This first activity calls for fine motor control - something very good for little toddler hands to practice. I found the idea here. It's very simple. You place two or three spaghetti noodles in a piece of clay. Then your little one drops cheerios onto them. I have to admit mine never gets more than two or three on a noodle before he takes them off and eats them, but the goal here is to keep him busy and happy so if that's happening I'm okay with the snacking. Hey, we're multi-tasking - working on an activity and snacking. ☺ As you can see this activity takes a lot of concentration.
We have a wooden game that a neighbour found in her dad's closet and gave to us. It has six regtangular boards that each have eight pictures. For each tile there are eight square tiles with a picture that corresponds - not matches - a picture on the big piece. For instance there will be a picture of a vase and the child has to match the flowers to it or a baby pram matched with a baby. This is another favourite game. I control it by only giving him one board and eight tiles at a time. My older children like to mix everything up and do it all at the same time, but that's beyond my toddler's abilities right now. We also invented a game where we each had a board and saw who could get the tiles for their board first.
I have a small cardboard memory game that we haven't tried yet. I don't know if he's ready for it yet. You know - the kind where all the cards are face down and you take turns turning over two at a time to find the matches.
Another favourite activity is spooning beans from one bowl to another. Sometimes the simplest activities seem to be the most fun. I mean really who would think that this would be fun, but my little guy loves doing this. Just like when he plays with beads though, I'm hyper-aware if the beans fall on the floor because of the choking hazard to our baby. This is a simple, cheap activity and one that sets up quickly. I think part of the fun is the noise it makes - especially if you use a metal container for one of the bowls. There's just something about noise that little boys can't seem to get enough of. ☺
Another favourite activity is spooning beans from one bowl to another. Sometimes the simplest activities seem to be the most fun. I mean really who would think that this would be fun, but my little guy loves doing this. Just like when he plays with beads though, I'm hyper-aware if the beans fall on the floor because of the choking hazard to our baby. This is a simple, cheap activity and one that sets up quickly. I think part of the fun is the noise it makes - especially if you use a metal container for one of the bowls. There's just something about noise that little boys can't seem to get enough of. ☺
What games does your toddler enjoy playing?
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I like the sound of all these and havent tried any of them although they sound perfect for my youngest who is 2.5 - how old is your toddler that's playing these games please so I can get an idea if I would need to modify at all?
ReplyDeleteHe will be three in March.
DeleteYour brain never stops working - does it, sis? Wow - where were you when Stef was little - hahaha - I know you were there - but we really should have taken and given notes when raising Micah and Stef :) haha
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas - keep them coming!
I can't take credit for all of these ideas. I do a lot of searching online. :)
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