I'm wanting ideas for educational games to play with 16 month old child at home?

Question

We are bored of building towers/duplo and painting. I've been teaching her colours using coloured bricks and big coloured mats I made. Now I'm looking for new, fun games to play with her, possibly incorporating numbers, alphabet, animals - any ideas?

Answer 1

Try going to Amercan.Mensa.org we have many ways to stimulate the mind for all ages. There are also books available to help with gifted and talented children. You also seem to be on the right track already.

By the way: way to go encouraging your child to learn while at play.

Answer 2

There are TONS of books on this topic. I'd give her more of a routine--you can't expect her to stay at home 7 days a week and not get bored. You would get bored, too, if you didn't have laundry, cleaning, etc. I'd take her out for one activity each day- the park, the library (many have story hour for kids), find or organize a play group that rotates from house to house each week, a music class, grocery shopping (give her her own list with pictures of the items she needs to "buy"), swimming lessons, etc. If she can count on an activity for most days to look forward to. Maybe only spend one day a week at home so she can relax and recuperate. I'd also suggest maybe getting a babysitter once a week (local college student is always a good choice) so that you can run errands and your child will have an adult to play with. I think that if you set up a consistent routine--tv time included, that your daughter will be much happier. Maybe get up and have some play time with mommy, then an activity, lunch, nap, and then some playtime with mommy again or an activity with mommy (an art project, a cooking project, read a book together), and then a pre set amount of time in a gated area alone with her toys. That's her "alone" time. You can set the timer. Just like with nap time, she's going to have to learn to play by herself. She might scream the entire first week or two that you try it, but she'll get the hint eventually. It may not be boredom as much as it is wanting to play with someone else. Toddlers don't want to miss any action. I think it's great for you to put some toys in storage and take them out again in a month or two so they seem "new." Giving her paper and stickers and color wonder paper and markers/finger paint could be fun for her when she's on her own and it won't make a mess. Toddlers have really short attention spans (less than five minutes) so you won't be able to set her up with an activity and expect her to do it for more than a few minutes.

Answer 3

There are so many ideas! Your best options are those born of your own imagination!! Pretend that you're only a babe and think of things that might interest you. Also, remember that no matter what she is doing, or how she is playing, your daughter is still learning. It may not seem that way, but it's true!

When she climbs in and out of a cardboard box, she is learning about spacial integrity, geometry, etc....she's learning that things can go in, out, over, under, or beside. Let her play with that cardboard box as long as possible. When she beats on different pots and pans with different spoons, she is learning about rhythm and musical notes. The most important thing is to do things that she enjoys. It has been scientifically proven that children learn more and better when they enjoy the activity at hand.

Now, for ideas.....try using everyday things.....name things in the grocery store, count the cups as you take them from the dishwasher, talk about the colors of the towels coming out of the dryer as you fold them. Board books are a wonderful way of learning about animals and naming them. After 10 or 12 readings, consistently, a few times a day even, of the same book....she should be able to point to the tiger when you name it! Anything that lets you use numbers, letters, or colors, and that makes your child smile, or laugh, or holds her interest, is working. Just keep trying!

Answer 4

My daughter is the same age. I have fun singing nursery rhymes with her and making up hand motions to go with the songs. She'll do the motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She'll also do the motions for If You're Happy And You Know It.

She LOVES it when I read Dr Seuss books to her. I made up a few hand motions for some of the pages and she'll always get ready and do the hand motions for the pages and stuff. One Dr Seuss book (Dr Seuss's A B C) is her favorite. She'll point to the D and say D and she'll point to the M and say M.

We also go outside and fill up a small watering jug and we water my flowers. Then she fills it with rocks. We talk about the sound of the birds chirping, the wind blowing, how the wind feels when it's blowing our hair. We crunch the leaves, throw walnuts and talk about the different types of trees in our yard.

Answer 5

I play this kind of seek & find game with my 1 1/2 year old. I made color, animal, and shape flashcards. I show my daughter one at a time and ask her to find that item. Like hold a blue card up and ask, "Can you find a blue toy?", or an animal card "What is this?, What sound does a tiger make?"
I pick one theme, like animals or shapes, to work with so I don't overwhelm her. Have fun.

Answer 6

String pasta into necklaces, use playdough to make things, count rasains as you make ants on a log (cleery, peanut butter, rasins) then eat them. dye eggs, play with buttons (sort by size, shape, color, number of holes etc), buy some sand toys and use raw rice for the sand (you can do this indoors), blow bubbles, play catch with a beach ball, give him an old phone and let him push the buttons while you say the number, cut out letters, numbers, colors in sandpaper and havehime trace them with fingers, then cover with paper and rub with crayon. . .

Answer 7

My daughter loves to sing and dance. So we would always make up songs and act them out. Something like: dancing around and roaring like a lion, afterwards we would draw a picture of it. Then we would be off to dance and make up songs of another animal and draw a piture of it. By the time we were done we had a little safari on the wall...

Answer 8

Hmmmm.......my lo's love getting a bag of marshmallows and a few sticks of spaghetti and trying to build a tower without it collapsing.
My daughter who is 20 months loves to 'go shopping', cook dinner etc and we sing ABC and 3 little ducks went swimming one day etc etc.

Answer 9

16 months old and educational games.
Let them learn how to be a child first.
Children are smart-Parents need the help thinking.

Next -computer at age two- don't want em to get behind do you.
Then find a special school to put them in so they can compete
with others and never learn to love and just be a normal "terrible two"s"

Answer 10

My daughter is also 16 months. I would suggest getting outside as much as possible. i used to take my daugther around in her stroller, but then I realized that she has way more fun if she just gets to walk around by herself! So, just let her go wherever she wants and follow her around!