Mini-Pots
Your child will develop fine motor skills as she explores ways to work with clay.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Playdough or craft clay
Show your child how to roll the clay into a ball. Have her use her thumb to create an indentation in the middle and then pinch the sides out wider and higher to create a basic pinch pot.
Show your child how to roll sections of the clay into thin coils and then place the coils together to build the walls of a pot.
Bubbles
Bubbles are usually a good choice for entertaining young children. Toddlers especially love to watch them float, to chase them, and to pop them. All you really need is a nice breeze and a vial of bubble solution, but you can enrich bubble play with these activities.
Bubble Catch
Here is a fun and cooperative game that you can play with your young child.
The best part is that you will have pretty pictures when you are done.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Food coloring or tempera paint
2 small containers of bubble solution with bubble wands
2 sheets light-colored construction paper or poster board
Add 1 or 2 drops of food coloring or paint to each container of bubble solution.
Let your child gently blow bubbles toward you. Hold out the sheet of paper to catch the bubbles. Take turns blowing and catching the bubbles.
When you are done, each player will have a picture made by the bubble residue.
Homemade Bubble Solution
Save money and have fun at the same time. You can make as much bubble solution as you need when you need it. Just adjust the proportions to make the amount of solution you desire.
Activity for an individual child
Makes 5 cups
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
½ cup liquid dish soap
2 tablespoons glycerin or light corn syrup
5 cups water
Mix all ingredients together. Don’t be afraid to alter the proportions and experiment to create the perfect bubble solution.
Store in a spill-proof covered container.
Bubble Bonanza
This is a fun activity for a hot summer day.
Consider having a bubble bonanza at your next family gathering.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Enough Homemade Bubble Solution (see recipe above) to fill a small wading pool about 4 deep
Jumbo-sized wands and other tools, such as hula hoops
Fill a small wading pool with bubble solution to a depth of 4. Careful supervision is needed should a child step into it as the pool will be very slippery.
Gather large items for kids to use as wands. Try this fun idea: Have a child stand in the center of the pool. Place a hula hoop around her feet and slowly pull it up over the child to encase her in a bubble.
Bubble Tools
You do not need to rely on the traditional wands that come with commercial bubble solutions.
When you make your own bubble tools, you can control the size of the bubbles.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Here are just a few ideas for making new bubble wands and tools:
Twist together two pipe cleaners, then form them into a loop. Dip the loop into the bubble solution.
Show your child how to hold a plastic berry basket and dip it into the solution and wave his arm around to make lots and lots of bubbles all at once.
Tie a string to one loop of an unbroken six-pack holder and dip the whole thing into the bubble solution. Wave it around like a kite to get many, many gigantic bubbles.
Miscellaneous Materials
There are many materials that you can use for your child’s sensory play. Remember, the most successful activities are ones where your child is directly involved. Perhaps these activities will inspire you to explore some new things with your child.
Shaving-Cream Finger Painting
Toddlers love the feel of the shaving cream squishing through their fingers, and they enjoy the fresh smell as well. If your child can keep the mess contained on the pan, cleanup will be nice and easy.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Nontoxic shaving cream (a nonmenthol variety)
Large baking pan or cookie sheet
Squirt a blob of shaving cream on the baking pan in front of the child.
Encourage your child to smear and squish the shaving cream around, as he would with finger paint. Some children will dive right in, while others may be very reluctant to do this.
When your child is finished, simply wash the pan with hot, soapy water to remove the sticky shaving cream.
Scent Safari
Keep safety in mind while you do this activity with your child. If you use any cleaning, cosmetic, or toxic products, be sure to reinforce the idea that these products are not for the child’s use.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Lead your child around the house and find interesting things to smell. Some suggestions include onions, lotion, cedar chips, shampoo, and spices.
Bubble Wrap Fun
Save the bubble wrap that comes with packages. You can also buy quantities of it fairly cheaply.
Bubble wrap, like any other plastic, can be fatal if your child uses it to cover his face.
Always use with hands-on supervision.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Bubble wrap
Scissors
Tempera paint
Let your child enjoy popping the bubbles. Show him how to roll the wrap up to pop more than one at a time.
Spread the bubble wrap on the ground, and let your child walk and stomp on it.
Cut out small squares of bubble wrap. Show your child how to bunch it up and dip it in the paint. Let him push the painted bubbles on the paper for an interesting effect.
Squishy Bags
Here is the answer if you want to plan some great sensory experiences for your
young child but you want to avoid the mess.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
2 zip-top freezer bags
Sensory materials, such as mud, pudding, or hair gel
Super-strength glue
Fill a freezer bag approximately halfway with your chosen sensory material.
Glue the bag closed. Put that bag into the second bag and glue that one securely also. Your child can now squeeze and roll his sensory bag without fear of a mess.
Sensory Bottles
Sensory bottles tend to have a very calming effect on young children.
They love to shake them and roll them and watch the contents swirl around.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
1 or more (20-ounce) soda bottle(s)
Water
Liquid dish detergent, or
Cooking oil and food coloring, or
Light corn syrup or clear shampoo or hair gel
Small decorative items (such as sequins, buttons, or foil shapes)
Choose whether you would like to make a bubble bottle, wave bottle, or slow-motion bottle.
For a bubble bottle, fill the bottle ¾ of
the way with water. Add 2 tablespoons dish soap.
For a wave bottle, fill the bottle ¾ of the way with water. Add 2 tablespoons cooking oil and a few drops of food coloring.
