Top 6 Ways to Keep Your Toddler Busy and Happy

Our good friend Sarah, who also just posted the amazing post on our latest Moms Who Teach Mondays, sent us this awesome list today. I am already going to be using a few of the tips tomorrow! Check it out if you're interested....it's definitely worth your time. 

Texture Bins

Lately I feel like my son (16 months) has NOTHING to do. He already is quite the mama's boy and always wants me to play with him, however lately I feel like anything I offer him he refuses. Of course his toys are just not good enough and the kitchen appliances are all of a sudden boring to him.

So instead of rushing out the door to the nearest toy store, I decided that he needs more "real-life" toys right now. Something to keep his interest and something to use his senses. 

I decided to create a few inexpensive texture bins.

I headed to the dollar store and bought 4 colorful bins with enough depth that my son could reach his little hands inside and not spill the contents immediately while being able to still move them around. I came up with a long list of items I can put inside of the bins and chose 4 to begin with. This is why I love this idea so much. I can reuse the bins over and over again and change it up often so that my son doesn't get bored. Brilliant!

So to begin, here are some tools he can use to play with the contents in the bin: shovel, pails, scoopers, etc.

One bin I filled with rice. It's kind of like sand, but not. :)

The next bin I filled with various types of beans. I like the variety of color, size and texture. One day he'll be able to sort them too.

The third bin I filled with different textured balls. I found the tennis balls at the dollar store and threw in some older balls he doesn't play with often.

For the last bin I intend to fill with water and add bubbles. This is the water bin. It has a squirt bottle and some sponges to add to the fun. Did I mention I'm putting this out on the balcony? Yes so hopefully not too much of it ends up on my living room floor...we will see. ;)

And that's it! Easy and cheap: two words I like. :)

I am excited to try this out on Owen tomorrow morning. I'm going to first let him explore and then I'll step in to help him find new ways to use his texture bins. I will keep you updated on how it goes and when I end up changing the contents in the bins. Here's to made up "toys"!

Getting Ready to Write

As soon as Owen showed some interest in writing, I immediately started planning his own little writing center. I looked online at Ikea and found a perfect sized desk and chair for his room. I haven't bought it yet because I decided that I might start searching garage sales to find something that I can paint a fun color and rough up a bit. But this is my new project right now; and I want to get it up and running soon.

Now it might seem early for Owen to be interested in something like this since he is only 15 months, BUT it is important that we set the scene and mood when introducing new skills such as writing. I want Owen to be excited about it and as he gets older learn to grow to LOVE it.

So as I wait to buy/create his own little writing space, I have been busy making some crayon rolls for his "special" crayons to go in.

Owen loves to take the crayons out and in of their slots as well as scribble on paper. He especially loves to do this during church.

It rolls up so nicely and compact to take anywhere.

It was super easy and cheap to make and you can find the tutorial HERE.

And because it was so fun to make I decided to go crazy and make about 4 more for gifts.

Here is a girlie version:

Getting started is important as well as helping your child feel motivated and excited about learning.

What have you done or plan to do to help your child want to learn?

Also, don't forget to check out our AMAZING GIVEAWAY below!

Life Through My Toddler's Eyes

I am always thinking of new ways to challenge my 15 month old little boy. How can I enhance his fine motor skills? How can I help him learn to count to 5 or say the word "bird"? I am constantly thinking on his level. I am not going to expect him to know how to say his ABC's right now because he is still learning how to talk. I am not going to expect him to know how to count because we haven't spent a ton of time on that subject. Children don't magically learn how to do things; WE have to teach them.

I've had a few friends ask me what they should be working on educationally with their toddler and what I do with mine. This is my answer:

1. Assess your child's abilities. Not your friend's child. Yours.

2. Once you know his abilities, focus on activities that are challenging TO HIM. For example, Owen is able to open and close things, sing songs using actions and hold a colored pencil to make marks on paper. SO I give him empty bottles with easy to open lids for him to practice with, sing songs such as the Itsy Bitsy Spider where he can do almost all the actions but is still needing to learn some more, and provide him with opportunities to color using colored pencils while helping him begin to learn how to correctly hold the pencil.

3. Talk to your toddler. I am constantly talking with my son. I tell him what I'm doing around the house, we look out the window and talk about what we see, I ask him questions such as "What do you see?" or "How do you feel?" My goal is to help him not only build vocabulary, but also learn important social skills such as knowing his feelings and using words such as "please" and "thank you."

4. Point out letters, numbers and words. If you are working on the letter "M" with your child, when you see a word that begins with "m" point it out to your child excitedly! Make a big deal about it and then let her find the next one. OR if you are teaching her how to count to 5, when you are putting toys away, count to 5 over and over again as you clean up. 

5. Lastly, recognize that there are ALWAYS "Teaching Moments" and take advantage of them.

I sure hope that helps! 

What do YOU do to help your toddler learn?

