Toddler Tuesdays - Week 7 of the 12 weeks of winter

Welcome to week 7 of ‘Toddler Tuesdays’.  You can find more of our ‘Toddler Tuesdays’ activities here, we hope you are enjoying them.  This week’s activity is Make a Shaker.

You will need -

1. 1 or more plastic bottles with lids, three 600ml water bottles would be perfect.
2. 1/4 cup of rice.
3. 1/4 cup of popping corn or lentils.
4. 1/4 cup larger beans or chickpeas.
5. Superglue (keep out of reach of children).
6. Funnel.
7. Optional - tray, you may like to sit the bottles onto a tray when they are being filled to contain any spillage.

Instructions -

Have all of the items ready on the kitchen table or toddler table before introducing your child to the activity (except the superglue which should remain out of your child’s reach).  Have your child either independently, or with assistance insert the funnel and pour the rice, corn or beans into the bottle.  Let them feel and describe the rice, corn and beans.  Only 1 type per bottle so you will end up with a rice shaker, a popping corn shaker and a bean shaker for example.  Have your child remove the funnel then put some superglue around the thread and screw the lid on tight.  Superglue should not be given to your child or within their reach.  The super glue will only take a few moments to bond and you can continue filling the other bottles in the meantime.  Once completed encourage your child to make music shaking their new shakers.

Focus -

This activity promotes sensory exposure to different textures via the beans, rice etc and via the different sounds that the shakers make.  An older child may be able to distinguish which shaker is which from the sound that they make without looking at them.  They may also begin to play to a beat.  Fine motor skills are also practiced in this activity when the child is using the funnel and pouring the rice etc into the bottle.

If you try out one of our activities please let us know what your toddler (and you) thought.  Feel free to leave a comment here or post an image or comment to our Facebook page.  If you enjoy the activity we would encourage you to share this post with your friends.

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Toddler Tuesdays - Week 6 of the 12 weeks of winter

Welcome to week 6 of ‘Toddler Tuesdays’.  You can find more of our ‘Toddler Tuesdays’ activities here, we hope you are enjoying them.  This week’s activity is Can you Guess?

You will need -

1. A pillowcase.
2. A number of household objects or toys that your child is familiar with.  Their age and ability may guide your selections here but some examples would be spoon, toy car, soft toy, block.

Instructions -

Before introducing your child to this activity you will need to gather the items from above and place all of the toys or household objects into the pillowcase.  The idea of this game is for your child to put their hand into the pillowcase and choose one item.  For a young toddler they might simply get it out like a lucky dip and you name the item.  For an older child you might encourage them to describe the item they can feel, have a guess at what it is and then let them bring it out for them to see.  You can play many rounds of this game if it engages your child switching out the items each time.  For a young toddler you may only want 4 or 5 items as their attention to the task may wander.  For an older toddler 10 items may be more appropriate.

Focus -

This activity really focuses on the child using the sense of touch to help them determine what the object may be.  Language is also encourage by asking questions eg, ‘Is it soft or hard?’  If your child is not yet verbal you can describe it to them when the item emerges, eg ‘This is teddy.  Teddy is soft.’  Your child will also be building their fine motor skills grasping the object and removing it from the pillowcase.

If you try out one of our activities please let us know what your toddler (and you) thought.  Feel free to leave a comment here or post an image or comment to our Facebook page.  If you enjoy the activity we would encourage you to share this post with your friends.

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Toddler Tuesdays - Week 5 of the 12 Weeks of Winter

We are loving all of the positive feedback we have been receiving, thankyou!  Welcome to week 5 of ‘Toddler Tuesdays’.  You can find more of our ‘Toddler Tuesdays’ activities here.  This week’s activity is ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’.  With inspiration taken direction from the ever popular children book by the same name.  If it’s not one you’re familiar with please check it out from the library, it’s loved by many.

You will need -

1. A container with a small amount of water.  You may like to use a sink if your child has safe step access.  This will be your river.
2. A blanket to lay on the floor, this will be your mud.
3. A dark wardrobe or walk in robe would be perfect, this will be your forest.
4. A small table, coffee table, toddler table or even a kitchen chair would work well.
5. A further blanket to cover the table and make your cave.
6. A stuffed toy who will play the part of the bear.
7. Optional - A copy of the book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’.

Instructions -

Before you introduce your child to the activity prepare each of the zones, river, mud, forest and cave complete with bear.  If you have a copy of the book you may even like to read it to your child.  Choose a part of your home as the starting place, maybe the front door or your child’s bedroom.  Get them excited, ‘We’re going on a bear hunt!  We’re going to catch a big one!’  Then lead them to the first zone.  ‘Uh-oh, a river.  We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, we’ll have to go through it!’  ‘Splash, splash, splash!’  Encourage your child to have a little paddle in the water you’ve provided.  Continue on with each of the zones, mud, squelch, squelch, take your shoes off and be really dramatic pulling up your pants and squelching across the blanket.  Next you’ll move on the the forest and stumble, stumble your way through.  Now you find the cave, tiptoe tiptoe, ‘What’s that?’  Build some suspense as you describe the bear (stuffed toy) to your child.  Then shout ‘Quick! Back through the forest, back through the mud, back through the river.’  All the while you are moving quickly back through the zones to your starting place.  Once back to the start have a hug and a laugh.  Your child might like to repeat this activity again, immediately.  Encourage them to take a favorite teddy with them.  Encourage use of the appropriate language along the way, even if they are only saying some of the key words.  Do not leave your child unsupervised with the water you have set up for the river.

