Children under one year old undergo visible changes in their bodies and intelligence every month. Therefore, every minute of guidance and exercise will have a great impact on the baby.

However, many parents will find that after one year of age, the overall development of the child will reach a milestone, and the rhythm seems to ease down.

Big movements are extended based on “walking”, fine movements are divergent in the subtle movements of the fingers, and language is iterated based on individual words.

However, during the period from one year old to one and a half years old, the child’s body and intelligence are still undergoing earth-shaking changes. These changes need to be grasped and guided very much, and they are easy for parents to ignore.

In today’s article, I’m going to talk to you about what kind of growth the child is experiencing during this “core development period” of one and a half years old?

As mentioned earlier, the child’s growth rate begins to slow down at about 1 year old. The growth rate of their height, weight, and head circumference all began to slow down.

According to the description of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in terms of big exercise, “practice walking” will be the main physical improvement of every baby after one-year-old. After that, they will start to climb up and down, learn to run, and learn to jump.

Children around one and a half years old can easily pinch small things with their fingers. They began to scribble randomly, turn over the container to pour out the contents and build up more than 4 blocks.

After the baby is over 1 year old, he will enter a period of rapid language development, and you will find that the baby can suddenly understand every word you say. At around one and a half years old, babies will also start to use verbs.

During this period, parents need to communicate more actively with their children, and at the same time begin to reduce the use of “baby language”.

Children after one year of age are greatly improving their concentration. At the same time, they also know how to learn things through imitation.

Babies at this age are also like “commanders”, she will let you know what role she wants you to play in her activities~

The baby at this time will form a specific impression of his social circle, friends, and acquaintances. However, they still think that “they are the center of the world”, and everyone else has the same ideas as themselves. Therefore, the children at this time also have a strong possessive desire.

Children over one year old will swing between constantly strong self-awareness and “sticking to you”. This kind of ambivalence is very normal.

At the same time, children will still experience some torture caused by “separation anxiety”. Therefore, every time you leave your child, you need to say goodbye to him and greet him warmly when you come back. When the child knows that you will come back and loves him as always, he will feel at ease.

Based on the developmental characteristics of babies from 12 to 18 months old, I have also summarized 10 toys and games that are most suitable for children around one and a half years old, and I recommend them to you in turn.

01 Cognitive picture books and interactive books

According to the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, for children over 1-year-old, we should encourage children to “read” the book spontaneously and to touch and point out the objects in the book. In this process of cognition, children will gradually learn to enjoy some alone time quietly and acquire cognition independently through books.
At this time, we can buy more cardboard books with large and exquisite pictures for the baby. It is also highly recommended to buy some interactive book books to exercise the baby’s hand-eye coordination.

02Children’s tricycle/twisted car

After one-year-old children can walk, run and jump steadily, they can introduce a fashionable and fashionable children’s tricycle!
By riding a bicycle, you can enhance your child’s leg strength, exercise your child’s hand-eye coordination and body balance. It is very beneficial to the overall coordination and the development of big sports.

At the same time, you can consider starting a twister for your child to exercise balance. At present, Dad Zuoyou and I are already crazy in love with Zuoyou’s twisted car, and we have to go for a few laps every day~ However, when choosing a twisted car, you must choose a product with a stable chassis and not easy to roll over.

03 plush toys

Plush toys are very conducive to let the baby feel lasting intimacy, it can also become a kind of expression of the child’s delicate emotions. When the adult leaves for a short time, the presence of plush toys can also divert the baby’s attention and relieve the anxiety caused by separation anxiety.

04Toy Phone/Children’s Cleaning Tool

As mentioned above, children over 1-year-old love to imitate the daily behavior of adults. These processes will make them very interesting.
Therefore, the toy phone is a typical game item. We can pretend to make a phone call with the child and perform role-playing. This is a very good social behavior exercise.
At the same time, as imitators, children at this stage will actively help adults with some housework.
When it is safe, everyone is very encouraged to use “doing housework” as a game to let babies participate. In any case, don’t discourage their enthusiasm for “want to help”

05 building blocks

Many parenting books mention that children over one year old should start to touch building blocks because building blocks are a very educational and ever-changing toy~
Building blocks can well develop children’s hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and sense of accomplishment. Building blocks with simple graphics can also give children a preliminary understanding of the shape and characteristics of objects.

06 Painting Board

The drawing board is the toy I most recommend to parents of children over one year old ~
AAP pointed out that we can choose more toys that stimulate creativity and imagination for children over one year old.
Parents can use the drawing board to teach them to recognize different colors and animals, and they can also play the “you draw and I guess” game together~ Zuoyou has gradually developed the skills of “circle drawing” from “scribbling”.

07 shape matching toys

Children over one year old can gradually recognize the colors and shapes around them. Therefore, a toy with a matching shape and color is a tool to exercise a baby’s cognition and hand-brain coordination at this stage.
At the same time, after mastering the game rules of shape matching, children will also establish a more intuitive understanding of the entire space, sequence, and other elements. It can also help with the introduction of the next jigsaw puzzle~

08 Playing water games

For babies around one and a half years old, learning to use an open cup to scoop and drink water is a very important developmental indication. At the same time, scooping water itself is also a thing that children particularly love at this stage.
In the process of playing in the water, the baby will gradually learn to control the “water”, laying a good foundation for the next step of drinking and eating. At the same time, the process of playing in the water is also very helpful to the baby’s sensory development.

09 animal model

Maybe it’s because I have come into contact with a lot of small animals in picture books. Zuoyu’s biggest fun is to identify all the animal images in the books, at home, and outdoors.
These animal models can well help babies to carry out cognitive training and connect the flat image with the real image.
To increase the fun of playing, we can also put some bonsai or ice cubes in a transparent container to shape different geographical features, and then put the animals of the corresponding continents into the “landscape basin”~ this game can let the baby Establish a very macroscopic cognitive system.

10 large toys (swing/seesaw/slide)

After the child turns one-year-old, many small toys in the home can no longer satisfy their curiosity~
Large outdoor toys have great benefits for the baby’s development and physical balance. However, due to too many restrictions on the outdoors, it is necessary to also buy swings and slide toys at home, so that the baby can enjoy the fun of playing every day~
In the process of playing, you can feel the baby’s various physical skills and achieve rapid development.

But as we believe, what children need most for their growth and development is “high-quality companionship”.

This kind of companionship is not restricted to form. It can be achieved through early education classes, through various toys, and even through simple walks in the park, playing with sand in the community, cleaning with dad at home, Help grandma peel the beans… these are very simple little activities to achieve.

But in these processes, the most important thing is our intention to participate to help the little babies grow up better and get to know the world.