Blog: Toddlers

Happy Friday! You have almost made it through an extremely wet and cold week! Here are three invitations for toddlers today. Hope you have a wonderful long weekend!

Art Invitation: Play dough sculpting

This morning we are curious about what toddlers will do with play dough and a dull butter knife. Cutting clay or play dough with a butter knife is a way for young children to explore this skill and build coordination and motor control. You can demonstrate rolling the dough into balls and long cylinders which are interesting to cut. This invitation builds another skill to children’s work with sculpting materials.

Sensory Invitation: Water play with sieves and things

It looks like we might have a few dry moments today, but there is probably a lot of water available outside for this invitation. You can also offer it in the sink or bathtub inside. Gather some easily washable objects (plastic animals, sticks, larger lids, etc.), and a sieve or two. Your child can drop the objects in the water and fish them out with the sieve. 

Through this invitation children are encouraged to engage with more predictive work (will an object sink or float) and problem solve how to get things back out of the water using the sieve.

Remember to stay near your child when they are engaged in water explorations.

Movement/Language Invitation: Yoga story

Your toddler may have spent extra time inside this week due to the wet weather. Yoga is a great way to build motor skills, stretch muscles, and build self-regulation skills. Older toddlers may be ready to lead a yoga story themselves, younger toddlers can help fill in a familiar story like the three little pigs, or help create poses to act out a beloved book.

Good morning! It looks like today, Thursday, is going to be another wet day. A quick reminder that Monday is Memorial Day. We are taking the day off, but will be back with more activity invitations on Tuesday.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Cardboard box adventure

We love how cardboard boxes can become almost anything for a young child. Today we invite you and your child to turn a box (or laundry basket or storage bin without lid) into a fire truck, or a hot air balloon, or a car, train, boat, or rocketship and go on an adventure. Your child might want to pack a bag to take along with them, or have an old calculator to use as the controls. Where will their imagination take them?

 

Language/Literacy extension: What To Do With a box by Jane Yolen

 

Art Invitation: Paint and textures

For this invitation you will need a variety of textured materials (bubble wrap, cardboard, paper, etc.), washable paint and a paintbrush as well as the usual toddler painting supplies like a wet rag towel. Tape the materials to a flat surface. If you have a larger piece of cardboard, you can tape the other things onto the cardboard. Invite your toddler to explore how it feels to paint the different textures. They may want to explore with their hands as well so they can really feel the differences.

 

Fine Motor Invitation: Colanders and chenille stems

This invitation comes from Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky’s wonderful book Loose Parts 2: Inspiring Play with Infants and Toddlers. Turn a colander upside down on a tray or table with a collection of chenille stems (also known as pipe cleaners or fuzzy wire). Invite your child to poke the wire through the holes in the colander. This takes persistence, coordination, and builds finger muscles.

Good morning! It’s going to be another wet day today.

Fine Motor Invitation: Transporting with bags

What kinds of non-plastic bags do you have? What might your toddler enjoy carrying around in a bag? It could be a paper grocery or lunch bag, an old purse or pocketbook, or a cloth bag. Find a variety of materials your child can put in the bag and carry from one place to another. 

This is another invitation that provides ways for children to build and explore transporting schema, builds motor skills, and builds planning skills.

Art/Design Invitation: Monochromatic texture exploration

Gather materials that are the same color. Paper, cloth, string, blocks, chenille stems, can all be included in this invitation. Invite your toddler to explore the different textures and hues. How will they arrange things? What will they do with the materials? Take a picture or two of their work as it evolves.

Limiting the color palette of an invitation opens up explorations of texture, hue, and other properties. Children use their sense of touch when engaging the materials, and begin to build design language.

Dramatic Play/Science Invitation: Tea party

A cold, rainy day is perfect for a tea party. You can set up a pretend party with pretend cups and plates and invite your child to bring some baby dolls or stuffed animals to the party. You can also set this up as a sensory invitation with a small pitcher of water, an herbal tea bag (teas with hibiscus work really well), and some small cups. You will also want towels. Your toddler can put the tea bag in the pitcher of lukewarm or cool water and watch the water change color. Then they can pour cups of tea. You can also offer some snacks for your toddler to serve.

Pouring is an important fine motor skill for toddlers. This is also a science invitation as toddlers watch the tea infuse into the water.

Good morning! It looks like it is going to be very wet in Durham today, great weather for splashing in puddles and making a mud kitchen.

Outdoor/Sensory Invitation: Mud kitchen

This week looks like it will be quite wet, so today might be a good day to set up a mud kitchen for your toddler. You can use clean recyclables like yogurt cups and milk cartons with the tops cut off, add a couple of spoons and some rain water and you have a much-loved toddler invitation. 

Exploring the world in the rain expands children’s sensory experiences, invites them to explore the changes that happen when it rains, and builds motor skills.

Dramatic Play Invitation: Cuddly caves/animal nests

After time in the wet world, it is comforting to find a small, cozy space to curl up with a book and a stuffed animal. You can make a fort under a table, or use a cardboard box and a pillow or blanket to create a small space for your toddler. 

Children love exploring where they fit, being cozy, and cuddling under blankets. In this work they are exploring enclosure schema, problem solving when something doesn’t fit or work the way they intended, and practicing caring for themselves and others (stuffed animals).

Movement/Music Invitation: Sleeping bunnies

The toddlers at Lakewood love this movement song!

You can find a version similar to the one we do on the Boulder Journey School’s Online Learning Database under “movement”, or on YouTube. You can find other versions of this song by searching online as well. See which version is easiest on your ears.

This invitation explores self-regulation, following directions, patience, and large motor skills.