• For color identification, ask them to place all the blue Legos in one pile (hold up a blue Lego), the red Legos in another pile, and the yellow ones in another pile. Follow the same procedure using colored beads, colored foam pieces, colored cars….
• Make a “My Colors” book. Cut out magazine pictures of basic colored objects. Take several sheets of heavy paper, and write a color name at the top of each page. Help the child identify the colors and paste the pictures under the appropriate color label.
• Beside providing wonderful exercises for developing and strengthening eye-hand coordination, shape identification, motor skills, an understanding of spatial relationships, and thinking skills, we were happy to accommodate our children’s enthusiasm for large floor puzzles because they were fun. Introducing these shortly before their second birthday, we would show our children which pieces fit together until they were capable of mastering that on their own.
• Although they enjoyed putting the entire puzzle together, they dearly delighted in the game that always followed. Giving them a dowel rod for a pointer, we would ask them to point to the rake, the mama pig, a rabbit munching on a carrot, the moose…. Then they in turn would hand the pointer to us and ask us to find things. It isn’t as easy to get down and up again as it once was in years past, but we are still making fond memories on the floor. Nature’s Workshop Plus! (888-393-5663) offers beautiful floor puzzles of the forest, pond life, insects, solar system, rain forest, and Noah’s Ark. We also enjoy the Farm and City puzzles available from local teachers’ stores.
• My sister-in-law made really neat playdough for Josiah, so I asked for the recipe to share with you. The package of Kool-Aid makes it smell delicious and colors it pretty colors. Ingredients: 1 c. flour, 1 c. water, ¼ c. salt, 1 T. oil, and 1 pkg. unsweetened Kool-Aid. Mix all ingredients together in a pot, and cook over medium/high heat. Stir constantly until it forms a stiff ball. Cool on wax paper, then knead. Store in Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. Cathy made four batches—grape, orange, cherry, and lime. She has tried several different recipes, but this one seems to last the longest.
• After taking a thorough walk or drive in your neighborhood, make a large map depicting what you saw. Use a milk carton for your house, a book jacket for the library, a jar of coins for the bank, an egg carton for the grocery store, a green carpet square for the park, foil for ponds, toothpicks for railroad tracks, and so forth.
• Make a timeline of a typical day, a week, and then a month. Take pictures of your child doing various daily activities such as sleeping, making the bed, brushing teeth, eating breakfast, listening to Bible stories, doing school, playing outside, eating lunch, story time, napping, coloring, setting the table, eating dinner, playing with Dad, and sleeping. Have them set up a timeline for the day, placing the pictures in the right order on freezer paper. Then, to the side or under each picture, label the activity for them. For a week or a month, take photographs of family game night, grocery shopping, Bible study, Sunday worship, visiting family and friends and so on. Place on freezer paper for a timeline or place in blocks of a large handmade calendar.
• To learn the books of the Bible, make a large castle to represent God’s kingdom. Start at the bottom making 14 rectangular windows as the Historical Foundations. At the bottom inside of each window, write the name of each book of the Bible, starting with Genesis and ending at Esther. Books that have a “First” and a “Second” should be included together in one window. Continue on up the castle floor by floor. Some could be grouped together under major headings like the “Major Prophets Hall,” “Minor Prophets Hall,” “Modern History,” and the “Apostle Paul’s Offices.” Make colorful additions of knights, scribes, pages, flags, banners, and minstrels. Hang on the wall. As your child memorizes the order of the books of the Bible, place a crown or star in each window until all are filled.
• Read “The Gingerbread Man.” Bake and decorate gingerbread cookies. Play hide ‘n seek where the little one becomes the gingerbread man hiding from the Cookie Monster Mama who nibbles and kisses every gingerbread man she finds.
• Sing “Ten Little Indians.” Make Indian vests out of paper grocery bags and decorate. Using blankets, chairs, and table, make a tent. Sit in the tent and read books. (Boy, oh boy, do kids love it when Mama gets in the tent with them.)
To Help Develop Fine Motor Skills:
• Using a tiny spoon, transfer beans from one wide-mouthed container to another.
• Using tweezers, pick up toothpicks and lay them side-by-side.
• Using tweezers, pick up Lego pieces and drop into a jar.
