Age Range: 36 months and up
Read a book halfway through and ask your child what she thinks might happen next. If she isn’t sure how to decide, ask her what the character might do next based on what has just happened in the story. Give your child a few ideas to get her going. Then check back and see what does happen next. Or read a book almost to the end and let her finish the story with her own ending. Kids also enjoy it when a parent finishes a familiar story in a different way. That way, the child gets to tease the parent by saying, “That isn’t the way it ends!”
178
Introducing Humor
Age Range: 36 months and up
Kids laugh at the silliest things. Find a way to incorporate humor into your daily lives. It may seem immature to walk into a wall or pretend to fall, but it will make your child’s day. Next time you are putting your shoes on, put the sock on your hands, or put mittens on your feet. Put your clothes, jacket, and hat on backwards and then walk backwards. Pretend that the ice cubes are really hot and that sweet candy is sour. Make sure to add silly words to your sentences once in a while: “Look son, it’s raining candy and ice cream!” It is never too late to act childish.
Nature Connection
179
Mud Prints
Age Range: 15 months and up
Mud provides a wonderful sensory experience. Mix the mud out in your yard by watering a patch of dirt and then stirring it with a stick. Put the mud on top of a plastic plate, then press a hand or foot firmly into the mud. Repress the urge to wiggle your fingers and toes! Decorate the print with rocks, leaves, or other natural items, then let it dry. If your child is interested in the idea of animal footprints, you may want to create a mud patch in your yard to capture the prints. Make sure to wet your mud patch down each night and then check it in the morning for visitors.
* Words of Wisdom *
Stick a bucket outside to measure the rain or snowfall. Put a stick or ruler inside with marks for inches.
—Kim, Park Rapids, Minnesota
180
Nature Collecting
Age Range: 15 months and up
Materials
Shoe box
Contact paper
Tape
Kids have a tendency to want to touch almost everything they see. Nature exploration offers your child an opportunity to pick up and interact with all sorts of textures and scents. Create a nature box to store little treasures on your journey into the wild. Tape contact paper sticky-side-up to the lid of the box. Things like flower petals, leaves, grass, or other flat, lightweight objects can be attached directly to the top. The items on the top become permanent decorations for your nature box. Put bigger items inside the box.
* Words of Wisdom *
Whenever we go for a walk, my daughter asks me to make a masking-tape bracelet for her. I use several widths of masking tape sticky-side-up so that my daughter can attach whatever she finds on our walk to her bracelet.
—Tina, Grafton, Wisconsin
181
Sand Play
Age Range: 15 months and up
Sand offers unlimited tactile, building, and make-believe opportunities. Here are a few favorites:
Take artificial flowers and “plant” a garden in your sandbox.
Make sand saucers by filling a saucer or plate with damp sand. Press flowers or other small objects into the sand, making designs, scenes, or mandalas.
Play a game of Find That Hand. Your child digs his hand deep into the sand as you dig your hand under from a different direction with the goal of touching fingers somewhere in the middle.
Have a treasure hunt in the sandbox. Bury cars, blocks, small balls, and pieces of twine. Have your child use a kitchen strainer or her hands to find them.
Build sand cities using boxes and containers on top of watereddown sand.
Use blocks to build roads, then plant handmade flags or fences. Bring a plastic tea set outside and have tea parties, serving sand cookies.
182
Dry Aquarium
Age Range: 18 months and up
Materials
Large, clear plastic storage bin
Sand or colored gravel from a pet store
Plastic plants and fish
Most toddlers, when viewing a fish aquarium, would love to reach their hands into the water to feel the fish, bright plants, and plastic scenery. Since that isn’t possible, why not create an aquarium your child can reach into? Fill the bottom of a storage bin with sand or colored gravel. Stick the plastic plants and decorations into the gravel. Add the plastic fish, and fill halfway up with water.
* Words of Wisdom *
Boil seashells with bleach to clean them out so they don’t smell.
—Jason, Brecksville, Ohio
183
Feed the Birds
Age Range: 18 months and up
It’s fascinating to watch birds eat. The following homemade bird feeders are sure to attract a flock.
Roll a pinecone first in peanut butter, then in the birdseed. Hang the cone with string outside a window where it can be observed.
Use a half-gallon cardboard milk carton. Cut out large windows on all four sides, leaving two inches at the top and bottom. Decorate the outside of the carton. Poke two holes through the top, and tie a string through each hole. Fill with birdseed.
Cut a hole through the middle of an apple. Thread an old shoestring through and hang the apple from a tree.
Use a needle and thread to make a string of popcorn, berries, raisins, and apples. If you have an evergreen shrub or small tree in your yard, drape the string of food around the tree.
