Toddler Time

Preschoolers and Toddlers Learning Together: Pasta Snakes

January 5, 2012 by Jenae — 3 Comments

Guest Post by Katey of Having Fun at Home

Having both a preschooler and a toddler at home at the same time can be a bit tricky. Projects that work well for preschoolers often don’t work well for toddlers- and the other way around!

So when I thought of a project that would be engaging and educational for both my four-year-old and my two-year-old I knew we had to try it.

Educational Objectives for Toddler:

Fine motor skills

Color Recognition

Educational Objectives for Preschooler:

Following written instructions

Pattern Recognition

Fine Motor Skills

Materials:

Rubbing Alcohol

Food Dye (found out the hard way that it must be liquid dye and not gel; the gel doesn’t dissolve in alcohol)

Pasta (hollow and tubular- penne, etc.)

String or Yarn

Paper

Crayons

Scotch Tape

1. Fill small containers with rubbing alcohol and mix a different color of food dye in each vat. Submerge noodles in vats and leave for about a minute.

2. Take out pasta and dry on paper towels for about an hour.

3. Tie a crayon to one end of a piece of string or yarn (to keep the pasta from slipping off). Wrap the other end of the string in scotch tape (to make it stiff for threading the pasta)

For Your Toddler:

Teach them to thread pasta pieces on to the snake. When they have that down, let them practice color recognition by following instructions about which color to add to their snake next.

For Your Preschooler:

Write down several color patterns on paper. At the end of each written pattern, ask your preschooler to predict what color comes next. Then have them make a pasta snake modeled after each written pattern.

I found that both the toddler and the preschooler could work happily on their respective projects at the same time- without over-extention for mom. Horray!

Katey writes about simple and inexpensive ideas for families to enjoy together at her blog Having Fun at Home.

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Filed Under: Guest Post, Toddler Time

Toddler Time: Sorting (and Counting) Ornaments

December 2, 2011 by Jenae — 2 Comments

Before we go any further, let me preface: Do not use ornaments that are special or sentimental to you. And obviously, no glass.

Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way…

We used some drum ornaments that I bought for 30 cents each at Dollar General last year after Christmas.

I dumped them in a bowl and Little Brother and I attempted to sort them by color.

But Little Brother is going through a bit of a possessive phase…so that didn’t go so well.

So we counted them instead. And counted them again. And again…

Adaptation…that’s life with a 2-year old, right?

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Filed Under: 1-2 Years, 2-3 years, Christmas, Cognitive Development, Color Recognition, Toddler Time

Toddler Time: Touchy-Feely Activity

October 20, 2011 by Jenae — 3 Comments

We used lots of items from around the house to talk about sensory descriptors like soft, rough, smooth, sticky, and bumpy. This would be a perfect activity for older babies and toddlers! Just be sure you don’t use any items that could potentially be a choking hazard.

I just threw the items (shown above) in a bowl and let Little Brother pick them out one at a time. I would say the word and have him repeat it.

Then, we reversed the game. I would ask him to find something sticky (for example) and then he would have to pull out the corresponding item from the bowl.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: 1-2 Years, Birth to 12 Months, Language Development, Sensory, Toddler Time

Baby and Toddler Activity: Fun with an Emergency Mylar Blanket

October 13, 2011 by Jenae — 3 Comments

Prince Charming ran a half marathon last Sunday. It was a relatively cool, rainy morning. At the end of the race, all the runners were offered one of these emergency mylar blankets to warm up (or at least that’s what I’m assuming their intended use was). Prince Charming didn’t want one, but I talked him into getting it anyway because I knew the boys would have fun with it!

And fun was certainly had!

The boys loved the texture of this mylar blanket and literally went a little crazy crawling, running, and jumping all over it!

I don’t have any “babies” anymore *tear*, but I can imagine laying a baby on this blanket and letting them crawl around on it. Some babies would probably love it and others might hate it. But it would be a great sensory experience nonetheless.

Plus, it is shiny. All babies love shiny things, right?

I’ve been told you can purchase these blankets in the camping section of most stores for around a dollar. Or you can buy them here.

Have fun!!!

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Filed Under: 1-2 Years, 2-3 years, Birth to 12 Months, Sensory, Toddler Time

Toddler Time: Sorting Cookie Cutters

October 6, 2011 by Jenae — 4 Comments

Oh, the joys of simple activities! This was a huge hit and allowed Little Brother and me to spend lots of time playing, laughing, and singing together.

For this activity, I used a giraffe peg hanger that currently resides on the wall in Little Brother’s bedroom. I had originally planned to use our baby links (like these), but I couldn’t find ours and refused to spend $5 at Target for a simple activity. So I used our cookie cutters instead…and it actually worked out wonderfully because it gave us an opportunity to talk about shapes!

Here’s what you’ll need: a peg hanger and either cookie cutter or baby links.

Just lay out the cookie cutters (or links) and show your child how to sort them by color.

We also talked abou the shapes of the cookie cutters and even sang some songs (like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” while looking at the star cookie cutter). We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about shapes because this isn’t something I am too concerned about him knowing at 22 months…but it never helps to make a mention here and there.