• Using two pencils as chopsticks, transfer marbles from one bowl to another.
• Play marbles.
• Stay in the lines while coloring.
• To cultivate visual sequential memory and help fine motor skills, connect several different colored Legos or Duplos together like 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 blue, and have the child duplicate your color and number pattern. Or start a sequence of colored beads (2 orange, 3 blue, 2 red, 1 yellow) and have the child string additional beads, duplicating the same color and number sequence.
To Teach Quantity:
• Make a grouping of objects (blocks, silverware, socks, buttons …) and have child count objects.
• Change quantity of objects and ask if there is more, less, or the same.
• When putting away groceries, count the eggs, canned goods, loaves of bread….
• Go on scavenger hunt in house counting all the windows, doors, chairs, pillows….
• When driving, count all the stop signs, trucks, buses….
• Make a number line with objects. Use butcher-block paper and divide into squares. In each square, drawn an object such as a flower, stick person, tree, dog, geometric shape, car…. Direct the child to go from the dog to the flower and count the steps as they go. Ask them how many steps they went. Then ask them to go six steps from where they are now, etc.
• Make number cards displaying the number of objects at the top of each card, the numeral below them, and the number word at the bottom. Traditional patterns should be observed when drawing the objects on the cards. For instance, to display five objects, place two on top row, one object in the middle, and two on bottom.
• When playing Go Fish with a standard deck of cards, hold up the card you’re asking for and say, “Does anyone have any threes, etc.?” The younger children then know what to look for even if they don’t know their numbers yet.
• In Yahtzee, show the child which dice to keep and fill in their card for them.
• Pictographs are wonderful tools to help little ones keep track of and report useful information. Using pictures, for one month have them record duties and activities they normally do. For example, a “toothbrush” could represent brushing teeth, “praying hands” for calling upon God, “plate” for setting the table, “book” for books read. Set up a graph key to represent the totals. One toothbrush could represent two brushings; one praying hands could stand for three prayers; one book might be equal to five books read.
To Teach Place Value:
• Bundle popsicle sticks with rubber bands in groups of ten. Ask the child to show you the number you request by giving you the right amount of bundles of ten and individual sticks.
• Make a geoboard by nailing 10 rows of 10 nails each into a square piece of wood. Leave about ½-inch space between each nail. Give the child a number and have them rubber band the right amount of nails together. Use a rubber band for each group of ten nails or less. Thirty-four would be three groups of ten nails and one group of four.
• Using pegs and pegboard, after giving a number, have child place the right amount of pegs in board.
Indoor Fun:
During our climate’s colder weather when bitter cold temperatures prevail, limiting our little ones’ adventures outside, opportunities for physical activity indoors help channel their boundless energy. To give them ample opportunities for exercise in winter:
• Set up a miniature playground in the basement by bringing in the sandbox, sliding board, and tricycle. Move the rocking horse nearby. Then to complete the perfect indoor gym, place a mattress on the floor for bouncing, and secure a swing from an overhead beam.
• Play Mother May I, Red Light Green Light, Hokey Pokey, Simon Says, Twister, and Tic Tac Toe Toss Across.
• Punch punching balls to lively music.
• Create obstacle courses for interesting maneuvers.
• Have relays of jumping with a ball between the knees, hopping on one foot, hopping like a bunny, bouncing the ball to you and back, and keeping cotton on a wooden spoon.
• Form a marching band using kazoos, oatmeal box drums, bells, sandpaper blocks, and cooking pot lids.
• Toss beanbags or balls into bucket or wicker basket.
• Exercise to an exercise tape.
• Play hide and seek.
• Race using stick horses.
• Blow bubbles and let your child try to catch them.
• Play “Ping Pong Blow.” After removing the net, instead of using paddles, have the children blow the ping pong ball back and forth to each other. Even the older ones can join in the fun. With a little innovation, most activities can be adapted to include everyone in the family.
• Play basketball by placing a basket or laundry basket on the ground so little ones can make their own baskets.
• Even little ones enjoy making their own valentines and valentine boxes. Nurture your children’s creativity and help them think of sweet sentiments to send to relatives. Upon receiving their valentines, ask family members to place calls of appreciation to the little senders.
