The Best Activities for Your 15-Month-Old Toddler (50 Ideas)
Are you wondering, ‘How do I entertain my 15 month old?’ As a mom of two, and a former childminder, I know exactly how you feel! These are my best activities for your 15-month-old Toddler to keep them entertained and encourage their development at the same time!
All of my ideas are both fun for your toddler, and great for their learning and development too.
Win-win!
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To make it easier for you, I have split this long list of fun activities for your 15-month-old toddler into sections, based on the skills they will learn whilst doing the activities.
These activities have all been tried and tested by 15 month old toddlers and have been thoroughly enjoyed!
I hope you enjoy them too!
The Best Activities for Your 15-month-old Toddler To Do Outside
Time outside in the fresh air is so good for your toddler’s development. Fresh air and exercise help them grow and develop into a strong and healthy kid.
These fun activities for your 15 -month-old toddler embrace the great outdoors and provide loads of opportunities for learning and development outside in nature.
1. Exploring the Forest Together
Your toddler has just started walking and will likely be keen to practice this skill.
Exploring new areas where there are lots of interesting things to look at, touch, smell, and hear is a great opportunity for learning.
It’s also just a whole heap of fun for them (and hopefully you too!)
2. Mud Kitchen
Playing in the mud kitchen in the garden has kept my kids, and the little ones I childminded, busy for hours during the summer months. However, even in the winter months they were keen to play with it. It’s so versatile and so great for sparking off some imaginative play.
If you’re interested in buying a mud kitchen, this one, from Amazon, is my top pick, or if you can manage a spot of DIY you can make one fairly easily from old pallets.
Your mud kitchen accessories don’t have to cost the earth either. I have found most of ours cheaply or completely free – Read how here!
3. Imaginative Play with Loose Parts
The idea of this is to provide objects that your little one can use creatively in their play.
Items that have more than one purpose are perfect for this. Childcare facilities where I live, often do this by providing old car tyres, pieces of wood, rope, old plastic crates, taupin, old kettles, old computer keyboards, and baking trays for the kids to play with.
Obviously with young toddlers this requires very close supervision, but the idea is that they can make cars, forts, houses, anything they want! They can bake, or create, or play house. The possibilities are open and endless.
It’s great for beginning to teach creative thinking and innovation.
If you’ve not heard of loose parts play before and you would like to learn more, take a look at Frugal Loose Parts Garden Play You Can Try Right Now.
4. Playing with Ride-on Toys
Toddlers, in general, just love playing on ride-on-toys like tractors, cars and these scuttlebugs from Amazon. These are great for your little one’s gross motor skills development.
5. Water Play in the Garden
Water Play is such a an easy and cheap activity to do with your 15 month old toddler. The possibilities are endless. If you need some inspiration, check out my ideas for Low-Prep Toddler Water Play.
6. Paddling Pool Play
In the Summer, a Paddling Pool, like this one from Amazon. is a fantastic activity for your 15 month old. Just be sure to remember to sunscreen them up!
If your budget can’t stretch to a paddling pool, try filling a big tub of water up and popping a few bath toys or plastic cups and bowls in it. They’ll have just as much fun climbing in and out of that!
7. Obstacle Course
Creating a simple obstacle course around your home or garden, with objects you already own, is a great spur-of-the-moment activity to do with your toddler. They love getting involved helping to set it up too!
8. Playing with Sand
Playing with sand is another fab activity for a 15 month old Toddler.
Whether it’s exploring a beach or digging for ‘treasure’ in the sandpit in the garden, sand play is always a winner!
If you’ve not already got one, I would really recommend getting one with a lid, like this sandpit from Amazon, to avoid any unwanted ‘treasure’ being buried there by the neighbourhood cats!
9. Visiting the Playpark
If you don’t already go to the playpark with your little one, this is a great age to start taking them. There is so much opportunity for them to practice their gross motor skills, and just have lots of fun trying new things.
