Things to do with a one year old

In My Humble Opinion
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I have a one year old niece, Zoe, whom I absolutely adore. My sister (her mom) is going to be in town for a few weeks, so I figured I would give her a break and take Zoe off her hands for a while. I’m looking forward to doing this, because I definitely want to be a large part of Zoe’s life…but I’m not very good with little children. What do you do with someone that age? Is she too young to go to enjoy a park or a walk outside?

Questions directed at my sister have resulted in much mumbling and very little answers.

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Is this a recipe thread?

:smiley:

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She’ll love outside. If you can get a kid backpack, you can take her for a hike in the park. She’ll also enjoy the toddler playground (can she walk yet?) --you can go down the slide with her or put her in the baby swings. Look at trees and flowers, and play shadow games.

If there’s a local petting zoo, she’ll enjoy looking at the animals too.

My Barnes & Noble has a train set and benches in the children’s room. These are good for reading aloud and playing, if Zoe isn’t a shrieky child. Libraries are good too, and sometimes have puzzles and toys. (I’m presuming your house isn’t full of toys.)

You can also send your sister off to do some shopping and play with Zoe at home. Build towers, let her play with your kitchen pots and spatulas, or bounce her gently on the bed. There’s lots to do with a one-year-old if you let your imagination go, and she won’t hold it against you if something doesn’t work.

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get some board books, Max books by Rosemary Wells, Sandra Boynton books are good. Sit Zoe on your lap and read, read read.

One year olds are great, I’ve had 5. The baby on my lap right now making me type one-handed won’t be one for 11 months still.

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How “one” is she? What I mean is how many months old is she?

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This cracked me up for some reason.

Anyhow, my baby is not quite one and things she loves doing:

—pressing buttons on remote controls and telephones and the like
—banging on pots and pans and bowls
—sometimes reading board books, but only if she can control the page-turning, etc—I can never actually get though a book start to finish
—walks and parks are good. Swings are great.
—bloacks and stacking things

The great thing about kids this age (well, there are many great things) is that often the most ridiculously mundane things thrill them to death. My daughter can spend a very long time happily flipping the pages of a magazine or throwing cards around. Throwing things on the floor is also big at this age—as is the repetition of having you pick the objects up over and over again.

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Leave them on someone’s doorstep!

Like W.C. Fields said, “I love children…preferably deep-fried.”

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Fingerpainting or anything else messy. You also could try crayons. She might try to eat them, though.

Anywhere that has other babies is good. Babies love to look at other babies. Try the kid section in Wal-Mart. If this isn’t possible, get a parenting magazine and show her the babies in the ads. You could also get a mirror and let her look at herself (my daughter would kiss her reflection at this age).

BUBBLES!!! Take her outside and blow bubbles. She’ll love it.

Get some building blocks (the wood kind) and build stuff for her. The fun for her is knocking down whatever you’ve built. Kids can do this for hours.

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a baby bike seat and helmet and you can take rides together. Backpacks and strollers are cool too. they like being in motion. One thing I did for ages was walk about an hour to a pizza by the slice place. I’d get a couple of slices of pizza, and china bambina would gnaw on the pizza crust. (ask mom if you can feed her, and what you can feed her)

My daughter was just fascinated by animals. The zoo, petting zoo’s, friendly dogs, etc.

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I am kinda knowledgable on this subject…generally 1 year olds will direct you to what is interesting and worthy of attention.

Go to the dollar store and pick up various items…not just kid items, things like plastic containers…etc…Have an old cell phone? Joyous time to be had by 1 year olds and cell phones. Got an old remote control around? Another thing that babies love.

I am an aunt to many, mother to none but nothing like basic things to entertain a child that age.

Oh and don’t forget boxes…most kids love boxes.

If it aint a toy, they love it.

Get out an almost empty shampoo bottle and rinse it out, yet another thing to play with.

Kids that age love to play with adult like things that are harmless. Through the age of 3 or so, fun can be had with pots and pans, plastic containers (save those sour cream tubs and margarine tubs…)

They usually can’t sit still long enough at 1 year to watch a video although if you have cable it is a good backdrop to tune it into the Disney Channel or whatever.

Heck, they even like to play with the baby wipe containers…my best friend’s daughter has always loved it.

Hope that helps and good luck…Look around your home and you will find things that most babies will play with.

11

YES! Boxes!

Listen to techchick. Go to like, a store that sells refrigerators and other big things. Ask if you can have/buy a box. Since she’s only 1 you may wanna just go with a TV box. Most stores will give them to you so they don’t have to deal with disposing of it. Stick it in the middle of the living room and she’ll be wildly entertained.

Car keys are good, too.

Also screen savers. Set yours to “mystify” and make it change colors.

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Balloons…all kids (even us adults) like balloons.

They love to bounce them around…don’t fill them to maximum capacity so they pop easily. Nothing worse than a frightened toddler/baby scared crying sucks ass.

Plastic cups. If you want to give a bath, plastic cups (even measuring cups) are a blast for kiddlets in the tub. They can spend a lot of time scooping up water and pouring it on their heads.

Empty lotion bottles filled with water (since it’s summer) can be really funny for children of that age. They press down on the spout and water comes out…joy to be had, giggles are certain.

Anything, anything plastic. I don’t know why in our society but kids love plastic stuff.

Run to GoodWill and find picture books. They love picture books. My best friend’s daughter particularly liked to chew on the darn things. (she will be 2 on the 11th).

Got an old keyboard that doesn’t work? They like the sound of keyboard’s keys. Heck, if you don’t need it for a while I have one that I can ship to you if you pay shipping costs. It’s not working but possibly fun for your niece.