• When is the last time you crawled into a tent with your little buddy to share whispered secrets as you hid from the rest of the world? Tents are wonderful hideouts and make-believe islands of adventure. So simply made with just tables or chairs and blankets, tents become tickets to faraway places like pyramids in the desert, huts in the jungle, tepees on the plains, or rockets to the moon. No special equipment is required, just an awesome imagination.
• Practice body parts when changing diapers—where’s your head, tickle your belly, give me your foot to kiss, stick out your tongue, bend your knees, cover your eyes, play peek-a-boo.
• Give your toddler a small doll. One that can be bathed is a fun companion while bathing.
• Give your toddler plenty of opportunities to help. Put your shoes away, put the bread in the drawer, give this book to Daddy, throw this paper in the trash, put a spoon at each bowl, close the door, go get my shoes…. Once a baby begins walking, it is amazing how they enjoy helping.
• Have the child dictate their story to you and illustrate it with pictures cut out from magazines and catalogs.
• Toddlers love to hunt for hidden treasures. Give them plenty of opportunities to develop their senses and keen awareness of their surroundings by hiding colored buttons, marbles, Tinker Toys, Legos, animal or lotto cards, little people, little vehicles, little plastic animals, colored blocks, or stringing beads around a room. Count the objects before you hide them to determine if all are found. Give your little ones a basket, bucket, or open container to hang on their arm so they can drop their treasures in as they find them.
Christmas Activities:
Christmas is such a wonderful time for children, so be sure to include your little ones in all the fun:
• Sit down and help your tiny tots make their own Christmas list for each of their siblings, grandparents, and Daddy. Then take them shopping, all by themselves, to gather their gifts for loved ones. Find a good hiding place to store the gifts until right before Christmas so they can remember what they selected before they give them out. Help them wrap each one. Place the wrapped gifts in a shopping bag or wicker basket separate from the other gifts, then let them give their gifts to each person.
• Help your little ones make special Christmas cards using scraps of Christmas wrap, old Christmas cards, yarn, glitter, sequins….
• Toddlers love to cook, so give them plenty of opportunities to help with the holiday baking. However, when your time is limited, get out the playdough, miniature sifter, rolling pin, and cookie cutters. Encourage your helper to bake with these while you hurry to meet your deadlines.
• Let them sift, stir, pat, and roll cookies.
• Make gingerbread men and stained glass Christmas cookies.
• Make simple gingerbread houses with graham crackers.
• String cranberries and popcorn to develop eye-hand coordination.
• Let them help wrap gifts by putting on tape or putting a finger on ribbon while you make a bow.
• Let them make some gifts themselves like homemade playdough for cousins, cookies for an older neighbor, a potholder for Grandma, granola for Daddy’s lunch, ornaments for siblings, or a birdseed ball (pine cone rolled in peanut butter and birdseed) for Grandpa’s tree. Have them decorate a tiny tree for an older relative’s dining room table.
• Place a tree in their room and allow them to decorate it any way they want.
• Teach them some Christmas carols and have them sing along while caroling.
• Let them tell the Christmas story at Christmas.
Spring Activities:
Springtime sets the stage for wonderment and “squeal appeal” surprises:
• In each section of an egg carton, have your toddler spoon some dirt and then add a seed or two. Keep damp and watch in awe as new life begins to emerge and mature.
• Place a sweet potato in a glass of water. If potato isn’t big enough to touch sides of glass, insert toothpicks around bottom third of potato to rest on lip of glass. Keep glass full of water, and watch as roots begin to grow and leaves begin to form.
• Surprise your tiny tot with a miniature hoe and shovel, packet of seeds, and a designated spot in the garden to call his own. Give direction, but allow your little one the freedom to do as much as he can on his own. Remind him when to water and help him weed, but let him harvest his flowers or produce all by himself.
• Visit a farm like Grant’s Farm, Purina Farms, or Suson Park where new animal babies can be observed and enjoyed. Talk about God’s gift of life and the love a mama has for her baby. Discuss how each mother cares for her young—protects, nurses, grooms, communicates, teaches….
• Using clay or playdough, form mother and baby animals.
• Play a matching Animal Families game.
• For little hands and mouths, plan a tidbit lunch by serving tidbits of cheese, meat, and fruit stuck with toothpicks.
