Hi I was just wanting to know if anyone has any cheap fun, educational, fast ideas I can do with my 15mth old. As I’ve got an 8 week old also n I don’t get a lot of time spare but I don’t want her left out either.
- My toddler loves playing with coloured cornflour…mixed up of course – he likes the different textures and musing it up x also we keep our cardboard/toilet rolls etc for craft play at home – winter is great for collecting leaves/rubbing or gluing them etc – have fun. Allison
- Don’t worry too much about it being educational…any play at that age is educational as they learn about words, colours, textures, sounds etc. Make shakers using drink bottles and add different fillings, tape the lids. Make playdough, home mad…e better at that age in case they eat it and use a few simple tupperware things to play with it. Get a big ball and roll it to each other. Read lots of books. Put music on and play dress ups, hats and scarves are great at that age as are fairy dresses or skirts. Fill up a bowl of water and put it on a towel and put in some plastic containers to tip and splash, add a sponge as she gets older its fun to wash dishes like mum. Pots and pans to bang. Crayons and paper, draw with her. An ice cream container with a hole cut in the lid and use it to post items eg pegs, cut up straws etc. Set up a little cubby house with some blankets to play under. Have a tea party or picnic with teddies/dolls. Its amazing how their creativity is already happening and they can do lots of pretend play. So much fun, my daughter is the same age. Tanya
- I did lots of pretend play with my boy at that age. and the best thing it teaches great play time for when they grow older. finger painting, chalk, getting out in the garden, bubbles, music time. Adele
- Library books/visits 🙂 they have loads of board books and dont expect the books to be kept new cond. bubbles- what kid doesnt enjoy bubbles?!, color mixing in ziplock bags- food dye/vegie juice in primary colors and yoghurt/shaving cream, …chalk drawing on the foot path, water painting using water and a large brush outside on anything 15mth old pleases, burried tressure in sand/rice, on that note a kitty litter tray filled with rice/wheat makes great pretend cooking, counting songs – 5 little ducks, 5 green speckled frogs, ten little indians, a few ‘old lady scarfs’ soft and floaty from the op shop will be great for running and dancing with, Aldis have some great wooden toys at the moment to – some musical things. and pretend cooking stuff. Evie
- Outdoor play (try building a simple obstacle course, beg some big boxes from somewhere that sells washing machines or something and make tunnels, etc, and water tables are awesome – saw one someone made the other day with a paddling pool sitting on top of crates for a cheap option, and let her float, sink and pour stuff… add food colouring for extra joy!). Sarah
- What about Hi5 or wiggles dvd’s…ones that get them up & dancing!! Nursery Rhyme books or craft activities…painting, stanps, stickers, playdough, Chalkboard or chalk on the concrete, letting them dig & explore in the garden is always fun 🙂 Tamara
- Painting… at that age, try making your own paint with cornflour, water and food dye, or stain yoghurt for her to mess around with… if you find she doesn’t eat it then mix paint with shaving cream, it makes an awesome finger paint… give her brushes and water to ‘paint’ everything outside (pavers are great because the water actually shows up!). Sarah
- Give her a clean cloth and get her to clean with you, put some music on and have fun singing and enjoy it. And yes the cleaning will wait, get down on the floor and have fun! Enjoy it. As she gets older playschool is good for craft and activity ideas. Tanya
- Sand play – even if all you have is a bucket, let her pour it in and out of different containers, hide small objects in it and get her to find them with a sieve, and just experiment with her hands – wet and dry. Sarah
- An old tyre can make a great mini sandpit 🙂 Sarah
- Block play – build stuff for her to knock over with soft blocks lol – she won’t be able to build towers yet but will enjoy watching and interacting. Sarah
- Careful with shaving cream at that age as it’s toxic and you don’t want them eating it. Great fun as they get older though. Tanya
- Playdough – she is a bit little, I find the 18-20 month age is more into it, but she’ll love watching you make things, and we taught our daughter shapes by making them out of playdough. They love squashing it, and you can make it minus the salt (it just doesn’t keep as long) so eating isn’t an issue. Sarah
- oh shaving cream toxic arrr thank you for letting me know, I put it on the shower screen when I shower with my nearly 4 year old and my 15month old so they can squish it around….ok will not be doing that for a while now !!!!!!! Racheal
- Drawing… bath crayons are awesome, and so is sidewalk chalk on the pavement. Lots of reading together, and try teaching her animal noises and body parts playing silly songs and games. Um… make her a book with photos of familiar people a…nd objects, she will love it! Try to focus on the fun aspect, and the education will just happen along the way! There is an awesome facebook group called ‘be a fun mum’ which would be another great place to post your question if you want more ideas 🙂 Sarah
- Play doh 🙂 Paige
- Oh, and sensory play – make a bowl of oobleck ( water, cornflour and food dye… I just mix to the right texture and don’t know what quantities, you might have to google, but it makes an awesome goop… and slime made by mixing lux flakes with boiling water, it is so creepily cool haha (although obviously watch the eyes with soap flakes, oobleck might be better at this age). Sarah
- Just do fun stuff with her, bugger educational. She’s 15 months old, everything is new to her. She’ll learn from anything fun and safe you do. Belinda
- Oh, and rice play – just uncooked rice outside, as an alternative to sand play. Ok, I’m done =D Sarah
- Sorry got a bit carried away lol, I do family daycare (and have a toddler 😉 ) and this stuff is my life these days! Yeah, obviously you don’t want them eating shaving cream but I’ve used it with kids that age, so long as they’re past the ‘everything in the mouth’ stage – and obviously supervised closely. Whipped cream is another good paint mixer, but you obviously don’t get to keep their artwork lol. Sarah
- Rice play is great. Have you tried dying it with food colouring? Kids love it! Kylee
- Homebrand shaving foam is non toxic kids that age love it. Amy