* Words of Wisdom *
Put an old baby monitor near the bird feeder so you can hear the birds.
—Patrick, Frederick, Maryland
184
Bug Trap
Age Range: 21 months and up
Materials
Large yogurt container
Piece of cheese
4 two-inch-diameter rocks
8-inch square piece of heavy cardboard or board
Sugar cube (optional)
Magnifying glass (optional)
Dig a hole in the ground large enough to fit the yogurt container. Put a piece of cheese in the container. Place the four rocks on the dirt around the top of the yogurt container, then place the board on top, making sure the board doesn’t touch the top of the yogurt container. Bugs will smell the cheese, crawl in, and not be able to get out. Check your trap each day, looking at the bugs and then letting them go. If you don’t have time to set a trap, take your child outside with a sugar cube and magnifying glass. Place the cube on the ground and in a few minutes many ants will appear. Watch them through the magnifying glass.
185
Tree and Leaf Rubbings
Age Range: 21 months and up
Materials
Masking tape
Paper
Crayons
Take your tape, paper, and crayons outside. Tape the paper to a tree and gently rub the crayon across the bark using the long side, not the tip. Use different colored crayons and experiment with different tree bark to see if the design changes. Look around for interesting leaves. Put the leaves on a flat surface and tape the paper over them, then rub the crayon over the leaves. Compare the patterns of your various rubbings.
186
Egg Head
Age Range: 24 months and up
Materials
Cress seeds
Cotton balls
Eggshells
Old egg carton
Felt markers
Using half an eggshell, draw a face with markers, and then set the shell in the egg carton. Soak cotton balls in water and place them inside the eggshell. Sprinkle cress seeds on top of the cotton balls. Set the carton in a window sill for a few days, making sure to keep the cotton moist. Soon, “hair” will be growing out of the eggshell!
187
Nature Museum Display
Age Range: 24 months
and up
Materials
Large matchboxes
Sheet of cotton
Piece of cardboard large enough to glue all the boxes onto
Glue matchboxes onto the cardboard. Put cotton in the bottom of each box. Decide together what you want to display: rocks, seashells, leaves, bark, feathers, or whatever you like. Then go on a walk to begin gathering for your museum. You may not be able to find everything on one walk, since this is a collection that may take time to complete. Display it someplace where everyone in the family can see it. Your child will be proud to play show-and-tell with what has been found!
188
Magnify It
Age Range: 24 months and up
Toddlers love to see things up close. Gather a variety of interesting items in a basket or box, then sit together on a blanket outside and get a close-up view. Hold a magnifying glass up to each item. Let your child look at and then describe what he sees. Help him to use descriptive words like “rough,” “smooth,” “dark,” “light,” “thin,” “thick,” “hard,” and “soft.” Pick two or three favorite items and then go on a hunt to find them in the wild. Take your magnifying glass along so you can observe them close-up in their natural environment.
* Words of Wisdom *
I keep an oversized umbrella in the car year-round—it’s great for propping in the sandbox or on the beach on hot days.
—Amy, New Ulm, Minnesota
189
Blossoming Bulbs
Age Range: 30 to 36 months
Buy narcissus, daffodils, amaryllis, crocus, tulips, or other bulbs (ask your local nursery for recommendations). The bulbs don’t even need soil. Just “plant” them in enough water to cover the lower portion of the bulb, but don’t submerse them. You can use a vase for this purpose, or support the bulb in almost any glass container. Surround it with rocks, marbles, or beads, and add water to halfway up the bulb. Set it in a warm, bright spot, and water regularly. Watch stalks sprout and roots snake down looking for water. Have a calendar nearby to cross off the days until the bulb blooms, which should take about a month. Move the bulb out of the sun and into a cooler spot when the blooms begin to appear so they’ll last as long as possible.
190
Wind Sock
Age Range: 30 to 36 months
Remove the lid and cut off the bottom of a cylindrical cardboard oatmeal box. Cover the box with construction or contact paper, and have your child decorate it with paint, markers, or glued bunches of paper. Together glue, tape, or staple crepe paper streamers to the inside of one end of the box. Punch four holes in the other end (across from one another). Tie one string, about twelve inches long, to two opposing holes, and another to the other two holes. Gather them both with a third, longer piece of string, which you will use to hang the wind sock. If possible, hang it outside a prominent window in the house so your child will see it often. Use it to take a wind prediction or measurement each day.
191
Moon Watch
Age Range: 36 months and up
Materials
Black construction paper
White chalk or paint
Go outside one night per week for a month and look at the moon. Help your child to draw or paint the shape you see. Point out how the moon’s shape changes each week. Looking at the sky at night creates a peaceful feeling, so enjoy these moments together. Young children often wonder why the moon follows them. Try answering that question!