• Have toddler paint a cardboard egg carton in a pretty spring color. Gently crack smaller end of eggs, one for each member of family, discarding egg for scrambled eggs. Place large end of each egg in painted egg carton and have toddler spoon in soil. Using waterproof fine tipped markers, paint faces on each egg to resemble family members. Then have child sprinkle rye seed on soil and water lightly. Place on sunny windowsill and keep moist. Watch as each family member grows hair.
• For place cards, have child decorate a special card for each family member, either by drawing faces or using stickers of objects depicting each member’s interests, like flowers for Mama, dogs for brother, fish for Daddy…. Then stick them in colorful gumdrops at each person’s place.
• Save all the cracked shells from your colored Easter eggs. To make beautiful mosaics, glue the shells to posterboard.
• To make egg carton caterpillars, cut cardboard egg cartons in half lengthwise and paint. Use pipe cleaners for antenna. Dip cotton balls in powdered tempera paint and attach to end of antenna.
• After reading a story about spring, make puppets out of popsicles and have child act out for family and grandparents.
• Begin a spring journal. With drawings and photographs, keep track of each new sign of spring. Press a few spring flowers between paper towels in a book. After a couple of weeks, glue in notebook. Take photographs of the birds that come back to your yard and read about each species.
• Cut out magazine pictures of baby animals. Hide in a room. As child finds each picture, have him or her act out that animal (i.e. rabbits hop) or reproduce the sound made by the animal.
• Visit children’s zoo to view new additions.
• Start garden seeds indoors.
Summer Activities:
• Think outdoor fun, and create a backyard filled with endless possibilities for hours of delightful play. Swings, gliders, and slides are great, but even better are mounds of sand, dirt, and rocks. Dumped next to one another or placed in spaces defined by railroad ties, these (along with shovels, buckets, trucks, and cars) provide little ones unlimited opportunities for pouring, shoveling, tunneling, building, and great imaginings. An old rowboat can become a pirate ship, a fishing boat, or a luxury liner. A simple tree house can be Robin Hood’s headquarters, Cinderella’s castle, a rocket headed for the moon, or just a hideaway from the world. A board elevated 2-4 inches off the ground can be a highway, a tightrope, or a bridge over an alligator-infested swamp. Just a rope hanging from a stout branch provides hours of fun. Think like a kid again and create a play area that would fulfill every kid’s dream.
• Play whiffle ball, but instead of the little ones batting, let them throw the ball as far as they can and then run the bases.
• For a fun travel bag, purchase a durable backpack with plenty of zippered compartments. Fill each compartment with fun things that will keep little hands busy while traveling, visiting, or at church. When Josiah received his, he was delighted to find Fruit Stripes gum, a chubby peek-a-boo book, ten tiny cars, animal crackers, a miniature Etch-a-Sketch, a miniature Magna Doodle, cowboy and Indian action figures, a Polly Pocket, chubby colored pencils, and a pad of sketch paper.
“School” Activities:
First thing every morning Josiah asks me to do school with him. Oh, how I love his enthusiasm for learning and his desire to be with his mama! Presently, we begin with a simple drill of phonics charts. He learns several new words each day, which I write on Post-Its for him to place on objects around the house (for example: up and down, big and little). Next we do simple mazes, alphabet and numeric dot-to-dots, identification exercises like “which object is different from the rest,” and find the hidden objects. From these favorite staples, we continue with whatever unit we are working on which happens to be birds right now.
First we read about a new bird. Then Josiah looks in Birds and Blossoms magazine to find a picture of that particular bird. He cuts it out and glues it in his Bird Book—several newsprint pages folded in half to look like a book. I label each picture. The older kids copy facts about each under its picture.
Josiah loves to color, so we usually color a picture pertaining to our study. Then we do an art project to coincide with our unit like building a wren house; painting miniature bird houses; creating nests of twigs, mud and grass; making a mosaic using cracked, colored egg shells….
We usually read several books pertaining to our study, play a game, and then he sits for Bible study with the older ones. Satisfied that he has had school, he goes off to play until we’re ready to include him in other projects we do throughout the day.
I adore our time together and appreciate the time it takes to mold his little character.
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