The activities chosen to engage a 1-year-old are vital in stimulating their senses in a meaningful way. From puzzles and blocks to books, music, art and even water play, it is essential to give toddlers experiences that foster learning by actually exploring the objects or environment around them. With the right sensory activities that promote physical exploration and create opportunities for cognitive, social and language development, infants as young as 1-year-old can grow and develop into happy, healthy children.

As a parent, it can be difficult to find educational and enjoyable activities for your baby. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 10 fun and educational sensory activities for 1-year-olds. Read on to get some great ideas! 

Squeezing water out of sponge balls

Squeezing water out of sponge balls is a great way to introduce your baby to the wonderful world of texture and water. This sensory activity helps your child explore the properties of water in a fun and entertaining way.

When you squeeze one ball, they can observe how it absorbs liquid and gets heavier. As your baby squeezes the sponge, they will see drops or streams of water flowing out. They can also learn about wet versus dry by touching both sides of the sponge before and after filling it with water. 

Playing with sensory bottles

Sensory bottles can help engage your one-year-old’s senses and promote exploration. These sensory bottles often contain glitter, water, oil, beads and other objects that babies can move around inside the bottle. A sensory bottle is an easy craft for parents to make at home. Simply fill it with different things of varying shapes and sizes, then seal the top securely.

Your toddler will be fascinated by all the different things they can observe and manipulate within their sensory bottle. They will learn about properties such as texture, color, shape and size as they explore what’s inside the bottle.

Working on puzzles

Puzzles are a great sensory activity for 1-year-olds. They can help develop hand-eye coordination, problem-solving, and fine motor skills as your baby pieces them together.

Puzzles that contain large, colorful pieces with simple shapes, such as circles or squares, are ideal for this age group. Puzzles with 6 to 10 pieces encourage your child to focus on the task at hand but aren’t so complicated that they become frustrated. As their abilities progress, you can gradually increase the number of puzzle pieces for a more challenging experience.

Exploring blocks

Playing with blocks is an effective sensory activity for 1-year-olds. It helps babies learn about colors, shapes and sizes while also developing problem-solving skills.

Choose bright and colourful blocks with varied shapes, sizes and textures for the best sensory experience. Introduce your baby to different ways of stacking and sorting the blocks, such as by size or color. Place the blocks in a sensory bin filled with water, sand or anything else to keep things interesting!

Reading books

Reading books is a great way to stimulate sensory development in 1-year-olds. Books allow them to explore new words and sounds while also introducing them to different cultures, characters and concepts. Read simple stories with many illustrations that your toddler can look at as you tell the story together. Ask questions about the pictures, and make sure to point out items you think they will find interesting.

Reading books with your 1-year-old can help foster a love of reading, improve language and communication skills, and increase their cognitive development. So grab a book and start exploring!

Playing sensory games

Sensory games are an interactive way to engage and entertain your one year old. These sensory activities involve movement and sound, which can help stimulate their senses while providing a fun learning experience. You can play sensory games like peek-a-boo or “pat-a-cake” with your baby to help them learn about cause and effect and encourage their visual and auditory skills.

Listening to music

Listening to music is an excellent sensory activity for 1-year-olds. Music allows them to explore different sounds, tempos, rhythms and melodies. Playing soothing lullabies before naps or bedtime can help calm your child down while more upbeat tunes will get them up on their feet and ready to dance.

Playing an assortment of music can help your baby discover how different sounds interact and provide a sensory experience that lasts a lifetime. So don’t be afraid to break out the instruments, grab some CDs or turn on the radio for your toddler!

Exploring sensory bags

Sensory bags allow babies to explore different textures without any mess or fuss. Fill a large resealable plastic bag with sand, feathers, cotton balls, water beads and other materials. Then seal the top securely so that nothing slips out or gets lost in transit. Your baby will have fun feeling all the different objects within the sensory bag and discovering what they do.

