From those first sleepy newborn weeks to a busy two-year-old with plenty of ideas of their own, an incredible amount changes during the first two years.
But what does play actually look like at each stage?
This month-by-month guide explores some of the changes you might notice and the simple play opportunities that can complement your child’s development.
Remember: every baby develops at their own pace. Milestones are a guide, not a deadline, and there is a wonderfully wide range of typical development.
0–1 Month | Hello, world
Your newborn is adjusting to a completely new environment. At this stage, play is wonderfully simple.
You might notice: brief periods of alertness, responses to familiar voices and an interest in faces at close range.
Play ideas: skin-to-skin time, talking and singing, looking at faces and simple high-contrast images.
Worth considering: high-contrast cards, soft sensory items and simple black-and-white books.
1–2 Months | Looking & listening
Your baby may begin spending a little longer awake and taking in the world around them.
You might notice: more interest in faces, sounds and movement.
Play ideas: slowly move an interesting object within their field of vision, sing nursery rhymes and give them opportunities for supervised tummy time.
Worth considering: high-contrast toys, lightweight rattles and baby-safe mirrors.
2–3 Months | Discovering hands
Those little hands are becoming increasingly interesting!
You might notice: hands opening more often, attempts to reach towards objects and more purposeful looking.
Play ideas: offer easy-to-grasp toys, place interesting objects nearby during tummy time and talk to your baby while they explore.
Worth considering: grasping rattles, textured toys, mirrors and sensory cloths.
3–4 Months | Reaching & grabbing
Play starts becoming increasingly physical as babies discover that they can interact with what’s around them.
You might notice: reaching, swiping, grasping and bringing safe objects towards their mouth.
Play ideas: place toys within easy reach, encourage reaching from different positions and provide plenty of supervised floor play.
Worth considering: grasping toys, rattles, crinkle toys and activity gyms.
4–5 Months | Cause & effect
Shake something and it makes a noise. Kick something and it moves.
These discoveries can be fascinating.
You might notice: more purposeful grabbing, shaking and exploring objects with hands and mouth.
Play ideas: introduce toys that respond to baby’s actions and allow lots of repetition.
Worth considering: rattles, sensory balls, teethers and simple cause-and-effect toys.
5–6 Months | Explore, explore, explore
Your baby’s curiosity is growing.
You might notice: transferring objects between hands, reaching more accurately and becoming increasingly interested in textures, sounds and movement.
Play ideas: offer different safe textures, roll a ball nearby and explore books together.
Worth considering: sensory balls, textured toys, easy-to-grasp objects and baby-safe books.
6–7 Months | Sitting changes everything
As sitting develops, your baby’s hands can become free to investigate toys in completely new ways.
You might notice: banging, dropping, grabbing and examining objects from different angles.
Play ideas: place a small selection of toys around them, stack cups for them to knock over and explore objects together.
Worth considering: stacking cups, sensory balls, rattles and simple musical toys.
7–8 Months | Where did it go?
Babies are beginning to develop their understanding that things can still exist even when they can’t immediately see them.
Play ideas: peekaboo, partially hiding a toy under a cloth and putting objects into containers.
Worth considering: scarves, cups, balls and simple object-permanence toys.
8–9 Months | Moving towards something
Some babies may be rolling, shuffling, crawling or finding their own completely unique way of getting around.
Play ideas: position favourite toys slightly out of reach, roll balls across the floor and create safe opportunities for movement.
Worth considering: rolling toys, balls, activity toys and simple ramps.
9–10 Months | In, out, again!
Putting objects into containers — and immediately tipping them back out — can provide endless entertainment.
Play ideas: filling and emptying baskets, dropping balls into containers and hiding toys to discover.
Worth considering: posting toys, nesting cups, containers and balls.
10–11 Months | Busy little hands
Fine motor skills are becoming increasingly precise.
Play ideas: stacking, posting, turning chunky book pages and exploring toys with moving parts.
Worth considering: simple posting toys, stacking rings, chunky puzzles and interactive books.
11–12 Months | Copying you
Around the first birthday, you may start noticing your baby copying more of what they see.
Play ideas: waving, clapping, rolling a ball backwards and forwards, singing action songs and demonstrating simple ways to use toys.
