Home > Activities and ideas for Babies 0 - 12 months > Fun Activities for 18-month-old and younger

Fun Activities for 18-month-old and younger

Are you wondering what activities should I do with my 18 month old? How you can interact with them? If the answer is yes, then you are going to love these simple activities and ideas for 18-month-olds that need no specialist equipment just household items that mommy and daddy can do alongside their kiddos at home. So here are your ideas for keeping your little one busy at home all day long with our best activities tried and tested at home to do with your 18-month-old toddlers and younger.

Young toddler at a table painting with bright colours. Text reads Activities for 18-month-olds and younger, play, create, learn and have fun.

Note: There is some overlap between our activities for under 2-year-olds and toddler activities because children develop at different times and have different strengths. Click through the links and make a judgment on whether the activity would work with your child at the stage of development they are at the moment.

We have included affiliate links to some of the products and resources as an associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.

35 activities for 18 month old and younger
Baby Playing via Shutterstock

These are 35 fun things for 18-month-olds and under (well from around 6 months to 18 months) that we have done with our kids at home. There are ideal to avoid temper tantrums as distrations and more.

They are all easy to set up and in the most part are free and where there is a cost that is very little.

There are Art Activities, Exploring, Imaginative Play, Sensory and activities for fine and gross motor skills.

Activities for the First 6 Months

Little 5-month-old baby surrounded by simple none electronic toys ideal for starting to introduce at this age range

Before your baby can sit unaided, and their hand and eye co-ordination is lacking there are lots of different activities you can do with your baby. Check out our ideas for simple things to do with your babies under 6 months old for each month of their life.

Baby Art Ideas

Art Activities for under 18 months

We love arts and crafts here on Rainy Day Mum and when my two were tiny I loved trying different activities and getting them used to using different materials.

This was a great way to start regularly crafting. Once they can hold a spoon they are capable of holding a paint brush or sponge brush easily.

Top Tip for Arts and Crafts with Babies

You can see by the pictures that I tended to do the activities whilst my daughter was in her high chair, this was so that I could contain the mess.

baby creating a suncatcher craft in her high chair

We aren’t a daycare provider so all of these activities were done at home with her in our kitchen and dining room so I wanted to contain the mess as much as possible.

As she got older we have moved to free art and crafts but at this stage, I loved the ease of clean-up doing this.

Best Arts and Crafts for 18 Months and UNder

  • Contact Paper Butterflies – make these easy butterflies that little hands can make
  • Edible Finger Paints – these are ideal paints to use with babies from 6 months old – edible and you can produce some vibrant colours
  • Sponge and dot Painting – simple art activity for little hands to use, don’t worry if you don’t have any dot markers you could use pom poms and a clothes peg instead.
  • Homemade Finger Paints – this taste safe finger paint recipe is great for producing vibrant colours and the paint will last a while
  • Traditional Finger Paints – using non-toxic finger paints and supervised try this finger painting activity with your young babies and toddlers
  • Rainbow Fish Hand Prints – a simple craft that starts off as a process art ideal for making thank you cards for 1st birthday gifts
  • Glitter Hearts – pretty hearts that you can hang up in a mobile or use to decorate your fridge
  • Canvas Painting – create something during those first 18 months that you can then treasure with our guide on how to canvas paint with babies and young toddlers
  • Butterflies – make pretty butterflies as you see them in the spring and summer months with your little ones
  • Hot Air Balloon Sun Catcher – this is a fun craft that you can do with a baby, toddler and older kids it’s easy to set up and ideal for when you have children of multiple ages.
  • Make a First Christmas Ornament with your Baby – inspired by the book Spot’s First Christmas this is an ideal craft for you to commemorate your babies first Christmas

You don’t need lots of art supplies to get started, some stickers – Melissa nd Doug have a great selection, large sheet of paper (wall paper backing or easel paper works), some toilet paper rolls which you can use for painting either shapes or to roll.

Want even more ideas for Arts and Crafts for your older babies then find more inspiration with our Nursery Rhymes Inspired Crafts for Toddlers

Sensory Play for Babies

Sensory Play for Babies

Babies and toddlers are sensory seekers, they explore the world through their 5 senses. Looking, listening, tasting, feeling and smelling.

These sensory play ideas work with your babies once they are sitting unaided and have started eating food. We tended to use a plastic storage box as a sensory tub or sensory bin but you could also use a small bucket or the water table. We didn’t use any shaving cream with her but have since made shaving cream marbling which is fun because at this stage she put everything in her mouth.

