Christmas activities for 18-month-olds

Christmas ideas for 18-month-olds

The weeks before Christmas are full of things a toddler can touch, hear and help with: paper to tear, bells to shake, lights to switch on and boxes to carry. A few minutes a day of focused play with these seasonal materials turns a long, exciting wait into a routine, and gives you a gentle way to teach the tree's look-and-touch rule. On the day itself, a few gifts opened slowly and a protected nap usually go better than a big pile at once. The 15 ideas below overlap the 18-23-month band, best fit for 18 months first.

How to do Look-and-Touch Tree Tour

Holding your hand, your child tours the tree, touching soft ornaments on the low branches and only looking at the rest, which teaches the tree's simple rule. Words to model: touch, look, gentle, pretty. Anchor the tree so it cannot tip if pulled.

1. 1

   Walk around the tree together and point to a soft ornament: "This one: touch."

2. 2

   Show a gentle one-finger touch and wait for your child to try.

3. 3

   Point higher and put your hands behind your back: "Those: look."

4. 4

   Describe what they do: "Gentle touch. Good looking."

5. 5

   Repeat the short tour daily; the rule sticks through repetition, not lectures.

More Christmas ideas at 18 months

The ideas written up here sit closest to 18 months; Neighborhood Lights Walk (18-30 mo), Evergreen Branch Smell and Touch (12-18 mo), Jingle Bell Shake and Stop (12-18 mo), Unbreakable Ornament Basket (12-18 mo), Reindeer Stomp and Gallop (14-20 mo), Stocking Surprise Reach-In (12-18 mo), Unwrap-a-Toy Practice (12-18 mo) and Holiday Song Dance and Freeze (20-30 mo) also overlap this age and are described on the neighboring age page.

• Wrapping Paper Ball Kick

  Your child kicks and throws big crumpled balls of used wrapping paper into a box, turning the after-gift mess into a soft ball game and a tidy-up. Ages 15-22 months, 3-10 min, indoors. Start: crumple a ball as big as a melon while your child listens to the crunch. Say: kick, in the box, crunch. Safety: Make the balls big and tight, and collect torn bits before they are chewed.

• Special Delivery Gift Walk

  Your child carries wrapped empty boxes to each family member by name, practising one-step directions and the fun of handing something over. Ages 18-26 months, 4-10 min, indoors. Start: hand your child a box and say one name with a point: "Give it to Papa." Say: give, for you, family names. Safety: Use light, empty boxes with no staples.

• Find the Present Hide-and-Seek

  Your child searches for a wrapped box hidden behind cushions and doors, following your pointing and words to find it. Ages 18-26 months, 4-10 min, indoors. Start: hide the box half visible behind a cushion while your child watches. Say: where?, behind, found it. Safety: Hide it only at floor level, never on shelves or near the tree.

• Holiday Card Mailbox

  Your child posts old holiday cards through a slot in a cardboard mailbox and names the pictures, turning the card pile into a posting game. Ages 18-26 months, 4-10 min, indoors. Start: cut the slot before play and show the box: "Mailbox!" Say: post, in, star. Safety: Leave out musical or light-up cards: they hold button batteries.

• Painter's Tape Wall Tree

  Your child decorates a tree outline taped on a wall or door with paper ornaments on tape loops, a hands-on tree they are allowed to touch. Ages 18-28 months, 5-12 min, indoors. Start: tape a big triangle tree with a trunk on a wall at your child's height. Say: on, top, bottom. Safety: Pre-make the tape loops and collect stray bits; tape is easy to mouth.

• Wrap a Gift for Teddy

  Your child helps wrap a box with paper and pre-torn tape strips, then gives it to a stuffed animal, practising giving as well as getting. Ages 18-26 months, 5-12 min, indoors. Start: put the box on the paper and fold one side over while your child watches. Say: wrap, tape, for you. Safety: Use pre-torn painter's tape, never a dispenser with a cutting edge.

Christmas safety for 18-month-olds

Seasonal hazards first, then the precautions of the ideas on this page. Stay within arm's reach whenever water, food or small decorations are involved.

• Anchor the tree to a wall or use a wide, heavy stand so it cannot tip when pulled, and keep the water in the stand covered.
• Glass, small and food-like ornaments and all metal hooks go above your child's reach; the low branches get only large, unbreakable ones.
• Light strings and extension cords stay behind furniture or taped down, and the lights go off when no adult is in the room.
• Button batteries hide in musical cards, remote controls, light-up toys and battery candles: keep compartments screwed shut and get emergency care at once if one may have been swallowed.
• Ribbons, bows, tinsel, gift-bag cords, holly and mistletoe berries and the small parts of older children's gifts are choking and strangling hazards; tidy them away as gifts are opened.
• Make the balls big and tight, and collect torn bits before they are chewed.
• Use light, empty boxes with no staples.
• Hide it only at floor level, never on shelves or near the tree.

Christmas words for 18-month-olds

Christmas books to share

Kinds of books to look for at the library. At 18 months, point and name, then pause and let your child point.

• Touch-and-feel books with soft, shiny and bumpy pages of the season
• Lift-the-flap books with a present or an animal behind each flap
• Board books built around one carol you can sing while turning the pages (skip sound-chip books unless the battery cover is screwed shut)
• Stories about waiting, giving and visiting family over the holidays

Christmas gift and basket ideas for 18-month-olds

Open-ended things that fit 18-23 months; check every part against the choking-size rule (nothing that fits through a toilet-paper tube).

• Nesting and stacking cups that double as bath and sandbox toys
• A set of large wooden or foam blocks
• A doll or soft animal with a small blanket, bowl and spoon for pretend care
• A sturdy push toy or low ride-on for steady walkers
• An art basket: jumbo crayons, a chunky brush, washable paint and a roll of paper

Library activities that suit Christmas

Everyday activities from our library that fit 18-month-olds and the season's songs, books, wrapping paper and family visits.

• Kitchen Pot Band

  Your child bangs pots, a baking sheet and a wooden spoon to hear different sounds, then copies loud, soft and stop, early music and listening play. Why now: tagged music and practices making music. 3-8 min, no prep.

• Sticky Tab Page Turner

  Folded sticky-note tabs on the page edges of a board book give small fingers a handle, so your child turns the pages while you share the pictures. Why now: tagged book and practices turning pages. 5-10 min, 2 min prep.

• Scarf Float Up-and-Down Song

  You sing a short up-and-down song while tossing a light scarf; your child watches it drift, reaches, then copies the toss and the song's actions. Why now: tagged music and practices action songs. 3-8 min, 2 min prep.

• Tap Test: Pot, Box or Towel

  With a wooden spoon, your child taps a pot, a cardboard box and a folded towel and discovers that each one answers with a different sound, or none. Why now: tagged music and practices making music. 3-8 min, no prep.

• Blanket Wave Teddy Bounce

  You and your child hold a blanket and wave it high, low and fast while singing, making a teddy bounce, then freeze together on "stop". Why now: tagged music and practices action songs. 5-10 min, 2 min prep.

A 24-day mini-advent for 18-month-olds

One short activity a day from December 1 to 24: the Christmas ideas above on odd days and library activities for 18 months in between. Repeating a favorite is fine; repetition is how toddlers learn.

More seasonal ideas