ENGAGE YOUR CHILD IN ACTIVE PLAY
Engaging your toddler in active play is easier than you may think. Ditch the electronic devices (for both you and child) and provide opportunities for your child to explore their world while allowing them to use their senses!
These ideas kept our toddlers attention, allowed them to grow and explore while having fun, and all without the aid of electronic devices.
GET MUSICAL
I haven't met a child yet who doesn't like music. Sing funny songs with your child, dance around the house, march and make up songs. It's easy and fairly intuitive to connect motion with music! Since children are naturally drawn to musical rhythms, you can get them moving to rhythms and beats by clapping along. You'll see that they'll begin clapping along as well. Stomp your feet or jump and and down in time to music and you know what will follow.
This is such a great way to engage in active play with your toddler!
GO OUTSIDE
Outside adventures present one of the best ways for kids to be active. Go for a walk with your child and point out the wonders that the outdoors contain. Ask them questions about what they see and smell and have them look at the world from different levels. Crouch down, stand up on tippy toes and jump up and down.
PRETEND PLAY
There's nothing that sparks the imagination quite like pretend play, and toddlers love pretend play! Play with your child and pretend with them. Show them that they can pretend to be animals, people and even objects, like a bicycle. You'll be surprised how much enjoyment you both get out of this!
PLAY DOUGH FOR THE WIN
Play dough is fun, super easy to make and provides kids with more hours of fun than I can count. Kids can roll, sculpt and mold with play dough. Play dough allows children to use their imagination while allowing them to be active! You'll find some of our favorite Play Dough Recipes here, including consumable ones!
MAKE DIY TOYS
My kids have always loved toys that they've fashioned out of items laying around the house or toys that we've made together. That's why making DIY toys tops my list for a top activity for engaging toddlers. Find a toy that your child loves and help make it. Whether it's playhouse out of cardboard, a toilet paper roll train, or wacky sack (balloon ball) out of balloon and flour, make something that your child can play with that allows for movement.
SAY YES TO EDIBLE FUN
Edible fun might be my toddlers favorite activity. There's something about food that's really motivating, especially when food that they aren't normally allowed to eat is involved. Edible fun involves playing with food and then being allowed to eat it. Depending upon your child's abilities, you can make the game sensory, allowing them to sort and stack food according to textures, or you can direct them to sort food by color.
Provide your child with sorting items that will help them and throw some fun food into the mix that they don't normally consume. Playing with Fruit Loops was always a huge hit in our house, and my kids loved to sort and then string fruit loop necklaces, with their older siblings.
TAKE ART OUTSIDE
Send your kids outside with art in mind! A blank driveway or sidewalk and a few sticks of sidewalk chalk provides the perfect canvas for artwork and helps spark creativity. If they get bored of drawing with sidewalk chalk, here are some games to try to get them moving, or send them on an art gathering adventure. There are all kinds of items in nature that can be used in art. Let your kids find them!
Kids love to play games that utilize their fine motor skills. Make a game out of a simple task and see how content they'll be. A favorite fine motor skills game that we play is picking up craft pom poms (you can find more details on Kids Activities Blog). Be sure assign tasks that get your child thinking and active when you play fine motor skills games with your child so that he or she doesn't get bored and so that they get the most out of the activity.
You can ask them to do tasks like "put yellow pom poms in the bottle" or "count the big pom poms".
Toddlers love to do things as a family, too. Try to create lasting, healthy memories for your child that include the whole family. Rake leaves in the fall. Make snow men in the winter. Play in the summer rain or star gaze at night. Go on a picnic. Garden together in the Spring. There are tons of ways to spend time together throughout the year that don't involve spending money, or tethering oneself to the television or electronic device.
Engaging your toddler in active play is easier than you may think. Ditch the electronic devices (for both you and child) and provide opportunities for your child to explore their world while allowing them to use their senses!
These ideas kept our toddlers attention, allowed them to grow and explore while having fun, and all without the aid of electronic devices.
GET MUSICAL
I haven't met a child yet who doesn't like music. Sing funny songs with your child, dance around the house, march and make up songs. It's easy and fairly intuitive to connect motion with music! Since children are naturally drawn to musical rhythms, you can get them moving to rhythms and beats by clapping along. You'll see that they'll begin clapping along as well. Stomp your feet or jump and and down in time to music and you know what will follow.
This is such a great way to engage in active play with your toddler!
GO OUTSIDE
Outside adventures present one of the best ways for kids to be active. Go for a walk with your child and point out the wonders that the outdoors contain. Ask them questions about what they see and smell and have them look at the world from different levels. Crouch down, stand up on tippy toes and jump up and down.
PRETEND PLAY
There's nothing that sparks the imagination quite like pretend play, and toddlers love pretend play! Play with your child and pretend with them. Show them that they can pretend to be animals, people and even objects, like a bicycle. You'll be surprised how much enjoyment you both get out of this!
PLAY DOUGH FOR THE WIN
Play dough is fun, super easy to make and provides kids with more hours of fun than I can count. Kids can roll, sculpt and mold with play dough. Play dough allows children to use their imagination while allowing them to be active! You'll find some of our favorite Play Dough Recipes here, including consumable ones!
MAKE DIY TOYS
My kids have always loved toys that they've fashioned out of items laying around the house or toys that we've made together. That's why making DIY toys tops my list for a top activity for engaging toddlers. Find a toy that your child loves and help make it. Whether it's playhouse out of cardboard, a toilet paper roll train, or wacky sack (balloon ball) out of balloon and flour, make something that your child can play with that allows for movement.
SAY YES TO EDIBLE FUN
Edible fun might be my toddlers favorite activity. There's something about food that's really motivating, especially when food that they aren't normally allowed to eat is involved. Edible fun involves playing with food and then being allowed to eat it. Depending upon your child's abilities, you can make the game sensory, allowing them to sort and stack food according to textures, or you can direct them to sort food by color.
Provide your child with sorting items that will help them and throw some fun food into the mix that they don't normally consume. Playing with Fruit Loops was always a huge hit in our house, and my kids loved to sort and then string fruit loop necklaces, with their older siblings.
TAKE ART OUTSIDE
Send your kids outside with art in mind! A blank driveway or sidewalk and a few sticks of sidewalk chalk provides the perfect canvas for artwork and helps spark creativity. If they get bored of drawing with sidewalk chalk, here are some games to try to get them moving, or send them on an art gathering adventure. There are all kinds of items in nature that can be used in art. Let your kids find them!
Kids love to play games that utilize their fine motor skills. Make a game out of a simple task and see how content they'll be. A favorite fine motor skills game that we play is picking up craft pom poms (you can find more details on Kids Activities Blog). Be sure assign tasks that get your child thinking and active when you play fine motor skills games with your child so that he or she doesn't get bored and so that they get the most out of the activity.
You can ask them to do tasks like "put yellow pom poms in the bottle" or "count the big pom poms".
Toddlers love to do things as a family, too. Try to create lasting, healthy memories for your child that include the whole family. Rake leaves in the fall. Make snow men in the winter. Play in the summer rain or star gaze at night. Go on a picnic. Garden together in the Spring. There are tons of ways to spend time together throughout the year that don't involve spending money, or tethering oneself to the television or electronic device.
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