Toddler Activity: Transfer with Tongs

This is a great activity for children ages 2-4. It improves concentration and fine motor skills at the same time.

Preparation:
Gather two bowls and a pair of tongs. Fill one bowl with small items that can be grasped with the tongs.

Activity:
Sit down with your child at an activity mat and show him how to transfer the objects from one bowl to the other.



Once this is easy, add a variety of objects and have your child sort them.

Infant or Toddler Activity: Tactile opposites

This activity teaches children the difference between what we call "soft" and "hard." Items that are soft yield to touch whereas items that are hard resist.

Preparation: 

Gather 6-8 small objects that are hard or soft (such as wood, marbles, play dough.) And place them in a basket. 

Activity: 

1. With the basket in front of you and your child to your left or right, take a hard object out of the basket. Put it on your left.  Then take out a soft object and place it on your right. 

2. Press your fingertips into the hard object and say the word hard. Repeat the action with the soft object and say the word soft. 

3. Pass the two objects over to your child, and invite her to feel the surfaces as you did. 

4. When she has felt the surfaces, get her to feel them again, but this time say the words hard and soft. 

5. Invite your child to sort the rest of the objects into hard or soft. 

Older children can learn to put objects in order from softest to hardest. 

Adapted from Teach Me to do it Myself, Maja Pitamic. 

Toddler Activity: Worth its salt

This activity keeps my Liam (nearly 3 years old now!) busy for half an hour at a time, a few times a week. You can use it to teach letters, shapes, numbers or simply as a quiet, creative activity.

Activity preparation:

Think about what your child would most enjoy learning. Letters? Shapes? Numbers? Or maybe she needs a quiet activity to help her calm down before nap?

Pour enough salt onto your dark pan to create a thin layer of salt with no dark showing through.

If you plan to teach a letter, number or shape, write this down on a piece of paper or tagboard (you can fold tagboard in half so that it stands up and is easier for your little one to see).

Activity: 

1. Pick up an activity mat and hand it to your child.
2. Ask her to place it on the table in front of the chair where she would like to work.
3. Using two hands, slowly put the tray of salt in front of her.
4. If you are teaching a shape, number or letter, show her the card with the item.
5. Slowly draw the shape in the salt. Pick up the pan and gently shake it side-to-side to erase.
6. Take her dominant hand and ask her to put out a finger; help her to trace the item in the salt a few times. Helping her erase between each try.
7. Leave her to it!
8. Be sure to have her help clean up and put the work away.


It's likely that after a few minutes of trying what you suggested, she will start creating her own designs. This can be a little messy if your little one is on the young side, but it's nothing a vacuum can't handle.

Tip of the day: Mirror, Mirror

A mirror on the wall can be used for games and fun, but it can also have these two serious uses.

• Place a mirror on the wall at your child's height in your dining area. Provide a box of wipes that he can reach (we use cloth ones, but disposable works too if that's easier and in your budget). Let him wash his own face and hands after meals while looking in the mirror.

• Use the mirror for yourself when you discipline your little one. When giving correction kneel down at your child's level with his back facing the mirror so that you can see your facial expression. It's OK to look stern, but if your eye balls are popping out of your head or you're bright red, you might want to send your little one to a chair for an attitude break and take a few minutes to calm down yourself.

Toddler Activity: Puffy Paint

I've been wanting to try this for a while, but haven't gotten to it until now. I'm sorry we didn't do it sooner!

First, make your paints. Here's my recipe:

1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix the first three ingredients and then separate into bowls, for finger painting, or squeeze bottles for traditional puffy painting. Add food coloring to make colors.

Next, sit down with your toddler or preschooler and enjoy! This thick paint is easy to work with and has a fun texture for little fingers. They also show up on black or other colored construction paper.

Last, when you paintings are finished, put them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and watch them puff up!

Tip of the Day: Secret signals

Sometimes our children can be, let's just say it, irritating. In our house, we have developed a secret signal to communicate my displeasure about an attitude or irritating behavior. Jude's not quite old enough yet, but when Liam sees me put my finger along the side of my nose he knows, "time to change my attitude and obey." It saves my sanity and his sensitive little psyche. If he doesn't obey, we move forward with other discipline techniques.

Tip of the day: Engaging Your Child

A friend of mine was recently complaining that her child never wants to do any of the projects that she creates for her. She feels like she's wasting her time. Does this sound like you?  If so, you may need to step back and spend some time observing.

When you create a project that your child rejects, pay attention to what he wants to do with it instead. What interests him? Watch for what he does while engaging in alone play, what does he like to imagine? Use this information to create projects that your little one enjoys and learns from.

Examples: Liam (21/2) is VERY interested in cars, trucks and hiding things. So I've created activities like our jungle letter safari where we hide the letters and them find them, the number and letter parking lot, and counting with hot wheels cars.

At a year old, Jude is very interested in putting things in and taking them out of containers, he's also fascinated by building towers and stacking blocks. So I make sure he has lots of things to stack and move from one container to another.