Toddler activities with family photos
5 activities in the library use family photos, for toddlers aged 12 to 36 months: 2 starting 12–17 months and 3 starting from 24 months. Printed photos of familiar people, pets and places are the most meaningful pictures for naming, pointing and talking about.
Updated
Family photos: 5 activities to try
Safety: Cover printed photos with clear tape or a plastic sleeve so they do not get chewed or torn into small pieces.
5 activities
- Photo Wall Hello Kisses 12–20 months · 3–6 min · Indoors · Calm Your child greets low-hung photos of family members with waves, pats and blown kisses, practicing affection and learning the names of the people they love.
- Photo Wall Flap Hunt 13–22 months · 5–10 min · Indoors · Calm Your child lifts sticky-note flaps to find family photos taped to the wall while you name each person, building understanding of familiar names.
- Family Feelings Photo Cards 24–34 months · 5–10 min · Indoors · Calm You photograph family members making happy, sad, surprised and sleepy faces, then look at the prints together so your child names feelings on familiar faces.
- Family Photo Action Talk 24–34 months · 5–10 min · Indoors · Calm Look through printed family photos together and describe what people are doing, modeling action phrases like "Grandpa cooking" and expanding your child's words.
- Bedtime Day Recap 28–36 months · 3–8 min · Indoors · Calm At bedtime, hold one keepsake from the day, such as a big leaf, and take turns telling what happened, building back-and-forth conversation and memory talk.
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Family Photos at a glance
| Activities | 5, 1 on the low-prep menu |
|---|---|
| Ages covered (corrected) | 12–36 months |
| Focus time | 3–10 minutes |
| Main domains | 3 language and 2 social-emotional |
| Where they happen | 5 indoors |
| Quickest start | Photo Wall Hello Kisses, 3–6 minutes |
Every activity with family photos
Sorted by the first month each one fits (corrected age for children born early). Quick picks: for a calm moment, Photo Wall Hello Kisses; with no prep at all, Bedtime Day Recap.
| Activity | Ages | Minutes | Domain | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photo Wall Hello Kisses | 12–20 months | 3–6 | Social-emotional | 5 min |
| Photo Wall Flap Hunt | 13–22 months | 5–10 | Language | 5 min |
| Family Feelings Photo Cards | 24–34 months | 5–10 | Social-emotional | 5 min |
| Family Photo Action Talk | 24–34 months | 5–10 | Language | 5 min |
| Bedtime Day Recap | 28–36 months | 3–8 | Language | None |
How each activity uses family photos
- Photo Wall Hello Kisses (showing affection, 3–6 minutes): Tape four to six family photos at your child's eye level, with every edge taped down.
- Photo Wall Flap Hunt (understanding names of things, 5–10 minutes): Tape 3-4 family photos to a wall at your child's standing height and cover each one with a large sticky note.
- Family Feelings Photo Cards (naming feelings, 5–10 minutes): Ahead of time, print photos of family members each making one clear face: happy, sad, surprised or sleepy.
- Family Photo Action Talk (two-word phrases, 5–10 minutes): Choose photos that show people doing clear actions: eating, swimming, sleeping, cooking.
- Bedtime Day Recap (conversation turns, 3–8 minutes): One keepsake saved from the day: a large leaf, a pinecone, a drawing or a printed photo.
By age
12–17 months: 2 activities, 3–10 minutes. From 24 months: 3 activities, 3–10 minutes.
Starting 12–17 months
Starting from 24 months
Words that come up
Across these activities you will model “hello”, “kiss”, “love you”, “family names”, “who's that?”, “found you!”, “happy”, “sad”, “surprised”, “sleepy”, “what's she doing?” and “eating”. Say one at the moment it happens, then pause for your child's turn.
Safety with family photos
- Cover printed photos with clear tape or a plastic sleeve so they do not get chewed or torn into small pieces.
- Stick them at child height with low-tack tape, away from cords.
Prep tips
- Stick them low on the wall or in a small album.
- Add a new photo each week.
No family photos? Use instead
- Picture books with real photos.
- Pictures cut from catalogs and magazines.
- A homemade photo book.
Combine it with
Family photos are most often paired with painter's tape (2 activities), nature finds (1 activity) and sticky notes (1 activity). The skills practised most: conversation turns (2), naming things (2) and two-word phrases (2).
Often combined with
Skills practised
Frequently asked questions
What can a toddler do with family photos?
5 activities here use them, for example Photo Wall Hello Kisses (12–20 months), Photo Wall Flap Hunt (13–22 months) and Family Feelings Photo Cards (24–34 months). One is on the low-prep menu: no prep and 10 minutes or less.
Are family photos safe for toddlers?
Use them only with an adult close by. Cover printed photos with clear tape or a plastic sleeve so they do not get chewed or torn into small pieces. Stick them at child height with low-tack tape, away from cords.
What can I use instead of family photos?
Picture books with real photos, pictures cut from catalogs and magazines or a homemade photo book can stand in for most of these activities.
What ages are activities with family photos for?
They cover 12–36 months of corrected age: 2 starting 12–17 months and 3 starting from 24 months.
Related
Monitoring, not medical advice. Talk to your pediatrician about any concern. Our sources and method.