Activities for Toddlers » Activities for Preschoolers http://totville.com Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:11:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Games for Toddlers: Cornhole – Fun for the Whole Family http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/games-for-toddlers-cornhole.html http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/games-for-toddlers-cornhole.html#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:01:50 +0000 cel http://totville.com/?p=29 I had never heard of the game “cornhole” before I went to visit my friends in Louisville, KY recently. They have 4 children ages 3-11 and this a wonderful, fun family game. Apparently it is quite popular in the south. It also goes by the names “Corn Toss, Bean Bag, Bean Toss, Soft Horseshoes, Indiana Horseshoes” but is predominately referred to as Cornhole in Kentucky and Southern Ohio.

Cornhole is similar to horseshoes or skee ball. You use a wooden platform or box that has a hole in it. You stand at a distance and try to throw bean bags into the hole on the platform. A bag that lands on the platform scores 1 point and a bag that lands in the hole scores 3 points. Players take turns throwing their bean bags (corn bags) until someone reaches a score of 21 points.

The beauty of this game with kids (though the adults had just as much fun and dominated the sets available at this particular party) is that it is simple, you can adjust the difficulty by just adjusting your distance from the platform, and you can adjust the winning score (say make it 10 instead of 21) so the game lasts as long as you want it to.

You do need a game set to play. The prices can be high (some tournament cornhole people take their game very seriously), but there are mini sets you can get for less.

]]> http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/games-for-toddlers-cornhole.html/feed 0 How to Make a Recycled Cardboard Dollhouse http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/how-to-make-a-recycled-cardboard-dollhouse.html http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/how-to-make-a-recycled-cardboard-dollhouse.html#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 19:34:59 +0000 http://totville.com/?p=6 You don’t have to spend $200 on a dollhouse, and you can reuse those diaper boxes when you learn how to make a dollhouse yourself.

A cardboard box becomes the frame of your child’s new toy, and creating the house can be filed under “fun toddler activities. =-)

Toddlers become impatient. In your toddler’s point of view, this project will seem to take eons. If you want to do this project with them, I suggest you give them small tasks to complete. They can make wallpaper with white paper and crayons. If they are old enough, they can cut out shapes or help you put glue on the walls so you can paste on the wallpaper and photographs. They may wander off at some point if they have a short attention span. Eventually, they’ll probably come back and help you again.

Required Materials:

  • Lots of catalogs with photos of living rooms, bedrooms, furniture, etc.;
  • Cardboard box (one that holds a lot of diapers, a shoe box is too small)
  • Glue — glue sticks or good old Elmer’s glue
  • Stickers (optional)
  • Scrapbooking paper (to use as wallpaper)
  • Wrapping paper (to use wherever you fancy)
  • Scissors
  • Construction paper
  • Crayons

Instructions

1. How big your dollhouse will be will depend on the size of your box. Using scissors, cut out the largest side of the box. This will become your central wall.

2. Cut out the two smaller sides. These will become the walls between the rooms.

You’re aiming for a long central wall with two smaller walls that bisect it. Imagine a lowercase “t” with two crosses instead of one cross, and that is the shape you want. The house has no walls or roof, which makes it easier for little hands to get into the rooms to play.

3. Now it’s time to decorate! Get your toddler busy with crayons or have them decorate a white sheet of paper that will become wallpaper for a room.

4. While your toddler is busy, you can decide which areas will become the kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc.

5. Then, start gluing the cut-out photos of beds, curtains and bookcases to the walls of the bedroom. If you end up with an ugly spot from catalog copy, you can cover that with a sticker or a bit of scrapbooking paper (or even wrapping paper!).

6. Keeping working on each room until you like how it looks. You can come up with a number of ideas and keep adding to them until you’re pleased with the results.

7. If you knit, you can use scrap yarn to make a little rug. I temporarily used two square coasters to make a floor in one room.

The total cost for my project was $5 for the scrapbooking paper. I had all the other materials on hand.

]]> http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/how-to-make-a-recycled-cardboard-dollhouse.html/feed 0 Fun Activities for Toddlers and Parents http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/fun-activities-for-toddlers-and-parents.html http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/fun-activities-for-toddlers-and-parents.html#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 19:22:58 +0000 http://totville.com/?p=5

Your little preschooler learns, like adults, through life experiences and from interaction with others. That’s why they like to touch, smell, and interact with the world around them. This learning process is essential for children to prepare themselves for the future.

Banging around pots and pans can teach children the differences in sound while reading a book, and playing with other children can improve their communication skills. Wooden blocks help develop the imagination — my little one made a ‘train’ from cubes the other day — and shape sorters can actually strengthen the eye muscles.

Engaging in regular activities with toddlers is one excellent way to develop the essentials they need to mature, and they can have fun and learn at the same time. From the day a child is born, she or he learns how to bond with caregivers through feedings and listening to the world. Sharing experiences together can contribute to that bonding.

Some of the fun toddler activities you can engage in with your preschoolers include:

  1. Read a story together before bedtime or watch a favorite movie together and sing all of the songs;
  2. Paint pictures for upcoming holidays or as gifts can be fun and teach your child about sharing and giving;
  3. Visit the beach for an experience that involves sound (waves crashing), touch (grainy sand, rough shells, wet water), color (sky, water, birds), taste (salty water or sweet treats from the boardwalk or your cooler);
  4. Bake with a toddler to show them how to measure and mix. Preschoolers love to pour ingredients from one cup to another! Your toddler can help with getting the ingredients out, measuring them, and mixing them together, and you can take care of the handling the hot oven. Once the baked treat is finished, let the toddler get creative with decorations for a delicious ending to an eventful day.
  5. Food is always fun for toddlers to play with, so you can actually plan out an activity to make crafts out of food. You can supply glue, cheerios, dry pasta, and cardboard to make homemade picture frames, and even include paints or markers for even more decoration. This activity is fun for all ages, and can be special for an upcoming birthday present that a grandparent would cherish.
  6. Preschoolers are usually amazed by the smallest things such as lady bugs or other small insects that seem mysterious. You can plan an art day with your toddler, and actually have them make their own lady bugs to keep in their own backyard. You can find round rocks and paint them red, and let the children draw little legs and black spots with permanent markers. You can create any type of bug your child likes, and even let them do the painting if you wish.

Toddler love acting, trying new things, and exploring anything they have never seen before. Most of all, they love to be with you — their adored caregiver. When you plan a different activity for each day, your toddler will be able to learn, mature, and have a wonderful time bonding with you.

]]> http://totville.com/activities-for-preschoolers/fun-activities-for-toddlers-and-parents.html/feed 0