It is absolutely AMAZING to see how quickly a little toddler can change in just a few weeks! I am really enjoying our learning journey with my little Sophia. She is always eager to do “school,” but she knows what she does and doesn’t like. The best thing that I can do for her is expose her to a variety of activities and follow her interests.
Here are a few activities that we recently participated in:
Painting
Use equal parts glue and tempera paint to give painting a glossy look when dry.
This little honey LOVES to paint and if you ask me, I think there is some talent here;) It was such a nice day that we just had to take it outside. Of course I also wanted to keep the mess outside:)
Painting is such a FUN activity for kids! They enjoy the process of swirling the paint and they love seeing how colors mix together. I think Sophia had so much fun painting this page that she almost painted a few holes in the paper:)
These mats are great for interactive counting and the mats focus on numbers 1-10. There are 60 colorful fish that go into these cute fish bowls. Sophia liked to sing the song from the Leapfrog Video, “Two, two fish the sea. Tell me the number of fish in the sea!”
These mats really helped her nail the concept…
On the back of each of the Learning Mats, kids are give the opportunity to trace each number and then practice writing the numbers on their own. The great part about these mats is that they are both durable and erasable:) You can purchase these Learning Mats {HERE}.
Listening Skills
We has some more fun with our whiteboard. I drew a picture of a girl on the page and then gave Sophia some oral directions about coloring. For example, I said,
“Can you color the polka dots on her dress red?
Can you color her hair brown?
Color her shoes any color you want.”
Oral directions are a great way to help children use their listening skills.
Shape Identification and Recognition
We did the same activity with shapes. I drew shapes on the board and asked Sophia to color them specific colors. I wasn’t sure if she knew the name of the hexagon, so I asked her to tell me the name of “that” shape, as I pointed to the hexagon. She responded, “sheshagon.” That satisfies me…I think she know the name of “that” shape:)
She was completely engaged the entire time and loved this activity.
Sound Discrimination (Can be used as an assessment)
I wrote a bunch of letters on the whiteboard and called out the sound, not the letter name. However, you could also use this for identifying letter names as well. As I called out the letter sound, she erased each one. She did a GREAT job! We have also used this activity to practice a few sight words.
Number Discrimination
I used the above method to assess her number recognition skills. As the activity progressed I realized that she didn’t know the number zero. She asked me what it was, I told her and then she got it. This was fun for her and it helped me assess her needs in regards to number identification.
She likes to use a paint brush to wipe away the numbers.
And now for a very important skill:
FRIENDSHIP-She LOVES our dogs:) She usually reads to them, pets them, talks to them, feeds them and SITS on those poor little dogs. I think they feel loved:)
Be sure to check out our other posts for toddler tasks {HERE}.
Annie Moffatt is a former elementary school teacher and homeschool mom with a passion for helping young learners thrive. With a background in early education and a heart for making learning fun, Annie designs engaging, low-prep resources that build confidence and success in the classroom. Her hands-on, kid-friendly approach has supported thousands of teachers and parents around the world in creating joyful learning experiences for their students.
Great ideas! I didn't know about adding glue to the paint, but I'll try that next time. And the paint brush "eraser" on the white board is clever, too. I really enjoy your blog! Renee
Love these ideas! I recently tried a few with my little one! I actually just featured one on my most recent post. Check it out when you have a chance! (Link is below)
And I have to ask about the last pic…are those shih-tzus?? I have 2 of them as well…. a black & white one AND a gold and white one! =) I LOVE them to death!!
I love your blog Annie. How do you find the time to blog, take care of your family and create all of these amazing activities? Also, how old is Sophia? I'm trying to gage some of the activities that she's doing with my 27-month old twins. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas with all of us.
Love this post. I will have to try some of these ideas with my Sweet Pea. Thanks for sharing…she is such a cutie.
Such great activities I can do with my toddler!
Thanks for sharing
Lusine
Enjoy Teaching English
Great ideas! I didn't know about adding glue to the paint, but I'll try that next time. And the paint brush "eraser" on the white board is clever, too. I really enjoy your blog! Renee
You always have the best ideas for your girls (and other young ones!). I love reading about what you do 🙂
Love these ideas! I recently tried a few with my little one! I actually just featured one on my most recent post. Check it out when you have a chance! (Link is below)
And I have to ask about the last pic…are those shih-tzus?? I have 2 of them as well…. a black & white one AND a gold and white one! =) I LOVE them to death!!
Sara
Teaching Munchkins
Great ideas!Would definitely try these with my tot.
Love to see her posts.
Thanks.
Hi Sara,
Yes, those are Shih-Tzu's! We LOVE our dogs, too! Thanks for your sweet comment and link back to our blog:)
I love your blog Annie. How do you find the time to blog, take care of your family and create all of these amazing activities? Also, how old is Sophia? I'm trying to gage some of the activities that she's doing with my 27-month old twins. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas with all of us.