend vacuum when I vacuum. If money is an issue. You can find the best toys at garage sales. I love them. I also found a pop up house tent for $2.00. My daughter only watches tv when her 10 year old brother does. Good luck. I see you have internet access. You can take him online and check out different cartoon sites or animal sites (my daughter loves them). Good luck!

Playdough is a big hit with my 2 1/2 year old son. I give him spoons and measuring cups and plastic cookie cutters and we make shapes and animals. He isn't a child that sits still very often but if there is playdough involved, he plays for quite some time.

Hi R.,
This site has a lot of activity ideas. They are sorted by age and reviewed by users. I've gotten some good ideas here. http://www.savvysource.com/activities/home

My son is 1.5 so the things we do might not appeal to your son yet. But just in case... My son loves airplanes, so I bought a Flying magazine at the bookstore. First we looked at it like 100 times. When he got bored of that we cut out the airplanes and he put them on the fridge with magnets. Then we taped them to his clothes, the couch, etc. I got several days out of that one.

Yesterday I made hats out of paper shopping bags by cutting the paper into various shapes and taping them together. He likes to try them on and look at himself in the reflection of the oven door.

I also try to let him "help" as much as possible so I can get some things done (albeit very slowly) while keeping him entertained. Your son may be a little young for that, but soon he'll be able to put things in the trash, hand you dishes out of the dishwasher (we have a cork floor so they don't break if he drops one), pull the lint trap out of the dryer, clean it, put it back. He also gets his baby sister's socks and diaper when I get her ready to go out. Oh, and I let him jump on my bed when he gets too much energy and starts driving my nuts. Hope that helps.
N.

Hi R.,
My kids loved forts, sofa cushions, blankets, whatever is handy they were so happy when we created their fort and it was a clubhouse, or safari tent, or whatever.
I am a children's yoga teacher, you can buy yoga decks at bookstores and because many of the poses are named after animals the kids love pretending to be dogs, frogs, lions, cows whatever. If your bookstore doesn't have a deck of cards with yoga poses on them you can go to yogadirect.com or storytimeyoga.com and probably find one. The kids will play at these for hours and as they get older will play with them on their own too.
Catie

My daughter just turned 13 months. Here's what we do indoors: We chase each other around the house, play peek-a-boo, push her on her "car", chase after a ball, she has a lot of toys, so we play with them!!!! Good luck!