The Everything Toddler Activities Book (6 page)

It is a common scenario: A young child excitedly tears through the fancy wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows. He opens the box and removes the year’s newest and hottest technological gizmo toy. After a few minutes of play, he puts aside the toy and turns his attention and creativity to the toy he prefers—the box. In fact, boxes are wonderful open-ended toys. Rather than running on batteries, they run on imagination!

Young children tend to find and collect little treasures.
Many of these items may be meaningless and even bothersome to you, but they are dear to your child. Make this project with your child and give him a special place to store his treasures.

1. Assist your child in gluing on the paper to cover the shoebox.
   
2. Provide him with many different materials to glue onto the box for decoration.
   
3. Apply the mailing label to the box and write your child’s name on it. Find a special place to store the “treasure chest.”
   

There are many dramatic-play props that you can make with a box.
This project is just a suggestion to help spark your own ideas.
When cutting the rope, be sure that none of the sections are long enough to be a safety hazard.

1. Arrange boxes to form cars of the train. The front car is the engine—the open side of this box should be down, as the engine doesn’t carry passengers. The other boxes are open side up.
   
2. Cut a small hole in the front and back sides of each box so that holes in all boxes line up.
   
3. Connect the boxes with the sections of rope. Knot the rope ends on the inside of each box to secure them. A rope in the front can be used to pull the train.
   
4. Let your child decorate the train with paint or markers. The train is then ready to carry its passengers.
   

Promote your toddler’s problem-solving skills with this fun activity. You can do this at any time, but it’s a particularly good way to use paper from a recent holiday or birthday.

1. Choose a different color or pattern of wrapping paper for each box and matching lid. Wrap separately so that you can remove the lids once the boxes are wrapped. If you wish, you can have your toddler help you decorate the boxes.
   
2. Place all of the boxes in one pile and put the lids in another pile. Have your child match up the boxes with the lids.
   

This activity will teach your toddler about size, spatial concepts, and problem solving while having fun. You may choose to have your child decorate the outside of the boxes.

Challenge your child to nest the boxes inside of each other. Alternatively, ask him to try to stack them and build a tower.

This game tests your young child’s motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

1. Cut a hole in the center of the shoebox lid just big enough to fit the golf ball.
   
2. Invite your child to decorate the inside of the lid with the crayons. (He can also decorate the rest of the box, but the inside of the lid is most visible as it is the playing field.)
   
3. Invert the lid and secure it over the empty box with a couple strips of masking tape. You want to be able to remove the lid to retrieve the ball.
   
4. Place the ball on the lid. Challenge your child to tilt the box back and forth and try to get the ball to fall in the hole.
   

The next time bad weather forces you to stay indoors with your child, why not make it into a special day? Try following the backward, upside-down theme throughout the day. Start the day by greeting your child with a “Good night!” Consider letting her wear some of her clothing backward. Maybe you can have breakfast as the last meal of the day. Here are some other ideas to get you started.

Children of all ages will love the silliness of having a backward meal.
Don’t be surprised when you are asked to do it again next week.

1. If your family has assigned seats at the table, consider a shift. Let your toddler sit at the head of the table for this meal.
   
2. Of course, a backward meal must start with dessert! You can go the extra step by serving the pie à la mode upside down.
   
3. For the main dish, how about a backward sandwich or tortilla wrap? Put the meat and cheese on the outside with the bread and dressing in between.
   
4. Let your child suggest other silly ideas. She might decide to wear her napkin on her head instead of in her lap or to use a fork for her pudding—why not?
   

As a parent, you know the saying about the best-laid plans. Sometimes you need to come up with a way to calm or entertain your child without much planning. Here are some ways to pull a little magic out of your hat.

Every child likes to create pretend places to play in.
This activity gets you involved in the fun—a great bonding experience.

Help your child use the building materials to set up a fantasy environment where he can engage in pretend play for many hours. The shelter may become a tent, a fort, a cabin, a boat, a lighthouse, or a farm—the possibilities are endless.

This activity is fun for boys and girls. Instead of dolls, your child can invite favorite action
figures or stuffed animals. This does not have to be an elaborate party.
You can use real materials, but pretend props work just as well.

1. Let your child help you plan and set up the event. What can you use for decorations? What will you serve?
   
2. Follow the level of your child’s interest. You may simply need to put a few paper plates on a table, or your child may enjoy making placeholders, party hats, and so on.
   
3. Attend the party and be a good guest—enjoy the refreshments, and keep the conversation lively!
   

Do not despair the next time rainy weather keeps your child indoors.
This fun rainy-day picture will help chase the blues away.

1. Let your child use the crayons to color a rainy-day picture.
   
2. Show your child how to make umbrellas. Fold the baking cups (which will double as umbrella tops) in half and glue to the rainy-day picture. Glue yarn “handles” to the picture underneath each umbrella top.
   

Try these fun ideas when it is too cold to go out and play in the snow, or if you live in a warmer climate without snow. To add authenticity, give your child mittens and a scarf to dress up in while he is playing.

1. Drape the white sheets over furniture and on the floor to create a wintry look to the room.
   
2. With your child’s help, toss around the cotton balls and pretend that they are giant snowflakes.
   
3. Wrap pairs of white socks into balls and use them for a pretend snowball fight.
   
4. Put the potato flakes in a pan for sensory pretend play. If real snow is available, bring some in and let your child play with it in a contained area.
   

Here’s a new way to interest your child in puzzles and problem solving.
It is best to use a puzzle that your child knows and can complete. Jumbo floor puzzles
work best for this activity, but you can use any favorite jigsaw puzzle.

1. Remove 1 piece of the jigsaw puzzle and set it on a table. Hide the remaining puzzle pieces. You can choose how hard you want the search to be. For a younger child, you may wish to scatter the pieces in plain view and face up.
   
2. Bring your child into the room. Show him the single piece and explain that he needs to find the missing pieces in order to complete the puzzle.
   

CHAPTER 4

Away from Home

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.

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.

This activity will help develop your toddler’s listening skills while passing the time.

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.
   

Here is a game that everyone can play. An 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.

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 the next turn at being an animal.
   

This silly game is a more sedate version of Twister.
Young children will also be practicing color identification.

1. One person takes the role of leader and calls out a different color for the players to touch.
   
2. The players must touch something nearby that is of the specified color. Players may touch objects that are within reach, including each other’s clothing.
   
3. The next player takes a turn being the leader.
   

“Are we there yet?” This may be the mantra of young children traveling in the car. However, your next car 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.

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 magnetized letters and toys.