Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
The lead monkey performs different silly movements and dances that the other players must imitate. Take turns so everyone has a chance to be the lead monkey.
Dog Biscuits
Your child will have a blast making homemade treats for her dog.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 45 minutes
½ cup cornmeal
6 tablespoons oil
2/3 cup water or meat broth
2 cups whole wheat flour
Cookie cutters
Stir all ingredients together. If dough seems a bit dry, add a few drops of water. If dough seems too wet, add more flour a little at a time.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Show your child how to knead the dough.
Help her roll the dough out to ¼ thick. Let her cut out the biscuits with cookie cutters—a bone shape would be best.
Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until biscuits are light brown.
Hand-Print Sheep
Engage your child’s senses with this personalized craft.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Construction paper
Pencil
White craft glue
Cotton balls
Crayons
Have your child put her hand palm down onto a piece of construction paper. Have her spread her fingers.
Use the pencil to trace around her hand. Turn the shape upside down; the four fingers become legs and the thumb is the head.
Show your child how to glue the cotton balls to create a fleecy effect.
Let her color in the feet and the face with crayons.
Community Helpers
At a very early age, children start to imitate adults. Your child may want to put on Mom’s shoes or Dad’s tie and pretend to be a grownup. He will start to show an interest in the roles that adults play. In addition to trying these activities with your child, consider making field trips to watch these community helpers in action.
Firefighters
This is a fun activity for a hot summer day. You can bet that when you combine water with a firefighter theme, you will have a hit on your hands.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Red, orange, and yellow sidewalk chalk
Garden hose
Small buckets (optional)
Enlist your child’s help and use the chalk to draw a fire with lots of flames on the pavement.
Now the young firefighter needs to put out the fire! Help your child squirt the hose onto the drawing. As the chalk washes away, tell him he is dousing the flames.
If you have a group of children, you can use the buckets to set up a bucket brigade.
Special Delivery
Your child will enjoy using a variety of stickers and seals in the project. You may wish to let your child play with junk mail that you receive. Additionally, you may wish to let your child help you write and send a postcard to a family member or friend.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Used stamps, postage seals, and address labels
Large envelope
You can show your child how to address and stamp an envelope, but let him explore freely with the materials.
If your child completes a postcard, walk him down to the corner mailbox and mail it!
Many Hats
Many professionals can be identified by the hats they wear. Here is a guessing game based on this concept. This activity suggests using pictures, but if you have real hats available, use those instead!
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
White craft glue
Pictures of different hats
Index cards
Glue the pictures on the cards. Ask your child to look at each card and guess who wears that hat. (Suggested hats include a chef’s hat, baseball cap, firefighter hat, police motorcycle helmet, nurse’s cap, and hard hat.)
Transportation
Transportation is a fun theme to explore with your child. Because young children learn best through direct hands-on experience, take your child for a ride on different forms of transportation when you can. Perhaps your city still has a street car or trolley system. If you live in a rural area, can you go for a hayride on a local farm?
Rolling
Many forms of transportation move on wheels. Consider taking your child somewhere she can see the tracks that wheels leave in the mud or snow.
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Small toy cars and trucks
Dark-colored tempera paint
Shallow pie tin
Light-colored construction paper
Show your child how to gently dip the wheels of the vehicles into the paint, after you’ve poured it into the tin.
Let her create interesting patterns and designs by rolling the vehicles back and forth across the paper.
Be sure to wash the toys off when you are done.
My Car
Engage your child’s imagination with the project. Remember your child can also build a boat, train, airplane, or whatever her imagination and creativity dictates.
Activity for an individual child or a group
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Scissors
Large box (an appliance box works well)
Markers or tempera paint
Staple gun (optional)
Pie tins (optional)
Let your child decide where she would like you to cut windows or doors in the box.
Let your child decorate her vehicle however she wishes.
If you wish, you can staple on the pie tins for wheels.
Toy Airplane
Much simpler than a model, you and your toddler can construct this airplane.
Be aware that the plane will be too heavy and fragile to fly.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Scissors
Paper towel tube
Poster board
Paper cup
Tissue paper scraps
Cut a 1 slit through both sides of the paper towel roll.
From the poster board, cut two wings. Make each the size and shape of an adult’s index finger. Make sure that the wings will fit into the slots.
Cut tiny slits up from the rim of the paper cup. This is to slightly widen the top of the cup, which will become the cockpit.
Help your child slide the wings in the slits and place the cup over one opening of the tube. You may need to secure the cup with some glue.
Provide your child with tissue paper scraps to glue on for decoration.
The Wheels on the Bus
Do not be afraid to adapt this song to sing about other forms of transportation.
You can easily sing about the sails on the boat or the propeller on the plane.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Sing or chant the following with your child. Encourage her to use appropriate motions:
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.
(roll hands)
Other verses:
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish.
The door on the bus goes open and shut.
The seats on the bus go bump, bump, bump.
Dinosaurs
Although the dinosaurs are long gone, they still capture the interest and imagination of young children. Many toddlers love to learn about these gigantic creatures from the past.
Digging for Bones
Here is a fun way to show your child how dinosaur fossils were found.
To extend this activity, let your child glue the bones together to create his own creature.
Here are two activities to help dinosaurs come alive again in your child’s imagination.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Smooth chicken bones
Sandbox
Start with smooth chicken bones. Be sure there are no sharp or splintered pieces.
