Over 100,000 mums use the Playtime Planner from Cow & Gate

Keeping a growing and inquisitive toddler occupied can be an exhausting task. They often seem to have an abundance of energy and it's easy to run out of ideas for playtime games. This was the inspiration behind Cow & Gate's Playtime Planner: it's an online tool that offers suggestions for a wide range of toddler activities, both indoors and out.

Over 100,000 mums have used the Playtime Planner since its launch in September 2011. Mums can narrow their playtime search by entering their toddler's age, how long they want the activity to last or where they're playing (indoors/outdoors). Alternatively, mums can browse the whole range of activities and choose from one of the several on offer. Each activity is designed to make a toddler more aware of the surrounding world and to encourage learning through play.

To date, one of the most popular activities is Mirror Mirror: a simple game that involves pointing out a toddler's reflection, which helps to raise awareness of themselves as well as those around them. Other popular games include, Play Tent (creating an undercover space to play in), Look Over There (a way of pointing out interesting things) and Treasure Basket (a good test for a toddler's fine motor skills). What connects the top activities is that they all encourage learning and development, whether it's through fine motor skills or brain activity. Cow & Gate know mums love watching that little person emerge!

As well as providing suggestions for games and activities, Cow & Gate is also giving mums the chance to submit their own activities for toddlers. So far, hundreds of entries have been received and if one is chosen to be used on the site, then the author is rewarded with play equipment vouchers.

Cow & Gate aim to support toddlers amazing development. For parents, it's a time of amazing development during which their toddler will need the right nutrition, which is why Cow & Gate has developed Growing Up milk. It's specially tailored to meet a toddler's growing nutritional needs as they develop and find new ways of moving and playing.