1 to 2 years

Games for 1 year olds

Somewhere after the first birthday, “again!” becomes the favourite word. One-year-olds love games with a clear cause and effect: push it and it rolls, tap it and it sings, hide it and it comes back. Here are easy ideas for home, and the calm Glowbug games made for this age.

Games to play together at home

  • Roll a ball back and forth across the floor
  • Stack two or three cups, then knock them down together
  • Posting games: drop pegs or blocks into a box with a hole in the lid
  • Peekaboo with a scarf, then let them hide you
  • Fill and empty: a bucket, a few toys and lots of tipping out
  • Action songs with simple moves, like clapping, waving and “all fall down”

What a good screen game looks like at this age

  • Big targets that are easy to hit with a whole hand
  • Something happens on every touch, wherever it lands
  • No reading, no menus and nothing to get wrong
  • Gentle sound you control, and a clear ending

Glowbug games for 1 year olds

Pick “1 to 2 years” in the parent area and Glowbug shows the worlds and games that suit this age. Ten of the fifty games for this age are free.

  • Tiny Band: a drum, rainbow xylophone, bells and a shaker that play in tune whatever is tapped
  • Pop Party: friends float up in bubbles, ready to pop
  • Music Pads: big pads that each sing a note
  • Knock Knock: tap a door to see who lives there
  • Grow Grow: tap and watch little things grow big
  • Colour In: tap to fill a big picture with colour

Questions parents ask

What games do 1 year olds like?

Most one-year-olds love simple cause-and-effect games: rolling a ball, knocking down towers, posting objects into a box, peekaboo and action songs. Repetition is part of the fun.

Can a 1 year old play Glowbug?

Yes. Glowbug’s games for 1 to 2 years respond to any tap, anywhere, with big targets and nothing to win or lose. It works best with a grown-up alongside, for a few minutes at a time.

Are these games free?

Tiny Band and 10 library games for 1 to 2 year olds are free, with no ads and no account. Glowbug Plus adds the other 40.

Try Tiny Band