Teaching Toddlers 104: Playdough Playtime!

Everybody loves play-dough! It's squishy fun that molds into any shape your imagination can dream up, which is what makes it the perfect tool when it comes to toddler exploration! If your child doesn't like to color, playing with play-dough is a fantastic indoor alternative!

One of Nico's best birthday presents was this cool Playdoh Beach Creations bucket. It came with 4 tiny cups of Playdoh, and a bunch of different molds and tools to sculpt the figure of our choice. 

 

 

That little bucket included all the materials we needed for almost an hour of play time, and that best part was that Nico didn't even realize this was a lesson! 

 

He developed his motor skills, as he practiced scooping it out of the cup with the tiny shovel, and his imagination when he pretended to "feed me" his Play-doh food! 

 

 

 

Then, he tried to actually take a bite and found that it was not appetizing. 

(There are edible play-dough recipes that are very easy to make for extra sensory fun!)

 

Aside from learning that this specific play-dough is not food, we went over the colors and constructed different shapes! 

 

 

 And, as hard as I tried to avoid it, we ended up with mixed colors. 

My advice? Don't fight it.

But that's what play-dough is for; to make messes and mix colors and to fire up their little imaginations!

 

Teaching Toddlers: Sensory 101

I enjoy doing fun random activities with Nico! At least once a week I search the internet for interesting new games that teach babies and toddlers all kinds of important and exciting things!

This week we enjoyed an afternoon of sensory time! We played with the sense of touch, which is when we explore new textures and get a little messy. Sensory play has MANY benefits for toddlers and even babies. 

For this activity we used shaving creme, rice, and flour.

I bought Nico his own personal shaving creme so that we don't use ours,

I separated some rice for him and marked it as play rice,

And I did the same with the flour. I saved it in a container to make play dough with later.

PLAY TIME!

Picking up tiny grains of rice aids in the development of fine motor skills 

While pouring it from one container to the other develops problem solving skills and helps him to learn the processes of physics.

Most children can't learn the meaning or definition of a certain word until they have experiences it for themselves. While attempting to mold the foam, I repeated things like "squishy," "soft," and "white!"

Do not be discouraged if baby is a bit apprehensive to touching it at first. Remember that everything is new for them, and show times new things can be intimidating. Just get your hands dirty right along with baby and show him/her that there is nothing to be afraid of. This teaches them to be brave and to tackle problems head on! Take your time and follow your baby's pace and cues. If he tries to eat it, let him, as baby will quickly learn that his actions sometimes have icky consequences.

Nico was not exactly thrilled about the idea of playing with foam at first. When I presented it to him he looked at me like "you expect me to touch that?" But by the end he was quite pleased. 

Nico dominated his play time, making most of the decisions on his own which instills confidence, as I mentioned before, and fosters creativity! As soon as he figured out what flour was, there was no stopping him. 

 

Eventually, it all ended up on the floor (which was thoroughly cleaned before this activity) and on him. 

 Have fun! And remember, 

PLAY HARD = NAP HARD!

Mommy & Me Monday!

Enjoying a throw back M&MM today!! 

I can't believe there are still Mommy & Me pictures from the past that I have not shared with you guys!! 

I hope this brightens your day as much as it brightens mine! =)

The Learning Box: Teaching Baby!

 

Over the week I began to notice how fast Nico is growing! It seems like he learns something new everyday and I usually am not the one to teach it to him. These early years are when babies learn the most, this is the time when their brains are still forming important connections. I read that in one private learning preschool, 12 - 18 month old's were already peeling their own fruit and throwing away their trash!

The problem is teaching materials and preschools these days are kind of expensive! A few board books can cost as much as 40 dollars. 

As an alternative to fancy schools and simple books, I decided to try it myself.

 

After doing some research, I learned that toddlers who are 12 months and older can learn a multitude of things! They can identify shapes, numbers, letters, colors, and they can even distinguish between different emotions! 

It only took me and hour and a hand full of materials to put together this Learning Box for Nico. If you have older kids, you can even have them help you create this and make it a family project. After I drew and cut out all of the figures (obviously not perfect) I took everything to be laminated at Office Depot ($20)

The result; he loves it! 

Each day we spend 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes after nap time learning new things! 

He knows where to get his Learning Box and he knows how to put it away! 

His favorite thing to do is pull things out, put them in, and open and close the lid of the box. Through this he has also learned to throw things away, though we are still trying to teach him the difference between trash and toys! 

 

Over all I think that both parents and children will enjoy the time spent together using the Learning Box!