Activities for Toddlers » Toddler Activities

Toddler Activities: Golf Ball Game

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:36:26 +0000

I discovered this game from my in-laws. They played it with their sons (my husband and brother-in-law) and we continued the tradition by playing it with our toddler. This is one of my favorite toddler activities!

Required:
4 small plastic drinking cups
4-6 golf balls

If you’re a regular golfer, or have one in the family, this is a good way to use old balls.

Place one of the cups on the floor with the open side facing you. Divide the golf balls evenly between the two people. Each person attempts to roll the golf ball into the cup. Each time, you get the ball into a cup, you get one point. You may choose to play without points, and that’s fine, too.

When you’ve rolled all of the balls, you repeat the process until you play to ten or to another number of your choosing.

How to Keep Toddler Crafts Supplies Organized

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:13:55 +0000

When it comes to keeping toddler art supplies organized, you might find yourself shaking your head in frustration. Crafts with kids certainly is fun. What about the mess? What’s a parent to do?

You probably want to continue doing toddler crafts with your little one, but maybe you’re getting tired of picking up crayons and markers from every corner of your home.

Well, I found these neat crayon rolls at Pink Taffy Designs.

They come in all kinds of patterns and colors. What they have in common is how convenient they are and how easy it’ll be for your toddler to help put away their crayons!

If you prefer a do-it-yourself option, there’s always the crayon shoe box to help keep kids crafts manageable.

Online Toddler Games

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:45:41 +0000

People ask from time to time about online toddler games. At first I wasn’t sure about having my toddler use the computer, but she learns a lot, we found games that involve physical movement, and we limit how long she plays them. Eventually, I was won over to infrequent use of online games, because she enjoys them so much.

LazyTown: This is a game that involves physical movement. When a card is selected, it often requires jumping, kicking from side or site or moving in a circle. Sometimes, my toddler says “I’m tired!” after this game.

PBS/Kids: This highly respected site provides online games for the preschool set. We’ve played alphabet games that taught my toddler the upper and lower case letters while having fun.

Joe’s Maze Game: In this game, your toddler can help the Joe find his broccoli. This is especially good for older toddlers who are learning to use the mouse.

Kids Craft Ideas — Handy Crayon Box

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:27:15 +0000

Have you ever wondered about the best way to organize crayons so that little hands could easily access them and then put them away? I have! When you have supplies organized, it’s a lot easier to come up with kids craft ideas.

I adopted this handy crayon box from a site called toddlertoddler.com and then modified the idea for my own use.

I started out with a plain ol’ shoe box: (photos coming soon!)

I removed the lid and placed it on the floor. You’ll be sticking scissors through the lid, so make sure you have something under the lid to protect your floor. Make a hole with the scissors that’s the same (or a bit smaller) than your crayon width. Then, you or your toddler can place the crayons into the holes.

Now you have a handy way to store crayons. No more trying to open a box or having the desirable crayons on the bottom of a crayon pile.

How to Make a Recycled Cardboard Dollhouse

Tue, 20 May 2008 19:34:59 +0000

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.

Fun Activities for Toddlers and Parents

Tue, 20 May 2008 19:22:58 +0000

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:

Read a story together before bedtime or watch a favorite movie together and sing all of the songs;
Paint pictures for upcoming holidays or as gifts can be fun and teach your child about sharing and giving;
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);
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.
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.
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.