Anything NOISY!!! Yes, NOISE and kids go well together. Put some cereal (like Cheerios) in a Pringles like container…I think a few other potato chip companies have them now…cereal in a container she can shake can bring many giggles.

As mentioned, keys are good too. I am a stickler for cleanliness so at least clean them before you give them to her. Imagine the places you go and not wash your hands while handling keys, ick.

Just look around you…if you were tiny imagine what you might be involved in. Even a blanket can be a fun way to entertain. whoosh it over your head then hers…my best friend’s daughter absolutely loves that with her “banky”. It gets old for us adults but man do little kids love it.

Peek-a-boo is always a fun game, yep with the blanket.

Good luck on the kidlett sitting and tell us what worked for your adventures. But know that hands on the most preferred and trying to learn that when he/she is tired they need to nap. (which is your internet time.) They can be cranky form sickness but most likely cranky from being tired and needing a rest.

Create an environment of love and caring and you can soon be the best aunt/uncle. Remember to ask about changing times, when a bottle is warranted and when lunch is.

Never be fearful as your friend/niece will let you know when things need to be different. The most rudimentary (sp) things are the most interesting to them but if your sis has a favorite blanket and toy, those are most certainly very important for her.

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PLEASE, DO NOT USE BALLOONS.

Unless they are the mylar ones. Latex balloons can pop (even when not blown up fully) and the small pieces of latex can be inhaled. It is very very difficult, even for emergecy room doctors, to clear an airway blocked by balloon latex. Sure, the chances of her inhaling the latex may be small, but if it should happen, the results are so potentially disasterous that I wouldn’t rick it.

If you can find one of those little blow-up pools (which are all clearanced now) I know your niece would sit happily in three inches of water and a bunch of plastic measuring cups.

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She is eleven and a half months old.

Thanks so much for your suggestions, everyone. I’m taking her out tomorrow, I’ll let you know how it goes!

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How about some washable paints and a bathtub? Plop Zoe down in a dry tub (with a towel underneath her) and let her paint the sides of the tub.

Hey, come to think of it, that sounds pretty fun… :slight_smile:

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Correction: 13 and a half months old. You know it’s late when 12 + 1 is eleven…

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Cranky I have been around babies and have never had a problem with balloons…provided you teach them not to bite them (which most kids will understand) balloons can be a fun time.

Heck, I blew up about 25 of them for my best friend’s daughter’s first birthday and she never had a problem with them, some of which lasted more than a month…careful supervision is warranted but all my nieces and nephews have had balloons from age one in their life.

Good golly, we talk about kids (older ones) wearing helmets, knee pads and the like for riding things like bikes, skate boards and even while skiing. All of which I didn’t suffer one broken bone nor death…I am still here, to the shagrin to many I am sure…I even survived a split lip at age 1 1/2 while my dad was backing out of the driveway as restraining your children in the late 60s and early 70s was a different thing. While I still have the scar I am alive, by golly.

What I am trying to say is, careful consideration you can have fun activities that don’t involves complete caution. Heck a child who loves to bite her blanket can easily become fatal…the chances are small.

It’s a matter of what you are willing to risk versus the true risk.

In today’s society we should just amour (sp) our kids with helmets, padding and other things to ensure they aren’t hurt. I have to roll my eyes with that one as I was quite the adventurer and little could be done by my parents to restrain me from doing my wandering.

I learned from my mistakes and TRUST ME when I say I was quite the one that needed to test my waters.

Balloons aren’t that big of a deal in my eyes…having four neices and nephews along with my best friend’s daughter…balloons serve no more a threat than anything they can get their hands one.

18

Roll your eyes all you want, techie.

I too have let my son play with balloons under extremely close supervision. This has been when he has been given one by someone else and it would have been cruel to take it away. But balloons aren’t some random risk like “biting blankets.” They are the #1 cause of non-food choking deaths in kids.

I would be very reluctant to let someone else let my child play with balloons. If I want to take that risk, I will take it myself as a parent. I would not want to put that level of responsibility on someone else.

I can match you anecdote for anecdote on the dangerous things I did when I was a kid and survived. That doesn’t mean I turn a blind eye to things that have been found to be extremely risky to children. I would never blow up an entire roomful of balloons to turn a bunch of kids loose in. Balloons aren’t something where you can “learn from your mistakes” if you inhale one. You can’t put on a cast and have all your friends sign it and sit on the sidelines for six weeks ponderig how stupid it was to climb that tree. If you inhale one, you’re in serious trouble.

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Unbreakable mirrors and reflective surfaces, too. You might try making a trip to the local Goodwill/Salvation Army and laying in some baby toys and other unbreakable stuff. This way, she’ll have new stuff at your place. But it’s true that you really don’t need toys. She’ll be delighted by your stuff!

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Vastard breathes a sigh of relief and closes her eyes

She’s asleep! Finally!

We had a beautiful morning, we went out to a park where we had a fabulous time on the slides. For some reason, she was much more interested in walking up the sliding portion of the slides than actually sliding down them. There was also good times to be had with sand and some nearby geese.

A quick trip to our local Commie-Hippie health food store to buy more organic food (my sister insisted on it) and then back home. And then…

The dreaded naptime! I have found that babies, big new houses, and naps don’t go together well. Everyone was out of the house, so I ended up setting her down on my bed in the basement, where it was cool and dark, and letting her scream for half an hour before she finally dropped off. Is there a slightly more efficient method for forcing sleep onto an obviously tired baby? Someone suggested that I should feed her lots of sugar and wait for the high to come down, at which point she would be out like a light for hours…but that somehow didn’t seem quite right.

Coming soon: “A Day With Zoe: Part Two!”