The Everything Toddler Activities Book (11 page)

1. Fill a freezer bag approximately halfway with your chosen sensory material.
   
2. 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 tend to have a very calming effect on young children.
They love to shake them and roll them and watch the contents swirl around.

1. Choose whether you would like to make a bubble bottle, wave bottle, or slow-motion bottle.
   
2. For a bubble bottle, fill the bottle ¾ of the way with water. Add 2 tablespoons dish soap.
   
3. 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.
   
4. For a slow-motion bottle, fill the bottle with corn syrup, shampoo, or hair gel. Add any of the small decorative items.
   
5. 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.
   

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.

This activity will enhance your child’s listening skills and promote the
auditory discrimination needed for literacy skills.

1. 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.
   
2. 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.
   

This simple homemade instrument sounds a lot like the real thing!

1. Use the pencil to poke a hole into one wall of the tube, approximately 1 from the end.
   
2. Let your child decorate the tube with markers.
   
3. Secure the waxed paper over the end nearest the hole you created. Wrap tape around the lip to keep the waxed paper taut.
   
4. Show your child how to play the kazoo by pressing the little hole and humming in the open end of the tube.
   

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.

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)

Young children learn a lot about the world around them through their vision.
These activities are sure to engage your child.

Your child will delight in the magic effect of this picture.

1. Put the lemon juice in the paper cup.
   
2. Let your child paint on the paper with the lemon juice, using the cotton swabs as paintbrushes. Let the design dry and become invisible.
   
3. Hold the paper close to a light bulb (without letting it touch). The design will become visible as the juice turns brown.
   

Here is another easy way to create magic pictures.

1. Let your child use the soap bar as a crayon to create a design on the paper. Remind him to press hard.
   
2. Show him how to rub the side of the pencil over the drawing to make it magically appear.
   

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!

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.

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?

This game will help your child develop listening skills and self-control while she has fun.

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.

Your child can learn how to follow directions and develop self-control while she dances.

1. Cut construction paper the size of paper plates. Staple paper to plates and attach Popsicle sticks. These are your traffic signals.
   
2. 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 with a partner takes extra skill and coordination.
Why not pair up your child with someone her own size?

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.

Turn back the sands of time and have an old-fashioned sock hop!

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.

Start by making your own grass skirt. Hula dancing is great exercise too!

1. Help your child tear the paper into long strips. Attach them to the belt or ribbon. The more you use, the better the effect.
   
2. Put the skirt on your child and have her remove her shoes.
   
3. Play some Hawaiian music and show your child how to sway her arms and hips to the music.
   

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.

This is a follow-the-leader activity. Much like Simon Says, the object is to fool the player(s).
For younger toddlers, just stick with the true directives.

1. Call out an animal and an action for your child to imitate. For example, when you call out, “Birds fly,” your child should flap his arms like a bird.
   
2. There are many possible directives, such as frogs that hop, snakes that slither, or horses that gallop.
   
3. Try to fool him once in awhile by calling out a silly directive. For example, say, “Fish hop.” If you fail to trick him, he gets a turn being the caller.
   

This short-action play is sure to get your child’s attention and bring some laughter as well.

1. While your child crouches on the floor, repeat the following rhyme in a slow and suspenseful way:
   Jack-in-the-Box, so quiet and still. Will he come up?
   
2. The child springs up and shouts, “Oh, yes, he will!!”
   HINT:
   For younger age groups, you can instead play the song “Pop! Goes the Weasel.” When the song gets to “pop,” everyone can pop up. You may need to cue the children when it is time to do this by yelling, “Pop!” or raising your arms.
   

Engage your child’s imagination while helping him develop balance and large motor skills.
You can change the theme of the rescue to suit your child’s interest.
Perhaps he can rescue the kitten from the dogs or the princess from the dragons.

1. Place a bunch of rags in a small bag or basket.
   
2. Have your child scatter these around the floor.
   
3. Choose an object/prop to be rescued. This can be another rag, a stuffed animal, or something else. Toss this object into the center of the others.
   
4. Challenge your child to walk in and retrieve (rescue) this object without stepping on the others. You might tell him that the dragons are sleeping and that he needs to tiptoe in carefully.
   

This is a fun activity to do right after reading the classic fairy tale by the same name.

While reciting parts of the story, have your child imitate different parts of the action. Stomp around like the giant and tiptoe quietly like Jack.

This cute action includes a nice variety of actions.

Teach your child the following rhyme and corresponding movements:

Once I saw a little bird come hop, hop, hop
(hop around)

So I said, “Little bird will you stop, stop, stop?”
(hold hand in front of body)

I was going to the window to say, “How do you do?”
(wave)

When he shook his little tail and away he flew.
(wiggle rear end, then flap arms)

Many adults view exercise as an unpleasant chore. This is not so for young children. You will find that your toddler enjoys exercise just as much as any other movement and dance activities. In fact, she may be even more enthusiastic if she feels that she is doing a grown-up activity.