Playing games outdoors

Playing outdoors is an important sensory activity for 1-year-olds as it helps babies engage all their senses in the natural environment. Go on nature walks with your toddler and encourage them to explore the sights, smells and sounds of nature. Give them objects like pinecones or rocks that they can touch and examine. Let your baby explore a garden or park while looking out for butterflies, ducks or other animals.

Finger painting

Finger painting provides babies with a sensory-rich experience. It’s also an enjoyable way to promote artistic expression and creativity. Use washable, non-toxic paints and provide your baby with newspapers or old sheets to keep the mess contained. Let them explore the colors, textures and smells of the paint as they finger paint away.

Sensory activities for 1-year-olds are essential for their growth and development. By incorporating these sensory activities into your child’s everyday routine, you can help them explore their world in new ways while having fun at the same time!

Here at Young Scholars Academy, we aim to create an engaging learning environment, filled with meaningful fun activities that create such big memories, your kids will happily remember throughout the years! We pride ourselves in the quality of our establishment and maintain an environment that is clean, safe and loving for all. Our classrooms provide every child a place where they can explore, discover and enjoy learning through kinesthetic experiences. Visit us to learn more!

One thing that children have in common on their journey to adulthood is the constant strive to become independent. Starting from infants when they are grabbing the spoon at feeding time, through the “I want to do it,” into those teenage years where they know what is best. It can become quite a power struggle between parent and child. Especially when there are time restraints, and they are taking thirty minutes or more getting dressed. Power struggles led to stress which makes feelings run high and deep. So, take a breath and consider that children gaining independence eventually help relieve daily pressures and help your child be a strong adult. There are many things you can do encourage independence and self-help skills.

Setting routines and expectations or those times helps children to e prepared and to transition their thinking to what they need to be doing. In the morning tell them it is time to get ready for school and tell them how much time they must be ready. Give them a countdown such as ten more minutes, then five more minutes. Be sure they are aware of the tasks that required to be ready such as put your shoes on, have your backpack ready. Older children can prepare their own sack lunch, prepare pets for the time you will be away or even help with a younger sibling.

Let your child make choices. Children should be able to get dressed themselves even at age three! Let them pick out their own clothes and just give them a time frame to be finished. Some children will pick out the most outrageous and miss matching outfits, but it is a terrific way to give them a chance to express themselves. Different colored socks, wearing stripes and polka dots together means a lot when they can say “I did it myself.” They can also choice and prepare their own snacks. Putting cheese and crackers on a plate, poring ranch or their carrot sticks can be a simple and easy start.

Giving your children chores and letting them help in daily housekeeping can be great way of establishing responsibility and independence. Children can pick up and organize their own room, take out the trash, set the table or take care of a pet. When children help, they gain confidence and knowledge that they are capable of doing things that are important. Giving them the opportunity to choose that their cars can go in a red bucket while dress up can go in blue basket gives them a chance to think and make decisions for themselves. When they can decide they are more willing to complete a chore.

One of the best ways to encourage independence is or children to strengthen their critical thinking skills through problem solving. When a child loose a toy under the couch the first thing they do is ask for help. Instead of reaching under the couch to get it for them walk them through scenarios that enables them to get it themselves. “Have you tried to extend your reach?” “Try using a broom or a clothes hanger.” When they spill their drink on the table try letting them clean it up before you jump into the rescue. The mess may get bigger at first but given the opportunity they will figure it out for themselves.

In the beginning stepping aside to give children more choices and opportunities to do thins themselves may feel frustrating but eventually as they accomplish the simple tasks, they will gain skills that will allow them to complete more complex actions. Life becomes so much simpler when power struggles evaporate and growing up becomes more like teamwork and family.

Ms. Dotty
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
NAEYC Coordinator

I have decided nothing will make you more of an emotional mess than becoming a parent. From pride, joy to sadness and anxiety. We all know that time marches on, but as a parent sometimes we wish we could just freeze it for a moment. The emotional roller coaster that is parenting is in fact, never ending.

