Entertaining Your 12 Month Olds

Hello! I wanted to introduce myself before asking my question. I am a SAHM to my boy/girl twins, Kathryn and Owen, and we are expecting baby number three by c-section on Feb. 10 - a little sister named Sullivan. My babies turned 1 on Dec. 29th so I am here now! I can't believe how fast the first year flew by and how much they changed in only 12 months. DH and I are excited about the second year and life with three babies, even though I know it's going to be busier than either of us can imagine.

On to my question. What kind of indoor activities did/do you do when your lo's were 12 months old? It's unusually cold here now (we live in Mississippi), but given the fact I'm so large and slow these days getting us all dressed and out the door even on a warmer day is hard work on my own. I usually need DH's help for outings now. I really want to challenge them and all of their toys (they have many!) are age appropriate. We read several books a day, work with stacking rings and blocks, etc. They are taking a few more steps each day so I know they'll be walking well before long and for the most part they can roam the house as they please. So I don't feel like they're restricted or confined to their room. We might do a Wiggles DVD once a week, but most days I keep the tv off or watch it when they're napping. Some days I get bored and I have to think they do too...any thoughts or suggestions? For those of you who attend a story hour at your local library, how old were your lo's when you started taking them? I'd like to try getting out to do that once the new baby is here. Thanks so much!

 

:welcome: to the SY and :bday: to your babies! Congratulations on the new little one on the way!
My twosome were 12 months this time last year and it is cold where we live this time of year. I did a lot of what you did: reading, playing with age appropriate toys. We don't have much of a backyard but we do have a deck and when my DS started walking, I would bundle them up to play on the deck for a little bit.
Our local library does not have story time, so I have not done that yet.

 

Hiya,

Your day sounds alot like ours. In the morning they play in there room after 1st nap for half hr, then i am down on the floor doing physio with them (only one needs it) then story time and songs, in the afternoon they play with there toys , after a snack they will either go for a walk with me or i just let them explore the downstairs of the house. We have been trying to get to playgroup once a week but we haven't attended since before Christmas - the girls LOVE IT so i wil;l start that back up again once i have recovered from the festive period lol

 

We bought an expandable tunnel which they loved and still love to crawl through, or kick a ball through. Around 15 months we bought one of those little climbers with a slide (for outdoors but a lot of people have them indoors) and I thought they'd never learn how to climb it and they figured it out so quickly. Ours has more of a ladder versus stairs--stairs would be easier for younger 1 year olds but it's amazing how fast they change at this age. We started story time here and there around 1 but I just wasn't ready b/c I felt too overwhelmed keeping track of both of them. They're still busy bodies but now story time is fun and I think they get more out of it. Soon they'll be able to ride a little bike without pedals, those are a big hit here, so are the cozy coupe type cars. My kids prefer anything active, but also love books, simple puzzles, shape sorters, blocks, and at 12 months the cause-effect toys were big. We also bought a used kitchen set when they turned one and they loved to take all the food out and put it back in. Around 18 months they started actually playing with it more appropriately. Good luck! It is an exciting year and amazing how fast they change.

 

The previous posts have been great idea! I'm always looking for more!

Our boys are just really busy!! We do ALOT of stacking putting in, taking out!
THey love for me to hide things.
The love to be chased and to chase me, or play hide and seek.
They are really into puppets.

I tried taking them to story hour, but the set up just isn't right for us. It's geared mostly for older kids. Plus they are both going in different directions, I don't feel I can watch them both saftly (maybe if they were in an enclosed room).
A couple of times a week we may watch 10-15min of Baby Einstein, I usually watch it with them and talk about it.
I've just bought one of those tunnels (thanks Jen-great idea) and we have a climber that we use indoors, they like to chase each other around it.
Couch cushions and pillows for some reason are tons of fun. Oh and blankets too, we through the blanket out like a net, and they hurry on it and we 'reel' them in.
We gave them one of our old phones, LOVE this!

We took them out to eat last night and for the first time they showed more interest in coloring rather than eating the crayons, so I will break those out again.
Ryan especially is really into helping, ie throwing things away.
We've been learning body parts...so far they know where mommy's belly is; dh likes to ask them "Where's Mommies Belly" in some public place, so they come over to lift up my shirt! <sigh>
Baths are good play time too.
We have a couple of the ride on toys and they are not interested other than pushing them, but they never really cared for rocking horses either.

that's all i can think of right now.

CONGRATS on your pregnancy!

Rebecca

 

Ooh tunnels sounds lots of fun!!

 

Welcome to SY!! :birthday: Kathryn and Owen! How exciting another baby on the way! I admire you for being so brave!

We turned our formal dining room into a playroom. My two are 13 months old. They spend most of the day in and out of the playroom. My twins favorite toys are their ballpit, Leapfrog Activity table, shape sorters, books, playschool ballpopper, Playschool balltivity center, megablocks, Fisher-Price Little Superstar, and their Leapfrog My Puppy Pal's (so cool, customizable to say baby's names)