Worth considering: balls, stacking toys, simple instruments and everyday pretend-play objects.
Welcome to toddlerhood
The second year brings huge changes in movement, communication, independence and imagination.
12–13 Months | Little problem solvers
Your child may start experimenting rather than simply handling a toy.
Play ideas: posting, stacking, filling and emptying.
Worth considering: shape sorters, posting boxes, stacking rings and nesting toys.
13–14 Months | On the move
Movement may become a huge part of play.
Play ideas: pushing, pulling, carrying objects and retrieving toys from around the room.
Worth considering: pull-along toys, balls, vehicles and sturdy push toys.
14–15 Months | Copy me!
Toddlers learn an enormous amount by watching everyday life.
Play ideas: brushing a teddy’s hair, pretending to stir with a spoon, putting toys to bed and copying household routines.
Worth considering: dolls, soft animals and simple pretend-play objects.
15–16 Months | Building up… knocking down
Stacking becomes increasingly interesting — although knocking everything down may still be the best bit!
Play ideas: building small towers, nesting cups and experimenting with balance.
Worth considering: blocks, stacking cups and simple construction toys.
16–17 Months | Words everywhere
Understanding and communication are developing rapidly during the toddler years.
Play ideas: name objects during play, look at picture books together, sing songs and give children time to respond.
Worth considering: picture books, animal figures, familiar-object puzzles and song-based toys.
17–18 Months | I can do it!
Independence is growing.
Toddlers may become increasingly determined to complete tasks themselves.
Play ideas: simple puzzles, posting activities, carrying objects and giving them time to work things out before stepping in.
Worth considering: chunky puzzles, posting toys, shape sorters and threading-style activities designed for this age.
18–19 Months | Pretend play begins to grow
A block might become a phone. Teddy might need some lunch.
Welcome to the beginnings of increasingly imaginative play.
Play ideas: feeding a doll, making pretend drinks and copying familiar routines.
Worth considering: play food, dolls, animals and simple role-play accessories.
19–20 Months | Sorting & matching
Toddlers may begin noticing similarities and differences between objects.
Play ideas: matching familiar objects, sorting simple items and talking about colours, shapes and sizes without expecting them to know the answers.
Worth considering: simple matching toys, shape sorters and puzzles.
20–21 Months | Building bigger ideas
Construction play can become increasingly purposeful.
Play ideas: towers, roads, little houses and combining blocks with vehicles or figures.
Worth considering: wooden blocks, large construction pieces, vehicles and small-world figures suitable for the child’s age.
21–22 Months | Tell me more
Language and play increasingly begin to work together.
Play ideas: narrate what your child is doing, give choices, sing familiar songs and pause to let them join in.
Worth considering: books, puppets, animal figures and pretend-play sets.
22–23 Months | Imagination is growing
Pretend play can become more detailed.
A toy animal might go to sleep. A doll might need dinner. A cardboard box might become a car.
Play ideas: keep pretend play simple and let your child lead the story.
Worth considering: open-ended blocks, dolls, play food, vehicles and animal figures.
23–24 Months | Two years of incredible development
By two, play can look completely different from those first newborn weeks.
Your toddler may be running, building, pretending, communicating and solving simple problems — often all within the same play session.
Play ideas: provide opportunities for movement, construction, pretend play, books, puzzles and open-ended exploration.
Worth considering: blocks, puzzles, pretend-play sets, books, vehicles and creative or sensory materials appropriate for their age.
The most important toy isn’t always a toy
Across every one of these stages, there is one thing babies and toddlers benefit from enormously:
You.
Talking, singing, responding, cuddling, copying, laughing, reading and simply sitting alongside your child while they explore can turn the simplest object into a meaningful play experience.
You don’t need a room overflowing with toys.
Choose a few thoughtfully, rotate them as interests change and give children the time and space to discover what they can do.
And remember — development isn’t a race.
One baby might crawl early and talk later. Another might spend weeks fascinated by one particular type of play before suddenly moving on.
Follow the child in front of you rather than the calendar.
Because when we understand the why behind the toy, we can choose less, play more and give children opportunities to learn naturally.
‘Wholesome moments of play’
