Games for babies 1 to 2 years old

The first steps have already been taken or are in the process of occuring. Your baby plays more,  has more expressions, and now begins to choose what he wants to do. In some moments, he will play for a long time with just one toy, and in others, he will prefer to call your attention to play with him.

Enjoy the ones where he wants you around and enjoy all the games. Two things are essential to understand about babies: they learn while playing and each one develops at a different pace. However, the most important thing is to interact and have fun with him.

In this phase, games should stimulate speech, walking and motor coordination, and they are all linked to creativity and autonomy. The baby begins to want to do some things on his own. Safely encourage this relative independence.

As he has been developing a certain firmness in his hands and learning to use his legs and feet, games are more active than before. Keep reading and learn about some suggestions for games and activities to do with your baby from 1 to 2 years old.

 

Outdoor tours

Outdoor walks are recommended from the baby’s first month, with some restrictions regarding time, and preferably, made with the help of the stroller to take the baby, where he is free to observe everything around him.

With your baby standing upright or alone, he can explore spaces much more. To help with development, you can point to things and speak their names and colors. Show him a flower and ask him to smell it, show him a car and ask him what noise it makes, how an airplane goes or some other vehicle.

 

Storytime

Make the story hour more dynamic by creating voices and expressions for the characters. Say the names of some of them and ask the baby to point. If they make a specific sound, tell the baby to repeat the sound.

Another way to play with books is to let the baby turn the pages. Point to the book and ask what’s going on. Of course, with speech still developing, you will not understand anything, but it is a very interesting and fun stimulus.

 

Distant toys

This is to encourage walking. On a sofa, place two toys on separate ends. Show the baby one of the toys and then show the other. The goal is for him to brace himself on the sofa and move towards the toys.

 

Pots and lids

Babies love to fit objects together. You can create this game with pots that you have at home. Separate the ones with colored lids, remove the lids and let the baby fit them together.

 

Marbles in the pot

With colored jars and marbles in the same colors as the jars, show the baby each color and ask him to associate it with the ball. In the beginning, it will take a while to discover. Repeat the name of the color and ask which pot it is.

Gradually increase the amount of pots. He will learn new colors and will probably be placing the balls more quickly. After a while, change the position of the jars and ask again about where each ball goes.

 

Hide and seek

This is another game that adapts to the baby’s development. For the first few months, a small cloth hiding your face and, “Where’s mommy? You found her.” Over time, the baby can look elsewhere. Switch between your hiding and then him. There will be some very funny scenes of him trying to hide.

If he has older siblings, it is a great way to integrate the two ages. Ask the brother to hide and ask the baby where he is. Continue to stimulate the baby’s attention with the question. Celebrate whenever he finds the sibling.

 

Painting

As the baby is already able to hold objects with his hands and perform the pincer movement, that is, he joins the thumb and the index finger, the activity of painting serves to entertain and, at the same time, stimulate fine motor coordination.

It is more recommended to use crayons, to avoid accidents with the tip of a pencil or pen. He can draw on a sheet of paper or, to make it even better, provide a cardboard and let him use all his creativity to draw.

You can interact with him by drawing shapes like circles, squares and triangles and showing each one. If drawing is not your talent, you can do simpler things like the sun, cloud, a flower, pointing to each one, saying the name and which color.