what do play with your 11-13 month old?

i haven't bought any new toys b/c i'm sure he will get a ton on his bday next month so we've been doing the SAME things a lot and i need to be inspired..

at home we play with/do:

~ BALLS! (he can spend ALL day throwing and for lack of a better word "fetching" balls!)
~ his L&L piano
~ trucks
~ ball popper
~ little tikes sports center
~ FP learning table
~ stuffed animals
~ shape sorter
~ safe kitchen things to explore
~books
~ flash cards
~ music/singing/finger plays

help, we are BORED!

oh and how much to you direct play vs. your dc having self directed play?

Message edited 4/13/2008 12:50:36 PM.

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

Right now it's anything he can push around and walk behind.

That's ALL he wants to do.

But when I'm tired of chasing him he plays with his Fisher Price House.

There are so many things to explore on that he can play forever with it.

Magnets on the fridge.

The dog.

A couple shelves and drawers are all filled with baby-safe stuff so he can pull them open and pull stuff out.

We play a lot of patty-cake like games - he loves anything where he can imitate me and clap hands, etc.

Mostly it's self-directed play and I'm along for the ride.

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

Posted by KateDevine

Posted by leighla


The dog.

In our house it is more like the dog thinks the game is "the baby"

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

we have all those same toys...they keep him occupied

he also loves biting board books

my fave thing to do is put on 80's music and dance with him...HE LOVES IT

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

at 11 months, I was making tents out of sheets.

It would buy me 30 minutes.

If I had the room, I would get a tunnel thing.

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

We play with balls a lot too. In addition to passing them back and forth I also have a light wicker waist basket that I put balls into. We spend time putting the balls in and taking them out. We also put other objects in and out of it.

Someone gave me a really big metal cookie tin. I turn that over and it's a drum. Turn it back and we can put things in it and take them out. We also explore the noises that it makes. (I do supervise him with this.)

Get a big play ground ball for him if you don't have one. (We got ours in the sports section at Target.) He'll stand and bang on it and scream in delight. He just loves it.

I also try to limit his access to a certain rooms and then when he gets bored, I change rooms.

Stacking blocks- he loves to knock them down.

Stacking cups- very simple ones, they were like $2.00. If you stack them into a "tower" he loves knocking it down. He is now trying to make them fit together (nesting).

We also play with egg maracas and musical instruments.

I'd say we're about 50/50 with the directed play and self play.

Re: what do play with your 11-13 month old?

thanks for all the ideas guys! i just got ds a doll today and he loves it!