1 year, 4 months old
**Month 16: Little Explorers on the Move**
Play ideas, a book, a song and a little encouragement for your 16 month old, from Maddie.
By Maddie, early childhood educator and Mum
4 min read · Updated
In this guide
Hey there, wonderful parent!
As you move through this stage of toddlerhood, you may find your little one brimming with curiosity and energy. You’re probably keeping up with a whirlwind of activity, from indecipherable babble to stacking, and knocking down those beloved blocks.
It’s a lively, exciting time, full of both giggles and, let’s be honest, a few tumbles. Know that every little moment counts and you're learning and growing right alongside your child.
This newsletter is just a gentle reminder that you’ve got everything covered. The everyday moments, from snack time to story time, matter most. But just in case you're looking for a little more with the benefit of knowing all the incredible learning that happens alongside all this fun, here are a few simple activity suggestions and ideas to enrich your time together.
Activity 1: Stack & Knock
How: Gather a few blocks, cups, or small boxes and invite your child to build a tower. Take turns stacking, talking about which pieces are bigger, smaller, or work best on the bottom. See how high you can build together, or create multiple towers to compare.
If you want to go BIG, fill some large boxes with clean recycling (for a little weight), tape them up, and build a giant tower together. Once you've admired your creation, have fun knocking it down with your hands or your whole body, then build it all over again!
Why: Stacking helps develop hand-eye coordination, balance, problem-solving, and early engineering skills as children learn what makes a tower strong and stable. Knocking it down adds the excitement of cause and effect and encourages children to keep experimenting, rebuilding, and trying new ideas.
🎵 A little tune I like to sing while we build:
"Build it up, build it up, build it higher...
Build it up, up to the sky...
Oooohhh... they all fell down!"
Activity 2: Nature Carry Walk
How: Head outside for a little stroll and encourage your little one to pick up something to carry, like a stick or a leaf. Walk at their pace and see where their curiosity leads.
Why: Nature walks, even short ones, strengthen grip and focus as small hands hold onto their treasures. Plus, it’s a lovely way to slow down and notice life around us.
Playground extra: Heading to parks and finding yourself stuck on the swings for longer than you planned? Its so normal, and so wonderful! Toddlers absolutely love the motion! Swinging isn’t just fun: it helps build balance, strengthens core and leg muscles, supports coordination, spatial awareness and understand movement and can be so calming for little bodies; its also great risk taking in a safe way! So play tickle or gotch-ya games but also just let them swing, watch the environment around them and enjoy the motion and peace of swinging!
Nursery Rhyme: Ring a ring a roses
Ring a ring of roses
(holding hand turn around in a circle)
A pocketful of posies
A tissue, a tissue
We all fall down.
(gently fall onto the floor)
The cows in the meadows
(stay crouched down on the ground)
Eating all the grass
A tissue, a tissue
We all jump up.
(all jump up)
The wonderful thing about singing yourself, is you can sing at your child's pace. You can slow it down, speed it up and pause it when your little one needs a little extra time.
Book of the Month: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Join a family on their grand adventure through grass, mud, and more! This rhythmic and repetitive tale is perfect for a shared reading experience. It can be read, sung, acted out. There are so many ways to adapt this story to suit your child's attention and needs. Its not always about reading all the words, its about having fun and falling in love with stories, how ever they are told.
When my children were younger, I found reading just parts of the story like "where going on a bear hunt...go through the long grass...swishy swashy swishy swashy..." would be enough; as they grew and became more familiar with the book we could add more of the words.
Did You Know?
Knocking things down is just as crucial as building them up! Collapsing those block towers isn’t just about fun; it’s a part of understanding balance, gravity, and builds an intuitive sense of physics. Amazing, right?
Social & Emotional Skill Building
This age is all about persistence, which means lots of patience on our part as parents. It can feel so tempting to step in when a task seems challenging, but try hanging back a bit longer. Letting them finish a task on their own, be it stacking one more block or putting a piece of a puzzle in place, can do wonders for their confidence and persistence.
If they look to you for encouragement, its ok to say things like 'I see you working so hard on that block tower!' or 'You're almost there, take your time.' But also notice, respect and don't interrupt their space when they deeply engaged and concentrating.
✨ Remember
In the swing of exploration and play, know that perfection isn’t needed, just your presence. Your gentle encouragement, warm smiles, and the little adventures you share are building blocks of love and learning each day.
You’re doing beautifully, and your little one thinks so too 💛