* Words of Wisdom *
My youngest child’s favorite thing to do in the dark at night is to pretend to blow out the flashlight. He blows it just like a candle, and as he blows, I turn off the light.
—Stacey, Studio City, California
192
Snail Farm
Age Range: 36 months and up
Materials
Clear plastic bottle
Bean bag or play dough
Soil
Lettuce or weeds
Snails from the garden
Your snail farm will be contained within the plastic bottle. Cut a small door in the side of the bottle about three inches by two inches so that when the bottle is on its side, the door is at the top. Next, place damp soil in the bottle. Go outside and look for snails in the yard, around leafy plants, in the vegetable garden, or at the base of brick walls. Put them in your snail farm and give them fresh food like lettuce and weeds. Seal the door at the top with some clear tape, and punch holes in the tape for air vents. Make sure the bottle top is on. Watch your snails for a few days, then let them go.
Floor Time Adventures
193
Bicycling
Age Range: 15 months and up
Have your child lie on her back. Hold her feet or ankles and help her bicycle her legs rhythmically while you sing, “Bicycle, bicycle riding along…Bicycle, bicycle all the day long…Bicycle, bicycle isn’t it fun…On your bicycle, bicycle out in the sun.” When she’s coordinated enough, switch places and let her bicycle your legs.
* Words of Wisdom *
Take turns laying your head on one another’s belly and talking or singing. The next time you’re laughing, put your child’s ear to your stomach. Giggling is highly contagious.
—Audry, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
194
Partner Exercises
Age Range: 15 months and up
Boating: Sit across from each other on the floor with the soles of your feet touching. Hold hands and rock back and forth. When the adult leans forward, the child leans back, and vice versa. Sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” as you imagine rowing along in the river.
Popping: Sit with your legs stretched out in front of you and your child on your legs facing you. Hold hands. Sing “Pop Goes the Weasel,” bouncing your legs to the tune, and slide your legs apart at the “pop!” so the toddler falls down. Really build up the suspense by going slowly, then quickly.
195
Planting Garden Massage
Age Range: 18 months and up
Kneel alongside your child, who is face down on the floor. Begin with a back-and-forth scissors motion with flat hands starting at the bottom of the back and moving upward. Think of this as the tractor turning the soil. Then gently swoop to the bottom with the outside of one of your hands forming a Cshape. Keep the other hand comfortably but firmly on the lower back. Swoop in the middle, on the right, and on the left…you’re smoothing the soil. Then begin making holes to plant the seeds—make small circles all over the back with the pads of your fingers, but don’t poke! Take this opportunity to engage your child—ask what kinds of seeds she’s planting. Then comb down the back with the pads of your fingers, gently raking the soil over the freshly planted seeds. There’s nothing like a little rain to water the seedlings—gently pitter patter your fingers all over her back. Then enjoy a gentle wind blowing away any clouds—here you don’t actually touch your child. Blow soft breaths from her head to toes.
196
Jar Play
Age Range: 21 to 24 months
Toddlers enjoy the feeling of doing simple actions by themselves. Buy a bunch of large plastic jars with screw-on tops. Put toys, household items, or other found objects in each of the jars, making sure to close the top. Give the jars to your child and encourage him to get the items out. Let him figure out for himself how the jars open. Once he gets them open, allow him to fill them with other things, close them and try to open them again. These kind of jars make great permanent storage containers.
197
Magic-Carpet Rides
Age Range: 21 months and up
Lay your child on top of a blanket or beach towel on the floor. Tell him to hold on to the edges as he wraps them around himself. Then pull slowly across a smoothly surfaced floor and magically transport yourself to different locations on your magic-carpet ride. Call the magic carpet a boat and pretend that water is all around. Dip your oars into the water; say, “Aye aye, Captain”; and look out for sharks as you decide where to go. Then make it a sp
aceship and head off for Planet Ice Cream or some other magical place.
198
Antigravity Machine
Age Range: 24 months and up
Hold your child securely by the waist so she can bounce around like an astronaut. Support her as she walks up the walls and across the ceiling. Head outside and let her walk up trees and fences. This is a workout for the adult holding the little astronaut, so you may want to put a time limit on this game. It is also fun to watch a video or read a book about astronauts in space before beginning so your child can expand this exercise and her imagination.
199
Obstacle Course
Age Range: 24 months and up
Use pillows, blankets, couch cushions, chairs, or anything else you find around the house to create an obstacle course. Tape masking tape in a line on the floor leading from one part of the course to the other. Perhaps it begins in the kitchen where your child needs to put a bunch of boxes into a laundry basket, then proceeds down the hall where she touches a circle on the wall—whatever you want to create. Then try marching through the course or going through the course to music.
Sheila Ellison Page 11