Activity and Toy Recommendations Ages 12-24 months

Whether you are looking to occupy your toddler with a language rich activity on a rainy day or you're spending some quality time with your little niece all toys and activities are not created equally.

Here are a few of my favorite activities and toys for 12 month-24 months of age:

Books:

Picture books are great to target vocabulary. When the goal is to teach your children new words, try to keep the books simple, with big bright pictures and only 2 -3 pictures per page as to not overwhelm. I especially love textured books and ones with durable flaps. Extension activity: match or have your child pair puzzle pieces or figurines with pictures in the book. Have your child touch each of the textures on the book and use words to describe the texture (soft, smooth, etc.).

Stacking and nesting toys: Stacking toys such as this one, are great fun and can teach your child size and color concepts, as well as address problem solving skills (which cup fits?) , cause and effect relationships, and spatial concepts. Practice nesting, containing and pouring, the possibilities are endless! During play with your child, describe with spatial concept words such as “up” “on top” “under”, “over” “bottom” “in” “out” and size concepts such as “bigger” “smaller” “smallest”, etc. You could take turns stacking each piece for some social play. Bring the cups along during water play in the bath or at the water table and practice using words such as "pour", "drip" "drop" "SPLASH" "out", and "in". Stacking toys are also a wonderful choice for the development of fine motor skills.

Puzzles: Choose puzzles according to your child’s fine motor skills. Puzzles are excellent for the development of problem solving skills, visual spatial skills, and vocabulary skills. For children at about 1 year of age, choose puzzles with large knobs so it is easier for their little hands to grasp. For our older toddlers, chunky puzzles like this farm puzzle are ideal. These puzzles are easier to take in and out. They also stand up for pretend play opportunities. As your child plays with this puzzle, model the animal sound for them (“moo” for cow, “oink” for pig). Ask your child what sound an animal makes. Target following of directions and comprehension skills through this easy extension activity: Set up a short relay by putting puzzle pieces on one side of the room and puzzle board on other. Have your child run, hop, crawl, etc. to a specific animal (e.g., Get the one that says “neigh”) and run back to place it in the correct socket.

Potato Head: Potato heads are fantastic and versatile. This toy is awesome for fine motor skill development, naming body parts, pretend play skills, and even working on some action vocabulary words (walk, fall, drink, etc.). Note that this toy is not recommended for children under two as there are small parts. Activities that promote speech and language development: Target understanding for the function of body parts and our five senses by having your child find the one that “helps us see” or the one that “helps us listen”. Mix it up and have your child give you directions to build the potato to practice her/his expressive language. Ask your child various “Wh” questions (What is on potato’s head? What color are his shoes? etc.). If you have extra potato head accessories, you could work on categorization with your child. (Put all the clothing here, all the body parts there, etc.)

Bubbles: Bubbles are magic with young ones. I love the no-spill bottled ones, such as this. There are various teachable moments that can be incorporated into bubble play. When playing with bubbles with your child, have her or him request for them

(“more bubbles”, “more”, “bubbles”, or simple signs depending on your child’s language skills). When they need help blowing their own bubbles, have them ask for “help” (sign or verbally).

When you blow them, talk about where they are flying (“bubbles go up”, “pop bubble”, “bubble on chair”, etc.). If your child is still learning to talk, “POP” is a great, fun, word for your child to imitate as she/he pops them all over the room.

Ball and Car ramp toys:

Ball towers and car ramp toys such as this and this can be jam packed with fun and language opportunities. During play with these toys, talk about the actions and use sound effects of the ball ( e.g. roll, go, down, bounce, BOING! , wheeee) and the car ( drive, vrooom, beep beep, crash!, bam, down, up). Pair these sounds with verbal routines such as "ready set ... GO!!" After a few trials, encourage your LO to finish the phrase with "GO!" before your reward her with the ball or car going down the ramp. What Fun!