I have a very active 14 month old son and am looking for fun and safe toys/ activities to keep him occupied.Thanks.
My kids loved a water table at that age. A year later they love it too! They also loved blocks but I hated how sharp they were so we got some rubber blocks and they loved those too. HAve fun
Our son loves the push/ride car that we just bought him ($40)- "Lightening McQueen". We also put up a playground style swing under our deck and he likes to swing with me while my husband works in the yard (lucky me!).
We have also found that he really enjoys the Parents Magazine architectural blocks (Target $20). They are made of thick rubber, are easy to wash and are great in the baby pool! Bubbles are a huge hit in our house as well. Happy summer!
bubbles, chalk, coloring, reading, mega blox legos, figures he can manipulate, a ball pit, small ride on toys with no peddles. Those were some of my daughter's favorites at that age.
My favorite toy when my son was that age was Measure Up Cups from Discovery Toys. There are so many activities packed into one little stack of 12 nesting cups. Stack, nest, learn colors, sequencing, patterns, size relationships, animal names and shapes...the list goes on and on.
Another good one is Giant Pegboard, also by Discovery Toys.
Check them out at www.toysofdiscovery.com
I agree with the previous moms that getting out the house is key! We go to the park any day that its not raining. We usually go in the early evening since its not too hot. If its too hot, the child gets tired too easily and then there is the issue of sun protection. I am guessing that you are looking for solutions at home too. We just put a big couch cushion at the base of our club chair in the living room and our 15 month old loves to climb up, look out the window and climb back down. So a safe furniture obstacle course would keep him busy. Our son also loves books, you can get them from the library and also they give them away free a lot. I also reccomend stocking the lower shelves of cabinets with fun boxes of food and some of his own toys so he can explore safely. Empty yogurt cups are good or tupperware that has a toy inside. Our son likes the box of granola bars a lot.
My son is also very very active and living in Manhattan it gets very difficult to control the tornado of activity in a 1000 square foot apt (that includes the kitchen and bathroom). When the weather is nice we are literally in the park or playground every waking minute of the day. We also schedule lots of playdates because it does take some pressure off you to entertain him, it helps social skills and old toys suddenyl come to life when there is another kid around.
We have a couple of large parks and playgrounds only a few blocks away so it is easy for us. If you live in the burbs, all those fences can be tough and I have heard backyards can get boring for little ones. Maybe go on the internet to see if there are some public areas close by.
a sand and water table keeps my 16 month old entertained for hours! i only put water in it to keep the mess down, but she is thrilled with that. we got it at toys r us and it has an umbrella for sun protection.
I too have a very active little boy who is 13 months. a couple of his faorite toys right now are a MegaBlocks dump truck. He pushes or pulls the truck around the house, dumps out the blocks, puts them back in, puts anything else that he might see in the dump truck :) and goes back to pushing it around the house. Another favorite for outside is a Clifford dog riding toy...but any type of riding toy would do. That is often the first toy he goes for when out side. He also loves to go to the playground. I don't know where you live, but the playground near me has an area for toddlers where all the equipment and whatnot is lower to the ground. hope that helps and that you have a fun summer!!
