Your young child learns best through play. This is her way of exploring and learning about her environment. For example, when your child is playing with LEGOS, she is learning about color, counting, and spacial relationships. You can help promote your child’s mastery of basic concepts with some of these fun, hands-on activities.
Shapes
When your child is learning about shapes, he is learning about basic mathematical and spacial concepts. Everything has a shape. Start to broaden your child’s awareness by pointing out the shapes of everyday objects.
Shape Characters
These cute characters and rhymes will help your child with shape identification.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Construction paper
Scissors
Crayons
1. From the construction paper, cut out a circle, a square, and a triangle.
2. Let your child cholor in facial features for each shape.
3. Teach your child the following rhymes for each shape:
I am Suzy Circle, watch me bend.
Round and round fro end to end.
Tommy Triangle is the name for me.
Count my sides, one, two, three
Sammy Square is my name.
My four sides are all the same.
Shape Hunt
As your child searches for shapes, he is also developing visual discrimination skills that will help him with reading when he is older.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Construction paper
Scissors
1. From the construction paper, cut out a circle, a square, and a triangle.
2. Work with one shape at a time. Show you child the shape, and tell him that this is going on a shape hunt. Help him find other items that are that shape. For example, show him the circle and then go around the room looking for circles. Help him find circles in things like a doorknob, a plate, or a clock.
Circle Prints
Let your chid use his creativity while he explores the circle shape.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
What you need:
Tempera paint
Pie tin
Circular objects
Construction paper
1. Pour some paint into the pie tin.
2. Have your child help you find circular items to use. Some suggested items include jar lids or the rim of a paper cup.
3. Show your child how to dip items in the paint and then press onto the paper to create circle prints.
Shape Animals
This activity will help your child use problem-solving skills as well as help him with shape identification.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
What you need:
Scissors
Construction paper
White craft glue
1 sheet poster board
1. Precut a variety of shapes form the construction paper, making multiples of each shape as well a different sizes of each.
2. Show your toddler how to arrange the shapes to create the forms of animals For example, a triangle could be the head, and four circles can be used for paws. Glue each animal to the poster board.
3. Help your child identify the shapes that he uses. Encourage your child to label the animal that he made. Did he make a lion, a bear, or perhaps a new specials altogether?
Colors
There are many activities that can help your child learn color identification. The most successful activities are hands-on and engage your child’s senses. Here are just a few to get you started.
Rainbow Discs
Here is a way for your child to see the world through many-coloured lenses. This activity can also serve and an introductory lesson on mixing colors.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
What you need:
6 paper plates
Scissors
Red, yellow, and blue cellophane
White craft glue
1. Put two paper plates together and cut a hold in The Center about the size of a plum.
2. Cut a piece of coloured cellophane slightly larger than the hole.
3. Glue the cellophane to the top of one plate to cover the hole.
4. Set the second plate on top of the first and help your child glue them together. Now you have a rainbow dis for your child to look through.
5. Repeat these steps to make two more discs in the remaining colors. Show your child how to overlap the discs to create new colors.
Color Lotto
Lotto games enhance your child’s memory and problem-solving skills. You can adapt this game for shape, letter, or number recognition as well.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
What you need:
Scissors
Index cards
Colored construction paper
White craft glue
1. Make two lotto cards for each color by cutting an index card in half crosswise.
2. Cut pieces of coloured construction paper to fit the half of each card.
3. Have your child help glue the paper on the cards. Each card should have a coloured side and a blank side.
4. Mix the cards and arrange them in rows colored side down.
5. Your child is to flip over two cards and try to find a match. When she does, she can remove the cards. If she does not make a match, she is to turn the cards back over and try again. Do not worry about strictly following the rules. Your child may need to turn over more than two cards or even keep them facing up.
Fishing for Colors
This fun game will help your child develop her eye-hand coordination while learning to identify colors. You need to closely supervise this activity at all times—the “fishing line” could wrap around your child, and the magnets and clips could pose a choking hazard.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
What you need:
1 piece of string 2” long
1 smooth stick or dowel rod
1 small magnet
Scissors
Colored construction paper
Paper clips
1. Tie the string around the end of the stick and then attach the magnet to serve as the hook.
2. Cut the construction paper into fish shapes several inches in length.
3. Attach a paper clip to the head of each fish.
4. You can place the fish on the floor or put them in an empty aquarium.
5. Show your child how to use the magnetised fishing pole to “catch” a fish. Have her identify the color of the fish she catches.
Squish and Mix
This is a great sensory activity that will help your child observe what happens when colors are mixed. Be sure to talk to your child about what she sees.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 18-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Tempera paint
Zip-top bags
1. Add a small amount of the blue and red paints in a zip-top bag and seal. Place the bag inside a second bag and seal.
2. Le t your child squish and knead the bag to mix the paints and create the color purple.
3. Repeat with other colour combinations (such as blue and yellow to make green, white and red to make pink, etc.).
Numbers
Children develop a mathematical awareness at an early age. Although your toddler is not ready for mathematical equations you can start to introduce him to the concepts fo quantity and the symbolic representation of quantity.
Count Through the Day
You do not need to plan a formal activity to help your child develop number and counting concepts.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
As you go through the day with your child, count with him. Point out things in his environment and encourage him to count with you. “Let’s count how many cookies are on the plate.” Look, Andy, there are lot of birds on the tree, let’s count them!”
Three Little Kittens
Use this popular rhyme to reinforce number concepts with your todler. You can also do this activity with The Three Bears and their bowls of porridge.
Activity for an individual child.
Age groupL 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
What you need:
3 photos of different cats
6 mittens for paper cutouts of mittens
1. Recite the following rhyme for your toddler.
The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,
That we have lost our mittens."
