50+ Easy Activities for 14-Month Olds

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The second year of a child’s life is absolutely brimming with developmental milestones. These activities for 14-month olds can help with things such as fine motor skill development and critical thinking skills.

However, it’s also helpful to simply have ways to break up the days with your little one. Because of all the new skills they’re learning, they can get overwhelmed.

Spending time with them and giving them opportunities to practice their new skills can help with any grouchiness they may have.

These activities are easy, simple, and fun to do with your 14-month old toddler.

Activities for 14-Month Olds

Not everyone loves mess (okay, most of us don’t), so most of these activities keep mess to a minimum. However, there are some that will be fairly messy.

My advice is to either take those outside or be sure to use a toddler apron and plastic tablecloth.

While these activities are shared to help provide your toddler with some fun entertainment, all of them do provide learning opportunities. So, while I do speak on what your toddler can learn from each one, don’t feel as though you have to be intentionally doing these activities in order to teach your 14-month-old.

They are perfectly capable of simply learning from the world around them without having any formal teaching.

Skills a 14-Month-Old Will Be Learning

It can be easy to forget how much our little ones learn through play. It’s incredible how much they develop in such a short time.

Two skills that they will for sure be developing are fine motor skills and gross motor skills.

Fine Motor Skills

Activities such as finger painting, shape sorting, and playing playdoh all work to help hone your toddler’s fine motor skills.

This takes time. Do not expect your toddler to be able to hold a pencil or marker correctly and color well. Their little hands simply aren’t developed for it yet.

Think of these activities as ways to provide your child with practice. Everything they’re doing now is building up their readiness for formal learning in later years.

Play is a child’s work.

Gross Motor Skills

Around this age, most toddlers are either newly walking or are just beginning to do so. All three of my children only started walking in earnest around 15 months of age.

Therefore, they’re going to be working hard on developing their gross motor skills.

Simple things such as pushing things around, sitting in a child’s seat, and walking are all ways that they are practicing their new skills. It’s exciting to see!

Keeping Things Developmentally Appropriate

It’s essential to remember that at this age (and for several years to come), learning is done through play.

It is unreasonable to expect your 14-month-old to have much of an attention span or to sit still for any length of time.

Therefore, when looking for activities, consider this and be realistic with your expectations.

They may be interested in a certain activity for all of 5 minutes, and that is entirely normal.

There’s also something to be said for keeping activities doable for them. Depending on your child’s personality, they may get frustrated easily. While there is certainly room for building problem-solving skills and critical thinking, you don’t want to overdo it.

If you are going to give them an activity that you know is going to be more of a challenge, make sure you’re nearby to lend a hand. They’re going to be working on their cognitive skills through these different activities, but free play is honestly just as good.

Basic Supplies to Have On Hand

Playdoh (or playdough ingredients)
Pompoms
Sensory Trays – sensory play activities are awesome for toddlers!
Sand or dried beans
Glue stick
Tissue paper
Finger paint
Toddler apron
Plastic tablecloth

#1 Playing With Playdough

I love playdough. It is one of the most simple sensory activities you can set up for your child. It’s also an activity that is popular with a huge age range.

You can purchase non-toxic playdoh but if you really want to know what’s in the playdough that you’re child will play with, go ahead and make your own.

It’s super easy to make playdough at home. When stored correctly, it will last a long time.

I tend to make a batch and then store it in a ziplock bag. It honestly lasts for months.

Add a few playdough toys into the mix and your toddler will have loads of fun. Just keep an eye on how much they’re trying to eat…cause they will try it.

#2 Sensory Trays

The scope of activities you can create with sensory trays is almost endless! Giving your child a sensory experience is a great way of letting them learn and explore.

Fill trays with things such as sand or dried beans. You can also use many other things, but those two are a great starting point.

You can theme sensory bins for your child (here are some fun ideas), or just fill them with whatever you have at home.

Depending on what you put in them, you may want to let your toddler play with the sensory bins outside. I learned this the hard way. Rice goes everywhere…

Also, if you can find sensory trays with lids, those are the best ones to get. That way, you can easily store and stack them. Otherwise, I find that the contents just end up everywhere and it makes you want to avoid them.

