Last Updated on 1 year by Namrata
So your 18 months old is now super packed with energy and is ready to move independently. He/She toddles around the whole day looking for something interesting and wants to be fully engaged in play and hates getting bored. Then it’s time for you to look for some Games/Activities for the physical and mental development of your 18-year-old baby.
So, we are here with a set of games and activities to boost the developmental process in your 18-month old toddler.
Important Developmental Milestones For An 18-Month-Old
Right from birth, your baby has learned something at every stage, from blinking, smiling to toddling or even walking. So now also it’s important that he/she develops some mental and physical skills.
1. Improved physical development:
Your baby can now toddle quite independently and can even run in short bursts. His/her muscles are now capable of performing various complex actions. For eg: feeding himself/herself with a spoon, even removing some pieces of clothing like a sweatshirt or jacket, and wearing simple footwear like flip-flops all by himself.
2. Better attention and thinking:
If your 18-month-old baby will love a game, activity, or toy he/she will sit and play with it for a longer time as compared to other things. He/She will develop good skills at interpreting cause and effect actions and using past experiences he may draw inferences.
3. Improving social skills:
Your toddler enjoys sitting in front of you and playing games. After winning He/She will then show you his/her achievement in the activity/game and expect a reward or appreciation in return. He/She may even throw a tantrum when he loses or he/she is forced to be in the company of people he/she does not like. Your child will now be a little cautious towards strangers and react accordingly. It also displays affection towards familiar faces.
4. Shaper senses:
Your 18 month-year-old can now see objects and recognize faces from quite a distance. He/She may even remember familiar sounds, and respond accordingly to them.
If he/she doesn’t like something he/she ate, next time you will notice that he/she repels it.
So let’s begin the list of Best Learning Games for 18-Month-old.
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Best Learning Games/Activities for 18 Month Old
| Toys/Activities | Amazon Links |
| 1. Magnetic Letters & Play Doh | Check Price |
| 2. DIY Lift the Flap Book with Post-Its | Check Price |
| 3. Finger Puppet Board Books | Check Price |
| 4. Stacking/Nesting Cups | Check Price |
| 5. Putting Straws in an Empty, Plastic Water Bottle | Check Price |
| 6. Rubber Building Blocks | Check Price |
| 7. Flashcards in Envelopes | Check Price |
| 8. Stamps | Check Price |
| 9. Ten Tiny Tadpoles Board Book | Check Price |
| 10. Stickers | Check Price |
| 11. Musical Instruments | Check Price |
1. Magnetic Letters & Play Doh
Just lay out some play-doh for him/her or set out a basket with some magnetic letters and let him/her just explore independently. You could show him how to squish the different letters into the play-doh by searching for the letters to spell his/her name. One of its main advantages is that play-doh is non-toxic, but still, you should take care that he/she may not swallow it. This activity will teach him/her sensory exploration while working on fine motor skills, and also introduces uppercase letters and colors. So it’s a win-win situation. This has topped our list of Best Learning Games/Activities for 18-Month-Old.
2. DIY Lift the Flap Book with Post-Its
The most beloved “first words” books contain a lot of real-life pictures and come with covered pictures on each page with post-it notes. One can use some different-sized post-its depending on the size of the picture. This will be super fun and really easy to prepare for the activity. Your kid will love turning the pages, tearing off the post-it notes, and discovering what was hiding underneath them. This activity will help in building motor skills and also build vocabulary.
3. Finger Puppet Board Books
These little nursery rhyme finger puppet board books can be perfect interactive, especially for this age. We have two recommendations for you. Although there are tons out there on amazon. You could read/sing them together with your 18 years toddlers. These books will not only increase the vocabulary of your child but also develop a habit of reading among them.
The Little Piggy: Check price on Amazon
Five little Monkeys: Check price on Amazon
4. Stacking/Nesting Cups
This is one of the best toys for development at this age. Your kid will learn how to build things like towers etc. He/She will learn to nest them from largest to smallest. We recommend this toy because it promotes problem-solving and works on early development skills such as stacking, building, and nesting.
5. Putting Straws in an Empty, Plastic Water Bottle
This is one of the easiest but really helpful activities. One of the biggest pros is that you can carry it with you anywhere. So whether you are traveling or going for a picnic. Just keep it with you. As the name suggests, you have to teach your child to put straws in an empty plastic water bottle. One can even use pipe cleaners instead of straws if one wants. This activity will help in building concentration and accuracy skills. Which will be very helpful in upcoming years.
Neon Straws: Check price on Amazon
Pipe Cleaners: Check price on Amazon
6. Rubber Building Blocks
This is a great developmental toy that grows along with your kid. At a young age, your child will bang them together, throw them around. Also, you can build towers for him/her and watch him breaking it and can have fun. As he/she will grow, he will learn to build towers himself and later knock them out. (knocking is important you know).
7. Flashcards in Envelopes
This will take a little bit of preparation before your child puts their hands on it. But, trust us later it will be such a fun, different/unique activity for this age. You need to take a set of alphabet flashcards and stuff them all in different envelopes. Then you need to put all the envelopes in a little bin and let your child open them one by one. As he will open each alphabet, tell them about it, describe the picture made on the flashcard. Of course, you don’t expect him to open all the envelopes at once as the child gets bored very frequently. This is also a great motor activity and will increase vocabulary.
Flashcard: Check price on Amazon
Envelops: Check price on Amazon
8. Stamps
Stamps can be fun art projects for your little ones. They are a great, not-too-messy activity to perform. First of all, you will have to teach them the use of ink pads, then your work will be to sit and watch your child enjoying playing with different shapes stamps. You could use letter stamps, so kids can learn along playing. Just provide him/her with a plain white sheet and let him/her do the rest of the creation.
Letter stamps: Check price on Amazon
Ink Pad: Check price on Amazon
9. Ten Tiny Tadpoles Board Book
This is another fun book that will help your kid in learning early counting concepts and is also a cute story with bright colors. Your child will love to touch the little tadpoles which stick up on each page of the book and push them like they are buttons. It is great fun. The last page has a great surprise, it opens up real big and has a bunch of pop-up frogs on it.
10. Stickers
Yes, simple stickers can also be a great form of learning in a fun way. You can take a blue sheet and an aquatic animals sticker pack. You can play with your kid by discussing different animals with him and pasting them on the sheet. You can try different combinations like green sheets and sticker packs of forest animals/farm animals. Once they get involved you can teach them to peel off the stickers, which will be a good motor exercise. Also, it will help him/her learn about different animals.
11. Musical Instruments
No no, don’t worry we are not telling you to teach musical instruments to your 18-month-old toddler. You can play it for him/her and even let them make noise using your drums or other instruments. Believe us children love to make different kinds of sounds. This is a great help in the development of the mind. We are providing the link to some of the drums of instruments you will love.
12. Toys in Tin Foil
This activity will also take some preparation time beforehand. You will just need some household toys and foil paper. After gathering small toys, just start wrapping them in silver/tin foil and toss them in a tub. This is like he is opening birthday presents. This will help in the development of motor skills and it is fun at the same time.
These are some of the Best Learning Games/Activities for an 18-Month-Old. I hope you have liked all the activities/games mentioned above.
