Ages & Stages Archives

Baby and Toddler Activity: Fun with an Emergency Mylar Blanket

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…

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Learning to Dial 9-1-1

Proceed with caution on this post…or else the 9-1-1 dispatchers might have it out for me with all the little ones accidentally dialing 9-1-1! Before your child learns to dial 9-1-1, he/she needs to know what constitutes an emergency. Obviously,…

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F is for Fire

This alphabet craft was lots of fun to make and involved TONS of fine motor practice as well! Our very first parent/teacher conference with Big Brother’s preschool teacher was on Monday and she indicated that he could use a bit…

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Shape Fire Engine

We can’t learn about fire without learning about those who put them out…and their mode of transportation, of course! This is a great way to practice shape recognition, scissor skills, and visual discrimination (placement of the “tires”, etc). Here’s what…

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Toddler Time: Sorting Cookie Cutters

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…

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What puts out a fire?

I started off this little science experiment asking Big Brother, “What do you think puts out a fire?” I then used a candle in a glass jar with a lid for the following activity. PLEASE use EXTREME caution if you…

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Copying and Cutting

As a former first grade teacher, I can tell you that generally boys struggle much more with fine motor skills than girls. Holding a pencil correctly, cutting with scissors, and legible handwriting are all skills that prove more difficult for the…

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Toddler Time: Off and On

This is one of Little Brother’s favorite games. He pulls up the stool and turns the light on and off, all the while I’m saying “On” and “Off” respectively. Simple? Yes. Emphasizing language development and antonyms (opposites)? Yes and yes….

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3-D Pumpkin Puzzles

Sometimes people ask me where I come up with my ideas. I’m REALLY not a very creative person (I’m not even a fan of crafting, at least on the adult level…mostly because I am completely inept). In all honestly, a…

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Making Shapes

I’ve seen lots of ideas floating around using variations of craft sticks and velcro. So rather than try to fancy it up, I thought I’d keep it simple and show you how we used this idea to make various shapes!…

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Shape Hunt and Sort

After using the painter’s tape yesterday for our walk the line toddler activity, I decided to “recycle” the tape for an activity for Big Brother as well. I just tore strips of tape and arranged them into 4 shapes: a…

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Toddler Time: Walk the Line

Balance is a tricky thing for a toddler. This one safe way to ease into learning to balance. Just lay a piece of masking tape (or painter’s tape) on the ground and encourage your little one to “walk the line”. At…

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Build A Monster!

Go Away, Big Green Monster has been one of our favorite books to read lately! This is a wonderful book for young children because it is repetitive and has a predictable pattern (as is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You…

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M is for Monster

Use the letter “m” to make a unique monster! All you need is a piece of cardboard, some fuzzy fabric (cut into squares), wiggly eyes, glue and a sharpie. 1. Take a piece of cardboard and using a Sharpie, write…

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Playdough Monsters

This was Big Brother’s favorite monster activity yet! He spent over an hour playing with the playdough monsters…which is like an eternity in little boy time! We used wiggly eyes (sent to us by Craft Project Ideas), pipe cleaners, and some…

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Magnetic Monsters

I adapted this idea from Pre-school Play (via Pinterest) and it sort of took on a life of it’s own. First you’ll need to cut up some pipe cleaners… And then use either your hot glue gun or some gorilla…

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Toddler Time: Coloring on Foil

For this activity, I just taped a piece of aluminum foil to the table and let Little Brother color with his crayons on it. He’s had lots of experience coloring on regular paper and I wanted to try something different……

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Monster Finger Puppet

These little boogers are fun for kids of all ages! There are so many fun ways you can use this puppet glove: color recognition, one-to-one correspondence, songs, and monster-tickles…just to name a few! All you need is a gardening glove…

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