Mealtimes can be a great way to interact with your toddler and make her feel involved. When you include your child in mealtime activities and preparation, she is more likely to eat the food that you are serving. Additionally, cooking activities will help her learn about nutrition, as well as science and math concepts such as fractions, measurement, evaporation, and more.
Personal Placemats
Your child will enjoy creating her own placemat that she can use at every mealtime.
She may want to make one for each person in your family.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
12 x 14 sheet of poster board
Crayons or markers
Clear contact paper
Have your child decorate both sides of the poster board with crayons and markers.
Use clear contact paper to laminate her creation.
Homemade Butter
This activity is a lot easier than you would imagine.
While making butter, your child is developing large motor skills and observing scientific changes as well.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
1 cup heavy cream
1 clear jar with a lid
1 marble
Put the heavy cream in the jar with a marble. Cover jar with lid.
Have your child shake the jar vigorously until butter forms. Enjoy your fresh butter on some hot rolls!
Rainbow Toast
Your toddler will enjoy decorating her toast with many colors.
This is fun to make and fun to eat!
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
½ cup milk
Food coloring
Cotton swabs
2 slices white bread
Divide the milk into 4 or more portions in small containers. An empty Styrofoam egg carton works well.
Help your child place a few drops of food coloring in each milk portion to create the colors she desires.
Have child use the cotton swabs as paintbrushes to paint colorful milk designs on the bread. Be sure they don’t get too soggy.
Toast the bread under a broiler.
Mini Pizzas
Pizza may very well be the most popular food among children.
Here is a way to involve your child in mealtimes and spark her creativity, too.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
1 canned biscuit
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 teaspoon grated mozzarella cheese
Toppings as desired: pepperoni slices, onion rings, green pepper slices, etc.
Help your toddler pat the biscuit dough out into a circle, then help her spread on the sauce and cheese.
Let your child choose and arrange the toppings for her pizza. One idea is to use to pepperoni slices and a green pepper slice to make a smiley face.
Bake the pizza in a toaster oven or under the broiler until the cheese melts.
Transition Times
A typical day involves more than waking, eating, dressing, bathing, and playing.
A chunk of the day is also taken up by transition times, going from one routine to another. These simple activities will help you keep your child on task and motivated. Cleanup and chore times will also go more smoothly with these ideas.
Bend and Stretch
Here is a cute way to get your toddler up and moving in the morning.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 5 minutes
Teach your child this simple rhyme and the motions that correspond with it.
Bend and stretch
Reach for the sky
Stand on tippy toes
Oh so high
Bend and stretch
Reach for the stars
Wave your arms
Both near and so far
Cleanup Is Fun!
Cleanup time does not have to be a battle. Simply make cleaning up a game!
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Explain to your child that all of his toys have homes, or special places where they belong. Then explain that he needs to make sure none of his toys get lost and must help each one find its home again. (It is helpful to have special places designated for your child’s belongings. You may want to label shelves and cubbies with pictures to help your child match what belongs there.)
Guide your child by having him pick up items by category. For example, you might say, “Let’s pick up all the red things first.” Alternately, set a timer and have him try to speed-clean to beat the clock.
This Is the Way
Just about any activity or routine is more fun when you are singing.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 5 minutes
Make up different verses to the tune of “Pop! Goes the Weasel.” Here’s an example:
This is the way we put on our shoes
Put on our shoes, put on our shoes
This is the way we put on our shoes,
So early in the morning.
Other potential verses might involve how to wash our face, wait for the bus, climb into bed, and so on. You can change the time of day as appropriate—to “late in the evening,” for example.
Helping Around the House
The toddler years are an in-between time in terms of development. Your child is no longer a baby, but she is not yet fully a big child, either. You will see your child’s interest in, and possibly her insistence on, becoming a big girl. “Me do” or “Let me” may be a common request from her. You can give your toddler a chance to feel competent by enlisting her help with your activities. Toddlers love to imitate, and yours can learn new skills while bonding with you.
Sock Sort
Laundry time can be a fun time to interact with your young child
while teaching her sorting and classification skills.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Show your toddler how to sort socks. You can have her put socks in piles according to color, style, or size. See if your toddler is able to match up sock pairs.
Washing Fun
Most toddlers enjoy water play, so they will truly love feeling
as if they are helping you with this fun activity.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
The next time you are washing dishes or other items, set up a bin with some soapy water.
Give your toddler a sponge, and let her wash her toys. Alternatively, let your child join you in hosing off the patio or even washing the car!
Side by Side
Give your toddler a chance to feel like a big kid. Your child’s interest in imitation and interaction
with you is all the motivation she needs to help out with the chores.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Buy your child a little whisk broom to help with sweeping. She may be able to help push the vacuum cleaner, but many toddlers are frightened by the sound. Additionally, you can give your child a damp rag and let her help you with the dusting.
Anytime Activities
There may be many times throughout the day when you’ll need or want to keep your toddler busy with an activity. Perhaps he has grown tired of his new toy, or maybe you just want him to stay off the kitchen
floor that you just finished cleaning. Whether you have five minutes or an entire afternoon, the activities in this section will fill the bill.
Fill and Dump
You will be surprised to see how much young children like to fill and dump containers.
An added plus is that this activity helps them learn about cause and effect.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Small containers, such as Tupperware or coffee cans
Small toys, such as blocks, balls, or collectable toys. Be sure that the items do not pose a choking hazard.
Seat your toddler on a blanket or rug.
