Once kids start to walk & run, their curiosity is at some different level altogether. All they want is to explore their surrounds, touch & feel everything, put everything in their mouth & against their skin. They still don’t have a sense of danger & fear developed, thus never hesitate to even reaching to the most complicated places humanly possible. They still are not able to follow all instructions & have a very limited attention span. And of course if said NO to anything, parents have to face their Temper & Tantrums.
It is a big challenge for parents to keep the toddlers & preschoolers busy & occupied with constructive play & activities leading to their age appropriate development. Here is a list of some fun & engaging activities for your toddlers & preschoolers.
For Toddlers –
- Color & Shape sorting – This activity can be done with a lot of different material. You can use rubber bands, colored pasta / spaghetti, big buttons & beads, blocks, balls etc.
- Messy Play – Kids at this age love to get dirty & involve in messy play. Activities like playing with slime, flour, paints, soapy water etc. are big hit.
- Pattern painting – Make patterns using different objects – carved / cut vegetables, toilet paper roll, foam sheets, cotton roll, crumpled paper / plastic etc.
- Sticker activities – Toddlers love stickers. Peeling them, sticking them, making designs & patterns with them… they love doing it all.
- Pick up & drop – Practice activities to strengthen pick up & drop skills. Drop straw cleaners into the pores of a colander, coins in a piggy bank, balls from a hole, shapes from a shape sorter, Popsicle sticks in a box with small hole etc.
- Make your music – At this age kids love to make noises using utensils & different objects. Give them a chance to do so in a fun setting. Put up a music station for them with objects that make different sounds when hit with a spoon or stick & let your toddler have fun time.
For Preschoolers –
- Counting Activities – By the age of 3, kids start to understand the concept of counting, larger & smaller quantities etc. Experiment with sticks, beads, pencils, crayons, books & pretty much everything within your reach to practice counting & size skills. It’s also a great time to introduce ascending & descending to them.
- Threading & lacing – The interest in threading & lacing develops during the toddlerhood itself, but a lot of advanced variations & mastering of the skill can be done during preschooler age.
- Scissors skills – Proper use of scissors & cutting paper in fun shapes is a great activity for kids to develop hand to eye co-ordination.
- Pre-Writing skills – Practicing drawing lines, curves & shapes, tracing and imitating shapes & lines are not just helps in pre-writing skills but also is a fun activity for kids.
- Pretend Play – It is a great way for kids to build their imagination, cook up stories in their mins & be as imaginative as possible.
Some tips for parents –
- Let your toddler explore the activity in his own way. Don’t correct them or set rules & expectations yet.
- If your toddler is a mouther, plan for an activity that allows him to put stuff in mouth.
- Do not get disheartened if he loses interest in the activity, he will come back later.
- Don’t plan an activity with an expected outcome in mind; it might never work with a toddler.