Focus -

As this activity is based off a book it has a beginning, middle and end, excellent for encouraging children to create their own narrative about an event.  Many children will already be familiar with the storyline and by acting it out you are encouraging their imagination and creative play.  There is a lot of rhyme and repetition in the story which helps to build language.  Your child is also practicing their gross motor skills as they walk, tiptoe or crawl through each of the zones.

If you try out one of our activities please let us know what your toddler (and you) thought.  Feel free to leave a comment here or post an image or comment to our Facebook page.  If you enjoy the activity we would encourage you to share this post with your friends.

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Toddler Tuesdays - Week 4 of the 12 weeks of winter

Welcome to week 4 of ‘Toddler Tuesdays’.  You can find more of our ‘Toddler Tuesdays’ activities here, we hope you are enjoying them.  This week’s activity is introducing playdough mats.

You will need -

1. A print out of our playdough mats which can be found here, or your own selection of playdough mats.
2. Page protectors to put your printed playdough mats into, or you may choose to laminate them.
3. Playdough.  Our favorite home made playdough recipe can be found here.

Instructions -

Have everything prepared at the kitchen table or a toddler table before introducing the activity to your child.  Using playdough assist your child to make food for the plate, add features to the face, candles to the cake and plants or vegetables to the garden.  Use key phrases like, ‘roll it’ and ‘squash it’ as appropriate.  If you have more than one colour playdough available you may like to comment on colour, eg ‘green peas’, ‘pink candles’.  If your child plays with playdough often they may want to do their own thing, sculpting, cutting etc.  We would encourage you to sit with your child and model the use of the mats so they get the idea.

Focus -

Throughout the activity there are key phrases that you can use to encourage language development.  If your child is already speaking this activity is a great opportunity to expand on that, eg ‘My face needs a?’  ‘What fruit would you like on your plate?’  ‘Can you help me count the candles?’  ‘Let’s sing Happy Birthday.‘  Even if your child is not engaging in this discussion answer your own questions modeling and imprinting the correct language and grammar.

Using playdough helps to strengthen all of the muscles in the hands and fingers which will help to refine fine motor skills.  Rolling and positioning small pieces of dough helps to practice these skills.  Building hand strength and co-ordination is essential when moving into the preschool years as it will assist with pencil grip and make writing easier.

If you try out one of our activities please let us know what your toddler (and you) thought.  Feel free to leave a comment here or post an image or comment to our Facebook page.  If you enjoy the activity we would encourage you to share this post with your friends.

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Toddler Tuesdays - Week 3 of the 12 Weeks of Winter

Welcome to week 3 of ‘Toddler Tuesdays’.  You can find more of our ‘Toddler Tuesdays’ activities here, we hope you are enjoying them and would love to receive your feedback.  This week’s activity is ‘Mummy Says’.

You will need -

1. Some common unbreakable household items from around the house that your child can easily recognise eg : spoon, doll, plastic container, cup, blanket, cushion, ball

Instructions -

Set out the items on the floor in an area of your home, family room, bedroom, lounge, where ever suits you.  This game is similar to ‘Simon Says’ but a slightly extended version.  You might start your toddler with simple instructions like, ‘Mummy says clap your hands’, and progress through to more complex instructions with the items you have gathered eg ‘Mummy says cuddle teddy.’  ‘Mummy says put the doll under the blanket.’  How complex you get with your instructions will depend on the age and ability of your child.  There are an almost limitless number of instructions that you can come up with for the particular items that you have gathered.  If your child is not yet at the stage of interacting appropriately with the gathered objects stick with the simple body instructions like, clap your hands, pat your head, tickle your toes, cuddle your Mummy etc.  This game should be fun and interactive.  Assist your child if they are struggling with the instruction given and be sure to offer lots of praise, clapping hands, smiles etc along the way.  Again depending on the age and ability of your child they may be able to offer you instructions to follow also.

Focus -

This activity is awesome for developing good listening skills and attention.  As you are able to revisit this game you can make it more complex as the weeks and months pass and also extend the time that you engage with your child.  If they are able to offer you instructions to follow it also promotes good turn taking.  Depending on the items and instructions you give both fine and gross motor skills may be practiced.  Understanding positional words like on, under, next to etc are very important for language developmental.

If you try out one of our activities please let us know what your toddler (and you) thought.  Feel free to leave a comment here or post an image or comment to our Facebook page.  If you enjoy the activity we would encourage you to share this post with your friends.

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