five for fifteen

Do you have a fifteen month old? We have two over here and they are little tornadoes, aren’t they? So curious, so sensory, and always on the go. Sometimes getting five minutes of relative stillness can mean the world to a mom, and here are five ideas that will do just that. Just grab a few household items and prepare to be amazed.

Big thanks to our models Callum and Jude!

Activity: Throw a few small toys in bowl of rice and give your little a shovel.

Benefit(s): This is a great practice activity for hand eye coordination and perfecting their utensil using skills. Hopefully this will aid in a cleaner feeding time as they get more practice.

Activity: Using an ice tray, give them items to put in each ice cube section.

Benefit(s): Watch as their little tongues come out in concentration! Giving them opportunities to focus that aren’t in front of an over-stimulating screen of colors and sounds (ahem, TV) helps develop their brain in a more natural way. Sometimes we think our kids need more stimulation when they’re bored and causing mischief, when it’s actually the opposite.

Activity: Building cup towers just to knock them over.

Benefit(s): Learning to build and create patterns, stacking and unstacking are all great toddler activities. Also, a little controlled destruction can curb their appetite for doing it in the makeup drawers, or the roll of toilet paper, or the cupboards of pots and pans. Or maybe it makes it worse, our theory is still in the experimental phase. Either way, you can’t beat hearing those squeals of delight!

Activity: Transferring bouncy balls from bucket to bucket.

Benefit(s): More hand eye coordination, and more delightful shrieks at the plop! sounds the balls make into the bucket.

Activity: Baby shampoo finger painting.

Benefit(s): This one will sustain most ages, but our little ones love it so much! Get out your paint brushes, Q-tips, or scrub brushes and let them go wild. They will love their new found freedom to make a mess, and using baby soap makes for easy clean-up.

18 Comments

  • Kit Wilson
    November 6, 2012 at 9:28 am

    I vote for Cal.

    Reply
  • lesley
    November 6, 2012 at 11:03 am

    my little girl is 15 months this week so these are perfect for us! thanks for sharing these fun/easy ideas. 🙂

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      November 6, 2012 at 11:52 am

      it will be interesting to see how a girl likes these games, they’re so geared towards boys! haha, we can’t help it i guess!

      Reply
      • Stella
        April 11, 2013 at 9:35 pm

        “SMALL FRY:
        on November 6, 2012 at 11:52 am said:
        it will be interesting to see how a girl likes these games, they’re so geared towards boys! haha, we can’t help it i guess!”

        How exactly are these geared towards boys? These are basic developmental games.

        Reply
  • Sarabell
    November 6, 2012 at 11:04 am

    I definitely don’t have a 15-month-old yet (and won’t for another 20 months!) but I love these ideas and I’ll definitely be saving them for down the road! =]

    Reply
  • Bron
    November 6, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    Thank you!!!! I have a 13 month old little guy ( my first experience with an abled bodied boy) he is going to love the ball/ice cube idea! Will make a change from the spice jars in the coffee cup!

    Reply
  • Danielle
    November 6, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    Although I can only kinda remember how on-the-go little 15 month old babies are, I just can’t wait to have another one again!

    Reply
  • Britta
    November 17, 2012 at 8:20 am

    Just curious – how are these “geared towards boys”?

    Reply
    • Small Fry
      November 17, 2012 at 8:28 am

      hi britta! i’m scouring this post & don’t see where it says it’s geared toward boys? we intend it to be for both boys & girls
      just only have 15 month boy models around these parts!

      Reply
  • 10 toddler busy bag ideas
    March 4, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    […] Look for simple ‘busy’ activities to do at home, like sorting objects in ice cube trays or stacking plastic cups. See more ideas for home here. […]

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  • rosemary
    April 10, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    Re Great ideas! Will try them out this week. Keep posting more, can never keep the tots busy and entertained long enough.

    Thanks!!

    Reply
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    August 19, 2013 at 11:40 pm

    […] Look for simple ‘busy’ activities to do at home, like sorting objects in ice cube trays or stacking plastic cups. See more ideas for home here. […]

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    September 24, 2013 at 12:18 am

    […] Look for simple ‘busy’ activities to do at home, like sorting objects in ice cube trays or stacking plastic cups. See more ideas for home here. […]

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  • Rinnay
    July 29, 2019 at 11:17 pm

    love it! just using household items and im sure my girl will love these. we bought her educational toys but seems like she prefer to explore with things around the house. glad i came across ur page in pinterest 🙂

    Reply

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