In addition to mental stimulation for your precious little one, it would be nice to get a few light chores done around the house while your toddler is happily busy with an entertaining and educational undertaking.

So what are some activities that could be planned for a 12 months and older toddler? Here a few great ideas. Please keep in mind that all of the activity ideas listed below require a degree of supervision, with some activities requiring more than others. Your parental instinct and discretion should guide you to how much supervision and attention is required.

Little Picasso in Training

Drawing and coloring is a great pastime that keeps the creative juices running. Children love to draw and color. The more colors available, the better because a variety of colors are a feast for your little ones visual abilities.

Why not prepare and setup a station in your home where your toddler can draw and color safely without getting the nice white walls and carpet stained? The larger the paper and crayons are, the better and safer it will be for your child. You can teach by drawing examples of simple happy faces, houses, and even stick people. Also, large coloring books are great for assisting with the development of your childs motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

Giant Building Blocks

Regular Lego sets are a definite hazard for toddlers. Oversize legos and building blocks are designed especially with toddlers and mind, and building blocks can keep your toddler busy for a bit of a while. You could start by teaching your child how to attach and stack these blocks for starters. As your child gets the hang of it after a while, you can incorporate different objects to stack these blocks into. Perhaps shapes of objects may include houses and triangles.

Beginning Musical Instruments

It is never too early to instill an appreciation for music in your children. Music is one of the greatest gifts that you could introduce your baby to, and often times many mothers decide to start this while the child is yet safely in womb.

Although it may not be ideal to allow your toddler to play with a full-sized musical instrument, play instruments especially made for children will do well enough. Miniature keyboards and ukuleles may very well lead into a desire later on in your childs life to learn the piano and guitar. Since children learn from imitation, you may want to show them a very easy tune to peck at such as Mary Had a Little Lamb or even Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.

These are just a few ideas on educational and entertaining activity ideas that you can incorporate into your list of possible things you could fill the day of your toddler with. Children are indeed a precious blessing, and the activities listed above will indeed keep them happy and constructively occupied.