Although it may make your life easier, you cannot tote along all of your child’s toys whenever you leave the house. Whether you are going on vacation or just a short trip to the post office, you can still engage your child in many fun and worthwhile activities. Most of these activities need no planning and few materials. You are sure to find some favorites here along with some new ideas that you can pull out of your hat when you need them.
Air Travel Activities
Flying with young children can be a challenge. In such a confined space, restlessness and boredom will soon kick in for your naturally active toddler. Here are some simple ways to pass the time that will not disturb other passengers.
Name That Tune
This activity will help develop your toddler’s listening skills while passing the time.
Activity for a group.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
How to play:
1. One person softly hums a familiar tune, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
2. The person who guesses gets the next turn at humming a tune.
Who Am I
Here is a game that everyone can play. N added benefit is that it will promote your child’s problem-solving skills. For older children, you can extend the categories to include people or even objects.
Activity for a Group
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
How to play:
1. One player thinks of an animal. The rest of the group asks yes-or-no questions—Do you fly? Are you small? Do you eat bugs?—to figure out what the person is thinking.
2. The person who guesses correctly takes th next turn at being an animal.
Touch Blue
This silly game is a more sedate version of Twister. Young children will also be practicing color identification.
Activity for a group.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
How to play:
1. One person tase the role of leader and calls out a different color for the players to touch.
2. The players mush touch something nearby that is of the specific clot. Players may touch objects that are within reach, including each other’s clothing.
3. The next player takes a turn being the leader.
Car-Travel Activities
“Are we there yet?” This may be the mantra of young children traveling in the car. However, your next trip can be a pleasant one if you have ways to occupy your children. Set aside a play kit for your child to be used only for car travel. Avoid small pieces that can be lost or become projectiles in an accident.
On the Road
Here is a fun way to prevent loose parts from flying all over your car. When your child tires of roadway play, he can also use the tray with magnetised letters and toys.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
What you need:
Adhesive magnetic discs
Toy cars
Cookie sheet (or other metal tray that magnets will stick to)
Masking tape (optional)
How to play:
1. Attach the magnet to the bottom of the toy cars.
2. Let your child drive the magnetized cars all around the tray.
3. If desired, help your child use masking tape to outline roadways on the tray.
Animal Sounds
This is a lively game to play the next time your family takes a drive through the countryside.
Activity for a group.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
How to play:
1. Players look out for animals along the road.
2. Who someone spots an animal she identifies it by the sounds it makes. For example, “I see a moo!”
In the Hospital
If your child is hospitalized or even bedridden at home his activities will be limited. When he starts to feel better, staying in bed can be difficult. Here are some quiet actives that you can bring to him while he recuperates.
Activities to Do While Waiting
You can never have too many “anytime” activity ideas. There are many times when you need to find a way to occupy your child’s attention. These activities are great fun whether you are waiting for a bus, sitting in a doctor’s office, or you just want to take a few minutes to interact with your child. These are also great activities to share with other people who care for your child.
Favorites
Help pass the time by engaging your child in this simple game. As a bonus, this activity will help your child with organisational skills and will enhance her vocabulary development.
Activity for two or more
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
How to play:
1. Take turns being the leader with your child. The leader names a category, like television shows , ice cream, or flowers.
2. Players take turns naming their favourite things within the category.
I Spy
This is the classic guessing game. Your chid will be using observation and problem-solving skills when she plays.
Activity for two or more.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
How to play:
1. One person picks an object in the environment the is plain in view to all players. Then she recites the following chant, “I spy with my little eye something that is …” (red, tiny, fuzzy, and so on).
2. Other players try to guess what that person has spied. The first person to guess correctly then takes a turn “spying” something.
Here Comes Daddy!
This is a great game to pay when you are waiting to meet someone like Daddy, in a public place. Depending on whom you plan to meet, this game might be called “Here Comes Grandma!” or “Here Comes Mommy!”
Activity for two or more.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: Variable
How to play:
1. While waiting for daddy, watch the other people are walking past. Start the game by pointing to someone is clearly not Daddy—the less like Daddy, the better. Enthusistically, say “Here comes Daddy!”
2. The other person responds by pointing out someone who looks even less like Daddy and exclaiming. “No, here comes Daddy!”
3. Continue until Daddy arrives.
Handy Dandy
Here is a new version of a simple game.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 5 minutes
What you need:
1 small object you can hide in your hands, such as a coin.
