educational play for 15 month old

[NelsonJBird]

my son is 15 months old. I am looking for tips/ideas/resources on differnt educational play activities/toys/room set up/daily routines....

I am getting ready to set up a corner of our living room to be his special area (that would be the entire living room, our bedroom ...haha) I want to set up some shelves, a table, storage, that he can access.

Any suggestions, resources, or your daily routines would help a ton! There is sooo much out there I dont know where to start.

[Solose]

My ds is 21 mo. and I am also working on setting up his playroom right now. one thing i would suggest and that i kind of struggle with is just trying to follow his interests. I kept trying to get my ds to like drawing but so far it's not working. He would rather sort the crayons into different containers or load and unload them in his trucks than actually draw. Same with puzzles, he just is not into them. So my advice would be to just let go of any expectations of how "educational play" should look like and just let him play.

Some general suggestions for 1-2 years:
Lots of fun board books, my ds especially loves the ones that rhyme
Containers and little things he can sort into them
Toys with wheels (cars, trains...)
Play clothes and necklaces (maybe keep them in a special container that he can't open so you can supervise when he plays with these, especially the necklaces)
Art:Play dough, Crayons, Chalk, paint, paper, easel
Musical:Xylophone, electric or toy piano, maracas, bells
Stuffed animals and dolls
Pretend toys: Keys, phones, cooking utensils, credit cards, broom, etc. (you could just give him the real version of these if you ahve any old ones lying around, thats what we do) Whatever you frequently do he will love trying to mimick
"Thinking" toys: peg puzzles, shape sorter, definately blocks
Push and pull toys, especially ones he can put stuff into, like shopping carts or wagons
a rocking horse


Also, keep in mind that whatever he is able to reach will end up on teh floor. I bought a tall bookcase and keep the easy to clean up toys at the bottom and things like books and art supplies at the top.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by Solose

My ds is 21 mo. and I am also working on setting up his playroom right now. one thing i would suggest and that i kind of struggle with is just trying to follow his interests. I kept trying to get my ds to like drawing but so far it's not working. He would rather sort the crayons into different containers or load and unload them in his trucks than actually draw. Same with puzzles, he just is not into them. So my advice would be to just let go of any expectations of how "educational play" should look like and just let him play.

I remember seeing moms who had agendas when our children were little like that, and it just didn't work. At that age, everything is educational - everything! They've just arrived on the planet in brand new little bodies, and every move they make, everything they see or smell or touch or hear is educational. What you describe with the crayons and puzzles seems right on schedule - it's awfully young for drawing or working puzzles, but a great age for just experimenting in his own way. So being able to appreciate what they do want to do is wonderful and essential - they're able to know better than someone many years older than them what the things are they want/need to learn about their world. Lillian

[Reebekah]

you may want to check out the book Slow and Steady Get Me Ready....a weekly activity from birth to age 5

[ohiomommy1122]

Originally Posted by Solose

So my advice would be to just let go of any expectations of how "educational play" should look like and just let him play.

.

play is learning

My 21 mo old loves nesting toys and all cups containers he can sort and put stuff in we wash out any type of plastic bowls like yogurt containers, deli contaniers, applesauce containers he loves the variety on shapes sizes and colors and loves the lids that go with them and when they get beat up just put them in the recyle bin

pretend play cooking stuff and utensils

blocks


and for you to read Einstien never used flash cards its a great book about how you can damage your child by pushing learning to soon and not just letting play happen naturally

[prothyraia]

Originally Posted by Reebekah

you may want to check out the book Slow and Steady Get Me Ready....a weekly activity from birth to age 5

I was going to recommend this as well. We just got it from the library and it's great!

You may also want to look into some Montessori preschool type information.