Give him the containers and the little toys. Demonstrate the game by putting a few items into a container and then dumping them out.
Give your toddler the containers and let him fill and dump them on his own.
Where Is My Pair?
You can set this game up in a snap. Not only is it a lot of fun,
it will also help your child with problem-solving skills.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Pairs of items, such as socks, mittens, or shoes
A box or laundry basket
Divide all the pairs, placing one mate in the box and one in plain view somewhere else in the room.
Remove an item from the box. Show it to your toddler and ask him to find its mate and make a pair.
Water Paint
This is a great outdoor activity. It is up to you to “sell” this activity, and once you do,
your toddler’s imagination will take over and make this a lot of fun.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 25 minutes
Small container of water
Paintbrushes
Take your child outside, or seat him in the bathtub.
Tell him that the water is imagination paint and he can paint whatever he wants.
As he paints, ask him to describe what colors and patterns he is making.
Treasure Hunt
This game is easy to set up and will entertain your toddler for quite a while.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
1 roll of crepe paper (a long ribbon may be substituted instead)
Favorite toy or prize
Thread the streamer in a trail around the room or house. Weave it around the couch, under the table, and so on—the goal is to make an interesting and challenging path for your child to follow.
Attach a favorite toy or a small prize at the end of the streamer for your child to find.
Give your child the loose end and have him follow along the path to find the treasure.
Window Clings
You and your child can make these decorations to suit any season or interest.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 25 minutes
Food coloring, various colors
White craft glue in small bottles
Sheet of clear flexible plastic, such as those used for transparencies
Mix food coloring with glue, a different color in each bottle.
Let your child squeeze the glue onto the transparency to create his picture or design. Filled areas work better than outlines. You can place a pattern under the clear sheet as a template for a design. Leave a hole at the top of your design for hanging the decoration later.
Let dry for 1 day and remove from plastic.
Thread a length of string or fishing line through the hole; hang decoration in front of a window.
To store, wrap securely in plastic wrap and keep in a cool place.
CHAPTER 3
What to Do on a Rainy Day
What do you do when the weather is rainy or cold, and your child is stuck inside all day? Dr. Seuss addressed this problem in one of his best-known stories, The Cat in the Hat. The children in this story seemed to be doomed to sit forlornly by the window watching the rain, until the Cat in the Hat comes to entertain. Fortunately you don’t need to juggle fish or fly a kite in the kitchen to turn a gray day into a fun day.
Shake Out Your Sillies
Young children need plenty of opportunities to move around. They need time and space to run and romp. You can usually meet this need by allowing your child to go outside, but what do you do when the weather is bad? Here are some indoor activities that will give your child a chance to burn some of her pent-up energy.
Beanbag Toss
If you don’t have beanbags, you can simply use rolled-up socks.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Several beanbags
An empty receptacle, such as a box or basket
Give your child 3 or 4 beanbags and show her how to gently toss them.
Be creative in choosing a receptacle. Empty boxes or laundry baskets work well.
Let your child toss the beanbags into the receptacle.
Shadow Dancing
Here is a great way to get your child moving. Perhaps you can get the whole family to join in.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
A bright lamp
A light-colored wall
Favorite music recording
Position the lamp in the middle of the room, leaving plenty of space between the lamp and the wall.
Turn on the bright lamp and darken the rest of the room. Aim the lamp directly at the wall. Stand your toddler in front of the lamp so that her shadow is cast clearly on the wall.
Put on the music and encourage your child to dance so that her shadow dances, too. For a cool-down activity, show your child how to use her hand to create simple shadow puppets.
Indoor Obstacle Course
When your child is stuck indoors, you will be happy to have an activity that helps her use her
large motor skills and burn off steam. You do want to stress to your child that this is a special
activity that can only happen with your approval and supervision.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Pillows
Blankets
Find a safe place in your home to set up a miniature obstacle course.
Set out pillows to use as stepping stones or hurdles. Use blankets to create tunnels. The path may also make your child navigate furniture, such as crawling under a table or climbing over the ottoman.
Toddler Twister
Here is a simplified version of the classic game that will help your child with color recognition. You can still use the commercial game mat or create your own playing space, as described below.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Colored circles cut from construction paper (the size of a paper plate)
Masking tape
Tape the colored circles onto a hardwood or linoleum floor.
Call out one simple direction at a time—for example, “Put your foot on a blue spot.” To add a challenge when your child has mastered the basic game, you can cut some of the circles into different shapes to test both her shape and color recognition.
When Bad Weather Threatens
When bad weather is approaching, you may be facing more of a challenge than entertaining your child. It is common for young children to be frightened of storms. You need to set a good example—if you remain calm and nonc
halant, chances are your child will stay calm as well. These activities will keep your child occupied and may even distract him from his anxiety.
Storm Sounds
Be sensitive to your child’s fears. If he doesn’t like loud noises, he may not like this activity.
However, some children who are frightened of thunder may feel a greater sense of control
when they can safely duplicate the noise.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Audio recording of thunder
Metal cookie sheets
Play the recording for your child. Discuss what he hears and try to figure out what is scary about the noises.
Show your child how to bang and rattle the metal cookie sheets to simulate the sound of thunder. Ask your child to come up with other ways to make thunder sounds, which may include banging on pots and pans or a toy drum.
Rain Sticks
Rain sticks have long been popular as musical instruments in other cultures. But you don’t have to go to a fancy import store at the mall to buy one—your child can make one out of materials you have around the house. Many children find the sound of a rain stick to be very soothing.