Games for children aged 18 to 24 months

Your child discovers the world and himself thanks to you. You can make this learning experience fun for him. One of the games I can recommend to you is drawing the outline of your child's body on a large sheet of packing paper. Let your child lie comfortably on his back and draw the outlines of his body on the paper while telling your toddler what you're doing. You can probably guess the next part of the game: fingerpainting! Has your child ever painted a picture of himself? Painting your child's picture together can be a lot of fun. You can use your fantasy and paint the picture however you want. At the end, you can draw the character eyes, a mouth and a nose. You can hang the masterpiece in your child's room when it's dry.

More fun with salt dough

For sure you have already moulded salt dough with your child (if not, take a look at the guide to games for children aged 12 to 18 months). I came up with an idea to combine moulding salt dough and fingerpainting, because fingerpainting is so pleasant and stimulates the sense of touch. You can decorate all of the sculptures later. You can do it in different ways: with macaroni (different shapes) or beads. In addition, holding small items and pressing them into the dough develops your toddler's fingers.

Playing with paper

You don't always have to make anything special in order to have fun. My child loves to play with sheets of coloured paper. Let him choose whichever colour he likes. Show him how to blow air on the paper. Hold the paper in your hand and blow at it together with your child so that it waves. It's not about how hard your baby blows, but about making his first attempts fun. You can also try crumpling the paper. When you've done it, play with it like with a ball. You can throw it, roll it, or pass it to each other. When your child gets tired, ask him to try and unroll the paper and smooth it with his hand. When the paper is straightened, start tearing it to pieces. After watching you do it, your toddler will also want to try. When you have a heap of paper in front of you, take the shreds into your hands and blow them onto your child. He'll have loads of fun and be inspired to imitate you.

The game you can never get enough of - hide-and-seek

My child loves to hide. I decided to take advantage of it. Do you know hide-and-seek? I wonder where your toddler will hide. My child had his favourite hideouts, for example in his room, in the middle of his toys. Take turns in hiding. When you find your child, cuddle him, and when he finds you, praise him.

Time for music

Making music doesn't require professional instruments - some of them, such as rattles, can be made at home. Take two disposable cups, adhesive tape and scissors. Place bowls with 2 or 3 different types of seeds (corn, peas, rise, etc.) in front of your child. Let him pour the seeds from the bowls to one of the cups. Cover the cup with the other cup, and stick them together with adhesive tape. The rattle is ready! A tambourine? It's easy! Ask your child to pour the seeds onto a disposable plate. Cover it with another plate and seal the seam with wide adhesive tape. It's ready! Now it's time to make music together. Let your child make noise for a while, rattle in his own way, and then show him how to play softly, by tilting the rattle gently to the left and to the right, and tell your toddler that you're playing softly. Next, rattle the instrument vigorously and tell your child that you're now playing loudly. Then give the instrument to the toddler, take his hand, and repeat the words "softly" and"loudly", steering his hand all the time. Finally, play lively music on the stereo, and dance and play the instruments together with your toddler.