10. Sidewalk Chalking
Probably one of the simplest activities on this list, side-walk chalking helps develop fine motor skills, and creativity, as well as learning about colors.
These fun ones from Crayola, on Amazon, are bright and vibrant. They are also anti-roll, so they’re not going to be rolling down your drive onto the road all the time!
11. Blowing (& Chasing ) Bubbles
Bubbles are a classic childhood joy, right? In fact, they are not just limited to childhood. I have to admit, I’m rather partial to playing with them myself every so often!
12. Ball Games
There are so many things you can do with a ball!
Throwing and passing together, target practice, a spot of football. You can mix it up a bit each time, with different games and different-sized balls. This is all great for your little ones’ development.
You could even consider getting your toddler a ball pit, like this one I bought from Amazon for my daughter’s Christmas present when she was 2.
13. Beanbag Games
Beanbag games are fantastic for hand-eye coordination, and throwing practice. Encourage your toddler to throw the beanbags into a washing basket or toy box from different distances. You can count as they throw them in, or talk about the different colours of the beanbags to begin to introduce these concepts.
Beanbags are also great for practicing balancing, if you demonstrate to your toddler how to balance one on their head whilst walking. You can find more games to practice balance, in my post on Walking on the Line (A Montessori Activity).
Imaginative Play Ideas that Encourage a Toddler’s Curiosity
Imaginative play is so good for our toddlers.
It encourages them to put themselves in another’s shoes, allows them to try out new ideas, and encourages their speech.
14. Looking after Babies
Playing with dolls is a brilliant activity for any child, regardless of gender. Not only is it a fun and engaging role play activity, but it also teaches empathy and caring skills. The world could always do with more of those!
15. Play Kitchen
My daughter absolutely loves her play kitchen. She has gotten years of play out of it, as it’s so versatile. We got it for her as a Christmas present when she was just a toddler and she still plays with it now as a 5 year old!
If you’re considering investing in a Play Kitchen for your Toddler, I recommend this one, from Amazon, as it’s big enough to grow with your little one.
16. Playing Doctors
My kids have always loved playing doctors and 15 months is a great age to begin these types of role-play games.
17. Dressing-Up
Dressing up is such fun at any age, but as your toddler starts to become more independent this may prove more and more popular! It’s great practice for learning life skills like dressing themselves, zips, buttons, and laces as they grow too.
You can buy dressing up clothes or you can simply give them a box with some of your things in and they’ll be just as happy. A few big t-shirts, hats, scarves, beaded necklaces, and shoes, and they’ll be off exploring!
* Close supervision is obviously needed with some of these items.
18. Playing Builders
Playing at being builders is another great activity for young Toddlers.
A cute little Builders set like this one, from Amazon, is great for that. It’s one of very few builders sets that says it’s safe for little ones under the age of 3 years. This is a brilliant toy for developing your toddlers fine motor skills through play.
19. Building a Fort
Building a fort is a classic childhood memory that every kid should have!
Use fallen branches to do this outside, or chairs and blankets inside. Simple, yet oh-so-fun!
20. Cars, Trucks and Train Tracks
Playing with small cars, trucks, tractors, and trains is great for developing fine motor skills in your little one.
I have found that interesting sets, like this fun and colourful Vtech train set, from Amazon, are great for inspiring imagination and creativity too.
However, there are small parts here, so you would need to supervise closely and if you toddler enjoys exploring toys with their mouth still, I’d wait a bit before introducing this, just to be safe!
21. Zoo Small-world Play
Playing with Zoo animals or Safari animals is another fun activity for Toddlers of this age.
A fun Zoo Floor Rug, like this one from Amazon, can really help to get their imaginations flowing when they’re playing with their zoo animals.
22. Dolls Small-world Play
Playing with small dolls is not only great for your toddlers imagination, but also their social and language skills too.
I love this cute little dolls house, from Amazon, because it looks so adorable and it’s practical. A lot of dolls houses are recommended for ages 3+ but this one is just the perfect size for a 15 month old toddler to play with.