#3 Bath Crayons

There’s just something about water that is really good at calming grouchy toddlers. On days when I just couldn’t seem to please my toddler in any other way, a bath was almost certain to do it.

Change things up by getting some bath crayons.

Let your toddler draw on the bath and bath walls. It’ll just wash off with water afterward but they can have lots of fun in the meantime.

I also recommend putting glow sticks in the bath. Even my older kids love this activity! It is so much fun for them to play with the lights and colors.

#4 Cloud Dough

Similar to playdough, you can make cloud dough at home. It is super soft and has a very different texture from playdough.

Just be sure your toddler doesn’t eat it because it isn’t made for ingesting! I like cloud dough because you can make it with soft pastel colors and it just looks so pretty! You’ll probably want to join your toddler in playing with it.

Here is a great cloud dough recipe.

#5 Tissue Paper Stick

For a nice, simple activity that doesn’t create a lot of mess, let your toddler stick tissue paper to a piece of paper.

You can do this at the table or in their highchair.

Use painter’s tape to stick down the edges of a piece of paper to a flat surface. Next, put double-sided tape down in strips across the paper.

Cut or tear up small bits of tissue paper for your toddler to stick to the paper.

It’s very simple and easy but toddlers love it!

You can also stick the piece of paper to the wall so your toddler can stand up and do this. Often this is a better option for little ones who can’t sit still for very long.

#6 Finger Painting

This one IS a messy activity, but it’s certainly a lot of fun for your toddler. You can purchase non-toxic edible paint these days, so I would recommend doing that if you can.

This is where a toddler apron and plastic tablecloth come in really handy. It makes clean-up a whole lot easier and you don’t have to stress about clothing and furniture being ruined.

#7 Pom Pom Drop

For this activity, all you’ll need is a container of some sort that you can make a hole in the top of, and some pom poms.

A used formula container works well, or just a cardboard box.

Give your little one a pile of pompoms and show them how to drop one in the hole of the container. I guarantee they’ll be certain to want to sit there until all the pom poms have been deposited inside the container.

If you don’t have pom poms, you can do this with whatever other items you may have at home. Think creatively and use what you have on hand. Even toilet paper rolls will work for a container.

#8 Sorting

At this age, most toddlers won’t be able to sort things into categories. However, you can still have them sort items in some capacity.

Give them a pile of little things and a muffin tray. They can then fill up the muffin tray with those items. This is a great activity that is totally free.

As they get older and their fine motor skills develop, you can give them some toddler tweezers and have them use those to lift the items into the tray. And of course, you can also get them to sort items based on shape and color as they get older and more advanced with these skills.

#9 Water Play

Water play was something I relied on often when I had young toddlers, especially around dinner time. It was honestly one of the best things for keeping my toddler occupied.

I would lay a large beach towel on the kitchen floor along with an assortment of containers.

In the containers, I would pour just a little bit of water.

My toddler would have a ball transferring the water from one container to the next. It was such a simple activity that would keep them occupied for a good long while so I could get dinner on.

The worst mess they could make was spilling water which was very easy to clean up.

#10 Water Table

We owned a water table when my children were toddlers and it brought hours of fun.

Of course, you can fill it with water, or you can fill it with some other thing that will still provide a sensory experience.

Dried beans, sand, or shaving cream are all great options.

If you had the space, you could bring this activity indoors. However, I would suggest laying down a tarp because it will get messy.

#11 Busy Board

Busy boards and busy books are really great ways of keeping toddlers entertained.

You can totally make your own, or choose from the variety that is available to purchase. Instead of your toddler getting into everything they’re not supposed to, you can keep them occupied with this simple activity.

Plus, they’ll be honing their fine motor skills and cognitive reasoning as they’re playing.

#12 3D Puzzles

Traditional wooden puzzles are a bit outside of the scope of capability for a 14-month-old, but 3D shape puzzles are still a great option.

You can find several variations of this toy. Pick the one you love the best and let your toddler have fun with it. This is a great opportunity for young children to work on hand-eye coordination.

They don’t just work on their fine motor skills, but also on shape recognition and spatial reasoning. My kids also really loved the wooden toy where they needed to hammer wooden rods through holes. There really are quite a few versions of this style of toy, so it may be worth investing in more than one.

