Toddler Activities
Activities for Toddlers
Your child will grow and so will their skills. When my niece moved in with me last year I had no idea what to expect. (I haven’t even changed a diaper before her.) The day she arrived, she could barely walk, talk, and didn’t really react to much other than “food” or “dad.” She moved to California when she was 15 months old and the journey to make sure she was happy, safe, and of course to become a badass baby started.
SKILLS TO CONSIDER WHEN THINKING OF ACTIVITIES TO DO WITH YOUR TODDLER
Cognitive skills: Thinking, problem solving, learning
Fine motor skills: Using smaller muscles (hands)
Speech skills: Understanding words, talks to themselves when playing with toys, child can follow directions better
Gross motor skills: Using larger muscles (legs, back)
Self-help skills: Being independent
Color/Drawing
What you need
Paper, crayons, markers, solid surface
What to do
Tape the paper down because they move around a lot and demonstrate how to use the marker & then let them have fun!
Finger-Painting
What you need
Paint, paper, solid surface, High chair works best so the child doesn’t run around with the paint if they are younger.
What to do
Tape paper down and let them become the artist they are meant to be.
Park Adventures
What you need
PARK
What to do
Let the child run around and interact with the other kids at the park… and if the park is empty.. have fun and be a kid with them!
Swimming
What you need
Swimming pool
What to do
Salem joined a baby swim class and loved it!
Simon Says
What you need
You and the Child
What to do
Give an action and do it with the child
*Remember to use positive reinforcement - always cheer the baby on because when they notice they are getting praised, it makes them want to do more!
Matching Game
What you need
Color foam shapes or blocks
What to do
Group a few of the shapes together by color with some left over. Give the baby a color and say go put this with “Red, Orange, Blue, etc” - whichever color it is. Sometimes if she was struggling I would go and stand by the color! After all the colors are group together ask the child to put all the “Oranges Up” or whatever color!
*I always sing a clean up game.. and get super excited about clean up time. IT HELPS!
WORKOUT
What you need
Bodyweight or anything around the house that you can show the child and she can mimic you.
*Salem watched my clients workout all the time, so she loved to workout!
What to do
Squats, Yoga, Push-ups, pretty much anything. I would even jump up and down when we were in the house!
*The more you do it, the more the child will mimic.
LOVE EVERY MOMENT
There is so much to do with the tiny humans, they are pretty easy to make happy! Every second should be cherished, so try to not miss out on any of the precious memories! Remember, enforcing some of these skills at a young age will help with child development. Enjoy and have fun! Remember to take lots of pictures because it’s so much fun to go back and look at all of your adventures with the tiny humans!
STAY HEALTHY, STAY HAPPY
Thank you for visiting the MA360 Blog and we hope you come back to our future posts. If you have questions, post comments below or send me an email at malyndasarmy@gmail.com.
-M
Hi! I’m Malynda!
I like to learn new things and share it with others, hopefully you can learn something new here on my blog and share it with others in your life!
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