Activities for Toddlers
As we navigate our new reality, many parents are wondering how they can stimulate and engage their young children at home. They feel badly that they are not “teaching” their kids while they try to balance family life, household chores, work, pets, homeschooling and all of the other kinds of things going on currently. First, I want to say: stop the guilt. I have felt it in the past few days too. I think we all have. We feel like we should be able to keep a normal routine despite the brain exploding emoji feeling of "how the __ do I do this?” Well, I came to realize that we are teaching our children something else right now. We are teaching them resilience and perseverance. Maybe we are not always teaching them the ABC’s or their shapes, but these life lessons far outweigh any formal schooling. We are teaching them that in moments of crisis we can refocus our priorities and be flexible enough to adapt. These are real lessons that only happen through modeling, not direct instruction. So, we stop the guilt.
Now, if you do find yourselves with a bit of time to try something interactive with your child and you are not sure what to do, here are some ideas that stimulate speech, language and cognitive skills.
The Mornings
If you have a toddler, you know you wake up between 5am - 6:30am. If you have a partner or caretaker helping you this could be used as a time to get some emails or household chores out of the way, but if not or if it is your turn to be on baby duty, use it to your advantage to tire them out! Toddlers need to be tired out to nap well, which is absolutely critical at this point, so stimulating them from 7:30am - 9:00am is ideal. I’ll share our current schedule next, if that is helpful. During this time, focus on just one “bigger” activity to do. It will help you feel creative and adventurous while they have fun learning from you. Our activities lately have been on our Instagram IMGTV channel (@theindylab) and have included things like making a birdbath, making play-dough and cooking lunch. Nothing fancy, but that’s our “big activity.” We do things slowly, in steps, narrating everything and together. It takes time, gets them using their brains and bodies and is a lot more satisfying for you to know that you did something enriching for them. Here are some activities we are going to try in the next few days:
Play with Books!
Draw, color or paint one of the pages from a favorite book!
Talk about a new ending to a book, draw a picture and tape it inside the page! Read your new book!
Take photos of 2-3 pages on your smartphone and use them to practice describing pictures if you need to have a “quick activity” on the run or in a jam.
Orient your kids!
Talk about the day of the week, the time of the day, the weather and the season every day.
Make a calendar!
Count until you reach the date of the day!
Music Time!
Sing your child’s favorite songs back to back, asking them what they would like to sing. Take turns and encourage them to fill in the words in parts you know they have memorized. Favorites include ABC’s, Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes, Row, Row Your Boat, Wheels on the Bus and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.
Encourage Independent, Parallel Play!
Have your kids play next to you, as you sit quietly for a moment, playing with the same toys. This can serve as a much needed mental break for you but a skill developing activity for them. It is important that they curiously play on their own as well. From time to time, you can narrate your own actions as you play alongside them, without having to encourage them to try what you are doing.
Organize dedicated “video playdate calls”
Ask 2-3 friends to do a group video conference call a couple of times a week to maintain friendships and encourage connectivity.
We are going to do morning meetings with new friends around the globe! Join us @theindylab by DMing me to sign up!
I hope this list is a good starting off point. Leave comments/feedback so we can answer your questions in more detail and help you navigate this truly difficult time. I will be posting our schedule soon so you can take a look at how we are managing the balancing act of taking care of a 20-month old, work, being pregnant and social distancing.
Be well!