Easter activities for 18-month-olds

Easter ideas for 18-month-olds

Easter arrives with spring things a toddler can hold and hunt for: eggs that open and shut, baskets to fill, new grass and flowers to touch, and baby animals to name and copy. An egg hunt is a ready-made game of searching, carrying and counting, and it works just as well with empty plastic eggs and no sweets. Family meals and visits add new people to greet and new routines to share. The 6 ideas below overlap the 18-23-month band, best fit for 18 months first.

How to do Feed the Bunny Pretend

Feed a toy bunny pretend bites from a bowl, give it a drink and put it to bed, building a simple pretend routine one step at a time. Words to model: hungry, eat, munch, bunny. Use a whole lettuce leaf or a large toy carrot; raw carrot chunks are a choking risk.

1. 1

   Sit the bunny up and say "Bunny is hungry!"

2. 2

   Feed it one pretend bite with the spoon and make a munching sound.

3. 3

   Pass the spoon and pause; follow what your child does, even if Bunny gets fed by hand.

4. 4

   Add one new step: a drink from a cup, a wipe of the mouth or a nap.

5. 5

   Ask "What does Bunny need now?" and go with your child's answer.

More Easter ideas at 18 months

• Bubbly Egg Wash

  Wash plastic eggs in a basin of soapy water with a sponge, then dry them on a towel: a real job that doubles as water play. Ages 18-23 months, 6-15 min, indoors or out. Start: set the basin on a towel on the floor or outside, and drop the eggs in. Say: wash, squeeze, bubbles. Safety: Stay within arm's reach of the water the whole time, and empty the basin right after.

• Baby Animal Sounds Game

  Look at pictures or toys of chicks, lambs, ducklings and bunnies, make each animal's sound and let your child point to the one you name. Ages 18-23 months, 3-8 min, indoors. Start: open the book or line up the toys and name each one with its sound: "Chick. Peep peep." Say: peep, baa, quack. Safety: Use animal toys too big to fit through a toilet-paper tube.

• Grow Real Basket Grass

  Scoop soil into a tray, let an adult sprinkle grass seed, and water it with a little cup each day to grow real green grass for a basket. Ages 18-23 months, 5-12 min, indoors or out. Start: spread newspaper and let your child scoop soil into the tray with the cup. Say: scoop, pour, grow. Safety: Keep seeds in your hand or the packet; they are small enough to choke on or push into a nose.

• First Egg Hunt in Plain Sight

  Set out a few large plastic eggs in easy-to-see spots so your child can spot, point at, pick up and carry each one to the basket. Ages 18-23 months, 5-12 min, indoors or out. Start: place the eggs in plain sight: on the grass, beside a chair leg, on a low step. Say: where, egg, found it. Safety: Walk the hunt area first and clear sharp objects, pet waste and mushrooms.

• Hop, Waddle, Flap: Spring Animals

  Move like spring animals around the room or yard, hopping like a bunny, waddling like a duck and flapping like a chick, and copy each other. Ages 18-23 months, 4-10 min, indoors or out. Start: call out one animal and move like it: "Duck! Waddle, waddle." Say: hop, waddle, flap. Safety: Clear the floor of toys and rugs that slide, and keep away from stairs.

Easter 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.

• Plastic eggs should be at least the size of a hen's egg, and anything inside must be too big to fit through a toilet-paper tube: no jelly beans, mini eggs, coins or tiny toys.
• Keep baskets of candy and chocolate up high; hard candy, jelly beans, nut treats and foil wrappers are choking risks.
• Swap shredded plastic basket grass for a cloth or paper napkin, since toddlers mouth and swallow the strands.
• Refrigerate hard-boiled eggs used for decorating or hunts and do not eat any that sat out for hours; wash hands after touching raw eggs.
• Before an outdoor hunt, walk the yard and remove sharp objects, pet waste and mushrooms, and keep spring bulbs and plants such as daffodils away from mouths.
• Use a whole lettuce leaf or a large toy carrot; raw carrot chunks are a choking risk.
• Stay within arm's reach of the water the whole time, and empty the basin right after.
• Use animal toys too big to fit through a toilet-paper tube.

Easter words for 18-month-olds

Easter 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.

• Lift-the-flap books where animals or eggs hide under the flaps
• Board books about baby farm animals and the sounds they make
• Simple books about planting a seed and watching it grow
• Touch-and-feel books with soft, fluffy and smooth spring textures

Easter 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).

• A sturdy basket or small bag for carrying and collecting
• A set of large plastic eggs to open, shut and hide, without fillings
• A small watering can and a pot to grow something together
• A soft bunny or chick toy for pretend care
• Thick sidewalk chalk for older toddlers' first warm days outside

Library activities that suit Easter

Everyday activities from our library that fit 18-month-olds and the season's hunting, sorting and counting.

• Two-Hoop Nature Sort

  Outdoors, your toddler gathers big pinecones and leaves into a bucket, then sorts them into two hula hoops on the grass, one for each kind. Why now: tagged outdoors and nature and practices sorting. 8-15 min, no prep.

• Kick Over the Tube Pins

  Your child kicks a soft ball at a row of cardboard tubes standing up like bowling pins, practising aimed kicks and counting how many fall. Why now: tagged outdoors and practices counting. 5-12 min, 2 min prep.

• Egg Carton Latch Surprise

  A sock waits inside a closed egg carton; working out how to pop the latch open builds patience and two-handed problem-solving. Why now: practices finding hidden objects. 4-10 min, 2 min prep.

• Count-the-Stairs Walk Up

  Holding a rail or an adult's finger, the child walks up a few stairs while the adult counts each step, moving from crawling up toward walking up. Why now: practices counting. 3-8 min, no prep.

• One Sock Ball per Cup

  Your toddler drops rolled-up adult socks into the cups of a muffin tin, one per cup, hearing 'one', 'another' and 'full' as the tin fills. Why now: practices counting. 5-10 min, 2 min prep.

More seasonal ideas