Your Child at Play: 12 to 18 Months
In just one year, your precious baby has evolved from helpless infant to adorable toddler. By 12 months he spends most waking hours developing his gross motor skills, one wobbly step at a time. (“Look, Ma, no hands!”) Fall down? No problem! With a giggle or a grunt and the help of his grubby little palms, he’s right back up. Simultaneously, he’s also honing fine motor skills—grabbing, pinching and slapping everything in sight.
Some babies will talk during this phase, and others won’t just yet. But no matter what your child can verbalize, you can be fairly certain that there’s a big jump in comprehension underway. Sign language is a great way to combine his boost in motor skills with his growing understanding of language. Teach him the simple signs for “more” and “eat,” and prepare to take orders!
Click here to choose another age or click below to learn more about:
DEVELOPING PLAY SKILLS
FAVORITE PLAYTHINGS
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
WHAT MOMS SAY
PLAY STARTERS
Gross Motor Skills:
He is just starting to walk, something he’ll do with a wobbly wide stance at first. But don’t be surprised if he suddenly drops on all fours in order to reach a new toy faster. As balance improves, his stance will become narrower, his walking more assured—and he will be able to toddle while clutching a favorite stuffed animal.
P.S. Don’t be concerned if your walker starts to crawl again and seems to be reverting. Kids are incredibly self-motivated. He doesn’t need rewards or special training. He’ll get back on his feet on his own.
Fine Motor Skills:
He’s reaching for toys using the all-important pincer grasp with his thumb and forefinger. He pokes them with his index finger, bangs them together to see what noise they make and is even able to stack them. By the time he’s 18 months old, he may build a tower that’s several blocks high.
P.S. Constructing a tower of blocks is tougher than it looks. It may look repetitive and boring, but to a toddler, this is an activity with multiple steps and built-in challenges. For example, he’ll have to resist the impulse to knock the tower over when it’s just one block high.
Cognitive Skills:
His brain is abuzz with activity as he hones his memory skills and explores and examines objects in every possible way. Like a mad scientist, he puts his toys through their paces to learn what they’ll do. He pinches and pokes toys to feel them, shakes and bangs them to hear what sound they’ll make, and drops them to watch how fast they’ll fall over and over again. Repetition is the key. Every time he repeats something, he’s not just having fun, he’s refining a skill.
P.S. To your toddler, everything is an experiment—even dropping food off of his highchair. As adults, we know how gravity works, but your toddler is excited by it. (We may also have a lively reaction to him dropping the food, and that’s another kind of experiment for him!)
Social and Emotional Skills:
Tears and tantrums are not uncommon as he first begins to experience separation anxiety. He may have a meltdown when someone other than Mom attempts to engage him in a favorite game. He’s developing a memory of who his caregiver is and who he feels safe with. This translates into having specific preferences for people and toys. Still, he loves to imitate others, and every activity is an opportunity to play “monkey see, monkey do.”
P.S. Your toddler has the expectation that he can have everything he wants, and sometimes his expectations exceed his capabilities. This is an “all about me” phase, and when he doesn’t get what he wants or can’t accomplish something, a tantrum is his simple way of sending this message to you. Don’t take tantrums personally; instead, see them as part of the growing process. (Easier said than done sometimes!)
- Toys that help develop fine motor skills, pincer grip, and hand-eye coordination: Blocks, nesting and stacking toys
- Toys that foster creativity: Finger paints, large crayons, construction paper
- Toys that boost problem-solving: Shape-sorting toys, simple puzzles
- Toys that help develop gross motor skills: Push and pull toys, ride-on toys, bouncing and rocking toys
- Toys that teach cause and effect: Musical toys and percussion instruments, like tambourines, cymbals and drums
- Toys that foster role-play: Telephones, lawn mowers, golf clubs, baby strollers and doctor’s kits
- See a full list of age-appropriate Playskool toys here.
“Play remains a child’s most powerful way of learning. She can test out many different situations and actions to see which one works best for her…. It is hard to overestimate the importance of play for a small child.”
