Ideas on Educational Activities for One Year Old..

For kiddos this age, pretty much everything is a learning activity - as long as you talk to them while you do it. Stacking (you can count while doing it) blocks and knocking them over, banging rhythm instruments (drums or maracas) while you sing simple songs and having him point to objects around the room when you name them are all great activities for kids that age.

Hi A.,

I have an 18 mo daughter and we visit the web site starfall.com. It has been really great. Before we started this she wouldn't talk. Even though my husband and I talk to her and ask her questions all the time. They sell videos but to use the web site is free. I have not bought any of the videos. The only downside is she is obsessed and asks to go on the computer all the time. We limit playing to after dinner like it is TV. By the way she does not watch nor does she want to watch TV.
R.

IMO, you don't need to worry much about emphasizing learning. Like the OP said, pretty much everything is a learning experience at this age.

The first few years of a child's life are big for building connections in the brain. The more different kinds of things you can expose them to in the early years, the more connections there will be for later learning. When my oldest son was really young I used to take him to all the local museums, the zoo, the library, etc. to show him stuff (and of course I yammered almost nonstop about what we were doing & looking at). We also did sign language so he could put names to things before he was verbal. But I also gave him lots of time for independent play at home. That doesn't mean I wasn't involved (he was always high maintenance and would NOT play on his own 'til he was about 2 1/2) but I didn't orchestrate the play... mostly just watched what he did. So he got to explore a lot & learn about how things work.

So far it's worked out great. He's smart, curious, confident...he loves to learn new things and has a lot of self-direction in terms of learning. (Like he announced to me at 3 1/2 that he wanted to learn how to read.) Maybe the one downside is that he thinks he can do *everything* himself. ;)

Best of luck & enjoy your little one!

I agree that everything is learning at this age. But the biggest thing to do is talk talk talk! Talk about what you see when you're on a walk, at the park, etc. Ask him what colors things are, and other questions, even if you're answering them yourself.

We did baby signs with our boys, and by 13 months, we conversed pretty well with them. They'd tell us when they heard an airplane, saw a tree or a cat, etc. They're noticing everything at this age, so talk about it! I remember on one rare occasion that I was driving alone, I blurted out, "there's a school bus!" and felt really dumb. But it was a habit of pointing things out that my son was interested in.

Kids that age love "finger plays" like Itsy Bitsy Spider. My friend taught me two more verses, substituting "itsy bitsy" with "great big spider" and "teeny-weeny spider." Then you change your actions and voice accordingly, making them huge and exaggerated for the great big spider, and teeny tiny (with just your finger tips) for teeny-weeny. Oh boy, they just die with how silly and fun those verses are!

Also point out letters when you see them. I never would have thought of it with my first one, but my second son was 1 when his big brother got interested in letters, so he ended up learning them, too. He pointed them out on our moving boxes, etc., and usually called them all B or O. But by the time he was 19 months, he knew half the alphabet! You never know what a kid might be interested in.

My friend gave me a book called, "The Busy Book for Toddlers" or something like that. It has lots of different activities for that age group to do, like drawing in cornmeal on a cookie sheet, "painting" the sidewalk or house or fence with water and a big cheap paintbrush, bowling with a soft ball and empty soda bottles, playing "basketball" with stuffed animals and a laundry basket, etc. At the book's suggestion, I remember once I stripped both my boys and put them in the bath tub (in a diaper for the unpotty-trained one) with a dishpan of warm water and gave them measuring cups and the turkey baster and wire whisks and empty food containers and they played in there for ages! For some reason, it was different enough from a regular bath that it was really fun.

Also, when you're reading a book to him, forget the words on the pages and just talk about the pictures. Ask him to point to certain things, find something red, etc. They LOVE this at that age! One of our favorite books was Ten Little Ladybugs. We'd count and learned lots of different animals and insects. We also love Time for Bed (also lots of different animals).