Curious and full of energy, one-year-olds are always on the move.
On rainy days or when you can’t go outside, many teachers might find themselves wondering, “What can we play indoors with the children?”
So this time, we’re sharing plenty of ideas for activities that will captivate one-year-olds and keep them happily engaged indoors.
From energetic gross-motor play and eurhythmics to activities that make the most of different textures and ones that encourage lots of finger movement, we’ve gathered a wide range of play ideas that stimulate all five senses.
We’ve also included some activities that require no preparation, so you can start right away.
Find the perfect activities for your children and have fun together!
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For 1-year-olds! Indoor play ideas that make rainy days fun (1–10)
Color ball play
Here’s a set of colorful balls that kids can play with safely and happily.
Because the balls are soft, they’re highly safe, and their variety of colors makes them especially appealing to children.
Kids can freely enjoy grabbing and throwing the balls, and it’s great that they can come up with their own ways to play.
Also, if the teacher throws a ball far away and the children imitate that by throwing theirs far too, playing while copying the teacher’s movements can make everyone feel excited and have fun together!
physical play
There are many indoor physical activities that one-year-olds love.
First, set up a large tunnel and have them crawl through it.
The caregiver should wait at the exit and encourage them with phrases like “This way!” or “Peekaboo!” In a corner where they walk along a beam while balancing, it’s helpful to hold their hand and chant “One, two, one, two.” A small horizontal bar is fun even just for letting their legs dangle, and slides and mats for rolling around are also very useful.
Children will also enjoy it if the caregiver gently shakes the mat.
Get everyone excited with a favorite exercise dance and have fun moving their whole bodies!
circuit play
Circuit play is a fun activity that stimulates your child’s five senses.
They can crawl or jump along a course made with hula hoops and cones.
Because it gets their whole body moving, it’s perfect for indoor play on rainy days.
Cherish your child’s free ideas and expand the play together.
Ask, “What should we do next?” or make small changes to the course.
While having fun, they can develop physical abilities and spatial awareness.
Keep safety in mind as you create a play space filled with your child’s smiles.
Eurhythmics
Eurhythmics is an educational approach that, through exposure to music, promotes the development of children’s fundamental abilities—such as motor skills, perception, and the senses.
Moving to the piano’s rhythm, let’s crawl, walk, or lie down, using our whole bodies to play in ways suited to each child’s age! It can also help relieve stress for children who tend to feel down during stretches of rainy days.
You can add your own twists by incorporating children’s favorite nursery rhymes or anime music, or by doing exercises from picture books in time with the rhythm.
Music play
Anpanman’s Sansan Exercise, which children love, is also recommended as an indoor movement activity.
The fun songs and melodies for counting numbers, along with the sounds of various instruments like whistles and drums, provide great stimulation.
It’s nice that it’s packed with movements even one-year-olds can do, such as clapping hands and swaying their bodies.
A quiz where you hide the instrument and make a sound for kids to guess what it is is also a good idea.
Eurhythmics-style play—moving while the music plays and stopping when it stops—can be arranged in many ways, like walking, running, or crawling, and is lots of fun.
Sensory Color Play
This is a color play activity where children can enjoy visuals, textures, and the fun of colors blending.
First, the caregiver generously applies several kinds of paint onto white drawing paper and prepares one sheet per child, sealed inside a transparent bag.
It’s helpful to raise children’s awareness of colors beforehand with picture books or songs about colors.
Then hand out the paint-filled bags and make comments like, “What color is this?” or “What a beautiful color.” Children can look at and touch the bags to enjoy the feel of the paint and paper, and when they press on the bag, the colors blend and change into new ones.
It’s also nice that they can enjoy color play without getting their hands dirty.
Newspaper play
Endless ways to play! Try all kinds of activities using newspaper.
Enjoy the crinkly texture and sound, tear it up with a satisfying rip, or crumple it into a ball and toss it—newspaper is perfect for indoor play with countless possibilities.
Because kids use their hands a lot, it’s also great for developing fine motor skills.
Flexibly follow children’s free ideas and interests, and keep expanding the play together.
When you’re done, gather the torn pieces into a big bag to make a ball, or try crafting teru-teru bozu (little weather charms) or fish—it’s lots of fun, too.