Today I simply took some time to concentrate with Veronika on one particular type of toy: stacking cups. She has several versions of these, whether round rings and cups or square boxes, all of which can stack together or – the opposite – nest inside each other.

I set out the different sets around her and cleared other toys from the area so she could concentrate on these.

She is very drawn to nesting items, in particular, and loves finding ways to put the smaller cups in the bigger ones, or finding other containers that the cups can fit inside of.

Then we concentrated on the opposite: stacking a few blocks up.

No worries if your little one mixes and matches sets; Veronika loved balancing the nesting cups on top of the stacked boxes!  Then she mixed in the other direction, nesting the smallest box inside the cups.

These toys are great for brain development and motor skills and require no fancy set up. I love knowing that the toys will grow with her, some day able to make towers of her own without mommy’s help!

If you’ve noticed that your toddler’s favorite part of opening presents is the wrapping paper itself, you’re not alone. Babies and toddlers love the feeling of paper, the crinkly sounds it makes, and of course just ripping things open. So keep up the fun with this quick game.

Use leftover wrapping paper to randomly wrap a few old toys. It’s not what’s inside that matters here, but the fun of getting to it!

I selected a few of Veronika’s toys and wrapped them loosely, using just a little tape on each. You can even leave a bit of the toy showing, since this helps your little one understand that there is a toy inside.

At first Veronika was most interested in the roll of tape, which didn’t surprise me.

Then I encouraged her to pull back sheets of the paper. She loved tearing at it, once she got the idea.

Old toys seem new again, when they’re revealed like this! You could even turn this into a regular game if it ever seems like your toddler needs a refresher on fun around the house.

For extra fun, we wadded up the wrapping paper once the gifts were open, and tossed these balls into a “basket”.

The fun here is almost limitless!

This is a simple game to test if your toddler is ready to understand and follow directions, sending him or her on various “errands” around the house. Your little one won’t think it’s a chore at all, just lots of silly fun!

I put out a few items for Veronika that I knew would entice her, starting with a toy ball. “Can you go get the ball?” I asked.

She eagerly crawled to it, and I encouraged her back my way. “Can you bring me the ball?” She’s at that beautiful age where toddlers love to put things “in” and clean up, so this was met with success.

Next we played with her water bottle. Again, the item was spotted and she was off.

But could she bring it to me? This time it was more fun just to play with!

Then we got silly with the “errands”. After asking her to get her boots and socks, I said, “Can you put the sock on your head?” I demonstrated, which earned huge giggles.

Pretty soon she was imitating me.

In sum, don’t underestimate your fourteen-month old’s sense of humor, or ability to “get” things, even if they have few words to say back to you yet.