I used to say I wouldn’t be that parent that got my heart strings pulled and got emotional over every little milestone. Turns out, I am SO “THAT” parent! Even though I am THAT parent there are still a few things that I didn’t expect to get emotional about that I figured I would share for those who can relate.

1) Hearing that my children are kind humans.

As a parent we all question and pray that our children are kind, and that this world doesn’t steal their kind hearts or break them to become bitter. So, every time I hear that my children are kind it makes me think that just maybe I am on the right path in this parenting thing. But more than thinking I may be okay at this parenting job it makes me get filled with prideful tears and a smile that won’t go away for the whole day.

2) Milestones that we know are going to happen.

These milestones can be a baby’s first steps, sleeping through the night, transitioning into their cribs, first foods first words, preschool spirit days, Kindergarten graduation, and even losing their first tooth. Honestly the list is never ending. I know these things are all going to happen, but it tugs and makes this mama’s heart a mess. It makes it very clear that time marches on and it will not be slowing down for anyone.

3) The first “I got this, or I can do it myself, or I don’t need any help.”

Don’t get me wrong I love independence and hope that each of my children leave my home feeling like they can take on anything and everything. However, I also hope they know that parents are their first cheerleaders and remember that when they do fall, we will be the first ones cheering them on to get up and try again because “they got this.”

4) Leaving the nest.

The closest I have come to this is my children going to public school. I was emotional mess sending them off to school like I wasn’t going to see them at the end of the day so I can’t imagine how I will feel when they go off into the world on their own. I am sure they are excited and will do great and that is all we can hope for as parents. However, doesn’t mean we are not emotional about even though we know they will crush it.

Being a parent is probably one of the hardest jobs out there and the emotional roller coaster will never stop even when our little ones are adults because to us parents, they will always be our babies. Appreciate the in the moment opportunities and try to slow down yourself to recognize the moments themselves.

Thank you.
Ms. Michaela
Lead Preschool Teacher
Social Emotional Coordinator

In our classrooms we work a lot on developing fine motor skills. Working out those tiny hands to strengthen their finger mobility and strength is so important before we can even begin writing pencil to paper. Many parents ask for recommendations on how to get their preschooler to practice writing, its as simple as just letting them have a piece of paper and a writing tool and letting them free write. A lot of kiddos really enjoy doing just that! But, I wanted to offer some other ways to work on building up those fine motor skills that help with writing at home that are simple and enjoyable.

1. While having outside time, have your preschooler find a stick and have them practice writing in the dirt/mud/sand! This is a great way to work on writing that can strengthen hand muscles, as there is a small bit of resistance when writing into these different mediums. Your kiddo could spell out their name, letters, numbers, and practice drawing shapes or pictures.
2. If you have started to prepare for Easter and have some of the plastic eggs on hand you can have your kiddo open and close eggs. Those are a challenge and are awesome to work on hand strength. If you have a few, put a cotton ball inside one of the eggs and have your child open eggs to find the hidden cotton ball. You could take turns hiding it and opening the eggs and I bet y’all loose count of how many you have opened/closed by the end!
3. Spring Clean up outside is another opportunity for your preschooler to get some fine motor practice in. As you are sprucing up your yard as it gets warmer, have your child take kid scissors to the dead grass, bush, sticks, whatever else you don’t mind them cutting up. Kids LOVE to use scissors. Another important skill to master in itself, but another way to exercise that hand. Let them cut and explore the different textures as it’s a fun experience and they really will love it.
4. Chalk! Yes, don’t forget about the chalk. Such an easy medium for kids to use to promote writing. I let my kiddos write and draw on our trampoline and they absolutely love it! Washes away quick and easy too. Try rainbow writing, where the child traces over their name/word/shape in one color and switches to another color tracing over the initial markings with a new color. Continue to trace the markings in multiple color layers.
   When writing skills are a focus, its not just about paper to pencil. Working on the strengthening on those tiny hand muscles has to come first and still need to be worked on even after your preschooler beings to write independently. Really makes holding the pencil a lot easier in order to be able to gain better control.

Ms. Whitney
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Curriculum Coordinator