Games for children from 18 months to 4 years

This article is also available in Italian.

Videos of some games that stimulate intellectual development of children between 18 months and 4 years.

Play ball

Playing with a ball is fun for kids of all ages, and helps develop motor skills. As you roll the ball can for example count or sing a song.

In the video you see three children, one baby has one year (not participating yet), Giulia has just two years and Andrea has 3 years and 8 months.

Building a tower

A child of two years, could stack up three cubes on top of each other.

At two and a half years, the tower will consist of six blocks.

Instead, a child of three years will be able to stack up eight cubes on top of each other and if the blocks are of different colors, this will allow your child to learn the names of colors.

Soap Bubbles

It’s a great game for children from 2 to 3 years. The child carries a fine-motor coordination, in the form of hand-eye.

In the video: Andrea (3 years 8 months) playing “soap bubbles, but Giulia likes to burst.

Puzzles and collaboration

A child who has a year and a half can make simple games, like puzzles. Initially, it should be a little help from an adult. Talk to your children and tell what the image of the piece of puzzle represents.

Puzzles are good training for the mobility of the hand, and to recognize the various forms that fit together.

In Video: Julia (2 years 2 months) up the first puzzle, the easiest, but collaborates with Andrea (3 years 8 months) to compose the second puzzle, the more difficult, suitable for children aged 3 years.

The game of the box

The classic game where you put the various forms in the right hole.
It’s a nice game that helps hand-eye coordination and is a way to learn the colors.

In the video: Giulia (2 years 2 months) is already very skilled. This game in fact you can start even before 2 years.

The music game

Andrea and Giulia had fun jumping on this carpet of music. The video unfortunately is not perfect. This carpet, in addition to the preset music, plays the sounds of some musical instruments (drum, bass drum, tympani, cymbals, …).

Find the location where the object is hidden

Card game for children. This game is to pair two cards in coupling, ie, given the card with the item (eg. dog), find the card where the dog will be in a given situation (eg. behind a table). For Giulia (2 years e 2 months) it is a little difficult. Instead Andrew (3 years 8 months) is very fast in doing the right pair.

Read a book

Before going to sleep is a good thing read a book. Remember that what you do with your child before going to sleep are the things that he learns best, because during the night the baby’s brain elaborates what happened. Although it may seem tedious, it is good to read the same story, this helps the child’s mental development.
To all the kids like to watch a picture book with an adult. At the beginning you can choose the photos and say what it is.

Let the child give a name to what he sees. The most popular books are those with animals, those with little doors to open, and with different materials to touch.

Take time to read, once daily, with the child.
The photo album with pictures of relatives and family is a good starting point; ask him what he sees in the photos, so you can start a conversation.

The heuristic game

Here Giulia (22 months) struggling with this game, I would call a game for study and research. She enjoys and focuses on transfer of objects, in this case shells, from one container to another. Meanwhile, we can note the way in which she experiments with sound. She tries to fit a container to another. Even if it seem trivial, this is an important research work, leading Giulia to the knowledge and pleasure of knowledge. Are recorded only a few minutes, but Julia continued this game for half an hour. It is better to play this game without the presence of other children, especially if they are older, because they create noise and draw attention away from the game.

Role playing with other

Toys that help to identify himself in the role of the adult there are many. There is the game of doctor with the patient, the game of shopping at the supermarket. It’s also fun to set the table while another prepares the food in the kitchen, and so on.

I recall the importance of this type of game that is also an outlet in frustrating situations. Classic example is when in a family has just born another child, and brother or sister will take care of a doll, as he sees done by her mother.

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