Today is the mid-point of the week and the middle of the month of April! Here are some invitations we hope may engage your toddler today.

Sensory/Fine Motor Invitation: Sand, bottles and funnels

You can use “playground sand” or moon sand or kinetic sand for this invitation. Put it in a large bowl or bin with an empty bottle with a narrow neck (an empty plastic water bottle works well), a funnel that fits into the bottle, and a measuring spoon or scoop.

This invitation stimulates problem-solving skills and cognitive development, builds motor skills, and

Art Invitation: Sponge Painting

Set out some cut-up sections of sponge, or knotted pieces of rag, paint, and paper and see what your toddler does with the materials.

This activity is a bridge between finger paint and painting with brushes. It also builds some of the skills needed for using stamps and ink pads. It encourages creative expression and the development of sensory schemas.

Outdoor Invitation: Yoga

There are many wonderful yoga resources available. We especially like Cosmic Kids Yoga for videos, the yoga books by Miriam Gates (available through the Durham County Library Hoopla app), and the free printable posters from Kids Yoga Stories.

Yoga builds balance, flexibility, along with self-regulation and empathy.

It’s Friday! Even though the days of the week are more difficult to distinguish at the moment, there is something wonderful about Friday. It is going to be considerably cooler in Durham today, but still sunny. Here are a few invitations from the LACS toddler team.

Fine Motor Invitation: Tearing Paper

Toddlers are often fascinated by what happens when they take a piece of paper between their fingers and pull. Tearing paper engages children in investigating cause and effect, builds fine motor skills, and makes a wonderful ripping sound. For this activity you can put out a tray or box with a variety of paper (newspaper, magazines, catalogs, etc.) and invite your child to rip it up. You may have to start a few pieces if the paper is thicker.

Art and Sensory Invitation: Gluing Collage

To extend the paper tearing invitation, you can add a piece of stiffer paper, cardboard, or a piece of paper board (from an empty cereal or cracker box) and some child-safe glue. At this developmental age, a small yogurt cup with glue for dipping may work better than an entire bottle of glue. Squeezing the glue out of the bottle is a wonderful fine-motor activity, but will use all the glue.

Music/Movement Invitation: Singing and doing yoga poses or other movement to “Old Macdonald Had a Farm”

For this movement invitation you can simply sing “Old Macdonald Had a Farm” with your child, asking them to tell you what animals they would like to have on the farm. You can build a movement component into the song by doing the corresponding animal yoga poses, or by asking your child to show you how they think that animal moves.

Outdoor Invitation: More Ball Play

It will be a cooler day today, so running around with balls may help warm your child up along with building large motor skills.