5 simple educational activities for toddlers.

1. Playing Sequence

Materials:

• sequence cards (you can buy them or draw them yourself)

This is a fun and simple activity in which all you need is a package of sequence cards. I got mine with 0.50$ from a book sale that our public library hosts every month. You can find these cards at dollar store, Target, etc.

What you need to do is to help your child find connections between the cards and arrange the sequence in the right order.

 

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2. Sticker Sorting

Materials:

• 2 or more sheets of paper
• different kind of stickers
• tape to attach the papers on the door (optional)

As simple as it may look, Joellen really enjoyed this activity. Her favorite part was to pull the stickers of the page and place them on the papers.

You can use this activity in order to help your child learn the colors (with papers and stickers according to each color). I chose to make it easier for her because she is still little. We practiced just 2 colors that day: white and pink.

She understood that the princess’ sticker go on the white paper, while the cupcake’s stickers go on the pink paper. I helped her figure this thing out by starting off and fixing a pattern.

 

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And, of course, she could’t help not to stick some stickers on her cute little face.

What did I learn today? activity 1 and 2

Besides learning 2 colors (I know is little but it’s a start), my daughter learned to sort. Sorting is a complex skill in which children can identify similar characteristics in a group of objects. It also helps them with decision making and to analyze data.

 

3. Learning (more) Colors

Materials:

A. Toys your child already has in his/her room

B. Books and cards

C. Water and food colors

 

A. This is how I did it. I took 4 baskets and placed in them blocks or different shapes that are the same color. I set aside some other blocks of different colors that I gave to her. She had to place them one by one in the baskets. We also used this colorful toy that she already had in her room.

 

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Hint* Encourage your child to repeat after you, as many times as she/he can. Repetition really helps them to learn faster the new words.

 

B. You can use any book you have around. Point towards different objects/characters in the book. Again, name the color out loud while you encourage your child to repeat it after you. Also, you can buy books that are designated to help your child learn the colors (duh).

Another alternative: color books (pick around 4 different colors and give them to your child while naming the color one by one)

 

With cards

 

If your child is still little offer him/her the whole package. At first, just observe how the little one plays with it. For example, I noticed that my little girl likes to take the cards one by one and arrange them on the window pane.

Then, get involved. I decided to give her the cards one by one while I name the color. Again, ask him/her to repeat after you. Joellen did that while she was trying to align the cards at the window.

In this way, it doesn’t feel like you are just asking them to repeat what you do, but they enjoy learning while playing their own little game.

 

C. Because she likes to help me in the kitchen and be involved in everything I do, I gave her different jars filled with clear water. We started by pouring one drop of food coloring in each jar/bowl. She mixed the color well and observed that the clear water turned pink, green, and blue. While doing this, we named the colors one by one, trying to memorize the new words.

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What did I learn today? activity 3

Besides learning some colors (vocabulary), this activity teaches her how to solve problems (by sorting the shapes), identify between different objects that differ in shape, size, and color. She got some cooking skills too (lol).

 

4. Playing with numbers

Materials:

• 2 or more A4 white paper
• plastic links
• sharpie
• paper hole punch

 

Cut as many squares according to how many numbers you want to teach your child. Then, make some holes in the middle (up and down as shown in the image).

Let your child connect the squares in the right order by using the little links.

 

 

5. Saving the toys

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Materials:

• animals or any other small toy
• tape
• any kind of surface you would like to attach the toys

This activity will keep your child busy and entertained. Trust me, it’s fun and challenging for a toddler to save all the animals/toys by getting the tape pulled up and removing the tape from all the animals. Then, he/she will try to free their little fingers from the sticky tape.

What did I learn today? activity 4 and 5

Obviously, my little one learned some numbers, to plan and make decisions, and solve problems. She practiced her hand-eye motions (coordination) while working on her vocabulary too.

 

Will you try these fun, simple, and educational activities with your toddler?

Let me know in the comments below!