These gross motor activities for toddlers are the perfect way to get your little one up and moving!
There are tons of fun and simple ways to promote gross motor skills in your child between ages 1 and 2. And the best part of kids at this age is that they’re curious about everything, which makes it easy to get their attention and engage in exploration, climbing, and learning about how their bodies move in space.
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Here are some of our favorite ways to promote gross motor development in your 1 to 2-year-old!
Gross Motor Activities for Toddlers
1 || Work on balance.
Try one of these fun balance challenges for one-year-olds from My Life and Kids!
2 || Crawling practice
Practicing crawling or walking over pillows is awesome for strength, balance, body awareness, and coordination.
3 || Use building blocks to encourage gross motor skills.
Check out these creative ways to use blocks for gross motor activities!
4 || Clean up!
Walking and squatting/bending to pick up objects helps little ones learn how to regain their balance when they’re on the move! Simply cleaning up the toys around the room in this way is great for balance and strengthening.
5 || Bedtime gross motor fun
Work in some gross motor fun before bed with this fun bedtime activity!
6 || Early practice with stairs
Practice stepping up onto a 2 to 4-inch surface (a curb or low step).
7 || Giant shape sorter
Make a giant shape sorter like this one from Pink Oatmeal! Have your child walk and squat to retrieve an object off of the floor to put in the correct shape!
8 || More practice on the stairs
Place favorite toys/objects at the top of the steps and have the child crawl/climb up (with supervision) to retrieve them and bring them back down to put in a box/basket at the bottom of the steps.
9 || Obstacle course play
Set up a baby obstacle course like this one from Octavia and Vicky to get your little one moving and shaking!
10 || Jumping and climbing practice
How about jumping or climbing through some hoops? Or check out these great indoor climbing toys for toddlers!
Want to learn more about toddler development? These are the milestones you can expect from ages 1 to 2.
Check out some of our favorite sensory activities for toddlers and fine motor skills activities for toddlers.
Learn all about developmental milestones and activities for kids to boost development from birth to age 5.
Don’t miss our free checklist for 12, 15, and 18 month old milestones red flags!
