Games for Toddlers: The Best Ideas

The dear little ones can sometimes spend hours playing a game. But the games must be interesting enough for that! Here we show you the most beautiful games for toddlers.

Games for toddlers from 1 year

• Ball bath: From about 18 months, children can not only grab balls but also throw them. This gives them lots of fun playing with balls. When buying a ball bath, however, make sure that you observe the specified minimum age, the size of the balls (to avoid the risk of swallowing them) and that the material used is dimensionally stable, tested and certified. Do not let your child play unsupervised in the ball pool.
• Building blocks: Building blocks can be piled up to form pyramids or figures and used to make up new games. Toddlers will never get bored!
• Noise games: Lots of objects make funny noises for the kids to discover. Use for example: drums, rattles, music boxes, sound woods, chimes, etc.
• Puzzles: Large wooden or cardboard puzzles offer a time of activity and are a nice toy for the first years.
• Vehicle Toys: Anything you can pull behind you is fun for children… Whether it’s the big wooden car on a string or the toy duck on wheels.
• Plug-in games: A stacking tower made of different coloured rings, a push-fit train or a wooden box with figures to push in … these games also promote the motor skills of small children.

Games for toddlers from 1,5 years

• Painting with children: Children can be incredibly creative! Give them harmless, tested finger paints, dress them in old clothes and protect the table with an old tablecloth … and then it can start with the mess and spills!
• Plasticine: build figures, form snakes and balls … with plasticine children can let their imagination run wild. In addition, the motor and sensory abilities of the little ones are encouraged. For the little ones the modelling clay should be especially soft. From the age of 3 years on, children can also use plasticine accessories, such as moulds, in their games. However, make sure that the plasticine is harmless to health, as many children could put toys, and in this case the plasticine, in their mouths. You can also simply make your own plasticine from water, wheat flour, salt and vegetable oil, plus appropriate food colouring, so you can be sure that your children are not exposed to dangerous substances when playing.

• Threading objects: Coloured utensils (large wooden beads, painted toilet paper rolls) can be threaded onto a cord, which should keep your children busy for a while! However, make sure that the individual items are large enough so that they cannot be swallowed.
• Dolls, cuddly toys, cars, children’s telephones: It doesn’t always have to be the latest toy, usually there is the one cuddly toy or the one car that the little ones prefer to use for all games!
• Catching: As soon as your child is able to walk well, catching is really fun and also gives a good push!
• Playing hide and seek: Playing hide-and-seek is very exciting for toddlers! Whether outdoors or indoors – there are countless hiding places to discover. Adapt the games to your child’s age: The very young are not yet able to make many motor movements. Even if the hiding place is obvious, search a little bit until you “find” your child, so it is much more fun.

Games for toddlers from 2,5 years

• Disguise: Slip into different roles, be a pirate, merchant or princess for a day – such a box of old clothes offers so much potential for fancy costumes and role-playing games!
• Obstacle course: A small obstacle course can be set up in the children’s room or even in the garden and can be made up of blankets, chairs, table, rope, etc. The children can crawl, jump or bounce. Make sure that your child cannot bump or hurt himself anywhere.
• Building a cave: Caves under the table, out of blankets or cushions – these little retreats offer pure adventure! The children’s imagination will create new games as the little ones keep coming up with new scenarios.
• Building a cardboard house: Here mum or dad have to help at the beginning and cut windows and doors into a big cardboard box. Afterwards the kids can paint the house.
• Riding a wheel: A nice exercise game and at the same time the wheel promotes the child’s sense of balance and coordination.
• Blotch pictures, push through pictures, stamps: whole afternoons can be filled with creative play ideas! Use plenty of diluted crayon paint to put blotches on one half of the paper, then fold the paper in the middle and be happy about the beautiful butterfly! For push-through pictures, use thin, textured objects that you place under a white sheet of paper. Afterwards he can rub the paper with wax crayons or coloured pencils and be happy about the exciting result. Stamping what you want is wonderful with potato print!