For a slow-motion bottle, fill the bottle with corn syrup, shampoo, or hair gel. Add any of the small decorative items.
Be sure to seal the bottles so that they do not leak and your child does not have access to small parts that he can choke on.
Music Activities
It has been said that music soothes the savage beast. Whether that is true or not, you will find that music activities will engage and delight your child.
What’s Playing?
This activity will enhance your child’s listening skills and promote the
auditory discrimination needed for literacy skills.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Play a variety of instrumental musical selections. Select solo pieces that feature only one instrument at a time, such as dueling banjos, steel drum music, or piano solos.
Ask your child to identify the instrument that is playing. Some instruments are easier to identify then others. Start with drums, the tuba, and the piano.
Kazoo
This simple homemade instrument sounds a lot like the real thing!
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–30 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Pencil
Toilet paper tube
Markers
3 x 5 piece of waxed paper
Masking tape
Use the pencil to poke a hole into one wall of the tube, approximately 1 from the end.
Let your child decorate the tube with markers.
Secure the waxed paper over the end nearest the hole you created. Wrap tape around the lip to keep the waxed paper taut.
Show your child how to play the kazoo by pressing the little hole and humming in the open end of the tube.
Little Red Wagon
Start by placing your child on your lap. Position her so that her legs are over yours
and she is facing you. Be sure to hold her securely.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Recite the following rhyme and follow the motions:
Bumping up and down in the little red wagon
Bumping up and down in the little red wagon
Bumping up and down in the little red wagon
Oh (child’s name) aren’t you tired?
(bounce child on both knees simultaneously)
One wheel’s broke and the road is bumpy
One wheel’s broke and the road is bumpy
One wheel’s broke and the road is bumpy
Oh (child’s name) aren’t you tired?
(bounce child on knees, lifting one knee and then the other)
Try not to let the wagon tip over
Try not to let the wagon tip over
Try not to let the wagon tip over
Oh (child’s name) aren’t you tired?
(Sway your knees from side to side)
Visual Activities
Young children learn a lot about the world around them through their vision.
These activities are sure to engage your child.
Invisible Pictures
Your child will delight in the magic effect of this picture.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Lemon juice
Paper cup
White bond paper
Cotton swabs
Put the lemon juice in the paper cup.
Let your child paint on the paper with the lemon juice, using the cotton swabs as paintbrushes. Let the design dry and become invisible.
Hold the paper close to a light bulb (without letting it touch). The design will become visible as the juice turns brown.
Invisible Pictures 2
Here is another easy way to create magic pictures.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Bar of bath soap
Light-colored construction paper
Thick beginner’s pencil
Let your child use the soap bar as a crayon to create a design on the paper. Remind him to press hard.
Show him how to rub the side of the pencil over the drawing to make it magically appear.
Shine a Flashlight
Stick with a traditional flashlight rather than a laser pointer that could hurt someone’s
eyes if misdirected. Of course this game is more fun in the dark!
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Flashlight
Shine a flashlight on the child’s body parts or on objects in the room and ask your child to name them.
CHAPTER 7
Dance and Movement
Your young child is rapidly developing in many ways. In just a few short months, you will see her exhibit many new skills. From crawling to walking to running, these changes all happen in a short time. Your toddler needs many opportunities to develop her motor and coordination skills. The activities in this chapter will make skill development fun for both you and your child.
Dancing
Your toddler does not have to take lessons and learn fancy steps to dance. Encourage your child to be free with her movements. Let her use her body to express herself. Don’t be shy! Why not kick off your shoes and join in the fun?
Dancing Statues
This game will help your child develop listening skills and self-control while she has fun.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Music
Play music and encourage your child to dance. Randomly stop the music and ask the child to freeze a pose. As your child improves, you can ask her to hold the pose for longer periods of time.
Traffic Light
Your child can learn how to follow directions and develop self-control while she dances.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Scissors
Construction paper in red, yellow, and green
Paper plates
Stapler
Popsicle sticks
Music
Cut construction paper the size of paper plates. Staple paper to plates and attach Popsicle sticks. These are your traffic signals.
Play music for your child to dance to. Hold up the different colored signs as she dances. When you hold up the green sign, she should dance fast. The yellow sign means dance slowly, and when you hold up the red sign, she should stop.
Dancing Partner
Dancing with a partner takes extra skill and coordination.
Why not pair up your child with someone her own size?
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Music
Large doll
Play music for your child to dance to. Provide her with a large doll to serve as her dancing partner. Just about any doll will do, but a large rag doll works best.
Sock Hop
Turn back the sands of time and have an old-fashioned sock hop!
Activity for the whole family
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Oldies music from the 1950s and 1960s
Poodle skirts and leather jackets and other timely apparel (optional)
Kick off your shoes and play some oldies to dance to. You can even show your children how
to do some of the classic dances, like the twist or the swim.
Hula Dance
Start by making your own grass skirt. Hula dancing is great exercise too!
Activity for An individual child or a group
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 25 minutes
Colored crepe paper, streamers, or newspaper
An old belt or ribbon
Masking tape
Recording of Hawaiian music
Help your child tear the paper into long strips. Attach them to the belt or ribbon. The more you use, the better the effect.
Put the skirt on your child and have her remove her shoes.
Play some Hawaiian music and show your child how to sway her arms and hips to the music.
Action Plays
Action plays are popular with young children. They are a great way to engage your child’s imagination. Just about any story or rhyme can be adapted. Let these activities serve as an inspiration—maybe you can think of other ways to get your child to act out stories.
The Everything Toddler Activities Book Page 8