Best Montessori Activities for a 15-Month-Old Toddler

At 15 months old a toddler will likely be taking steps on their own, saying a few words, showing lots of love and affection, and mimicking actions they see around them. This age of development is an ideal time to offer engaging activities to support their growth and development. One key way we can be prepared to offer developmentally appropriate activities to our toddlers is by preparing the environment. In this post, you will get ideas for the best Montessori activities for a toddler to engage all aspects of their development. Let’s jump into it!

Sensory Activities

Sensory play is so much fun for young children. It is a great way to engage their senses and allow for self-exploration. Remember that at this age many toddlers are still actively putting things into their mouth as a way to explore. Offer safe options and hold off on any small objects until a bit later. Here are a few fun sensory activities my twins have enjoyed at 15 months old. Sensory experiences like water, oatmeal, and playdough are just a few things to explore! 

Dry Oatmeal Sensory Bin 

This one is so easy and provides fun for those little hands for a long time. Dry oatmeal is safe to be eaten raw, so you don’t have to worry about them putting it in their mouth. Use a sensory table with bins or just a storage bin. I like the storage bin because I can close it up and put it away when I’m not okay with oatmeal all over my kitchen. This fun activity is not without a mess. However, it cleans up quickly with a broom! Dry oatmeal play is a great opportunity for your toddler to have sensory exploration with a new texture. You can add some scoops or spoons to the bin for additional fun. Small animal figurines or cars are another great option as add ins.

Water Play

It is likely no surprise that babies and toddlers love water! It just makes sense since they were surrounded by water for the first 9 months of their life. Water play is a great sensory activity and a perfect way to get outside. Some water play activities include a water table, a small pool, and a water sprinkler. If you are in a season where you can’t get outside for water play, allowing extra time in the bath or going to a local pool can be fun ways to offer water play. Adding some bath toys like cups and sponges can be a fun addition to bath time! 

​Playdough 

For a while, I thought I would have to hold off on introducing playdough because my twins were still putting things in their mouths. However, what I found was, that homemade playdough is extremely salty making them not want to put it in their mouths. By making homemade playdough, you know how it is made and can ensure it is safe for your baby to play with. I tried this recipe and it was super easy and fast to make! Playdough is a great sensory activity for modeling new skills like using a rolling pin, cutting, and forming different shapes. You can make it in all different colors and it is fun for you to play with too! 

Fine Motor Skill Developmental Activities

There are so many activities we can introduce to toddlers to refine and introduce fine motor skills. Puzzles, shape sorting, or drawing are all wonderful things for a toddler’s development. A Montessori coin box is one of the best Montessori toddler activities we have had around in our environment. My sons love to open the drawer and drop the coins into the slot.

Your child may be ready to start using crayons for scribbling on construction paper. Choose a safe and natural crayon, like these beeswax crayons. Depending on how much your baby likes to explore objects in their mouth, you may need to wait a little while to introduce crayons. 

Fine Motor Activities Through Practical Life

A great way to develop fine motor skills is through activities of practical life. These are things such as picking up bits of food with a pincer grasp, spreading peanut butter on toast with a spreader, or scrubbing a table. The best way to develop these skills is to give opportunities to practice these controlled movements that require dexterity and concentration, but that they naturally want to do.

Gross Motor Skill Development

Your baby may have already taken their first steps, but if not don’t worry. It is normal for babies to walk at different times anywhere from 10 to 18 months old. The best thing we can do is to offer them materials that help support their gross motor skill development within their environment.

Climbing

We can offer opportunities for them to climb and move about freely. A Pikler triangle or a platform and ramp are a great way to promote gross motor skills. Use my code “MONTESSORITWIN10” for a discount on your order at RAD Children’s Furniture and check out lots more of their Montessori climbing pieces.

Walking

You can support the early stages of walking with a walker wagon or a small chair. One of our sons’ favorite things is to push these weaning chairs around the house. Offering a new terrain for walking could add some variety to their walking. You could try this during a nature walk where you can follow your child’s lead (within reason). Give them opportunities to explore nature around them, while still ensuring their safety. Children are born little explorers, it is what they are wired to do and how they learn about their environment.

If you have a more established walker, they may enjoy opportunities to climb on a playground or walk up or down an incline, which can be a great new adventure. 

Balance Bike

A balance bike may be another way to support gross motor skills in your toddler. A balance bike will stand up on its own and doesn’t have pedals, making it a great first bike for toddlers. They will have a great time learning how to push off with their feet. You can show them how to do this but also allow opportunities for them to explore how the bike works at their own pace. 

Other Ideas

Playing simple games like tossing a ball back and forth can be a great way to build hand-eye coordination. Having a basket of balls in your environment is perfect at this age and can lend itself to so many more playful activities. 

Language and Cognitive Development

Language development at this stage is ramping up. A child is absorbing everything around them, especially language! We want to offer rich language experiences with many opportunities for reading books and hearing the names of objects.

Supporting Language Development at Home

We can identify their body parts while getting dressed as well as name the different articles of clothing. Singing and music are also a part of the language. I find it helpful to sing in moments of slight overwhelm. It channels a different part of my brain and gets my children’s attention in a new way as well. We listen to a lot of music in our house, the most recent favorite has been Mister Rogers! If you are looking for wholesome children’s music, this is it!

Your toddler understands what you are saying, even if they can’t respond to you. You can introduce some sign language. We have been using signs such as “MORE“, “ALL DONE“, and “WATER“. These simple signs can help communication in those months when words are still coming.

Your young toddler will likely start responding to simple commands like asking them to hand you something or point to a certain body part. We want to be careful to not quiz our children. Instead, we want to offer many opportunities for them the hear the words used, without needing to perform for us. We can still figure out what they know but without putting them on the spot. For example, when you are getting dressed to leave the house, you can ask your toddler to lift their foot so you can help put on their sock. This is natural and very different from randomly asking them where their foot is. Those games can be fun at times too, but often end in the adult correcting the child.

Developmentally Appropriate toys

Here is a list of some of the toys that have been in toy rotation this month with our twins on our Montessori shelves or used in the home. Having age-appropriate toys will enhance your child’s engagement with their environment. You can rotate these toys rather than having them all out at once.

Connection Activities with Toddlers

I love finding moments to connect with my boys through practical life. Things like doing laundry together, unloading the dishwasher, or sweeping up a mess. They are very exciting activities for them and they want to be a part of them! You may be surprised at how much a child can do at a young age. When you slow the task down and model what you want your child to do, they will probably be able to do it. These are great practical ways to develop hand-eye coordination and cooperation. Practical life is one of the best ways to engage my children. If we are having a hard moment, usually starting to unload the dishwasher together turns that right around! They feel valued and helpful. These are some of the most common and powerful activities we can be doing in our home with our toddlers.

Conclusion

One of the best ways to support your toddler’s development is through a variety of easy activities like practical life, gross motor opportunities, engaging toys, and sensory play with different textures. I hope this post has helped offer some new activities you can try with your toddler. Many, if not all of these, will be fun toddler activities for months to come. Toddlers are experiencing so many new emotions and developing so many skills that we need to be able to hold space for. We need to prepare ourselves as the adult in the home or care facility to help support and meet their needs. When we understand their needs, we will have a better and more fun time meeting those needs. If you try any of these activities, let me know in the comments! Or if you have other fun activities, share those as well!