Fun Activities to Develop Your Toddlers Fine Motor Skills
23. Drawing Pictures
At 15 months old their drawing may look more like scribbles, but it is the beginning or drawing and writing. The more practice and encouragement they have, the better they will get at this skill.
To make this more interesting, consider providing different coloured paper and pens or crayons to draw with.
Both my own kids and the toddlers I childminded really enjoyed using a cool water mat, similar to this one from Amazon to draw. I loved it because it was mess free!
24. Lift-the-Flap Books
You might not think that looking at books is a fine motor skill, but learning to turn the pages of thick cardboard page books is a great fine motor skill activity for toddlers.
Provide lots of interesting and colourful board books for your toddler to look at and they’ll be practicing their page turning skills just like that, and developing an interest in books at the same time.
I have found that providing lift-the-flap books really helps with this too. However, don’t get those flimsy cardboard flaps for them to lift. They’ll just end up torn off. Trust me!
The books you want are these lift-the-flap books, from Amazon, that use felt flaps. They are strong! I used them with my toddlers when I was childminding and they never got broken, despite being read hundreds of times a day!
25. Building Towers
Building towers is a fun activity that you can do with your child, or they can do independently.
This can be varied by building towers with different items like; different sized blocks, board books, kitchen tupperware, cereal boxes, or even pebbles at a beach!
26. Sensory Play that involves tipping and pouring
Pouring is such a good skill to begin learning at this age.
It’s amazing how long pouring water from one container to another will keep a toddler entertained!
I found my Tuff Tray, from Amazon, came in super useful for these kinds of activities as it caught most of the spills.
27. Helping to Hang up the Laundry
This may seem really simple, but little kids absolutely love helping you with housework!
If you have a clothes airer, let them help you hang up the laundry (even if you have to secretly rehang some of it afterwards!)
Alternatively you could hang a piece of string from one chair to another and give them some pegs to hang up their dolls clothes. (Close supervision is needed here though as little kids should never be left alone with string, in case it gets around their necks.)
28. Baking Sensory Bin
We love a good sensory bin at our house!
A baking sensory bin is ideal for practicing fine motor skills. Simply get a tub and fill it with rice, or cloud dough or play dough. Then add a mixing bowl and spoon, some teaspoons and cupcake cases and something fun to decorate the cupcakes with.
For decorations, I sometimes use pom poms, sequins, or flowers. I try to mix it up a bit depending on the seasons too. Below is an example, where I have set up a Christmas baking station. Whilst I do make Sensory bins, I personally prefer using my Tuff Tray, from Amazon, for sensory activities as it’s just easier.
29. Arts and Crafts Collage
Picking up those little pom poms, bits of paper, buttons, or easy-peel stickers is great for practicing their fine motor skills, as well as their creativity.
My little ones also really enjoyed junk modelling, where they stick bit and pieces of old cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and odds and ends together to make models. Then they paint and decorate their creations.
If you’re looking for some more ideas to encourage the development of fine motor skills, you may like, Fine Motor Skills Tuff Tray Ideas for Preschoolers.
Indoor Gross Motor Skills Ideas To Entertain Your Toddler on a Rainy Day
30. Indoor Obstacle Course
This is such fun and so quick and easy to set up. They can help you too!
Just set their toys up so they can go around some, over some, under a chair maybe, across a blanket, and then have a ball to throw in a tub at the end. A great way to use up some energy when you can’t get outside.
31. The Floor is Lava!
My kids LOVE this game, and I taught it to the little ones I childminded. The idea is just to stay off the floor, so you can only go on the sofa, chairs, cushions on the floor or bits of paper on the floor.
A fun way to practice balance.
32. Musical Bumps or Musical Statues
Who says it has to be a party to play a fun party game? We love a good game of musical bumps in our house!
This is great for teaching your 15 month old toddler to follow simple instructions, and to listen carefully. It’s also great for using up energy when you’re stuck in the house all day with an energetic toddler!
