7 Simple Activities For 1 Year Olds At Home
These simple activities for 1 year olds at home are perfect for keeping your little one entertained and engaged with minimal prep!
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We’ve all heard it: “Kids love household objects way more than their expensive toys!” And guess what? It’s absolutely true!
Over here, my daughter Lily has tested out all these activities herself, and let me tell you, they kept her entertained for longer than 30 minutes—and if you’re a parent, you know that’s a big deal!
If you’re looking for easy, cheap, and fun activities that don’t involve toys, you’re in the right place.
But let’s face it, coming up with DIY activities for a 1-year-old can be a challenge.
They’re still a bit too young for proper crafting and often have the attention span of, well, a toddler!
However, there are definitely simple and creative activities for 1 year olds at home that can keep them entertained for quite a while!
Here are seven simple ideas you can set up using things you probably already have at home or you can buy at the dollar store.
don’t miss the extra activity at the end of this post—a free download of 92 seasonal flashcards, perfect for one-year-olds!
Stuffing Pom-Poms into a Whisk
What You’ll Need:
- A whisk
- Pom-poms (small enough to fit between the wires but big enough not to fall through)
Setup:
Just take a whisk from your kitchen drawer and stuff some pom-poms between the wires.
The challenge is for your little one to pull them out. Simple, but so fun! Lily loves pulling the pom-poms out with her little fingers.
Watching her concentrate on trying to get those fluffy balls out is just adorable, and it’s great for her fine motor skills. Trust me, they’ll be at this for a while!
Contact Paper on the Wall: Stick and Play
What You’ll Need:
- Contact paper
- Tape (be cautious with what kind of tape you use, especially on painted walls—painter’s tape works great!)
- Small objects to stick (pom-poms, cotton balls, paper scraps, pipe cleaners, lightweight toys) This craft supply set is great!
Setup:
Tape a piece of contact paper to the wall, sticky side facing out.
Fill a little basket with safe objects like pom-poms, cotton balls, pipe cleaners—honestly, anything that can stick to the contact paper.
Lily loved this! She loved pressing things onto the sticky surface and then peeling them off again.
Pro tip: If you’re worried about your walls, you can also use a window or even the fridge for this.
Oh, and the contact paper tube made a great pom-pom slide! Just tape the tube at an angle above the sticky sheet, and let your kiddo drop pom-poms through it.
This was a huge hit with Lily! So, activity 3 is the…..
Pom-Pom Tube Drop
What You’ll Need:
- Empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls
- Tape
- Pom-poms or small balls (even tiny balls of Play-Doh work great!)
Setup:
Tape the tubes to the wall in a way that creates a little chute or tunnel system. Then, let your child drop pom-poms down the tubes and watch them come out the other end.
I originally decorated the tubes with wrapping paper, but honestly, that’s just extra work. Lily didn’t care—she just loved watching the pom-poms drop!
She even started using little Play-Doh balls instead of pom poms, so feel free to improvise.
You might also enjoy: 64 Fun and Easy Things to Teach A One Year Old
Pipe Cleaners in a Colander
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What You’ll Need:
- A colander
- Pipe cleaners
Setup:
Thread pipe cleaners through the holes of a colander, then give it to your child to pull out.
Once they get the hang of it, you can encourage them to try and put the pipe cleaners back through the holes. It’s a fun way to practice those little motor skills, and the best part? It’s surprisingly entertaining!
Lily was very focused on this one, which meant a nice, peaceful coffee break for me. Win-win!
Bubble Wrap Crawl Fest
What You’ll Need:
- Bubble wrap
- Tape
Setup:
Tape a piece of bubble wrap to the floor and let your little one crawl or walk over it.
Now, Lily isn’t walking yet, but she sure knows how to crawl like a pro, and she had a blast with this one!
The popping sounds weren’t as frequent (because she’s still a bit too light), but she loved the texture and feeling under her hands.
If your little one is walking, this will be even more fun—they can stomp around and really get those bubbles popping!
Another great activity: Sticker Activities for 1 Year Old Toddlers: Tiny Hands, Big Fun.
Paper Cups with Matching Popsicle Sticks
What You’ll Need:
Setup:
This activity is great for working on color recognition. I started by just giving Lily the cups and sticks, and she had fun simply putting the sticks in the cups.
But then we made it a little more challenging—she had to match the colored sticks to the same-colored cups.
It was fun to watch her figure it out, and it’s such a simple way to boost those cognitive skills while keeping her entertained.
Paper Cup Stacking Tower
What You’ll Need:
Setup:
Building with paper cups is just as fun as building with blocks!
Give your little one a stack of paper cups and watch them get to work. It’s easy for them to stack, and if the tower topples over, no worries—they’re lightweight and safe.
Now, Lily didn’t quite build this tower herself (as you might have guessed 😉), but she had an absolute blast playing with it.
Knocking it over was, of course, the highlight! It’s a simple and safe way to explore cause and effect, plus, it’s a giggle fest when the tower comes tumbling down.
Conclusion: Fun Doesn’t Have to Be Fancy!
At the end of the day, you don’t need to break the bank on expensive toys to keep your little one happy and entertained.
All of these activities are simple to set up, inexpensive, and—most importantly—kid-approved by Lily herself! She had a great time with all of them, but the Pom-Pom Tube Drop and the Paper Cup Stacking Tower were the clear favorites.
Each activity kept her engaged for way longer than I expected, and let’s be real, that extra time is precious for us parents.
Whether it’s pom-poms and whisks, contact paper on the wall, or bubble wrap on the floor, the key is using everyday objects to create a fun and educational experience.
So, give these simple activities for 1 year olds at home a try, mix them up, and have some fun with your little one!
You’ll both be entertained, and you might even get a little breather while they figure out how to pull pom-poms from a whisk or topple a cup tower. Happy playing!
Oh, and don’t forget to download your free flashcards 🙂
Snag Our Fun Seasonal Flashcards
Let’s make learning fun! These 92 cute seasonal flashcards are perfect for little ones to explore the magic of each season. Just download, print, and watch them enjoy a new way to learn about the world around them!
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