Awww…the second year of life! These little pre-toddlers are such a joy–with their waddled walks and creative interpretations of words. Seeing the transformation from baby to toddler is quite amazing!

Activities For 1 Year Olds To 2 Year Olds

Here are some activities and crafts specifically for 1 year olds to 2 year olds:

Please note: These activities are simply suggestions for what the author believes is appropriate for this age. Please use your best judgement and consult your pediatrician when you have questions or concerns.

Toddler Milestones (1 -2 years old)

Toddler Gross Motor Development:

This year your child makes leaps and bounds in his gross motor abilities–literally. From a few toddling steps at 1 year to running all over the place by his second birthday, you will be breathless trying to keep up. Some things you can work on during the second year of his life are: jumping, throwing a ball overhand and underhand, kicking, and climbing stairs.

Toddler Fine Motor Development:

Learning to eat with a spoon and fork are important milestones for a 1 to 2 year old. You can also introduce your child to coloring with crayons. Simple puzzles with large knobs are excellent for both fine motor development and spatial awareness. Encourage your 1 to 2 year old to play with stacking blocks as well.

Toddler Speech & Language:

Your child will most likely go from saying a few individual words at one years old to communicating in short sentences by his second birthday! He will gain new vocabulary from books, daily conversations, and new experiences. Stimulate his language development by immersing him in a word-rich environment! Point out the difference between the words and the pictures in a book and encourage him to finish off the sentences in familiar books. Read rhyming books and sing songs.

Toddler Cognitive Development:

This is the dump-and-fill stage! Pre-toddlers love to dump things out of containers and fill them up again. As soon as your child is out of the oral stage (putting everything in his mouth), encourage this by creating a sensory tub for toddlers using beans, rice, or sand. Put measuring cups and spoons in there and let your little one go to town!

Toddler Social Development:

Your child will enjoy being in the company of other children, but won’t actually “play” with them quite yet. He will most likely engage in parallel play, where he plays beside another child without actually interacting in play together. Sharing will be a difficult concept at this point in time, so don’t expect your child to come by this naturally. Separation anxiety will be in full force (if it isn’t already) by the time he reaches 18 months and will most likely gradually taper off around his second birthday.

Toddler Self-Help/Adaptive Development:

By your child’s second birthday, he should be able to remove a few articles of clothing himself. He should also be able to feed himself with a spoon and fork.

Toddler Spiritual & Moral Development:

Young children approaching their second birthday can start saying prayers, or at least portions of prayers. They will also start to remember favorite Bible stories if this is a routine in your home. Naturally, children are egocentric and will think of themselves only…this isn’t wrong, it is just a natural stage of early childhood development. Our job as parents is to encourage our children to be thoughtful of others by modeling it ourselves.