33. Dance Party
Whether you put on a Zumba DVD and encourage them to join you, or just play some music and dance freestyle, this is brilliant for building confidence, doing exercise, and just having fun together.
34. Throwing Challenges
Another easy activity for indoors is throwing a small ball or beanbag into a laundry basket. You can vary what (soft) items they throw, the distance to throw from, or even the size of the box they throw it into.
35. Toddler Yoga
Yoga is great for exercise and breathing. Teaching your toddler ways to unwind and de-stress is important, even at this young age.
There are tons of great YouTube videos out there with little yoga routines you and your little one can try together. They may just watch you at first, but gradually over time, they are likely to want to join you if it looks like fun!
Interesting Sensory Activities for a 15-month-old Toddler
From my experience, I know that most 15 month-old toddlers absolutely LOVE sensory play activities.
If you’re not sure where to begin, or are short on time, then stick with some quick and easy sensory play ideas to start with.
36. Finger Painting
This was always very popular with the toddlers I childminded.
They loved getting stuck in there making handprints, painting with their fingers, and just smushing the paint round and round the paper!
If you’d like some more in-depth suggestions, check out these 10+ Painting with Toddlers ideas.
37. Messy Farm Animal Play
Farm play is usually a winner with toddlers of this age.
When I childminded, the 15 month old toddlers I cared for loved it when I got out some Messy Farm Play Activities, like these, for them to do.
These types of activities are easy to set up. They just require a few farm animals and perhaps a tractor or two. Then you can choose whether to use cereal and taste-safe ‘mud’, or real mud and grass as the sensory elements.
These Messy Farm Animal Play ideas give you lots of options, depending on whether you want to do sensory play indoors or outdoors.
38. Ice
Since we have already mentioned water play activities earlier in this post, I thought I’d not write it a second time, although it is a great sensory activity!
Ice is similarly an interesting sensory activity to entertain your 15 month old toddler whilst helping them learn and develop.
There are multiple ways you can make this activity fun and varied.
You can have toy arctic animals playing on the ice as it melts. You could freeze pom poms, plastic figures, or toys in tor flowers in the ice and give your toddler some warm water and a spoon to chip away at the ice with. This is a great STEM (science, maths, technology, science) activity for your toddler, as well as being a fine motor skill and sensory activity.
Be very wary if your toddler is prone to putting things in their mouth though, and close supervision is required at all times.
39. Playdough
Playdough, like this set from Amazon, is a brilliant sensory activity for toddlers, although supervision is of course needed to avoid it ending up in their mouth!
40. Moon Sand
This is a fun sensory experience, and I was able to easily make this myself by adding conditioner to cornflour slowly whilst mixing and squishing it in, until I had the right consistency. You want it to be crumbly like sand, but also be able to hold its shape when pressed together or used in a jelly mould to make shapes by your toddler.
I used mine to make this Christmas Sensory Bin, but you could also add food colouring to make different colours of sand and use it for any season!
41. Baking Cookies
Baking cookies together is always a winner! Little kids generally love baking and taste-testing along the way!
Mixing with their hands, kneading dough, and rolling it out all helps with their fine motor skills, as well as being a fun sensory activity.
Simple Activities to Get Your Toddler Talking
42. Reading Stories to your Toddler
Reading short stories together is a fantastic activity to do with your 15 month old Toddler.
Take them along to your local library, if you can, and get them involved in choosing books that suit their interests. Making reading part of your your daily routine has a whole heap of benefits for your child as they grow.
43. Singing with your Toddler
Singing helps with speech.
Sing nursery rhymes, or just any songs you like. Encourage them to join in with you, but don’t worry if they choose not to. Just hearing you sing will benefit them so much.
If you don’t know many nursery rhymes, consider joining a local Toddler Singing Group, or pick up one of these fab nursery rhyme books.
I sing to my kids in the car, while I make their lunch, and while I’m brushing their teeth. When they were littler, I use to sing to them while I changed their nappies, and at bath time too. There are so many opportunities. If you’re wondering how to fit singing into your daily routine, take a look at these ideas.
