Veronika and I have been working our way through classic toddler activities lately; she’s at that tricky age between having developed the gross motor skills of a one-year-old, but not yet ready for the understanding or fine motor skills of an 18 month old. I remember this period feeling particularly tricky to fill with my older son, but this time around I’m prepared!

Hence, the emphasis on classic games lately. Today, I sat her down with a big blob of play doh on her highchair tray, but the play doh was only an anchor, not the point of the game.

Insert pipe cleaner pieces into the play doh base. Now show your little one how to thread o cereal onto them (we like the Morning O’s from Whole Foods 365).

Veronika quickly got the idea, although she loved lifting the cereal off to eat it more than she focused on threading it on.

That, of course, turns this activity into snack time, too, and there’s nothing wrong with that!

The pipe cleaners are also fun to lift in and out of the sticky play doh base.

Needless to say, it’s a great way to keep a toddler busy during meal prep.

Today Veronika and I circled back to a game we played when she was much smaller, back then using fabric scraps. Now, with strong toddler hands, it was time to put toys in an empty wipes container!

To kick off the game, I used pieces of toy fruit that Velcro together. I showed Veronika how to stuff them down into the container, and she was an eager copycat.

Then we lifted the whole lid and dumped the fruit out. Next up: magnet letters! She loved making these disappear into the container, and of course we named each letter as it went in.

We followed up with foam puzzle pieces. This time she was much more interested in taking out. Doing so requires strong hand muscles, in order to reach past the flap in the container, grip the item, and tug it out.

Don’t be surprised if your little ones gets silly and wants to see what else fits inside. A chocolate bar?

Finally, we played with a set of plastic bugs. Perhaps because of all the tantalizing legs and antennae, these were her favorites to put in and out.

A very simple game that will entertain a toddler immensely!

Simply taking off lids and putting them back on again is a delight for babies at Veronika’s age (13 months), and it can be fun simply to set your little one up with a lot of lidded items, a few toys, and watch them play!

To get Veronika started, I set out a saucepan with lid and lots of Tupperware with lids, some that twisted off and some that lifted off.

That would be enough right there, but for added amusement, I hid a few toys in the saucepan.

I also put a toy in a container with a screw-on lid. Leave lids like this relatively loose and your little one should be able to twist them off. I resisted the urge to jump in, and let Veronika problem solve by herself!

For some early learning color fun, I put color-coded stickers on the base and lids of two identical containers. I encouraged her to notice that orange went with orange and yellow with yellow.

I didn’t expect her to ace this test, of course, but was laying some groundwork! You can work up to lots of different color stickers as your one year old gets older.

What other types of containers with lids does your baby play with? Shoe boxes? Baby wipe containers? Please share favorites in the comments!