I want to do some fun activities to spark my 13 month old son’s curiosity. I have him identify parts of body, colours, fruits and animals. I am happy with the way he picks up new things. He can not say the words such as apple but he can point to it if we ask him. What else can I do?
– mother in Visakhapatnam
(From India Homeschoolers)
What are the things he likes to do, with little or no suggestion? Few of us can be more curious than a 1 year old so just leaving time and space for him to explore & express will open up worlds of fun. Space is not only physical, also mental …. so if I may suggest, giving lists of things by category may curb exploration. Being surrounded by people already using names for things in fixed ways, kids are bound to pick up on these … but another, quite fascinating thing that kids do is to come up with original names and categories.
Like your son, my daughter also started pointing to hair, tummy etc and other objects well before she could talk and we never tired of asking her to do so. In retrospect, though I wonder if we should have slowed down.
Other fun activities I remember from when mine was around that age … singing, clapping, stomping, hide-n-seek with objects, blankets, playing with water/ mud, playing with kitchen vessels, “helping” in kitchen, washing vegetables, mixing dough, sweeping, washing, etc. And of course, messing!
Ask Amma 
Sometime within 13 and 16 months my daughter started really helping out empty grocery bags. I guess it started randomly one fine day with her curiosity leading her to the grocery bag full of fresh goodies (what gift basket could match the variety and interest of a grocery bag! ) She still does it at almost 2 years. Only with more gusto and greater ability to pick heavier things and by now it’s a real help. But at that time we used this activity to “learn” names of vegetables and other grocery items.. Not to mention giving her exposure to all those lovely textures, smells and tastes at the same time..
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