How to play:
1. Show your child both of your hands. Place a small object such as a coin or a piece of candy in one of your hands. Remember, don’t let your child have the object if she is still putting things in her mouth.
2. Put your hands behind your back. And tell your child that you are moving the object from hand to hand.
3. Close your hands into fists and bring them back to the front of your body. Hold one hand higher than the other.
4. Recite the following poem and ask your child to guess which hand is holding the object.
"Handy dandy Riddledy Ro"
"Which do you pick, the high or the low?"
5. When your child picks the correct hand, you can either give her the object to keep or let her take a turn at hiding it.
On the Spot—When Child Gets Fussy
Here are some quick and easy activities that you can do anytime and anywhere. Whenever you see that your child is starting to get fussy or you feel a tantrum could be around the corner, try one of these soothing ideas.
Drumstick
This activity is built upon the classic toddler pastime of banging on pots; your toddler may have already discovered this activity on his own. Close supervision is needed, and you should be sure to talk about why this only an outdoor activity.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 12-40 months
Duration of activity: 5 minutes
How to play:
1. Give your child a drumstick to use as a tapper. You can make one by super-gluing a wooden bead onto a dowel rod. Or in a pinch, you can use a wooden spoon or even a popsicle stick.
2. Take your child outdoors and encourage him to tap on different things. Talk about what he hears.Possible items to tap include bricks, a tree trunk, and a rain gutter.
Real Finger Puppets
Add some pizzazz by taping some yarn or felt on for hair and clothing.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 12-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Washable, nontoxic markers
How to play:
1. Simply draw a face on each finger that you wish to use as a character. You may also wish to involve your child and use their fingers as well.
2. Create a simple play or act out a rhyme like “Little Miss Muffet.”
Tape Pulling
Be sure to avoid industrial tape that will stick to the skin.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 12-18 month
Duration of activity: 5 minutes
What you need:
Tape (any kind)
How to play: Give your child a strip of transparent or masking tape. Let him loop and stick and unstick the tape.
Beach Activities
It may not take much to entertain you when you spend a day at the beach You may be content to lie in the sand, feeling the warm sun on your skin and listening to the sounds of the crashing wavs Your toddler, on the other hand, is not easily amused. Once she tires of digging in the sand she may be ready to call it a day. Try some of these activities to make a day in the sun fun for everyone.
Zoo Lotto
Enhance your child’s interest and observational skills with this fun game.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 1 hour
What you need:
Ruler
Marker
8” x 8” section of poster board
Small magazine pictures of animals
White craft glue
Clear contact paper
Dry-erase marker
How to play:
1. Use the ruler and marker to outline six equal squares on the poster board.
2. Review the magazine pictures with your child. Let him select six pictures of animals that he thinks he will find at the zoo.
3. Help him glue one animal picture in each square.
4. Cover the board with clear contact paper.
5. Bring the board and dry-erase marker. Show your child how to mark off each animal the he sees.
6. Challenge him to complete the entire card.
Move Like Me, Sounds Like Me
Engage your child with this lively movement activity.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 1 hour
What you need:
A trip to the zoo or pictures of animals in a book or magazine—mine—download images
How to play:
As you view an animal, ask your child to mimic how the animal movies and/or sounds. Good animals to imitate are monkeys, kangaroos, elephants, and the big cats.
Museum Activities
Not too long ago, taking children to a museum was an exercise in frustration, given all of th interest tings they could look at but not touch. Fortunately, children’s museums in any larger cities now recognise that children earn best through hands-on exploration. Even some of the larger traditional museums have added more interactive exhibits. You can make any museum more interesting to your toddler with these simple ideas.
Can You See?
This is a version of the game I Spy.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
1. As you approach a picture on an exhibit, have your child guess what you can see. Chant the following rhyme
Can you see what I can see.
Can you guess what it can be”
I see something…(red, scary, round, etc.)
2. One your child has guessed, let her take the next turn.
What Is Happening
Art exhibits do not have to be boring for your children. Encourage your child to use her imagination with this activity. You will also be developing her vocabulary and literacy skills.
Activity for an individual child.
Age groupL 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
1. Find pictures that depict people. Abstract or still-life paintings wi not work for this.
2. Ask your child to make up a story based on what she sees. Maybe your child will have a few idea about why the Mona Lisa is smiling.