Boil and thoroughly clean the bones. You may wish to add a drop of bleach to the boiling water to make them look older.
Bury the bones in the sandbox for your child to find.
Dinosaur Egg
Your child will be delighted to crack open the egg to find a dinosaur. Be sure to involve him in making the egg, too. You should closely supervise this activity. Because both the toy and the balloon can be choking hazards, this activity is best for children who no longer put things in their mouths.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 30 minutes plus
1 day for project to dry
1 balloon
Small plastic dinosaur toy
Papier Mâché
Tempera paint
Slightly inflate the balloon and insert the toy. Completely inflate the balloon and tie.
Coat the balloon with Papier Mâché (see Chapter 5)
Once the Papier Mâché is dry, your child can paint the egg.
The Ocean
There is a whole other world beneath the surface of the ocean. You do not have to live near the shore to introduce your child to this fascinating place under the sea. You can find some great props and artifacts such as shells and coral to share with your child.
Margarine Tub Jellyfish
You can create this cute little sea creature in a flash. If you want to have your child play with the jellyfish in the water, substitute yarn for the crepe-paper tentacles, and coat the tissue-paper-and-felt body with clear fingernail polish.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
White craft glue
Tissue paper
Margarine tub
Lengths of crepe paper, ribbon, or yarn
2 felt circles
Have your child glue tissue paper onto the margarine tub.
Once the body is dry, your child can glue on the crepe-paper tentacles and the felt eyes.
Deep-Sea Dive
This activity will engage your child’s imagination and expand her vocabulary as she learns more about the ocean and aquatic life. For added excitement, let your child wear a snorkel mask.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Blanket
Deep-sea items such as sea sponges, shells, starfish, toy sea animals, and pieces of coral
Drape a sheet or blanket over a table. Blue is best, but any color is okay.
Place a variety of deep-sea items under the table. Suggested items include sea sponges, shells, starfish, toy sea animals, and pieces of coral.
Have your child “dive” under the sheet (sea) and bring back a treasure. Ask her to identify what she found.
Paper Bag Whale
Your child may wish to make a group of these—if so, she can have a pod of whales.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Brown paper bag
Newspaper
String
Gray and black paint
Have your child stuff the bag with crumpled up newspapers. Be sure that she leaves a little room near the opening.
Draw the bag closed and tie. Leave a little paper past the knot to serve as the tail.
Let your child paint her whale any way she wants.
Birds
Birds are everywhere. Take the binoculars outside and look for them. Bring some closer to your home for your child to observe. In your own backyard, you can set up a birdhouse, a birdbath, or a bird feeder to attract them.
Bird’s Nest
If you have the chance, show your child a real-life bird’s nest. Talk about what he would use to build a nest if he were a bird. When this nest is complete, your child might want to put a toy bird or eggs in it.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 20 minutes
Heavy-duty poster board
Mud
Leaves and grass
Sticks, twigs, and pine needles
With the poster board as a base, let your child make a mixture of the mud and the leaves and grass.
Help him form the mixture into a nest shape.
Let him add the sticks, twigs, and pine needles for interest.
Bird in the Cage
Your child will love finding the bird in the cage.
You might help your child make his own bird out of clay to use for this craft.
Remember to collect and dispose of broken balloon pieces, which can be a choking hazard.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 30–40 months
Duration of activity: 1 hour
Small toy bird, bought or homemade
Balloon
Water
White craft glue
Small bowl
Yarn or twine
Help your child insert the bird into the balloon.
Inflate and tie the balloon.
Mix the water and glue in a bowl to form a thick liquid.
Show your child how to dip pieces of yarn into the glue mixture. Have him let the excess glue drip off and then wrap the yarn around the balloon.
Encourage him to cover about 75 percent of the balloon.
When the glue is dry, pop the balloon. What will remain is the bird in the cage.
Way Up in the Sky
Your child will enjoy this cute action rhyme. It is more fun when you exaggerate the voices
and use a high pitch when the birds are talking.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Teach your child the following rhyme and the corresponding movements:
Way up in the sky
(raise arms in the air)
The little birds fly.
(flap arms)
While down in their nest,
The little birds rest.
(curl up arms like holding a baby)
With a wing on the left
(extend left arm)
And a wing on the right
(extend right arm)
The sweet little birdies sleep all through the night.
(press hands together on cheek)
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
(put finger to lips)
They’re sleeping!
The bright sun comes up,
(raise arms in the air)
The dew falls away.
(pat in a downward motion)
“Good morning, good morning”
(wave and flap)
The little birds say!
Pond Life
Exploring pond life is a great way to learn more about nature and the environment. You can introduce your child to concepts of life cycles by observing frogs.
You can begin a discussion about habitats, where different animals live and what they eat, too.
Lily-Pond Hop
Here is a cute way to teach your child a little bit about frogs and help develop her large motor skills as well. If your child is not yet coordinated enough to jump, help her leap or take a big step.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 15 minutes
Carpet squares or mats
Set up carpet squares or mats in a pattern around the room. Be sure that they are placed close enough together for your child to jump from one to another.
Talk about how frogs live in ponds and jump from lily pad to lily pad. Show your child how to jump like a frog.
I Had a Little Turtle
Promote the development of your child’s fine motor skills with this cute rhyme.
Activity for an individual child
Age group: 18–40 months
Duration of activity: 10 minutes
Teach your child the following rhyme and the corresponding motions:
I had a little turtle
(make fist)