Welcome to another week of Lakewood at Home. While we would rather be at school, we are delighted to be sharing these invitations for toddlers with you.
Art/Sensory Invitation: Play dough and stones
This invitation can be offered with any kind of play dough, moon dough, cloud dough, or clay dug from your backyard (remove any live critters first), and clean rocks or stones that are too large to be choking hazards. Set up the sculpting medium on a tray with a bowl of stones and ask your child what they can do with them. They might like to make a nest as though the stones were eggs, or simply poke the stones into the dough. You might also offer a rolling pin for flattening the dough.
Sculpting with different media builds fine motor skills and coordination while providing a space for three-dimensional creative expression.
Dramatic Play Invitation: Caring for babies
“What we offer to others, we also offer to ourselves” – Dr. Becky Bailey, founder of Conscious Discipline
If your child does not have a baby doll, they can use a stuffed animal, or you can make a doll out of a couple of socks following this video tutorial, or one of the adorable sock softies from this blog. Your child might want to make a bed for their baby out of a cardboard box, take their baby for a walk around the house/yard/neighborhood, or feed them with a small spoon.
Toddlers are often drawn to caring for baby dolls: carrying them, covering them with blankets, giving the bottles. These care routines allow toddlers to try out things they see adults doing, and builds empathy.
Large Motor Invitation: Yoga with baby dolls/stuffed animals
You can extend the dramatic play activity by inviting your child to bring their baby doll to yoga time. It looks like the weather will be perfect for doing yoga outside today as well. Can your toddler help their baby doll do some yoga poses?
Yoga builds strength, flexibility and coordination while connecting young children to their bodies.
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