Practical Life Ideas for 1-Year-Olds

Young toddlers are so fully capable of daily participation in own homes. Someone recently asked me if I had any ideas for appropriate practical life for 1-year-olds, and it occurred to me that I've never really made big list of all the work Gus did around that time. So, I'm going to share some ideas that could work for 1-year-olds.

There are a few things to remember here. The younger the child the less a child will be able to complete a cycle of activity and do the task from start to finish. Your child's own interest, and how relevant these tasks are to your home will also play a role in how your child engages with any task. Keep these things in mind when thinking about practical life tasks for your young toddler: 

This work will not be done the way you or I do it, and that's ok! And it may be that they just start by doing part of this work and learn more as they master. Now, let's get into some ideas! Remember to follow your child when introducing ideas. I will mark (with a *) those I think are best suited for older 1-year-olds. 

Self-care tasks are those that involve your child. Basically anything you do to keep your child happy and healthy. This varies greatly from child to child, house to house, and culture to culture. And for health and safety reasons, you might want to give your child a turn then you take a turn completing the task. Use this list as inspiration, not a strict guide or set of expectations. 

Choosing an outfit 

Dressing/Undressing

Gathering clothes to wear 

Putting on shoes 

Putting on socks* 

Putting on a jacket 

Zipping/buttoning a jacket* 

Using a washcloth to clean

Using soap to clean their bodies 

Brush teeth 

Applying toothpaste*

Comb hair 

Apply lotion 

Dry off body*

Gathering diaper/underwear 

Wiping after toileting

Throwing away diaper

Flushing toilet 

Washing hands 

Refilling diaper/underwear supplies 

Choosing when to use the toilet*

Placing dirty clothes into laundry 

Household cleaning tasks are anything you are doing to keep your house tidy, clean and organized. This is going to look and feel different for every family/household situation. 

Wiping up spills 

Using a spray bottle* 

Sweeping 

Moping 

Swiffering 

Dusting 

Using a small vacuum* 

Throwing something away 

Getting something from another room 

Placing an object back where it goes

Watering a plant

Cleaning up toys 

Restoring trays to shelves 

Refilling supplies on art shelves or other work*

Gathering laundry

Throwing laundry into basket 

Putting laundry into machine

Moving wet laundry to dryer or to a line 

Matching socks

Folding smaller clothes*

Sorting laundry into categories (towels, mom's clothes, etc)

Putting clothes/laundry where it belongs   

These kitchen and eating tasks probably could have fit under self-care and general cleaning but since it's such a big area, I wanted to separate it out. Again, use this as inspiration and make it relevant to your own child. This is just a small sample of the possible work, You can see more ideas for kitchen work here.

Pouring a drink 

Setting a place to eat 

Starting to use utensils 

Drinking from a cup 

Choosing when/how much to eat

Gathering a snack 

Choosing a snack

Gathering ingredients 

Placing ingredients in container 

Spreading with butter knife

Chopping soft foods 

Using a wavy chopper* 

Taste testing and watching you cook 

Pouring liquid or dry ingredients from one container to another

Putting away grocery items 

wiping down counter or table 

throwing away/composting food 

Bringing dirty dishes to sink/dishwasher

Rinsing dishes 

Cleaning dishes* 

Loading dishes into dishwasher or drying rack 

Practical life shouldn't be confined to the indoors, even for young toddlers. There are lots of ways that toddlers can get involved in practical tasks outside.

Pulling weeds 

Caring for outdoor animals - gathering eggs for example* 

Sweeping
Raking*

Watering 

Helping to plant seeds or young plants 

Scooping dirt into containers 

Shoveling snow*
Helping to wash a car/bike/toy
Gathering sticks/rocks from yard