Blog: Toddlers

Good morning! This is the final set of posts in the Lakewood at Home blog series. This has been such a wonderful way for us to delve deep into our philosophy and make it more visible for families in the community. We are excited to be returning to in-person school on August 5th. We are full for August, but have some openings in September. Here are our three final invitations for toddlers.

Sensory Invitation: Pompoms, tubes and scoops

This invitation can be done in a large box or empty storage bin, or you can tape the tubes to a wall or door using painter’s tape and put something underneath to catch the pompoms as they fall. Invite your child to explore how the pompoms go through the tubes. If you do not have pompoms you can use cotton balls or something else appropriate for your child. 

This invitation is a different exploration of slope and gravity as well as an opportunity to explore scooping and dumping.

Fine Motor Invitation: Packing for a picnic

We have been thinking a lot about how children construct transportation schema, the way they carry things around and the satisfaction they find in these tasks. Today we are wondering what your toddler might pack for a picnic. Would they pack dishes? Food? Toys? Invite your child to help fill a basket or bag with the things they would need for an indoor or porch picnic.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Teddy bear picnic

Once the picnic bag has been packed and repacked, set up a picnic for your child and some teddy bear or doll friends. It looks like it may be wet/stormy today so it might be a good day for a cozy under the table picnic, or a porch picnic, or a pillow fort picnic. You can offer a snack, or pretend food.

Good morning! It looks like it will be cooler, but stormy in Durham today. Here are three invitations for toddlers for today.

Sensory Invitation: Taste-safe cloud dough

While this is made with raw flour, which you should not eat, it is non-toxic and simple to make. In a large bowl mix together:

2 cups plain flour

¼ cup vegetable oil

Powdered food coloring (optional)

When the flour is incorporated, you should have a mixture that holds together when squeezed, but easily breaks apart. You can leave it in the bowl, or pour it into a sensory bin/tub with some scoops and small containers.

Sensory investigations are a way for toddlers to explore the physical properties of the world around them, to work with filling and dumping, and experience different textures.

Large Motor Invitation: Bean bag toss into empty frames or chalk targets

You can use bean bags for this invitation, or balled up socks. Create a target or two using empty photo frames (remove the glass as well), painter’s tape, or sidewalk chalk. Invite your child to toss the bean bags into the frames. They may have ideas about how far away they would like to be, or a different way to arrange the targets. You can also transform this invitation into a water play exploration with balls in place of bean bags and buckets full of water as the targets.

This invitation uses children’s arm muscles, refining aim and tossing skills.

 

Outdoor/Large Motor Invitation: Sound Adventure: What can you hear?

Invite your child to find a comfortable place to sit near an open window, or to go on a walk around your yard or neighborhood. Ask them to walk or sit quietly so they can listen. What will they notice? What will you, the adult, notice when things are quiet?

We hope this invitation helps you and your toddler to take a moment to listen to and connect with the world.

Good morning! It’s the middle of the week already! We are busily preparing Lakewood to welcome children again August 5th. Here are three invitations for toddlers in the meantime.

Large Motor Invitation: Dance party!

You can offer your child’s favorite music, or try some new movement songs. Koo Koo Kanga Roo has many exciting songs, or you can check out local artist Baron Von Rumblebuss. We also highly recommend local dance studio Ninth Street Dance’s online offerings.

Dance is a wonderful way to build balance, coordination and other motor skills. Children also love to express themselves through movement.

Outdoor/Sensory Invitation: Mashing mud

With the wet weather expected today, there may be mud available near you. You can put some in a bucket or bowl and invite your child to explore the mud with a potato masher or similar tool. You can also use child-safe potting soil and have your child mix it with water in a tub.

This sensory invitation encourages children to explore the many properties of and possibilities in soil mixed with water. They can test theories, investigate texture, and build motor skills.

Art Invitation: Smush Paint. 

Put different color drops of paint on a piece of paper and stick the paper inside a gallon plastic bag. Push and spread the paint around to create a beautiful masterpiece! This invitation is wonderful for children who are unsure about covering their hands in paint. You could also have them drive over the bag with toy vehicles to see what designs their tires make.

Good morning! Here are three invitations for your toddler on the last Tuesday in July.

Building Invitation: Blocks with additional loose parts (cotton balls, sticks, etc.)

Blocks are a wonderful way for toddlers to explore different schema while building their design skills, hand-eye coordination and other motor skills. After so many weeks at home, it might be time to offer something new with your blocks. This could be as simple as some mason jar rings, paper towel tubes, or cotton balls, You could also add things from nature like sweet gum balls, leaves, or small sticks. What might your toddler do with these additional materials?

Motor Invitation: Transporting blocks with spoons

Transportation schema work is very important for many young children. They often carry bags, buckets and baskets full of a variety of objects from one place to another. Transportation is the exploration in this work. Today you can challenge your toddler to transport blocks (or another set of small objects) from one place to another using a large spoon. You can set all the objects on a chair with a spoon, and set a basket or mark off a square on the other side of the room. Invite your child to use the spoon to move the blocks.

Fine Motor Invitation: Sticker Lines. Draw a couple of different lines (zig-zag, loopy, squiggley, etc.) and have your child put stickers on top. This could be done on the wall, floor, or even outside!

Variation: If you do not have stickers they could trace with paint or  different color markers.