  • Spaghetti – this kitchen cupboard staple is an ideal easy sensory material, discover a play suggestion and how to dye it without ending up covered in dye
  • Homemade Playdough – a classic and favourite with many. This taste safe playdough is made using our favourite recipe click through to discover the recipe for yourself
  • Edible Playdough – if you know they are going to eat it then our simple recipe for edible playdough is ideal
  • Gloop or Oobleck – a fantastic sensory material, as non-Newtonian fluid, it is most unexpected and makes a wonderful experience for you and your child
  • Oats – another kitchen staple and easy to prepare for sensory play, we kept the oats in a jar and reused many times allowing us to visit this time and time again
  • Making Music – simple idea for making music with your babies
  • Junk Music Playing – once you have children you may like us discover your recycling bin is half as full as you keep a junk modeling box stocked which is ideal for making musical instrument
  • Instant Pudding and Ice – this edible sensory play is SO easy to make and both of my children a toddler and baby loved exploring the sensations of the ice
  • Baby Ball – this is such an easy activity to do with your very young babies and perfect for on the changing table.

Some more ideas you could use water beads however, for this type of play make sure that your little one is past the stage of putting everything in their mouths. You could set up a tray for some water play just place a towel underneath to stop things slipping. Or even the sandbox out in the backyard filled with toys.

Why not try some of our Food-free Sensory Bin Ideas for Toddlers

Hand-made Busy Bags we recommend

Have you tried Busy Bags with your babies yet – these are fantastic and ideal for taking with you in the car, popping in your changing bag or having in the stroller for when you need to keep your little ones entertained. Here are some of our favourite recommendations – these are affiliate links

I love supporting small businesses and Etsy is the place to find busy bags that are perfect for this range. There is a HUGE selection and they have so many different possibilities. I loved the cookie and cooking bag for my kids they loved cooking the cookies and then we would count them in and count them out again. Another favorite the finger puppet farm – how cute are they?

Imaginative Play for young toddlers and babies

Imaginative Play for Under 2's

Children are imaginative and we can encourage this through play.

Check out these simple ideas for imaginative play with your babies and young toddlers

  • Frozen Lake – if you return after a walk in the winter and have seen icey puddles or a frozen pond then this simple play idea is easy to set up within a couple of hours
  • Goldilocks and the three bear – spend a few nights reading the classic fairy tale Goldilocks and the three bears and then set up this simple play idea for your little ones and renact the story and watch them extend it further
  • Ocean World – this edible ocean world was perfect after a visit to the sea side, reading sharing a shell or our aquarium visit it wasn’t just imaginative though it became a whole body sensory experience for my sensory seeking toddler along with my baby at the time
  • Shops – a favourite from my childhood, playing shops revisit this with your own child
  • Tea Party – who doesn’t love having a tea party, check out our set-up and suggestions for “make believe food”
  • Tiger who came to Tea – if you’ve read the book then this imaginative play including suggestions for tiger masks is going to be a hit
  • Boats – turn your room into a river and take a trip down
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Fine and Gross Motor Activities to try

fine and gross motor activities

The foundations that you lay when your child is young will help develop the muscles and hand-eye coordination needed for when they write later in life.

  • Laundry Basket Fun – large movement simple to set up activity
  • Putting in and taking out – whilst they carry out this activity and it was a favourite around 10 months to 11 months old you can introduce counting and even colours, we used shells but you could also use pom poms or other small manipulatives.
  • Transfering Food – use different types of food and you can help with coordination and fine motor control
  • Pasta Play – raid the kitchen cupboards and set up this simple fine motor activity for little ones to do
  • Shell Fun – after a visit to the beach wash the shells and then set up this activity for your baby and young toddler
  • Block Play – one of our favourite toys blocks, find out this suggestion for play

Exploring and Creating New Experiences for 1 to 2 year olds and 18 month olds.

Everything is new for a baby but in that time you can create new experiences for them as well as let them explore.

Exploring and new experiences for under 18 months

Here are a few of the suggestions of place and experiences for your baby and young toddler as well as our top tips for visiting and exploring them.

Books for babies and young toddlers

35 activities for 18 month old and younger
Baby Boy with Book via Shutterstock

Reading with your baby is one of the best ways to get them interested in books and also in learning. It helps to extend their vocabulary too. A lot of the books for babies are aimed at exciting the senses as well, they may have different textures, lift the flaps or exciting sounds.

Our favorite book, well there were two that our kids loved the best when they were young toddlers. The “That’s not my” series and also the “Indestructible” Series.

See some of our other recommendations for reading throughout the year – although some may be aimed at Toddlers or Preschoolers these books are great to read aloud to even the youngest baby and it’s a great idea to get into the habit early on with bedtime stories.

More Ideas for Under 2s

Cooking with Toddlers is possible and you can do it - here's recipes that you and your toddler can really cook and some tips for making it happen.
some dinosaur activities and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers on rainy day mum
fun space themed crafts and activities for toddlers and preschoolers

If you want to start cooking with your young toddler then check out some of our easy recipes we’ve tried and tested with our toddlers in our home kitchen with our selection of the best recipe to cook with toddlers.

Have a tot that loves dinosaurs then some of our favourite dinosaur crafts and activities will be their favourites.

What about blasting off into space with these simple space crafts and activities for you and your tots to do at home.

Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

2 Comments

  1. So useful!!! Amazing list of resources, thank you!

  2. I tried the pasta play in a toddler pool with the 18 month old I care for and it was nonstop eating it then throwing handfuls out of the pool. Sigh.

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