"What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie."
"Meow, meow, meow."
"Then you shall have no pie."
The three little kittens, they found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, see here, see here,
For we have found our mittens."
"Put on your mittens, you silly kittens,
And you shall have some pie."
"Purr, purr, purr,
Oh, let us have some pie."
2. Set up teh three pictures and have your child count and distribute the mittens for each cat
Birthday Cake
Here is a fun way to help your child see the relationship between numerals and quantity.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Scissors
Construction paper
Markers
White craft glue
1. Cut the construction paper in the shape of a cake. Repeat to make 5 cakes.
2. Mark the assigned number on the side of the cake.
3. Cut out 15 thin rectangle shapes for candles. Cut out tiny yellow teardrop shapes for flames and glue them onto the candles.
4. For each cake, help your child identify the number and glue on he appropriate number of candles.
Number Bag
Here is a fun outdoor activity that will reinforce number concepts and counting skills.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
What you need:
Marker
Small brown paper lunch bags
1. Mark each bag with a number, starting simply with just 1, 2, and 3.
2. Take your child outdoors where he can fin thing to collect such as leaves or stones. Direct him to put the appropriate number of items in each bag.
Letters
Your young child is just starting to learn to decode and interpret symbols. Although you may consider letter recognition an important skill, be sure to keep the learning activities fun! Letter recognition is only one step in developing literacy skills and will not be fully mastered for a few years yet.
ABC Dominoes
Help your child with letter recognition and problem solving with this twist on a classic game.
Activity fo an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Index cards
Markers
1. One each index card, draw a line crosswise down The Center.
2. On each side of the line, print a letter of the alphabet so that the top of each letter faces the line in the middle. To keep it simple, you may wish to use only a few letters.
3. Show your child how to match up the ends as you would with regular dominoes.
There’s a “B” in My Soup
Help your child with letter recognition and awareness. Show her how there are letters all around her.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
1. Have your child pick out and identify letters in her alphabet soup or cereal.
2. For a variation, give your child some dry alphabet cereal or pasta and challenge her to find certain letters. Perhaps you can help her spell her name.
Letter Collages
Here is a concrete way to help your toddler with letter identification and the sounds the letters make. Close supervision is needed when you are working with small objects.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
What you need:
Scissors
Poster board
White craft glue
Variety of small objects
1. Cut your chosen letters from the poster board. Make them 8”-10” high, leaving plenty of room to glue objects.
2. Help your child select and then glue appropriate objects onto the letter. For example, glue buttons on eh B” or glue pennies on the “P.”
Time
Time is one of the more complex concepts you can’t expect your young child to comprehend. This is because your child cannot see or touch time. Time is an abstract concept, so any meaningful activities must be hands-on and relevant for your child.
How Long?
Although your child is not ready to measure time with a clock, you can introduce him to the basic concept of time passage in a concrete way.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: Variable
Challenge your child to guess/estimate how long certain activities will take to complete. You can use a hourglass, a timer, or simply count. Sample activities to time include brushing his teeth, walking up the steps, or singing his favourite song.
What Comes Next?
The progression of time follows a predictable rhythm. This activity will help your child track the passage of time as he learns to predict and anticipate events.
Activity for an individual child.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
5 or 6 index cards
White craft glue
Magazine pictures depicting routine activities
1. One each index card, glue a picture depicting a child performing a routine activity. Examples might be a child getting dressed, taking a bath, eating dinner, or listening a bedtime story.
2. Help your toddler to put the cars in order as they occur in his day. Be sure to discuss the concepts of routine and sequence with him: “What do you do after you come home from Grandma’s house?” Or “Do you take a bath after dinner time or before dinner time?”
Spacial Concepts
Helping your child learn spacial concepts will help her master mathematical and reading skills when she enters school. These activities will also help her to learn to follow directions and builder vocabulary.
In and Out the Doors
By playing the fun game, your child will be learning the directions in, out, and through. It is also a great way to build large motor skills. Once your child has mastered the basic activity, add excitement by challenging her to do it faster and faster.
Activity for a group.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: Variable
1. Participants hold hands while standing in a circle. Players need to start far enough apart that they can hold their arms outstretched.
2. Players can make one of two configurations. If they had their arms straight out they are making a window. If they rain their arms, they are creating a door.
3. On player stands in The Center. She then goes in and out of the circle by passing through the doors the other players have made. She cannot go through any windows. Players in the circle can change from a door to a window as they choose.
Hey Diddle Diddle
Use the famous nursery rhyme to help your child learn spacial concepts.
Activity for a group.
Age group: 30-40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
What you need:
Masking tape
Cut-out or photograph of the moon
1 sheet poster board
Cut-out or photograph of a cow
1. Tape the moon onto the poster board. Stick a loop of tape to the back of the cow.
2. Teach your child the classic nursery rhyme, “Hey Diddle Diddle.” Ask your child questions like, “Did you ever see a cow jump over the moon?” Or “Do you think a cow can really jump that high?”
3. Ask your child to stick the cow “over” the moon.
4. Introduce variations to the rhyme and have your child place the cow in he appropriate place each time. Example:the cow hid under the moon, the cow danced beside the moon, and so on.
Hurrah for Hula Hoops
Your child may be too young to swivel a hoop around her hips, but she can still have fun while she is learning.
Activity for a group.
Age group: 30-40 montha
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Give your child directions for moving with the hula hoop. Here are just a few ideas to get you started.
With the hoop on the ground:
• Stand inside the hoop.
• Jump out of the hoop.
• Walk around the hoop.
While holding the hoop:
• Put the hoop over your head.
• Step through the hoop.