—T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., Touchpoints Birth to Three
“In a play group, toddlers can practice their social skills while enjoying (or at least learning to enjoy) the company and camaraderie of other children. But play groups are as beneficial for parents as they are for toddlers. Swapping war stories, seeing and hearing that you’re not alone—that your toddler is not the only one who’s having a hard time sharing, not the only one who’s been hitting or biting, not the only one who’s been throwing tantrums, or not the only one who won’t eat anything but cereal—can be remarkably therapeutic.”
—Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg and Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N., What to Expect the Toddler Years
“When my daughter was 13 months, she loved it when I pretended to sleep and let her play ‘Mommy.’ She'd spread her blanket over me and pat my back. It was a nice, quiet game, but I think it also showed she understood caring and was becoming capable of more imaginative play.”
—Emily, Boston, MA
“My 14-month-old is fascinated by the younger children at her daycare. When I pick her up, she likes to say goodbye to them, and sometimes says ‘Bye bye, Baby’ the whole ride home.”
—Allison, Cincinnati, OH
“My 1-year-old falls quite a bit now while she’s playing with her toys and pulling herself up to stand at her activity center. We love how it never seems to stop her. She dusts herself off and tries again.”
—Tracy, Palm Springs, CA
Sing, sing a song:
It’s time to host a sing-along in your living room. Your little one may not be able to mimic everything you do at first, but his desire to imitate you will be strong. His coordination, motor skills and language skills can all get a boost—while he has fun rocking and bopping to the music.
- Sing your toddler songs that have a strong visual and physical component, such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
- Sing songs that teach body parts, like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
- Dance along to whatever you’re singing. Bend, spin, jump and run to the mood of the music. Try songs that have different beats, fast and slow.
- Make up a theme song together with special moves.
Start a playgroup:
At this stage he’s laying the groundwork for parallel play, but his play is still very unstructured and largely self-involved. He may express a preference for a particular child at this stage, seemingly ignoring others. This is all part of normal social development.
- Keep your group small to avoid overstimulation (no more than six kids).
- Make sure there are plenty of toys that encourage sharing and cooperation. Think art supplies, large blocks, balls in various sizes, sandbox toys and fake food.
- Make sure each child has a parent or caregiver nearby to offer comfort and support in case of a meltdown. You don’t want any children to feel outnumbered. If tensions arise, it’s helpful for each child to have a caregiver nearby to offer a comforting hug.
Be bookish:
Reading is an essential part of learning language. So the more you read to your toddler at a young age, the easier it may be for him to learn to speak. But books don’t have to be relegated to the occasional nighttime story. Make them an integral part of play.
- Choose sturdy books made out of plastic or cardboard and treat them just like you would any other toy.
- Find solid books that have surprises and flaps to lift.
- Encourage your child to stack and unstack them, build houses with them and turn them into pretend objects. (A choo-choo made out of books? Why not?)
Make “bath time” fun time:
Building fun and play into every routine shows your love and motivates toddlers to be cooperative. Plus, routines are comforting, letting your child know what to expect.
- For a perfect way to wind down after a long day, play his favorite song while you get him ready for his bath.
- Then, for sensory stimulation, blow baby-safe bubbles together in the tub as it fills.
- To foster independence, let him pick from a small assortment of bath-appropriate toys.
- Let him experience moving under water. Say “Swish, swish,” while moving his hands back and forth just beneath the water’s surface.
Have a family dance-off:
As he dances, he’ll start to develop his gross motor skills and sense of rhythm. He’ll also improve cognitive function, since the same mental pathways that process music are also used later on by the brain for abstract thinking and math.
- Begin by showing your toddler where the music will come from (computer, CD player or other device). Then help him push “play” to start a song (this will help him begin to understand cause and effect and encourage curiosity).
- Let a few bars of the song play, then have everyone—Mom, Dad, siblings—break out into an impromptu dance. Your toddler will be delighted and will soon join in, trying to imitate your moves.
- Grab anything that makes noise and make your own dance band. You don’t need to leave the music to the professionals.
Peek-a-boo:
This is a toddler’s favorite game, because he is just learning the concept of object permanence—the idea that objects or people still exist when hidden from view.
- Try variations of this game by letting him see you walk behind a couch or large chair and then disappear from view. A second or so later, pop your head out while cooing, “boo!” Hide back and wait for him to approach closer. Then pop your head out again.
- Do the same thing with a stuffed animal, having it pop around the couch in puppet-like fashion while you say “boo” in a cartoonish voice.
