Outdoor fun for a toddler

There are so many things to do outside.  My almost 2-year-old loves to be outside. Here is a list of things you can do with a toddler that will keep it fun and interesting.

• Go for a walk in the stroller.  Talk about what you are going to see before, what you see during and what you saw after to get back home.  
• Use a toy wagon or stroller and have your toddler take a baby or toy for a walk.  They can carry it, too.  This works on walking next to you.
• Sidewalk chalk is fun to draw on the sidewalk.
• Play with a ball.  Kick, throw, roll, catch, etc.
• Play fetch with the dog.
• Play in a sandbox.
• Play with water in a water table or large rubbermaid bin.
• Go to the park.
• Find an open area at the park and run, run, run,
• Use water to paint the sidewalk or wooden fence with a large paintbrush.
• Ride bikes.
• Go for wagon rides.
• Listen for sounds -- birds, airplanes, squirrels, dogs, the wind, etc.
• Look for the sun, moon and clouds.
• Smell the flowers.
• Talk about different flowers.  Teach the proper names if you know them.  
• Look for bugs.  We often sing the Ants go Marching on our walks when she holds my hand.  Marching usually goes along with this.
• Look at the different colors you see outside.
• When we swing, I ask my daughter open ended questions.  She loves it.
• Take a blanket and read some stories outside.  I haven't tried this with my busy bee, yet.  But I plan to soon!

Just a few ideas!  Have fun!

You don't need these games

I'm not going to tell you not to buy games like these that promote sharing, listening or manners. Games are fun. They teach lots of things -- rules, cooperation, patience, sharing, listening, manners, enjoyment, imagination, sportsmanship. But you don't really need a game to enhance learning.

First all these skills can be learned through any type of dramatic play. Simply come up with an idea (bakery, restaurant, pet shop, store, doctor, etc. the list is endless). Fill a box with the theme and put items from around the house inside. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, kids don't care. Try to include a writing element in each one.

For more dramatic play ideas search this site.

Sharing Ideas
- Allow a child to share a toy or dvd with a friend to take home for a day or two.
- When playing with playdough put out one less tool, so the kids need to learn how to share.
- Have children work together on a computer game.

Listening Ideas
- I learned this at camp. Pair up the children. They are to tell the other person a problem they are having and the partner is not suppose to listen. Ask the kids ways that show not listening. I let the kids do anything but get up and walk away. Examples include, interrupting, looking away, not responding, putting fingers in ears, etc. They do this for one minute. Then we talk about what it felt like to not have the person listen. Then they reverse the roles. We talk again. Then we do the whole thing again but the partners listen. It has amazing results. At camp where there were so few boundaries and so many rules, getting kids to listen was the biggest challenge. I usually did when I wasn't getting the respect they should be giving. Normally, I would talk about emotions and when they were talking over me I would ask them how they thought I felt at that moment.
- Put on a play or skit. Give kids a topic or have them come up with an idea and preform for family or other kids.
- Have children tell stories.
- Let each child say one word and create sentences or stories.
- Play "Two Truths and a Lie." I learned this one at camp, too. A person tells two truths about themselves and one lie. The group has to figure out which one is a lie. Great Icebreaker.

Manner Ideas
Honestly I think that all activities should include manners. That really is the only way to enforce them. But please do not feed a child if they don't say "please." I saw this happen with 1-year-olds.

Children's Museum

I live in a city that doesn't have a lot for young kids to do. So, I am always searching for something for my daughter and I to do. Today is her 1-year-old birthday and I took her the Children's Museum. It was only $4 each and they had a toddler room area for her to play. We went early and had the place to ourselves until right before we left. There was a little 15-month-old girl she got to play with. We were there for over an hour, which surprised me. Normally she gets bored pretty quickly.

As far as the museum, it wasn't like one you find in a big city. But it was a great treat to take her somewhere else she could play. Goofy kid let go on top of the slide and slid right down. My little dare devil.

It's so important that kids have somewhere else to play other than at home with family.

The importance of play

I read message boards with parents complaining about how their children don't play. Or that they don't like their toys. I truly believe play is the most important part of a child's life after a safe environment to live in. Maybe parents don't know what to do or how to organize play time. And our schools aren't much help anymore as we teach to tests, instead of playing to learn. We have to allow children toys to play with, teach them how to use them and enhance the play by playing with them.

Here's a good article that explains the importance of play in a child's life. http://www.aap.org/pressroom/playFINAL.pdf (the long version)
http://www.aap.org/pressroom/play-public.htm (the summary)

My daughter's playroom

My daughter is 10 months old and is so interested in everything. I want to share some of the highlights of my daughter's playroom. First, I rotate toys -- especially the stuffed animals. They usually don't get played with too much unless we are singing a song about that animal or practicing animal sounds.

I store her toys in easy to dump containers that I bought at the dollar store. I use flimsy shower caddies that work great as she still chews on everything. They hold just enough toys. I also found large round containers that are nice since there are no corners to bump into. I categorize her toys in the containers as soft books, soft toys, plastic toys, balls, plastic blocks, large beads, soft blocks and soon to come cars. She know where to find them and my hope that it will teach her how to clean up when we get to that phase in a few months.

I recently found a Sesame Street place mat at Walmart for $1 and taped it to the wall at her level. She walks over and talks to it several times throughout the day. I tape interesting pictures onto a gate that is partially covering the cold air return. Right now I have pictures of children -- she walks over and says hi to them once in a while, too. I also had a board book that I tore apart and laminated because it was falling apart. I hung those up in the playroom, too. She loves looking for the pictures.

I have a tunnel that she loves to crawl through and I placed the boppy pillow in it as an extra challenge as she seems to like to crawl over things.

When I was student teaching I made a felt board. I bought a large piece of felt from the leftover bin of cloth at JoAnn fabrics and hot glued it to a large piece of a foam board. I have cut out ducks and frogs that we sing to. I just prop up the felt board for now so she can only look at (not touch for now). I also have a pre-cut felt board with farm pieces that I got from Oriental Trading Company years ago.

One of her favorite toys is this exersauser piano, but we only use the piano part now. It plays songs and we sing along. She always goes over to play the music and dance or jump.

I have a walking toy for her to use that she gets stuck in the corner and has to problem solve how to get it out. Or she yells for help. We're working on the yelling part.

There are several stand alone toys. Shape sorters, Alphabet pal, toys that pop up, rock n' roll ball, and more.

My goal for her playroom is that she can move to the next toy in a safe environment with giving her lots of choices. I do think she would be happy in a room with the just stacker cups, Funny how the simplest things are the most favorite.