#13 Read a Book

Reading to your toddler has so many benefits! You’re increasing their vocabulary, setting them up for improved literacy, and working on bonding.

I love to read to my children. It is such a special activity to do together.

Of course, all toddlers are different. Some of my kids loved being snuggled on my lap while I read to them, and others couldn’t keep still for more than two seconds.

If you have the latter, set up a quiet activity on the floor and read to them as they play.

#14 Bake Together

Baking with a toddler can be…interesting, but fun all the same.

Get them their own apron and set up a safe spot for them to assist you.

These special chairs really help with having kids in the kitchen.

#15 Go for a Walk

Not all 14-month olds can walk yet, but even just getting outside in the fresh air is so beneficial.

Head down to your local park or just take a stroll down your street. Getting out of the house is often great for working through grumpy toddler attitudes.

The fresh air will likely do you a lot of good as well. Giving your toddler space to move and walk around offers them the opportunity to work on their gross motor skills. Balance and coordination are still something they really have to work on at this age.

#16 Have a Picnic

Toddlers make a mess every time they eat. If you’re tired of the constant clean-up, why not go on a picnic?

You could head somewhere in your neighborhood, or simply have one in the backyard.

It’ll be fun and you won’t have to worry about crumbs on the floor in your house. Plus, they will have so much fun being able to run around a play while also eating. Something that is not such a good idea to do indoors at home because of the mess that it makes.

#17 Play With Building Blocks

Children learn so much through play! One great open-ended toy that can bring hours of fun and learning is building blocks.

Sit alongside your toddler and show them how to stack and create towers. They’re likely not going to be very good at it at this stage, but it’s a great introduction.

They do also make magnetic blocks now which is helpful for younger toddlers still working on their fine motor skills.

#18 Go to the Playground

Take your toddler to the playground. Hopefully, you have one in your neighborhood, but if not, it’s worth going a little further afield to find one.

Your toddler will love the slide and being pushed on the swing. This is a fun way to entertain your toddler without having to pay for anything. Fun activities don’t have to be expensive or complicated!

#19 Go Swimming

Water and the outdoors are both little pieces of magic for making toddlers happy.

Take your toddler swimming. Of course, you can enjoy natural bodies of water or head to your local pools.

See if there is a toddler swimming lesson class available that you can do with your child.

#20 Set Up a Ball Pit

Let your toddler loose in their own ball pit! All you need is an inflatable toddler pool and some plastic balls.

This is a seriously fun activity for your toddler that doesn’t involve water or any choking hazards.

#21 Introduce Words and Colors

Our little ones certainly do not need any formal learning activities at this age, but introducing concepts isn’t going to hurt.

You can do this throughout the day by simply pointing things out to them. Tell them the color of their shirt, the color of the sky, and the shapes of items in your home.

We tend to overcomplicate learning when it really is quite simple. Talk to your toddler and they will learn. Show them things in their everyday life and the information will begin to stick. Their language skills will grow as you spend quality time talking to them. Honestly, the best activities for your toddler are just the ones that you do every day.

Simply include them where and when you can. Different things like getting dressed, doing laundry, and cleaning up still provide different ways of teaching skills.

#22 Pretend Play

Pretend play is one of the most powerful ways of learning for children. Honestly, all they need is their imagination, but you can help facilitate this a bit too. Some great ideas are dress-ups and play food.

My little one used to spend hours setting up picnics for her dolls. It was the cutest thing!

We also had a little play kitchen for a few years that had a lot of good use. It spanned multiple ages and so was a great joint activity for all of my kids to do together.

Another set worth investing in is a doctor’s kit. My children loved being the doctor and treating me as the patient. Quick tip, you get to lie down and rest while they try and figure out how to “fix” you. It’s perfect for those days when you’re just worn out and need to lie down for a second or two.

More Activities for 14-Month Olds

I hope that you’ve got lots of ideas for activities for your 1-year-old now, but just in case you need more, here are some great posts worth checking out.

Final Thoughts

Your 14-month-old toddler is going to be learning at the speed of light! There is so much new information to take in. The best way for them to learn and process it all is through play.

I hope that these toddler activity ideas really help give you ways to keep your toddler entertained and having fun.