Hi,
I'm not sure what activities to do with the baby now that she is almost 14 months old. I went to work full time when my first born was 13 months old and never had to think about this before.

This time I'm working part time at night so I need some helpful tips on what activities are going to entertain her during the day and help me interact with her and also have fun together.

My babies have all loved being sung to and playing instuments together..It is really noisy and pretty unharmonious, but lots of fun. Big wooden puzzles with knobs on them is great, even though you have to give them a hand, they love to see the picture coming together. Of course, their attention spans are very short, so don't expect too much! water play is great - buckets, cups and water toys outside - even in a bucket - they will enjoy (completely supervised though). I have always had a routine of separating a few boxes of toys and rotating them every few days. When they are so little and you bring out a 'new' box of toys, it is like christmas again. They don't get sick of the same ones, and they don't get buried at the bottom of a toybox never to be seen again. The best advice I would give is to get them involved with your housework. It may seem boring to you (and it is!) but toddlers think it's a great game and it sets them up for life as being a contributing member of your household. Just helping you pull up the doona, or shake the mats, or wipe the bench makes them feel very helpful and it's fun. This may seem like a hinderance to getting it done properly, but it's better than a whining toddler looking for your attention when you have work to do. My kids also just loved a walk up the footpath when they were first walking. Not a big walk, but a slow, discovery walk where everything they see is exciting, and you take home a pocket full of treasures like rocks and leaves! just check pockets before you wash. baby will mostly be happy just to be with you.

Some public libraries hold storytime sessions for toddlers..."Toddler Time." These are free of charge and include simple stories, songs, rhymes, etc. You don't need to make a booking; you just turn up!

My 14 month old boy has just started at Gymbaroo and he loves it. Lots of climbing, jumping, rolling, playing...then story & song time on the floor. Only thing is, it's quite expensive.

Other activities you could try include swimming (either lessons....or just go for a casual swim), going to the park, join a playgroup, go to an indoor play centre (these usually have great areas set up for babies / toddlers).

Have fun
Michelle

Hiya,
My little boy is 14 months, and he loves any kind of activity where I'm down on his level, sitting or lying on the floor so he can see my face. His current favourites are making (and demolishing) block towers and putting blocks into containers and taking them out again, he loves to take turns, I build a tower, he knocks it over, then he builds a tower and waits for me to knock it over.