BizzyBabes Activities Page

Problem-solving and cognitive skills
Educational and fun things to do with your Toddler

Stacking and sorting

Choose a range of blocks, stacking shapes, cups, shape sorters and counters.
Show your toddler how to make a tower or other constructions.
Shape sorters are great for developing fine motor skills as they have to place the object into a hole carefully to achieve success.

This will help your toddler to find out about colour sorting, patterns, balance and cause and consequence.

Washday basket

Fill a basket with clothes, socks, small towel, bits of fabric and your toddler will spend ages emptying and filling the basket.
If you prefer, this can be done with a bucket and small toys too.

They can explore on their own or you can sit with them and discuss what treasures they find, what you do with the items, the colours, shapes etc.

Water fun

Fill a basin with warm water, a variety of plastic containers and floating toys.
Show your toddler how to squirt, fill/ empty and splash, and pour. You could extend this activity by colouring the water with store bought bath colours or a little food colouring.
To further explore colour, only put items of one colour into the water basin,so today you might choose only yellow items and next time all red etc.

This allows them to experience different sensations, wet vs. dry and the beginnings of spatial perception and maths. They will also consolidate their knowledge of colours.

Where is it?

Cover a toy with a cloth (a hand towel or dish cloth will do nicely) and play “where has it gone?”.
Alternatively, place a toy in a box and close the lid. A shoebox or something similar works really well.

Toddlers will enjoy the fun and excitement of the search and the finding of the object and this in turn helps them to learn about cause and effect.

Find it!

Print or cut out pictures of animals, objects, food etc. and stick them onto card. Laminate them if you can.
Put a selection of them on the floor.
Ask your toddler to find the cat or the orange circle etc. … collect them as she finds them and put aside … keep going until they are all found.
You could also ask her to sort them into animals, food, colours etc. and place them into piles.

Finding of the object is fun for them and also helps them to learn about cause and effect.

Personalized Home-made Puzzles

Enlarge and laminate a photo of a family member or pet. Cut into large squares, build like a puzzle. Later you can vary the shapes of the pieces by cutting into triangles or rectangles. Remember to keep the pieces in a small plastic bag or container so that you don’t loose the pieces.

Variety boxes

Have toys stored in boxes.
Rotate the boxes every week. (As they get older,-every two-three weeks). Your child will benefit from having contact with different shapes, colours, and textures in each box.
If space allows, you could have a different mix of toys in each room that she plays in. Themed boxes are also wonderful.
If you can, make a bathroom box of items you would normally find in a bathroom and keep it there for bath time. A kitchen box, a bedroom box etc using everyday items in each.
Remember, plastic spoons, empty margarine tubs, and other household items can often make a favourite toy so include these.

This allows children to experience different activities, prevents boredom and gives her more to do or try.

Counting

Prepare a box or bag with a variety of interesting items.
Tip it on the floor or low table.
What colours can you see? How many things are there? Count together.

You could also discuss what are they? Talk about the types of items they are e.g.: Animals, shapes, food items, clothes, etc?

Sharing books – the joy of reading

Place a selection of 2-3 books before your child. Let him choose one.
Sit comfortably together, take your time and look at the cover (front and back) read each page and look at the pictures, talk about colours and the characters/objects on the page.
You can even name the parts of a book.

Use this as a special together time with your child and for calming down before bed or as a treat just after they have woken up. Your child will learn to appreciate books, get enjoyment from the stories, and learn speech development while having cuddles with you-and who would mind extra cuddles? It is never too early to read with your child so start as soon as they are able to sit.

Family Photo Fun

Make a family / friends photo album together - a page per photo.
Write/print the person in each picture’s name and stick on the page.
Read the book together learning the names of everyone in the book.

This is especially great if you don’t live near family members.