44. Making Music
Most Toddlers love making (loud) music!
Making music together provides lots of opportunities to talk about concepts such as, loud and quiet and big and small, hard and soft. A great way to help grow your toddlers vocabulary.
You can make your own instruments, like using pots, pans, and wooden spoons for drums, or you can buy a musical instrument set, like this one from Amazon.
When kids are excited about what they are doing they will want to communicate that with you. Talk about how you think they are feeling, or how you are feeling while you play.
You may also like : 7 Easy Ways to Teach Your Toddler to Talk
Vital Toddler Activities to Build Social Skills
45. Play groups / Toddler Group / Mums and Toddlers
Whatever it’s called where you live, these groups were so helpful for me when I first became a mom, and they have been so good for helping my kids make friends and learn social skills before beginning formal education. If you don’t already attend a local toddler group, it is definitely something I would recommend.
46. Singing and Signing Toddler Groups
These are great social activities to do with your toddler. They help to build their confidence and get them comfortable being part of a group activity. They are also fab for improving communication skills.
47. Games that involve Taking Turns
Taking turns is such a vital social skill and something all our toddlers could do with some practice at. They can actually practice this social skill with you.
I did this by creating fun challenges, like stepping from one piece of paper to another on the floor to get across the room. We each had a turn to do the challenge.
48. Activities that involve Sharing – Colouring
Colouring is such a simple activity you can do with your toddler to practice sharing.
Have a small pot of pens or crayons in the middle of the table and practice swapping crayons with each other periodically.
This may seem simple but it is the building blocks of sharing.
49. Going Shopping Together
Whether you’re taking them for the weekly food shop, or just popping into the chemist to pick up a prescription, it’s all a great opportunity to learn social skills.
They practice queuing and waiting their turn, using their indoor voices, not pushing if someone is in their way, using please and thank you when buying things, and keeping the environment tidy (i.e not pulling things off the shelves!)
50. Playdates
Playdates are another simple, yet effective way to teach social skills. They also have the added bonus of some adult company for you!
Independent Play Activities for Toddlers
Independent play as an important skill for our toddlers to learn and, to be honest, we moms sometimes need a break to sit down and have a cuppa!
Whilst these activities do require supervision, as does anything with a toddler, they can all be played independently by your toddler whilst you get on with a job, or grab a coffee, in close proximity.
How Can I Teach My Toddler to Play Independently?
Some toddlers pick up independent play quicker than others, and that’s ok. We all have our strengths.
Thankfully, independent play is an easy thing to teach your little one.
It just requires some practice.
Make sure that the activities you are offering are new and interesting for them.
Begin by sitting down with them and playing together. Model how to play with the toys on your own.
For example, I might sit down with a toddler who was playing with playdoh, and pick up a piece myself and start squishing it or using a utensil to cut it. I might mix two colours together or use my hand to make an imprint.
Whilst I played, I would be smiling and having fun. Perhaps I would even talk to myself whilst I did it. The little one would then usually follow my lead.
Once they are playing side-by-side with you, then you can slowly move away a little and sit near by somewhere to begin with.
Once they can manage that, I would then set them up with an activity to do while I did a chore, like the dishes, for example. This eases them in gently.
Preferences and Time Frames for Independent Play
Different kids will take different amounts of time to get the hang of it, but in time it will come.
It’s also worth trying different activities.
My daughter, for example, will play independently much longer with sensory activities, like water play, than anything else, whilst my son will play longer with imaginative small-world play activities.
Personal preference and personality definitely play a role in it.
When they do start to get engaged in their play try not to interrupt them, unless absolutely necessary.
The Top Activities for Your 15-month-old Toddler’s Development
I hope you and your toddler have enjoyed these activities as much as I did with my kids when they were little.
If you have any more ideas you want to add, just leave me a comment down below.
- If you have concerns that your toddler is behind in their development, it’s worth talking to your Paediatrician or Health Visitor. They can carry out an assessment and advise you.