Fun Outside

Being outside is always fun and I feel that children NEED to be outside at least a few times a day. So here is a fun activity for ANY age. I am thinking I'm going to try it with my toddler soon. I know he will have a blast! {and probably get real messy :)}

Materials: Paper, any size you can find; tempera paint powder (sold in places like Walmart in the craft/school supply section), bubbles and a bubble wand

After securing your paper to the ground outside, scatter tempera powder all over (more colors the better!). Next give your child some bubbles and let him blow them right onto the powder. They must get low to the ground and aim their bubbles to hit the powder. As the bubbles land on the powder, it magically turns to paint and begins to make crazy designs as the bubbles pop all over the place! It creates a really fun painting!

When I do this with my toddler, I'M going to blow the bubbles and let him pop them as they land on the paper. I am also going to let him get real messy by bringing a bucket of water out and letting him use a paint brush to "paint". He might also use his hands too. ;)

This was the perfect activity for my first graders at the end of the school year when we all needed a break.

Letter Cards and Pictures

There are ENDLESS possibilities with letter cards and picture cards. 

You can purchase letter cards and picture cards from any teacher supply store or I have seen them at the dollar store and grocery stores. If you'd rather not purchase them, you can easily make them by printing off pictures and making letters on a word document. Either way works great!

This activity can be effective for a wide range of ages/grades. Below I will give you some ideas of ways you can use this activity to help your child gain a better knowledge of letters and their sounds. This activity builds phonemic awareness; a key component of becoming a great reader and writer.

1. Match the letter to the beginning sound of the picture.

2. Play memory. This game is so versatile, easy and fun. I used it all the time with my first graders to practice vocabulary skills, spelling words, reading and writing skills, and math. You can play it however you want! Below is an example of matching the letter to the beginning sound of the picture. You can also match letters to letters (i.e. b and b) or letters to the ending sound of the picture (n to the picture of a hen). Have your child say the letter and it's sound 3 times when she turns over the letter card and have her say the name of the picture when she turns over the picture card. Have her do this each time she turns over a card so she is ALWAYS learning.

3. Verbal practice. You can simply point to the picture and have your child tell you the beginning sound it makes, or the middle, or the end, or all three!

4. Match the letter to an object in the house. 

(B for Book)

5. Writing. While you are cooking or cleaning or just hanging out with your child, have him write (on paper, with paint, on a white board, using magnets on the fridge) the letter of the beginning sound of objects that are around you. As you're cooking you might point to the Stove and ask your child to write the beginning letter of Stove. It is helpful to point to the object so your child can see and hear the word you are saying. For more advanced children, you can have him write the entire word, write the middle vowel, or ending consonant. You can always switch things up by having your child use different methods of writing (as mentioned earlier) to make it fun and exciting. 

Lastly, with any of these activities, you can switch roles and have your child be the teacher and you be the student! Children LOVE this and they continue to learn as they teach you! 

This activity can be adapted to children as young as 3 years old and up to children as old as 10...or older! Have fun creating new ways to help your children become better readers and writers, as they continue to LOVE to learn.

Teaching your toddler

Many of you moms out there have toddlers at home...not quite ready for preschool, but they still have the urge to learn. One of my friends has a 2 1/2 year old little one at home and she wrote me asking for ideas on how to keep him busy, engaged, and learning at home. I have been brainstorming these past few days and have compiled a list of hopefully FUN, ENGAGING, & FREE activities that you too can do at home with your toddler!

WAYS TO HAVE FUN & LEARN WITH TODDLERS

(at home or on the road)

1. When it's time to clean up toys or clutter make it into a game! Have some music ready to play (Mama J and I are working on a fun playlist of songs that you can sing, dance, and listen to with your kids. We will be sharing this soon!) Ask your child to sort his toys by shape, color, or size into different areas (baskets, spots on the floor, bins, etc.) Tell him that when the music starts you will begin sorting the items together. *You can make it into a race if your child is motivated by that or just have fun doing it together. After he has sorted the items ask him questions about the toys, "Why did you make this pile?", "How many things are in this bin?", or "What other ways can we sort our toys?".  This can be a GREAT learning experience and a fun way to clean up.

2. What child does not love to go on TREASURE HUNTS?! Take a trip to the park or even a ride in the car (really this activity can be done anywhere). Today we are going to the park with a 2 1/2 year-old Laura. I explain to Laura in the car that we are going to go on a treasure hunt for all different things while we at the park. This is a treasure hunt with our EYES & HANDS, that's all you will need! Sounds fun, huh? When we get to the park I proceed to ask her to find the following by running around and touching them with her hands and seeing them with her eyes.

1. Anything that is ROUND.

2. Only things that are the color RED.

3. Touch all the things in the park that are the shape of a square.

You get the idea. 

To make this game even more exciting you can switch up the body parts that she needs to touch things with. Or rather than use the sense of touch, use the sense of smell! There are SO many ways to make treasure hunts fun. 

Those are two ideas for now...many more to come!