Almost any game you play with a one-year-old child is an opportunity for him to learn. Whether you are using toys, books, materials from outdoors or simply your own bodies, young toddler games naturally encourage hand-eye coordination, language development, spacial reasoning and interpersonal skills. Children at this age have a short attention span and little patience, so be prepared to change activities often.
Development
Your one-year-old is probably learning to talk, walk, jump, put objects inside other objects and stack things. In addition to these motor skills, she is also learning how people behave, the relationship between size and weight, what happens to an object when you hide it and how to recognize patterns. Games like hide-and-seek and patty-cake reinforce these skills, as do any activities in which your child gets to hold and manipulate objects. She can also learn by mimicking you performing daily activities -- model talking on the phone, brushing your teeth and cooking, and encourage her to imitate you.
Literacy
At this age, your child is old enough to develop an appreciation for reading, even though he is still several years away from learning to read himself. Dr. Laura L. Bailet of KidsHealth encourages parents to read to their toddlers many times a day. Choose books with repetitive, rhythmic patterns, or select stories about kids your child's age. Your one-year-old will learn to love books and reading even if he does not sit still, look at the words or listen to the book from cover to cover.
Outdoors
When your child begins to get restless, take her outside, weather permitting. Go for walks in your neighborhood, or visit your local park. Name the objects on the street for her, and let her touch anything that isn't dangerous or unsanitary. She learns from everything she sees, and the more detailed her sensory experience is, the more she benefits. Leaving the house also provides the opportunity for her to interact with unfamiliar adults, children of all ages and dogs, which contributes to her socialization.
Toys
If you run out of inspiration for ways to occupy your child, give him something to play with. Toddler-specific toys, such as boxes with holes in the sides and matching shapes to push through them, are designed to improve a child's hand-eye coordination and spacial awareness. Toys with buttons that trigger flashing lights or snippets of music demonstrate causal relationships and help your child learn that his actions can create predictable reactions. However, special toys are not really necessary to entertain your toddler -- a large cardboard box, some wooden spoons and a plastic bowl will serve just as well.
