You don’t need a television to have fun with your children. Toddlers' minds are creative and ready to learn, making it easy to entertain and educate them at the same time. Activities can be just for fun or they can be used for educational purposes.
Cooking and Baking
The toddler's development will determine the level of involvement he can have in cooking and baking. Cooking with your child is an effective way to teach and use math skills. Think about what you want to make and gather all the ingredients in your house before starting. If your toddler isn’t old enough to measure out the ingredients, have him pour the ingredient in the bowl after you’ve measured it. Keep track of measurements on a sheet of paper and demonstrate to your child how to add and subtract as you add each ingredient. Explain to your toddler about temperature and why heat helps cook the food you’re making.
Playground Activities
Take your toddler to the playground for organized fun and learning. Plan to meet other parents and neighborhood children to help your child develop social skills. When you arrive at the playground, have your child identify the different shapes and colors that are present. For each color or shape he gets correct, add another minute to his free time. Take a stopwatch with you and show your child how much time he has to play. Start the stopwatch and place it in an obvious area where your child can observe it. This will help your toddler learn time boundaries and how to identify numbers in relationship to keeping time.
Learning Activities
Playing games that incorporate learning elements will help your toddler stay active and implement what he's learned. Use a ball and bounce on the floor to your child. Every time the ball hits the floor, have your toddler count out loud. Have your child bounce the ball back to you and so forth. Use building blocks to build a tower, castle or house. Use building blocks with numbers or letters printed on them. Instruct your child that he needs to use the blocks in the order of the alphabet or counting. At the completion of the building process, check accuracy and reward him for the building.
Considerations
All children’s activities need to be supervised by an adult at all times. Consider safety equipment and the general safety of the activity they’re participating in. If you think a particular activity may not be safe, don’t have your child participate.
